Josh Renaud

Final days

Our last full day (Thursday) in Bolivia was meant to be a day of packing, tying up loose ends, and saying goodbye to family. It didn't go as smoothly as we might have liked because of the rain.

In the morning I washed a bunch of clothes and hung them up to dry. But the rain made them take much longer to dry, so I couldn't pack them that day. The rain also interfered with traffic. Every single bus we saw that day was packed like a can of sardines. Every time we tried to take a bus, they wouldn't stop for us. They'd just keep on driving because they were too full to take on passengers. This definitely hampered our ability to move around and wasted time. We ended up taxing mostly taxis.

We did manage to buy a few last-minute things we needed, cleaned up the house, ate a nice lunch at Los Lomitos, and visited both Yoli's parents, Boris and Eliza, and Lucy. The lunch was very nice, but as we finished eating the rain started up again. It poured and poured, preventing us from going across the street and down the block to a store. We ended up taking a taxi home. In the evening, we went on our last slough of errands. We drove into downtown in a taxi to pick up some photos from Relieve. It took forever with traffic totally snarled. Then we bought some coca tea for John and hurried out to Yoli's dad's place where we shared some chocolate mate with him and Lucy (thanks John!). After that we stopped by Boris' place for a short goodbye with Yoli's mom. By the time we finished the visits and arrived back at El Jordán, it was much later than we had hoped to be home. We had to stay up for several more hours finishing packing and also visiting with Boris and Eliza who came by to pick up some stuff from us.

The wake up call on Friday came early - 6:30 a.m. We got to the airport, and got through with no problems. We had to talk the officials into letting us bring 10 packages of yogurt with us on the plane, but thank God they allowed it. Jadzia would have gone nuts if we hadn't had yogurt. It's the main thing she ate during my two weeks in Bolivia with her.

Jadzia did okay on the two plane trips. On the first one she was pretty active, and we tried to keep her occupied so she wouldn't scream or fuss. She did a little bit, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

When we got to Miami, we had a few problems. First, a guy at the information desk sent us to the wrong gate for our flight. The way Miami works is that when you arrive from Bolivia, you are in a far-off D gate. You have to walk across the airport to customs and baggage claim. The info guy told us our St. Louis flight would be in gate D33. So we had to walk all the way back down to where we had arrived earlier. But then we got there and saw that in fact our flight was leaving from C7. So we had to walk across the airport again to get there. Ugh.

Jadzia was funny in the airport. She had fun playing with all the payphones (she loves phones). At one point she was walking around with her shirt pulled up showing people her umbligo (belly button), which is something we do with her at home not in public. We also like to point to our own belly buttons, which apparently inspired her to try lifting my shirt so she could point out my umbligo. This caused some old ladies to laugh a lot.

The other problem was that the flight to St. Louis was delayed a couple hours. Since we had been travelling all day, this obviously was not welcome news, but we endured. Jadzia was very difficult at the beginning of the flight once we got on the plane. She was very tired. Our row wasn't empty, either. There was a guy next to me. So we moved to the back of the plane where there was an empty row and it was a bit darker. She was angry and screamed a lot at first, but soon she went to sleep. Thankfully she slept the entire flight. This was the best part of the entire day for me.

We made it back to St. Louis and were greeted by cold weather and rain! But it was nice to get back to my own house with my own bathroom and my own bedroom. No more electric showerheads for a while.

We weren't able to do everything we wanted to do (we still haven't visited the city of Cotoca together, though I did drive through it when I went on my fishing trip with my brothers in law), but it was a good trip, if exhausting.

Cakes and weddings and sheep

The last few days in Bolivia I was unable to get to a computer to update the weblog, so I want to fill you in on how things went. In this entry, I'll talk about our two and a half days in Samaipata when Yoli worked on the wedding cake for Corina.

Arriving in Samaipata - and poop

We got to Samaipata Monday afternoon. We took an express taxi from Santa Cruz since we had so many wedding cake supplies to bring with us (not to mention the various cakes themselves). The road was decent, but as we got up into the mountains the road got bad in parts. There was major flooding earlier this year, and though most everything has been cleaned up, parts of the road are still very bumpy or much narrower because part of the road slid away.

