The Bolivian Perspective

A group of mothers with their babies that have had cleft-lip/palate surgery.

While Jayson and I have come to enjoy the different simplicities of the Bolivian way of life; it seems that the most rewarding part of our experience here in Bolivia and has been the work we’ve for our research project. In the past four days we’ve had the opportunity to interview 12 doctors, a catholic priest, the director of health, and visit various cleft-lip patients and their families. Our most interesting interviews have been with the plastic surgeons here. One of the surgeons has done 2,300 cleft-palate surgeries and is known internationally for his work. He offered some interesting insights on the best way for NGOs to offer support. He mentioned that when foreign doctors come into Bolivia and do surgeries that Bolivian doctors can and should be doing on their own it takes away their dignity. He feels that it is fine for an organization to offer financial support for a time but that should not be the final solution. He proposed an alternate solution to providing free surgeries for children. Instead of NGOs paying for local doctors to do the surgeries (as Smile Train does) or having American doctors unfamiliar with cleft palate surgeries come in (like Operation Smile) he suggested setting up a rotation. Because of the experience these Bolivian doctors have had and the techniques they have developed, the results from their surgeries are superior to the vast majority of the surgeries done by foreign doctors. If doctors wanting to specialize in cleft lip and palate surgery they could pay these specialist to teach them for a period of 3 or 4 months their techniques that have not been written in the textbooks yet. In turn, they could provide free surgeries for the patients who have no money because the doctor wanting to learn finances them. If the NGOs still wanted to help, they could provide a scholarship for the doctors wanting to learn. Just as a side note, each plastic surgeon we have met with has a photo album with pictures of patients that have had bad operations, many of which were performed by Operation Smile medical missions. It is sad because once the child has had a bad operation it is very difficult to fix and make it look good. The child only gets one chance to have a good operation.

We have also been touched by many of the families that have lived though the trial of having a child born with cleft lip. Nobody knows until the baby comes out of the womb that it has cleft lip; if you have ever seen a baby with a bilateral cleft lip, it is quite a startling sight. There are many false beliefs about the origin of the deformity and it causes many parents to leave their children with the malformation at the hospital and never come back. One lady we met with had adopted one of these children and helped her receive reconstructive surgery. This program in Tarija is quite impressive. They have helped hundreds of children receive high quality reconstructive surgery. Many of these families have absolutely nothing in US standards, yet with the help of this organization they are able to help these children live a normal life.

A mother with two daughters that were born with cleft-lip.

The great team that has helped us an incredible amount with our research. Guadalupe, the one in the green, treated us like a son and daughter. (This is quite normal to tower over everyone. We will have a reality check when we get back to the states and we are short again.)

Arrival in Tarija

June 24 – Yesterday we arrived in Tarija to continue our research project. After we picked up our bags at the baggage claim, we received a nice welcome from our contact Guadalupe and her chauffeur who came to pick us up. This is a little town without many North American visitors. I don’t know if it is standard for all Americans to be interviewed by the local news when they arrive or not, but some how they got tipped by someone that we were coming and were anxiously waiting for us to share a few words. Unfortunately, I have a sore throat and my voice has mostly escaped me; so I gave him the watered down version. The newsman seemed a bit disappointed for not receiving a longer explanation for why we are here, but that’s life. Too bad we have to come all the way to Bolivia to become regulars on the 6 o’clock news.

