On Saturday, we took a tour to the Tiwanaku ruins about 45 miles west of La Paz. Tiwanaku was a powerful culture for over 500 years(that’s 5 times longer than the Incas and about as long as the Romas). I was surprised I had never hear about this culture since it was the longest running civilization in South America. They lived sometime between AD300 to AD1000.
Tiwanaku Idol
All their temples were built according to the position of the sun and moon and they used calendars year round. Their main crop was potatoes. Researchers believe that 60% of the city was destroyed by the Spanish, who stole stones from the site in the 1500s to build churches. Christians also defaced a lot of the Tiwanaku monuments, as you can see crosses carved into the stone.
Stone Carving
Tiwanaku Stone Head Carvings
The Sun Gate at TiwanakuClose up view of Sun GateBackside of Sun Gate
Here’s a few other pics from Tiwanaku ruins:
Map of ruinsPart of Pyramid
Tour BusOn the bus
After our tour, back in La Paz, we had a great Mexican dinner(a first since USA), followed by a little unintentional shopping on the way home. 🙂
La Cuerva “The Cave”
Kat was excited about having a winter coat and Kane for his Manchester United Sweat Suit.
Yes, the scribble, that now clearly looks like 60, is how many days we were allowed in Peru. We just assumed we had 90 days, like most visitors. We started talking about going to Bolivia the week before Easter, since our kids would be off school for a couple days. Since we were thinking about this, we started checking out our visa and could not figure out when it expired. Thanks to our spanish school owner, Rik, who clearly noticed the 60, we realized that we had 5 days before it expired. After doing some research(as well as a trip to immigrations where the man at the desk gave me his personal cell phone number-kind of sleazy), we decided we would just be illegal in Peru for 5 days and pay the $1 per day fee at the airport.
Walking down our street to catch a taxi to the airport.Getting ready for our first flight to Bolivia.
After a thorough inspection of our $1 bills and disregarding about 10 of them(they have to be perfect with no tears), we were able to pay our fee at Peru Immigrations and head to security. Kat got stopped going through security, because she had Scott’s duct tape(or should I say “medical” duct tape, Scott broke his toe earlier in the week and this is what he was using to tape them together) in her backpack. They confiscated the tape even though I tried to tell them in spanish that my poor husband need it for his broken toe and that he wasn’t planning on tying anyone up on the plane. 🙂
After a short 45 minute plane ride, we landed in La Paz, Bolivia at the worlds highest airport at 13,323 feet. The airpot sits on the altiplano. La Paz is the highest capital in the world at 11, 975 feet above sea level.
Landed in La Paz!This is what you need to get into Bolivia.
The view of La Paz is striking, especially from El Alto (“The Heights”), and driving on the highway into the city. La Paz is nestled into a high valley of the Andes Mountains(much like Cusco), surrounded by the altiplano. The city has expanded onto the steep hillsides surrounding the valley.
We spent our first day in La Paz taking in the sights and sounds. Our favorite part was shopping in the Witch’s Market.
The local buses are so retro!
Kat”s new sweater and flute from the Witches Market.Kane’s first guitar made by Felix in the Witches Market.
See the llamas.
Wandering around the “witches market” is an experience to remember. On top of the usual fruit, vegetables, herbs and touristy merchandise of other South American markets, the La Paz Witches Market offers dried Llama fetuses that locals bury under their front porches for good luck. There are stalls selling spells and local remedies for illnesses.
It was wonderful being in La Paz on Palm Sunday. In front of the churches, ladies were selling palms, food, and Easter candy.
San Francisco Church
We did not see Easter candy in Cusco, so kids were excited to see it here.
One of our favorite moments in La Paz was feeding the pigeons at Plaza Murillo! The joy in my families faces feeding the pigeons was priceless!! Who knew that 29 cents worth of pigeon feed could provide countless fun.
Pictures from Plaza Murillo:
Neoclassical Cathedral that took 152 years to buildPlaza Murillo-named after General Murillo one of the Bolivian heroes of the independence movement.Congress Building
Presidential Palace – it has been burned 8 times.Great place for Breakfast in La Paz
Scott’s La Paz corner:
Well, after Lima, I was a bit skeptical of big cities in South America, but I have to say La Paz was great. At ~2 million, it struck me as “Cusco’s older cousin.” Very similar geography, perhaps more diverse in Architecture, a bit less touristy (the street vendors are not in your face). We had a great time there, and really just started to scratch the surface of this place. If you are traveling to Bolivia, and have 2 weeks, I’d spend at least 3 days in La Paz.