We were staying in a cabin at a place called Cabañas de Traudi. It's a large property with several cabins, a pool, a slide, a swing, and some animals. This would be the place where the wedding reception would be held. The wedding itself would be held at at La Víspera which was across the road from Traudi.

That night we mostly just got everything adjusted. Doña Traudi herself was not in town, and her husband apparently didn't know we were coming early, so they had to set up for us upon our arrival. We decided to walk into town and get some dinner and also buy yogurt for Jadzia. The road into town was all dirt, and quite rough in some parts. It was also downhill most of the way. Going into town when there was light, was not too much of a problem (though it was difficult to maneuver the stroller), but coming back was tricky because it was totally dark in some spots, with no light at all. We ended up making this walk at night several times during our days in Samaipata.

While we were in town eating, Jadzia decided to make life interesting. She pooped. And the poop escaped from her diaper and landed on my pants and on the floor in the restaurant where we were eating. It doesn't get any more embarrassing than that.

Her blanket also needed to be cleaned. And once we got home, we washed it and hung it up to dry. This became a serious problem, because Jadzia refused to go to sleep without it. She cried and cried for ever and ever. We were awake quite a while. Eventually it was somewhat dry enough we could give it back to her and she went to sleep.

Sleeping was also interesting. It was my first time under a mosquito net. Yes, our cabin had mosquitos every night. They weren't too bad, actually. But there were other biting, flying insects near the pool that left itchier marks on us.

Cakes and babies

Tuesday Yoli spent most of her time preparing the cake. I spent most of my time with Jadzia, keeping her occupied and happy. We spent a lot of time watching animals. There were sheep on the property, plus a few cats, dogs, and a parrot. Jadzia loved to see all of them. There was also a young boy who began to follow us around after a while. He came back to the cabin and I let Jadzia and he play. It actually gave me some time to relax and enjoy the semi-solitude. But then he started playing "smash bricks into little pieces" and I didn't want Jadzia to be involved in brick-smashing. Jadzia also tried out the slide and the swing, and these kept her somewhat happy as well.

Yoli made decent progress on the cake, putting the layers together and giving them their coats of buttercream. But that night and the next day she ran into serious trouble with the fondant.

She had prepared her marshmallow fondant recipe ahead of time in Santa Cruz, using marshmallows she brought from the U.S. with powdered sugar and shortening she got in Bolivia. At the time she prepared it, it seemed good, though there was a little trouble with the sugar (American powdered sugar includes corn starch to keep it from clumping. Bolivian powdered sugar does not). The problem with the fondant in Samaipata is that it was very hard -- unworkable. Yoli tried to solve this by heating it and continuing to knead it and fold it. She got it pliable, but when she would roll it out, it would be full of cracks and imperfections instead of smooth. She spent hours kneading and rolling over and over. It improved a little, but not enough for her expectations.

The problem was that time was running out. It was about noon or so Wednesday and the wedding was set to start at 3:30 p.m., followed by the reception at 5:30. She covered the bottom layer of cake with fondant and told me she would skip lunch. So I took Jadzia into town to eat at the "Vaca Loca."

When I got back, Yoli had covered all three layers of cake and was drawing the buttercream lacework on top of the fondant. She showed me that the top layer, which had much smoother, nicer fondant than the other two. Apparently Eulogio, one of the workers at El Jordán, had arrived with his family. He helped Yoli knead the fondant and really worked it hard until it was very nice. Yoli called him her angel.

All in all, the cake turned out pretty well, though obviously Yoli wishes the fondant on the bottom had been better. I had to practically drag her away from the cake in order to get ready for the wedding.

The wedding

The wedding was held across the street at La Víspera. This place was nicer than Traudi, with beautiful gardens. The wedding was held on a patio overlooking the gardens, and was just gorgeous. Corina looked very nice in her dress and Marco was humorous but nervous. Corina's father led most of the wedding, giving a nice talk in Spanish. But Bolivian weddings are different from American weddings, because a civil registrar must do the official job of wedding the two people. A preacher cannot pronounce them man and wife. The particular registrar they used is a Christian, but it was sort of weird for me to hear her reading aloud all the various marriage forms (including Corina and Marco's national ID numbers). Anyway, it was a nice wedding, the first Bolivian wedding I have attended.