Afterwards we went looking for a hostal to stay in while we are here in Tarija. Having stayed in a wonderful hostal in Rurre for $10 were thought we could find something decent for under $5. We were sorely disappointed to find out that the nastiest places in town were more than $10 a night. Apparently people love the wine and the small town feel of this place and drive-up the real estate prices. Since we spent our wad on the nicest suit in Bolivia a couple of weeks ago, we decided to go with one of the “economic” rooms. Lonely planet describes the one we chose as being rather ramshackle, which I think is a bit generous. Think of your “favorite” missionary apartment and you might have an idea of our jail cell. To make the rooms cheaper they make you share a bathroom with the other tenants in the complex. Showering provides two options. This morning Stephanie chose the larger shower/toilet room with mold caked on the walls, while I chose the smaller cleaner shower despite the fact that I had to literally straddle the toilet as I showered; at least the trickle of water was warm. I don’t know if not having plugs in a room also makes it cheaper of if they just plain forgot, but no power outlets in the room also complicate things. Steph found an outlet in the lobby and tried blowing drying her hair but something went haywire with the current and sparks came flying out of the dryer instead of hot air. Needless to say singed hair is also part of the experience. I guess we will appreciate our mansion at 320 North much more when we return to live in Provo once more.

2 weeks prior: enjoying a gourmet peach pork chop...

at the Ritz and...

...now we are living in the jail cell

It's a little harder to share these half-sized twin beds so we opted to sleep separate!

Don't worry Steph's happier than she looks!

Bolivia just celebrated their second holiday within two days of each other. San Juan is a holiday dedicated to eating “salchichas” or hot dogs with your family and blowing up fireworks at midnight. Walking downtown in the evening was difficult because the place was packed with people buying hot dogs and fireworks. We joined in on the fun and bought our own 100 shot roman candle that was taller than Stephanie.

As far as our research goes we are making progress with our surveys and interviews. It is fun to listen to the doctors and hear their opinion about the help that is given to their country. Our friend Guadalupe has been amazing and planned out our time here down to the minute; it is like having our very own personal secretary.

A Taijan countryside full of vineyards

10 K Race & The Aymara New Year

Monday was the Aymara New Year holiday, so as is typical on a holiday no one goes to work and you enjoy the day sitting around, passing time in typical Bolivian style. However this day required a little more exertion than the other holidays we’ve celebrated. Dr. Moya caught wind that Jayson and I enjoy running a thought that we would enjoy the opportunity to do a 10K run. Somehow in Dr. Moya’s invitiation to do the run and Jayson’s explanation I misunderstood the Spanish and thought we were doing a 10K race with lots of runners and it was some big event. I woke up a little nervous and anxious (the usual race day feelings), and then Dr. Moya arrived and told us we could start running. I gave Jayson a confused but figured we were probably doing a warm-up run to the race start. As it turns out what Dr. Moya really had in mind was for Sandra, Gabriel, Jayson and I to run from the house to a swimming pool seven miles away. Maricello was our support car during the run, and we enjoyed making frequent stops to refuel on tangerines and water. Unfortunately the swimming pool was closed for the holiday (no big surprise), so to “pass the time” we went to a little place to sit, drink frescos, and have a little small talk. I don’t know what it is about Bolivians or the Latin American culture but they love to go to a place, away from home, and sit, chat, and drink frescos especially on holidays. Then after you have had a chat at one place, you go to another place and do the same thing.

This is where the Bolivian Army trains. I am very grateful to live in America!

Halfway through our race.

This is the family we are staying with and Dr. Moya, the opthamologist.

Jayson is Thankful for the Mundial

Although some days are more packed than others we still manage to be quite tired when the end of the day rolls around. I thought I would give you a sampling of one of Jayson’s most recent prayers to help you appreciate this. After he had been sleeping for an hour or so I woke Jayson up to say prayers. Jayson started out praying in English in his usual prayer mumble, but when you combine the prayer mumble with the tired mumble the intensity of the mumble multiplies. As a result I didn’t really understand the first part of the prayer, but then he said something that caught me off guard and I couldn’t contain the giggles. He said in his prayer that he was thankful we had the opportunity to watch the mundial (world cup) on television. It would have been one thing if Jayson and I had actually watched the mundial and he really desired to express his gratitude for that opportunity, but it turns out we hadn’t actually watched the mundial that day. When he heard me laughing he then started speaking really fast Spanish and ended his prayer sooner than normal.