Spanish is going just great at school. I seem to be getting better on my Spanish every day. I seem to be getting better at my cursive as well. School is fantastic! I have so many friends. The names of my friends are Zadie, Aneel, Alexandra, Sophia, Angela and Melina. And I have lots of hard homework each night. Also at recess, my friends and me like to play tag and play with balls.
We have met some wonderful people in Cusco. On Sunday, a friend we just met invited, a group of us to go hiking above Cusco to the Temple of the Moon, Temple of the Sun, Zone X and Christo Blanco(the Big White Jesus on the Hill). Our boys were wiped out from their 15 mile hike the day before(post coming soon), so Kat and I just went. We left around 11am and returned around 5:30pm. Lanie(originally from CA-been in Peru for 3 years) and her son, Miro, led the hike. Lanie has learned alot about the history of the area, so we were educated on the Inca and Pre-Inca history. Beautiful day above Cusco! Lanie educating us on the what Inca and Pre Inca Walls look like
Inca WallSo fun for the kids to climb around on the rocks.Inside Temple of the MoonTemple of the Sun-unfortunately we could not go inside
Love that big White Mountain! We had an interesting encounter with a Quechua Man who did not want us to picnic by river. After food was offered to him, everything was fine. There are many of the “cutout seats” around here. The girls enjoying the energy!
Christo Blanco, similar to statue in Rio, but much smaller. It was built by a group of Christian Palestinians who had sought refuge in Cusco. It was given to Cusco as gift in 1945 before they went home .Kat and the “Big White Jesus.” He looks so beautiful at night all lit up from town.
It has been almost 10 months since I have had a job! It has been such a gift to have this time with my family. I feel truly blessed! My neighbor, Janira, is a part-time caterer. She is the one that taught Scott and I how to make Lomo Saltado and Estafado, introduced me to her butcher at Mercado Rosaplata, and walked halfway across town to help me find a larger skillet that was cheaper than the close stores. On Thursday, she had a big catering job for 50 people at the Renault Car Dealership. Her stepson is a chef and he was over helping her cook and they both worked the event together. Janira invited me earlier in the day to stop over. They were making chicken kabobs, chicken salad sandwiches and potatoes with either cilantro, peppers or plain. Then they piped on top a little chicken and mayo with a piece of parsley to top it off. I was able to help shape the potatoes and put the parsley on top. The potatoes are SO delicious! They are served at room temperature. It was great learning about Peruvians appetizers.
Pappas(potatoes)Chicken Kabobs
Janira invited me to go with them to the event that night! I had no idea what it would be like, but it took me back to my Pharma dinners, except it was Car Dealerships and I was a waitress. 🙂 I had a great time serving the dealers and practicing a little spanish!
Luis and JaniraFood waiting to be served. Janira had to bring her microwave to warm up the kabobs.
Care for a brocheta de pollo with that drink? The meeting was focused on Renault Light Commercial Vans, like the white one in the background.Outside view
Terminado! I thought is was funny that they gave us glasses of champagne after we finished serving the food. Also, the dealers only got CocaCola in plastic cups before the meeting then the alcoholic beverages were served after the presentation. I don’t think my doctors would have liked that! 🙂
Nervous, worried and nauseous describes Scott and I! I truly felt like I was dropping my kids off for the first day of kindergarten. I had a hundred different scenarios that could happen and what ifs… Well, it all went fine!
Kids woke up around 6:10a.m. and were excited and a little nervous about school. They both got their uniforms on without prompting, had breakfast and were ready to go. Wow, I don’t remember it being that easy in St. Louis. 🙂
Both kids start school at 7:45am, so we split up to get them to each of their schools on time. Kat’s school is walking distance from our apartment, so Scott walked Kat to school and Kane and I caught a taxi to school at 7:20a.m. No sleeping in for us!
Here’s what our kids had to say about school:
Kane: I was kind of nervous at first and excited! Then once I started in class, I got bored. At break, I made tons of new friends and played soccer with them. Classes were really boring. People punch each other a lot and teacher barely gets mad at them. Everyone was really nice to me! Kids gave me money, mints, played and talked with me. That is pretty much it!
Kat: I had a great day! It was the first day of school today. My school is called Santa Maria Reyna. Everyone was really nice to me. I did cursive which I have never done before and I was pretty good at it. We did English which I was really good at. It was about animals. I saw my friend Zadie at school who is from US(They are the only 2 Americans in the whole school). I love school!
Taxi ride to schoolKat sitting at her desk in the classroom.