The reception went fairly well, though Jadzia was fussy so Yoli and I ended up taking turns playing with her outside so the other one could eat in peace. The cake also seemed to be a good success receiving several compliments.

Heading home

As the night wound down, we had a bit of trouble working out our return travel arrangements for Bolivia, but finally all was settled and we drove back. As we descended from the mountains, I began to feel more heat and humidity in the air and I immediatlely missed the cooler Samaipata climate.

We got back to El Jordán late, and were out of yogurt for Jadzia. Yoli went to two nearby kioskos, but one was closed and the other had no yogurt. I ventured out and found some yogurt way down the avenue and brought it back. With that, Jadzia was a happy camper and eventually went to sleep. And so did we.

Jadzia ... and heading to Samaipata

Just a little note to say that Jadzia has been miserable company the past several days. She had fever for two nights in a row (the first of those nights being Friday when I was fishing) and a persistent cough. Her fever is gone now, though she still coughs. But the more problematic thing is that she is having frequent tantrums. These often drive me nuts. Because Yoli has been working hard the past two days to bake all the cakes and make her fondant, etc, it has fallen to me to keep her occupied. This is easier said than done. But she does seem to enjoy going for walks in the stroller for errands or for no reason at all, except to get her out of the house.

Of course this is not an easy trip for a little girl like her. As Yoli wrote in her earlier entries, Jadzia hasn't been eating as well on this trip as we would like. She's mostly eating yogurt with cornflakes, crackers, or grapes. Yesterday she also some cupcakes that Yoli made with leftover cake batter.

I am very hopeful that changing the scenery by going to Samaipata will improve her mood a bit. But then again, it may not. No matter what, I am due to spend a lot more time alone with her as Yoli does the final assembly of the wedding cake in Samaipata. I imagine we'll go for a lot of walks, etc.

The trip to Samaipata should be good. Jadzia likes taking the buses and taxis, looking out the window, etc. And there is no shortage of scenery on this trip, though it will be longer than any taxi ride she has taken so far (about 3 hours, if I remember correctly). We will rent an entire "express" taxi which will drive us from Santa Cruz all the way out there. We could just pay for ourselves, but then the driver would try to get other passengers. We definitely don't want other passengers. To rent the whole taxi will be around 125 Bs (about $18).

Well, I need to get going. We're getting a ride at 2:30 p.m. to go to the place where we catch the express taxi.

Yoli's photos

These are photos from Yoli and Jadzia's first week in Bolivia.

Jadzia on the plane.

Jadzia trying to put earphones on her doll.

Jadzia and Yoli on the plane.

Jadzia in Bolivia!

What a happy girl!

Yoli's first day teaching her cake decorating class. They made little bears cupcakes.

Learning to decorate cakes.

More decorating.

The final cakes the girls made in the class. I tasted one of them, it was quite delicious in addition to looking very nice.

Jadzia plays with golf toys at El Jordan.

The 24-hour fishing experience

After successfully bobbing and weaving my way around going fishing with my brothers in law for several years, I finally bit the bullet Thursday. Overall it was a good time ... the problem was the amount of time we spent.

Bridge over the Rio Grande

The deal was supposed to be that my three brothers in law (cuñados) would pick me up at 8 a.m., take me fishing for the day, and bring me back home in the evening. Knowing the way things go in Bolivia, we were sure they'd come later in the morning and we were right. They drove up in a borrowed Pathfinder along with three of Alcides' relatives, for a grand total of seven guys in the party.

I wore shorts and t-shirts, though there were questions about what sort of underwear I was wearing (they wanted to ensure I would not get bitten by bugs which I assume are like chiggers). I took a camera, some sunscreen and some bug repellant, and that was it.