*As evidenced by Jayson’s prayer, the mundial is a really big deal here. People are obsessed! We have found it necessary to stay up to date on all the current games in order to have conversations about what everyone is talking about all over Bolivia (Does anyone else find it slightly ironic that Bolivia doesn’t even have a team to cheer on in the competition?). Fortunately the success of Bolivia’s South American neighbors (Argentina and Brazil) provides plenty of opportunities for Bolivians to express their mundial excitement through firework displays.

Multicine

Last night we decided to take the kids we are staying with to the Multicine, one of two movie theaters in La Paz playing the latest movies. Gabriel, 11 years old, was absolutely ecstatic about going to the movies. I didn’t really know what to expect going to a Latin movie theater, but Stephanie and I have never been so entertained on a trip to the theater. When we entered the building everything seemed normal aside from the fact that we were the two tallest, whitest people in the crowd. As we passed all the little department stores the crowed thickened. I had no idea why there were some many people around. We found the line to buy the tickets, which, was abnormally long, and got tickets to Toy Story 3. After we bought the tickets, Gabriel came and found us and took us down a couple of flights of stairs to the popcorn line where the kids had just bought 5 sodas and 3 jumbo popcorn buckets. They were quite relieved to see us because they had run out of money and needed a few extra Bolivianos to complete the deal. This is where Steph lost it and started laughing hysterically. Apparently there is an unwritten rule here that if you are going to watch a movie you have to buy popcorn and drinks. I don’t know where all the people came from, but there was about 4 times the people buying popcorn as there were in the ticket line. After the popcorn and drinks we had to stand in line for them to check our tickets. In short the entire floor of the room was covered with people standing in one line or another, not even Disneyland on Christmas is so packed with people. Needless to say the Bolivians love to go the movies. We watched Buzz and Woody on the silver screen and had a ball.

Steph with the kids in front of the 11 screen Multicine!

We promise the kids had fun, Latins just have a natural instinct to put on their game faces for any photo.

Just waiting for the movie to start and eating our popcorn.

Day 3 in Las Pampas

June 17 - Day 3 began with an early morning boat ride to a giant field where we watched the blood red sun rise over the horizon. It reminded me of the time when my friends and I woke our dates up (Stephanie) at 4 in the morning to watch the sunrise over the Tetons; even though we didn’t make it in time and the sun came over the mountains as we watch from the van window.

Later in the day we met one of Victor’s good friends, a caymán name Peter. Supposedly feeding any animal in the pampas is forbidden; however, Victor, and I am sure all the other guides do it as well, feed certain animals to make the tour better. Victor has fed this caymán so many times that he can go to Peter’s territory, tap on the water and Peter will come right up to his hand looking for food. When he called Peter for the first time we had no idea of Victor’s feeding routines, so we were quite impressed at the friendliness of such a fierce looking creature. Later we played around with Peter a bit as we feed him meat that was intended for fishing piranhas.

After lunch, our stay at the pampas ended. We loaded up our gear and headed back down the Yacuma River headed for Santa Rosa. The ride was quite relaxing as we saw all the animals we had seen on the way into camp. Our journey doubled in length because halfway down the river our boat broke down. Apparently someone had played a joke on us and poured water in the gas tank. Luckily the boat carrying 500 one-liter empty beer bottles back to civilization passed us and we tied the two boats together. We couldn’t go too fast but we made steady progress. Just before we got to Santa Rosa our rescue boat died as well, not too surprising considering all of their engines appear to be from the 1970’s. For the last couple hundred yards our guide used a long stick he had found and brought us to the little town gondola style. How’s that for dedication to customer service?