We have been living in Cusco for 1 month now. I can hardly believe it! Time has flown…
About 23 years ago, I spent a semester in Guadalajara, Mexico. I lived with a Mexican family and went to school at Universidad de Autonoma. It was an incredible opportunity for me to experience another culture and learn another language. I can still remember sitting in a restaurant and seeing two American children speaking fluent spanish and I have always dreamed of my children learning spanish someday. It is surreal that it is starting to happen!
Two of our main goals, for our trip to South America, are for our kids to learn spanish and to immerse ourselves in the culture. After some time here and reflection, we have realized that our original plan will not truly give us what we were wanting. We were originally planning on being in Cusco one month, but we are not where we want to be with our spanish, and we feel like moving from place to place, we won’t be able to really to immerse ourselves in the culture.
So after some careful consideration, we are going to stay in Cusco for 2-3 months more, so that Kane and Kat can attend Peruvian school. Yes, Kane and Kat are going to real school starting this Monday, March 10, 2014. After some research and alot of help from a friend we met here, Raisa, Kat is going to attend an all girls Catholic School, called Santa Maria Reyna and Kane is going to attend a coed school called Collegio San Jose. They only speak spanish and are not bilingual at the schools, so our kids are going to be forced to learn and use their spanish. The Fall Semester, first day of school, was last Monday, so our kids are only a week behind. Kane and Kat are so excited to attend! We are so happy about this!!
Kane and Kat’s spanish teacher, Carina, went with me to sign Kane up at San Jose. I would not have been able to do it by myself. No one spoke english and my spanish is not good enough to comprehend everything they were saying. Thank goodness for Carina! Kane will be in 5th grade, section A. There are 14 kids in his class. His teacher’s name is Profesora Maria. Kane is required to wear a uniform also which he is excited about.
Thank goodness for Carina’s help!
Kane’s School: Collegio San Jose – this is just the elementary school.
After, we got Kane signed up, Carina had to head back to spanish school, so the kids and I took a taxi to Santa Maria Reyna. I was pretty nervous about trying to sign Kat up by myself, but it all went well. I was able to communicate in spanish with the director and I got her signed up. Whew!! I felt like I achieved a blue ribbon for that. 🙂
Kat’s school: Santa Maria Reyna
Next, was running all over town for the uniforms and school supplies. No Wal-Mart here! After shopping yesterday afternoon and today, we think we have all the supplies, uniforms, and shoes that we need. Can’t believe our kids are going to school in PERU!
Kane’s school supply listKat’s School Supply List
The stores are are tiny inside a market. They are lined up one after another.Kane trying on his sweater for his school uniform.
Kat trying on her jacket for her uniform.
Kane getting his pants hemmed in the market.
Trying on white tennis shoes to go with her “buzo” or in english: sweatsuit. She has to have solid white tennis shoes per instructions.
This is where we had to go to get Kane’s school books.This place was busy!
School Supplies-Yes, that is toilet paper that both kids have to bring.
Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them. ~Francesco Guicciardini
Friends are such blessings! That is one thing that has been hard on the sabbatical for me. I miss my friends and my family! On our RV journey, we crossed paths with a couple other families who were on sabbatical. It was wonderful talking and getting to know them. Unfortunately, these times were brief, except for Halloween with the Trojacs(another family on sabbatical) in San Francisco. It was a gift to connect with others.
We met 2 other families who are studying spanish and living in South America(Thanks to the owner of our spanish school for introducing us!). We have met up at the park a couple times and they came over for dinner on Friday night. It is such a joy to see our kids smiles and happiness playing with other children. It felt like such a gift to have friends over!
Rhoni and Dillon are from Canada. They have been in Cusco since December. They are visiting Peru, Chili and Ecuador and will be heading to Spain by the Fall.
Raisa, August and Zadie are from New Hampshire. They are in Cusco till July and then will see some of South America before heading home.
Thank you God for the blessings of friendship!
Kids Table in our apartment.
Raisa and Zadie teaching Kat to finger knit. Hope to be pros, time we come ho
Hanging with the MomsKids loved jumping on the trampoline!Fun place to meet up with friends: Parque Urpicha
See the big backpack on Kane’s back? Thats all his stuff for SA.Waiting for our plane in Kansas City
After a crazy, busy two weeks, we have arrived in South America and starting Sabbatical Part 2. Our flight was scheduled for Tuesday, February 4th, but was cancelled the night before at 10pm, as we were getting ready to head to a hotel, by the airport. A big snowstorm was headed to Kansas City, so we thought it would be better to stay by the airport, so Scott’s parents would not have to drive us in the bad weather. God totally answered my prayers, because I truly needed one more day to finish getting ready. They rescheduled us for Wednesday, February 5th and we only had to change planes once in Dallas, where we would have had to change planes twice the day before.