We started driving. After about an hour or so, we ran into a problem. To get across the Rio Grande, there is a small one-lane bridge called Paila (actually a train bridge that doubles as a car bridge), but traffic was totally stopped for some reason. Alcides drove around much of the traffic to get near the front, but we could go no further. Eventually everyone but Alcides left the car to go find out what was going on. The way this bridge works is that traffic must take turns going across. I think it flows one direction for an hour or two, then switches. Apparently some car or cars didn't respect this and drove around the gate and got part of the way across the bridge and encountered cars going the other way. Things got bad from there and everything stopped. You can read an article about it here (but it's in Spanish).

So we left the gate and started to walk across the bridge. It was a a long walk, but quite nice with the breeze off the river. The bridge is an old steel-and-rivet structure with train tracks in the middle and wooden planks around those over which cars can drive. It is clearly an old bridge, and a new wider bridge is under construction very close by, but it will be a year or two before it is ready. We got across the bridge and went to eat at a little stand near all the traffic. We had pacamutos, which are basically chicken skewers, and some yucca. Along the way I had some good conversation and got to work on my Spanish skills.

Eventually traffic started to move, but in the direction opposite that which our car would be heading, so it would be a while longer before Alcides could begin driving across the bridge. One of my cuñados had left, so Boris and I went to find him. We had a good long talk as we walked past the seemingly endless line of cars. We did eventually reach the end, though, and about the time we did, up pulls Alcides and the rest of the guys, so we climbed in and continued on our way.

The fishing hole

The continued on for several more hours passing through many little tiny towns. Along the way we kept looking for any place that might have ice in a bag, without success. The last 45 minutes or so, the road was riddled with potholes which Alcides tried to avoid, but often couldn't. The landscape was very green, lots of trees and farms and rural stuff. During that last 45 minutes it also started to rain. It wasn't too bad, and it seems it was just a passing storm, because the sky quickly clearedd. When we reached our destination city, we did find a place with ice in old coke two-liters. Alcides also bought some bread and eggs to eat later.

We turned off the highway and drove a ways down a gravel road until we found a little lagoon or creek. There were a lot of folks there. Juan insisted this wouldn't be a good place, that we should continue a bit down the road to a house with a lot of land and ask for permission to go to one of their lagoons. We did so.

Then it was time to find our fishing hole. It was quite a trek with Juan leading six of us. I quickly regretted bringing sandals. Once we left the ground immediately around the homestead, it became very muddy and increasingly full of reeds. I tried to avoid the worst mud, but it wasn't always possible. My sandals got totally submerged and muddified a few times, making walking that much more problematic. Worse, these are relatively new sandals that have one or two spots that irritate my feet (I need to develop callouses), so it wasn't a fun walk.

After a false halt or two, we found the right place. It was a large lagoon surrounded by reeds. there were muddy paths around it and little spots where you could stand and fish. The guys got out a net and swept the water for minnows. Along with the minnows, they got some little things that looked like crawdads or shrimp or something. Boris gave me a plastic tube with a screw drilled through it at one end. I got some line, a hook, and a piece of Styrofoam for a bobber, and tied it all together. I grabbed a minnow and found a little spot to start fishing.

The challenge was learning how to cast. Obviously i am used to a rod and reel. This was just a pole and fishing line, without any weight. But I found my groove eventually. I made a hole in the ground where I would place the pole. Then I would hold both the bobber and hook in my right hand and some of the slack in my left hand. Then I would toss the hook and bobber out underhanded.

It's been a while since I went fishing, so the excitement of seeing the bobber move and then trying to set the hook awakened in me. In all, I got five fish, all of them quite small. One of them escaped as I was trying to remove it. Another was just so tiny I just had to throw it back.

During this time, Juan and Boris were doing some fishing with round nets and setting up long nets across the lagoon.

The long night

Eventually the sun set and Alcides returned. He and some of the others set off in search of wood to build a fire. This was no easy task given that the ground was very wet and most of the vegetation was reeds. But they did find some dry wood and soon a fire was going. We ate the eggs and bread and shared many rounds of mate and coffee, talking and stuff. Around midnight I was beginning to feel like it had been a solid day and was more than ready to head home. Ah, but that was not to be.