Day 2 in Las Pampas

June 16 - Day 2 of the pampas consisted of going on a hunt for anacondas, boa constrictors, and cobras in the marsh land. With nothing but a pair of galoshes and Jayson’s knife to protect us we set off for a three hour trek through knee deep water and mud to find the snakes. I failed to mention one detail and that is that the way you find the snakes is by stepping on them (or disturbing them in their own habitat). You can imagine that my every step was fairly slow while Jayson was trudging through the marshland with lightening speed. Fortunately or unfortunately we did not happen upon any anacondas in this trip but we took some sweet pictures of the storks and other birds in the area.

In the afternoon we went on riverboat ride to find the pink water dolphins. According to Victor (our guide) if you find the pink fresh water dolphins then you can swim in the river without worry because the dolphins protect people from the alligator and piranhas. Whether Victor was being serious or not we accepted his advice and jumped into the alligator/piranha/anaconda river once we happened upon the pink river dolphins. However, I am not convinced that the dolphins were enjoying our company. When we were on one side of the river they swam to the other and when we swam to the other side to be by them again they tricked us and went right back to the other side. Either it was a funny joke between the dolphins or they don’t really like offering their protective assistance to humans.

After the swim with the dolphins we went piranha fishing and Jayson and I each had success in catching one piranha even if they were both pretty small. Our guide caught a piranha that was big enough to take back to camp and cook but between 8 people the meat didn’t go very far. That night we went on another little boat ride to a central area where a bunch of pampas tours had come together to play some soccer and watch the sunset. It was quite a melting pot of people from all over the world coming together to play in the universal sport of ‘futbol’.

Day 1 in Las Pampas

June 15 - This morning we woke up and went to a little restaurant nearby for breakfast before beginning our journey to the pampas (or wetlands). I must admit I was a little bit disappointed when Jayson and I ordered the “Amercian Breakfast” which claimed to come with pancakes but the pancake turned out to be a thin crepe smothered in honey. For the past two ½ weeks all we have had for breakfast is tea and bread. So you can imagine that for someone who likes breakfast food as much as I do I was just slightly disappointed that I have yet to have enjoyed some “real American” breakfast food. We then met up with the tour agency and took a three hour jeep ride on the bounciest dirt road you can imagine to Santa Rosa where the pampas tour began. On our tour we met Matt from Ireland, his girlfried Katie from Scotland, another boyfriend/girlfriend couple from Australia, and two girls from Holland. Jayson and I had a real taste of what other college students around the world do for fun as we were highly entertained in our discussions during the few days we spent with them. We learned a great deal about the Irish conflict, life at Cambridge university, the best brands of rum, whiskey, liquor, vodka, etc. Most of them had been traveling for quite some time and still had a few months to go. Both Jayson and I decided that we would go absolutely crazy being on holiday for 7 months (even if it meant seeing the world in the process).

Our ride to the pampas took an eventful turn when our driver suddenly stopped, jumped out of the vehicle and yelled “anaconda”. Only seconds later he was running back towards us with a 2 meter anaconda dangling in his hand. We all jumped out of the jeep to take pictures of the snake and next thing I knew Jayson was holding onto the snake and doing a little dance up and down the road so as to not let the head of the snake get to close to his body. This was just the start to a very eventful day. When we finally arrived in the wetlands on the Yacuma river we boarded the boat with the rest of the group and took a three hour boat ride to the little hut where we are staying the night. Within only minutes of the boat ride we happened upon a crew of about 5 alligators (correctly termed caymen). I couldn’t understand why are tour guide didn’t let us stop very long to take pictures until only 30 yards down river we happened to see some more and then the whole three hours were spent seeing caymen on the banks of the river. We also so capybara (the world’s largest rodent). They are apparently sacred to Bolivians because usually they are pretty rare but the pampas has plenty and for my favorite part of the day we were able to see these squirrel monkeys and even feed them some bananas. They were quite vicious in their attempt to eat the bananas. By looking at the picture of my face it’s hard to tell if I was happy or scared of the monkeys but when it was all said and done I thought it was fun. The whole day was like a glorified trip to the zoo.