Scott’s parents were so wonderful and made the trek to the airport on Wednesday with the one lane roads. Thanks Mom and Dad!
I have to say that I was pretty amazed that Scott, Kane and I each had one back pack, Kat one small rolling suitcase and 1 small checked bag, with all our stuff for 5 months, in South America. We have learned to “go lean.” Nothing like RV living to prepare us for this! 🙂
Kat thought the tram ride in Dallas was an amusement park ride.Sleepy girl on our flight to Lima
We arrived in Lima around 2am and reached our beds at 3:30am. Pretty crazy!
We ended up hiring a driver to take us around in Lima since we only had one day there. It was worth every penny. He spoke English which was so helpful. We started our morning at the “free breakfast” at the hotel. The kids were so excited by the fresh squeezed juices(orange, papaya and pineapple). I think their favorite item was the small round bread(no idea what kind it was).
Then we headed to Plaza de Armas to see the changing of the guards at the Palacio del Gobierno(White House of Peru). This changing of the guards ceremony takes place every day at noon. The kids thought it was cool, but they were withering under the 80+ heat. My poor husband got a sunburn on his forehead due to not wearing his Mizzou hat, since his wonderful wife told him we didn’t want to stand out like tourists. 🙂
Start of Changing of the Guards Ceremony
Peruvian FlagThis guy was promoting a picture with his dog
After the changing of the guard ceremony, we headed across the Plaza de Armas to visit the La Catedral de Lima. Francisco Pizarros mislocated remains lies in this cathedral. They realized they had the wrong body when they found the “real” body in 1977 in the catacombs below the church.
La Catedral de Lima See the guy with the hat? That’s Pablo our driver.
La Catedral de LimaFrancisco Pizarro bones. Pizarro conquered the Incas in 1533.Inside La Catedral de LimaIn colonial times, rich families had their own side chapels in the church.
Next was the Monasterio de San Francisco. This church and monastery are known for the catacombs of 70,000 people and magnificent library that houses thousands of antique texts.
Monasterio de San FranciscoCan you see the skulls and bones?Kane and Kat feeding the pigeons and eating ice cream outside the Monastery.
Our final stop of the day was trying to find and unlocked cell phone that we could use for emergencies.
Scott is pleased!
We walked around the corner from our hotel for dinner. It was a little challenging reading the menu in spanish! Hopefully soon, it will not be!!
Our sweet Kane!Our happy Kat!Kids had their first Inka Cola!
We spent last weekend in Fort Pierce, Florida. We camped at a county park called Savanna Recreation Area. Awesome county park that had full hookups, laundry and wifi. Kane was ecstatic that the lake/swamp was almost at our RV due to the flooding from the rain storm the days before. He couldn’t wait to break out the fishing gear!
The water was close
Caught one!Our neighbors gave Kane some worms to use. He was so excited to fish as soon as we set up.
Look who else wanted to fish…Untangling the line
We went Archies for burgers at a cool little “biker bar.”
Saturday, the boys rented a canoe and canoed through the swamp and tried to catch some fish. Great time, but no fish caught, but they spotted an alligator! The girls headed to the Fort Pierce Farmer’s Market and Library.
Fresh Strawberry Smoothie!The produce looked so good! We bought strawberries, peppers, and a mango.
I love her love of books!We love going to the library!Love watching her read.
While Kat and I were out, we picked up a boogie board to take to the beach. While we were doing this, Kane was fishing by the RV and caught about 5 bluegill which Scott cooked up for dinner. Later in the afternoon, I took our kids to Pepper Beach Park. The waves looked huge! This was the first time for our kids to be in the Atlantic! Much bigger waves than the gulf. Kat stayed close to shore and rode the waves by laying down on board. It was so funny! I loved watching her hop through the waves! Kane was determined to catch a good wave to ride the board to land. It was so fun seeing his excitement when he caught the right wave and made it to the beach on the boogie board. I can already picture him on a surfboard. He was not scared when waves crashed over his head. I was! I stood in water for the first 30 minutes to make sure I didn’t lose a kid. 🙂 I love seeing their joy playing in the ocean! I feel so blessed to have these moments with them.
Sunday, we caught church in the morning, then the kids and I headed back to Pepper Beach Park for some more boogie boarding. I whipped up my second cherry pie of our trip and my life that night. The boys were very happy about this(Kat does not like fruit pies, but loves the vanilla ice cream that comes with it).