I think some of the guys had it in mind to fish well into the night since we had gotten there so late. They would go off to check nets then return an hour later and go back out again. And they were successful. They got some big fish later in the night. I stuck near the fire and talked a bit with those there. I would sit for a while then stand up, but I could never really lay down because the ground was so wet. The night began to really drag on for me. I grew concerned about Yoli who had been expecting me to come back in the evening, since I had no way to contact her way out in the middle of nowhere. I have never been on a true camping trip, sleeping in the wild, so I wasn't relishing the idea that my first experience might be sleeping on wet reeds. Another problem for me was my allergies. As the night wore on, I began having a bit of trouble breathing, which seems to happen to me at nighttime in Bolivia. I guess its the humid air. I did enjoy watching the sky, which was marvelously clear of clouds and artificial light.

Around 1:30 a.m. Boris, Harris (pronounced Hah-REES) and I decided to head back to the truck to get some sleep, since our fishing site was obviously illsuited for this task. On the way back I had the same problems with mud on the sandals, and I slipped on a tree/bridge when we crossed a creek, falling into the water and getting the bottom of my shorts wet.

It was better to be in the truck, but the air got hot in there and I continued having trouble breathing for quite a while. I never really fell asleep for any extended period, which was too bad. Eventually the entire party returned... it was probably around 5 a.m. or so.

The voyage home

We started on the way back. I was pleased with the prospect of getting back to Jadzia and Yoli. But after an hour or so of driving, Alcides got tired and pulled to the side of the road to rest. After 45 minutes we resumed driving for a while, but Alcides had to stop again. I was seriously thinking about offering my services as a driver in order to keep us in motion. The highway was just a straight stretch of road and there wasn't much traffic (that's the first and only time I have seriously entertained the notion of driving in Bolivia). But Harris stepped up and took the wheel... He needed to be somewhere at 9 and had a vested interest in getting us there on time.

On we drove. And just outside Santa Cruz we ran out of gas.

What a trip to remember! At least we didn't have trouble crossing the bridge on our return voyage.

Friday

Eventually I did get back to Yoli. It was probably around 11 a.m. Friday. And I found out that Jadzia had fever for the second day in a row and was waking up all that night. Yoli had really missed me.

I was able to sleep a couple hours before we headed over to Boris at 2 p.m. to eat fish. But in true Bolivian fashion, nobody else was there. Alcides and Juan showed up much later and we didn't eat until around 7 p.m. Lucy and Juan did the cooking... They fried some of the fish and made soup from the others. The soup was a normal Bolivian style soup where the meat is cooked with bones in, and the heads are also included in the soup.

At last we were able to return to El Jordan and put Jadzia to sleep. As I type Yoli is making a batch of buttercream. Corina's wedding is next Wednesday, and the next few days Yoli will be busy preparing various things for the cake. We will leave Monday morning to go to Samaipata. I am looking forward to being there because it should be a quiter, more relaxed time for me. I hope it will be for Yoli, too, but obviously she will be working on the cake as well.

Now I am off to grab a little bite for dinner and then hopefully get LOTS of sleep tonight. Between RISK and fishing this week, I have been awake a lot. Both have been very memorable experiences. The fishing trip had it's downsides, but overall the good far outweighs the bad and it will be a great memory.

Filming buñuelos

Sorry it's taken so long to write, but we've been packing a lot into the past few days and it has left me with no time to get into an internet cafe to write.

Two days ago, we went to visit Yoli's dad. Our main purpose was to film him making buñuelos, which is a Bolivian treat somewhat like a funnel cake. Rather than a runny batter it uses more of a dough, but it is fried and served with honey or powdered sugar. Yoli has tried to make them before but has not been pleased with the results. Her dad is a baker, so he knows how to make all these Bolivian delicacies.

Anyway, he seemed to really enjoy showing how to make them (though apparently he had not done so in some years). In fact, it was one of the best visits we've ever had with him... he didn't complain about anything or speak a downcast word. The funny thing is that he made way too much dough. Yoli purposely brought only a little flour since it would be only the three of us eating them. But he added much more and we ended up with two mountains of buñuelos.