Las Pampas

Our ecolodge on the Yacuma River.

Our mototaxi ride from the airport to Rurre.

Having some fun with Peter.

Dad, I think peter could use a little dental work.

Victor promised Steph that Peter is a nice caymán.

The beautiful sunrise in Las Pampas.

The piranha shared between 8 people.

Pucker up!

The caymán that watched us swim with the pink fresh water dolphins.

An interesting prehistoric bird that breathes like it just ran a marathon.

One of the many wasps nest we had to be careful not to step on. A man the day before was not so careful and was attacked by the killer wasps.

Anaconda hunting...

What we saw instead of anacondas.

Two week old cayman eating dinner.

They are not as friendly as they look when you have a banana in your hand.

A weird mix between a pig and a hamster called a capybara.

Luckily we found a 2 meter anaconda on our way to the river.

Posing for a picture after our hike through the jungle.

A safe landing on the 1500 meter jungle zip line.

Feeding our pet caiman.

Rurrenabaque

June 14 - Our week was most adventurous. I think the pictures are worth 1,000 words. As soon as we arrived on the little prop plane into Rurre I knew we were in for a treat. The climate here is warm and humid and the air is thick and sticky. When we hopped off the plane and we were immediately shuttled on to these little moto taxis by this lady who seemed overly concerned that our plane had arrived late. (When we set up our tour beforehand in La Paz we weren´t planning on people being there to pick us up from the airport so Jayson and I were both confused when this lady was there to meet us at the airport and telling us to hurry and hop on the motorcycles that were going to take us into town). Next thing we knew Jayson and I were headed up the Beni river with some members of an indigenous tribe that were going to show us there village and be our guides through the jungle.

The boat ride on the Beni was muy bonita (full of beautiful lush greenness all around us)! Once we arrived at the indigenous village (22 families total) we were taken on a walk around the village. Everyone there lives without a lot of what we call necessities but they are very happy and seem to enjoy their way of life. They have tons of fruit trees there—(almost as impressive as Dad’s orchard). Orange, cacao, grapefruit, mango, papaya, lime, lemon, coconut, banana…etc. trees grow in abundance around the village and they grow their own yuka, corn, potatoes, wheat, sugar cane and pineapple too. The raise chickens that run freely around the village and jungle but always return in the morning and evening for breakfast and dinner. Our guide shared a lot of the medicine uses of different plants and some of the myths that sprung up from long ago and are prevalent in the village. We returned from our walk just in time to drink some fresh coconut water and have chicken soup. They say the chickens come for breakfast at 8 and are on the table to eat at noon.

After lunch we went on a trek through the jungle. The sounds in the jungle are incredible. There were thousands of birds cooing and cawing along with the ruffle of lizards and other creeping animals in the bushes. We were most impressed by some of the trees we saw. Jayson and mine’s personal favorite is the walking tree that looks like it has 20 legs and can and quite literally move 1 meter every year to a place with the best sun. When we arrived at the top of the hill/mountain we saw the jungle from a different angle as we took a series of zip-lines from the tops of the trees back to our original destination. (I am always amazed at the lack of safety regulations other countries are able to get away with; needless to say this zip-line would have never passed inspection in the U.S. but it made it all the more exciting. We were standing on these little wooden platforms on the tops of the trees with nothing more than our helmet to protect us from a 100 ft fall). We took a short swim in the Beni river when we returned from the trek and made it back to Rurre just in time to grab some pizza and find a hostal for a good night’s sleep.

Jungle

On top of one of the rickety 40 meter platform ready to fly to the next one.

Flying through the jungle.

One of the largest trees in the jungle.

These are the type of houses the families live in from the Tacana community. They are made completely from materials from the forest.

Steph playing with one of the village kids.

Mom you would love this place. This is one of the thousands of cacao fruits that they grow along with grapefruits, oranges, lemons, mandarins, papaya, guyava, banana, pineapple, avocado, coconut, and all sorts of garden vegetables.

Café and pastel de maíz

June 6 - Sunday we attended the Mira Flores ward here in Bolivia. I was a little lost during the Relief Society lesson but I know it was something about families and being good parents. Testimony meeting was significantly easier to understand (Yo se… is about all you need to know). Jayson shared some of his thoughts on how it doesn’t matter where you live the church is always the same—with the same principles and doctrines being taught. It really is impressive to see how true that is—it doesn’t matter the language. As to be expected with the Latin culture, everyone was so kind to us at church…people offered us rides home from church, invited us to come over for dinner, to come to their house anytime we want, to teach me more Spanish, etc. Their hospitality is endless.

Monday night we attended family night with Dr. Moya and a bunch of his family. We brought the family we are living with over as well. (Acutally we are living with three different families in one house but they are all related in one way or another). Sandra (the mom) is the only one currently a member right now. Her husband Mauricillo is what Jayson and I call a “dry Mormon”, for some reason of which Jayson and I are unaware he doesn’t smoke or drink, and he is the most kind-hearted man. Jayson taught a lesson on the plan of salvation and then we went into the dining room for tea and treats. It was pretty funny when everyone started passing around this mix that they were adding to their hot water. It looked like coffee and smelled like coffee and Jayson and I were both convinced it really was coffee. Neither Jayson or I were sure what to do without awkwardly bringing it to everyone’s awareness that we didn’t drink coffee in the presence of all these other members of the church. We sat there having this really odd conversation back and forth as we were smelling and trying to read the ingredients on the jar when Dr. Moya overheard us and in front of everyone announced that it was cebada tostada and not coffee. We felt bad questioning in the first place but Jayson and I aren’t quite used to having a hot drink with every meal and it seems you never know exactly what you are getting. As one of the desserts they were passing around this platter with cake. I thought it was banana cake (like banana bread) so I took close to the biggest slice on the platter and these were huge slices. It turns out it was cheese and corn cake. Of all the different things I have tried since being here this definitely has been the most difficult thing I have had to stomach (Daniel, I am sure it could compete with horse hoof gelatin). Apparently Bolivianos love it, I think it is an acquired taste like caviar or sushi. If Jayson had eaten his any faster than I was eating mine I would have passed it over to him but we were both eating it at a rather slow rate with sips of tea between each bite to wash it down. I came home with a rumbly tummy and laid in bed praying my stomach would digest the dessert and trying to find stuff in the kitchen that would help take the taste away. I really can't complain too much, but next time I am taking a smaller piece.

A day in La Paz

We took a ride in the ambulance with our medical student friends to go watch the IPSC Championship.

That's a 20,000+ ft mountain in the background (iyumani).

The older women love to wear these hats. She was happy to take a picture with us after we bought one of her scarfs.

How about these avocados Jaylene?

International Shooting Comp

June 5 - This morning Jayson and I had the privilege of attending the International P S C. Dr. Barragon was competing and we went to watch. We rode over in the ambulance with the medical interns. The ambulance experience was once in a lifetime, with a manual siren switch, no shocks, and a little bed in the back that bounces with every bump in the road. The minister of defense was at the competition to welcome all the different people from the other countries. He also took the first shot at a wine glass but had a little trouble shooting…this made Jayson and I both nervous for Bolivia if they ever end up going to war. The competition was surprisingly fun to watch. There were about six different courses and each participant shoots about 30 shots on each course. They go for accuracy and time. Dr. Barragon was shooting with an Israeli Desert Storm (he thinks that Jayson should become a member of the NRA and also buy a pistol…he is quite jealous of the liberal gun laws in the U.S.).