I've had several opportunities to talk with my brother in law, Boris. The conversations went well and I was able to communicate decently. He can talk fast at times, which makes it hard to understand, but overall it went well.

Last night we had a RISK night. The idea was to have all of the brothers-in-law plus another male friend... a "guys-only" night, basically. It was scheduled for 7 p.m.

In true Bolivian fashion, nobody showed up until around 8 or 9 p.m. and the full slate of people didn't arrive until 10 p.m. All the brothers-in-law brought their wives, and Alcides also brought his daughters. After going out to get some food and soda, eating, and talking, we probably didn't start playing untilaround 11:30 or midnight. Since lots of explaining of the rules was necessary, we didn't finish until around 3:30 a.m. Two of the couples ended up sleeping over (One nice thing about staying at El Jordán is that there is no shortage of mattresses).

I ended up winning the game, which is not too surprising since none of the others had played before. But they caught on pretty quick and they seemed to really enjoy it. If we had time, we´d probably try to play again, but I don't think there will be time. In fact, some of them wanted to play a second game right after the first!

It's always interesting when many of us are together. The problem for me is that conversation moves far too swiftly (and with way too many jokes) to understand much. One on one I have a good shot, but when there's a large crowd, I'm usually in the dark.

Today (Thursday) we have a full slate of visits scheduled. Friday morning I am supposed to go fishing with the guys. We'll stay out all day and come back in the evening, rather than do an overnight trip. It should be a good time.

I have some photos from the trip to post, but it appears this internet cafe lacks a computer with a CD-ROM drive. Hopefully I'll get them posted before the day is over, so check back.

The gang's all here...

Well, I arrived safely to Santa Cruz on Sunday night. It was a long journey (go to sleep at 1 a.m. Sat, wake up at 4:45 a.m. Sun), but mostly it went well. It was nice to visit with the Clements in Miami. They were on their way to Santa Cruz as well, for the wedding of their daughter, Corina. (Corina is the one who runs El Jordan and is a good friend.) Anyway, it is nice to have folks you know with whom you can visit! I say the trip went mostly well because when I arrived, my checked luggage did not arrive with me.

At Viru Viru airport, there is a glass wall separating the luggage/customs area from the pick-up area. Yoli and Jadzia were there with Corina and others waiting for the Clements and I. They were waving and I was waving back, waiting for my luggage to appear. It never did. So I filled out some paperwork and went out to see my wife and daughter. Jadzia was very sleepy, but she wanted me to hold her.

In fact, since I've been back, she insists on being near me or having me hold her all the time. She really cries when I leave (just to go to the bathroom, for instance). Hopefully this won't last long, but it is so cute to see how attached to me she is.

Anyway, the luggage was rerouted back to Santa Cruz and we picked it up Monday morning with no problems. Thank God! I wasn't relishing the thought of borrowing/buying a bunch of clothes down here.

Many things are the same here, and there is the usual adjustment to the weather, to taking the bus and walking everywhere, to listening closely to people's Spanish so I can understand, to spending long visits with folks. It's all good.

At El Jordan, I got to see a bit of "Jericho." Jericho was a project to expand El Jordan by purchasing the property next door, tearing down the house there, and building a new multi-story building. You can read more about it here or see some pictures we took last year when it was under construction.

It is now all finished, and it's really cool to see. There is a nice large multipurpose meeting room on the first floor with a kitchen, several awesome childcare rooms on the second floor, and then classrooms and guest rooms on the other floors. It also looks quite impressive from the street. Best of all, it greatly expands the capacity for ministry to happen. Yoli was using the kitchen last week to teach four girls in her cake-decorating class.

Speaking of which, I got to see the cakes (and taste one of them) today. They were very good students, indeed!

I'm not sure what's on tap for the following days, but I know we'll see friends and family. Tomorrow we may go to see a Bolivian movie that is supposed to be pretty good (but there are no showings with English subtitles, unfortunately). Also, my brothers in law are quite intent on taking me fishing overnight sometime. That should be an adventure.