Raisins and Rum

Thursday morning we were able to observe the post-op care of the 14 patients who were given cornea transplants this week. It was a pretty amazing thing to observe the expression of these people who were blind and will soon see clearly. Bolivia doesn’t have an eye bank, so it is a rare opportunity for patients to have the opportunity to have this type of surgery. Dr. Duffin (from the U of U) was able to bring 20 corneas donated from eye banks all over the U.S. and bring the corneas to assist Dr. Moya with the surgeries. Afterwards everyone gave speeches filled with hugs, tears, and kisses.

In the afternoon Jayson and I went with the Calvet family to Ochucalla to celebrate Corpus Criste (the Catholic holiday). Ochucalla is a rural farming community where the Calvet family has a cabin of sorts (nothing like a resort cabin in the U.S.—more like a cabin you would find at a girl’s camp). We were able to enjoy peanuts with sugar cubes as part of the celebration and I also saw my first Bolivian pig!

Friday morning we met with Dr. Barragon (the plastic surgeon Deseret International works with here in Bolivia). We saw the cutest little baby with a cleft lip/palate that was brought in for the first appointment. I was really impressed with the way Dr. Barragon interacted with the patient. This sweet indigenous woman was in tears because she thought the baby was born with a curse to be born and she was to blame. Dr. Barragon very explicitly expressed that it was not her fault and that with surgery the baby would be able to look like any other child. I couldn’t help but cry watching the situation and thinking of the emotional roller coaster this young mother had been experiencing.

Jayson and I also witnessed another sad situation as we went to talk to the doctor at the renal dialysis clinic. There were about twenty patients all squished together in these tiny rooms where they come three times a week for treatment. Most of the patients end up dying because they can’t afford to keep paying the money for the treatments or people die because they can’t pay in the first place. There was one young girl who was an orphan and the resident doctors were paying for her to come have treatment every week. The doctor wanted to meet with us to see if we could help potentially get some more equipment. Most of their machines are outdated and keep breaking down. On our way out of the hospital two of his patients stopped to talk with us. Apparently they had observed us talking with the doctor and wanted to tell us about health care from their perspective. They are both currently out of jobs and unable to pay for their renal dialysis treatment. They told us that the doctors have visions of kidney transplant centers but the patients can’t even afford renal dialysis. They appreciated that we were simply willing to listen.

Friday night we were invited by Franz and Maria (two of the medical residents) to go out on the town. Jayson and I are not quite as familiar with the single lifestyle since being married and especially the single lifestyle outside of “happy valley” USA. First we went and played pool. Although Jayson and I lost each game we blamed it on the size of the holes (Jayson claims they were smaller than the standard US pool table). Maria and Franz asked a lot of questions about the church and expressed some interest—they thought we were kind of weird when they found out that we were married at 22 & 23 and don’t drink coffee, smoke, or drink but Maria said she thinks our religion seems intriguing. At 11:00 Jayson and I were ready to go home and get some zzz’s but Franz and Maria were still up for some fun. The original plan was to go to a coffee shop. Since Franz and Maria already thought we were a little odd for not drinking coffee in the first place we didn’t want to seem even more odd by telling them we wouldn’t be able to go to the coffee shop, so we decided to go. When two of the coffee shops were closed Maria suggested going to this Irish pub. Most of the menu was off limits to Jayson and I but we figured crepes would be a safe bet. Just to be on the safe side Jayson checked with the waitress to make sure there was no alcohol in the crepes. My first bite of crepe was delicious (strawberries and peaches), the second bite I tried the ice-cream. This time I made a sour face and stared at Jayson to see if he had a similar reaction. The dialogue went something like this.

Stephanie--“Jayson, does that ice-cream taste a little funny?”

Jayson—“Yeah, it’s a little different!”

Stephanie—“I swear that’s not how ice-cream is supposed to taste, Maria would you like to try?”

Maria—(after taking a bite) “Oh yeah, it’s rum ice cream—Rum is a drink made from raisins but the alcohol should be cooked”

Whether the alcohol was cooked or not…Rum ice cream does not come highly recommended by me (buy Jayson kind of liked it).

¿Varon o Mujeres?

June 2, 2010 - At Stephanie’s request I am writing a blog post. Today provided many experiences to remember. We found that after two days of acclimatizing we have much more energy to move about as we please. (Yesterday we sat around in the operating room for four hours because we didn’t have the strength to stand for more than a few minutes at a time; not exactly the impression I wanted to give the first day on the job. After surgery we went home and slept the rest of the afternoon. The people say that it is normal, whether that is true or whether they want to make us feel better I am not sure). We attended the Deseret International Clinic inauguration that Dr. Joel Moya Saldias has set up to provide free surgeries for the poor. As part of the program the newscasters first interviewed Dr. Moya and the Lion’s Club ex-President then they turned to Stephanie and I and asked us to share a few words for the occasion. I didn’t really know what to say, but hopefully I didn’t sound two much like a clueless norteamericano. Although Stephanie has dedicated herself to learning Spanish her vocabulary is limited, so she just smiled and held her two-liter water bottle in her arms as if it were a newborn baby. Who knows, maybe we’ll be famous here in La Paz because we were on the news. Afterwards they gave us a Bolivian specialty called salteñas, a mixture of vegetables and meat wrapped in an enclosed crust about the size of a large taco. Apparently they also have a lot of juice inside because we got it all over ourselves. Stephanie had a plate full of salteña juice and slowly dumped it all over my coat and pants without either of us realizing it; needless to say it was quite a spectacle. Luckily, after we had eaten and made fools of ourselves, they told us to slurp the juice as we eat so it doesn’t drip on our clothes. Later we went down town with Sandra to buy a cell phone. Stephanie had to go to the bathroom while I was talking the sales agent so she went alone. I forgot to tell her what varon and mujer meant. She had a fifty percent chance of choosing the right bathroom. As luck would have it, she chose to enter the bathroom that said varon, which means male. It makes for a good story typical to adapting to a new culture.

14,000 feet & barely breathing

May 31, 2010—After 24 hours in airports and on planes we made it to our final destination-La Paz, Bolivia. Customs was only necessary to pay the money for our visas. They didn’t bother to check our yellow fever cards, bags, or passports. Once we made it through, Jayson and I were warmly greeted by Mauricio & Sandra Calvet and taken on a wild car ride to our new humble abode. Upon entering the house we were immediately rushed to our new room and told by Don Julio to “echese! echese!” (translation: Lay Down! Lay Down!). Next thing I knew he was taking our blood pressure (I guess this is a standard procedure, but since I didn’t understand a whole lot of what was being said in the first place I thought we were being prepared for some sort of surgery. Evidently, it was an initial check-up on how we were handling the altitude). We were fed mate tea & maraqueta for breakfast (a type of bread that supposedly can only be made in Bolivia because of the altitude and the recipe is a secret that cannot be shared…yes dad, I still continue to regularly ask people other than mom for recipes). Afterwards we enjoyed a siesta in our room which has two twin beds. As of now Jayson and I are trying to sleep in one twin bed (we will see if this lasts throughout the trip). The rest felt wonderful but I woke up to the most intense nausea and lightheadedness I have ever experienced. Naturally, breakfast didn’t stay in my stomach very long and I went back to bed white faced with my legs elevated. In the afternoon we went on a walk around the city with Sandra. La Paz is bustling with taxis, buses, and cars. There doesn’t seem to be much order to how they drive. I was almost hit by a taxi on three different occasions and I can assure you it wasn’t the result of my being a “prideful pedestrian”. I am not sure the walk could be technically considered a “walk” as most of my time was spent sitting because every 100 feet I would have to stop and catch my breath for five minutes. So much for thinking I was in shape at one point; altitude sickness quickly convinces you otherwise. Jayson (as to be expected) has handled the altitude with much greater ease. Everyone here keeps telling me the sickness will only last for “dos dias” or (two more days). I guess time will tell.