Part I - Bolivia

We have logged a lot of miles in the last few weeks. Carlos joined me on a work trip to Chicago and then we left for the Vazquez family reunion in Bolivia and then a vacation in Panama. I was really worried about the travel to Bolivia - 5 hours to Panama, 5 hours lay-over in Panama and then a 5 hour plane ride to Bolivia, late night arrival in Santa Cruz and then another flight to get to Cochabamba. The bad news is that it ended up taking 2 days to get to Cochabamba! The good news is that the plane rides and layover weren't that bad. Based on the good advice from our yoga mom friends we put Diego in a car seat and let Charlie sit on our laps. Diego on the loose is hard to manage at this age - he wants to eat and touch everything and constantly move so the car seat was great. We snuck into a business class lounge in Panama which made the layover enjoyable. We enjoyed the free drinks, Charlie enjoyed the free snacks and Diego enjoyed watching the airplanes:

The day we got there was rainy and cold so I dressed the boys in adorable matching Adidas sweatsuits that our friend sent. The only problem was that Bolivia was playing Argentina in the Americas cup and my little boys in baby blue Argentina colors didn't go over well. Here is Diego in his suit:

Once we finally made it to Cochabamba we participated in the first-ever Vazquez family reunion. The evening started with a happy hour and films and pictures of the Vazquez family. Saturday included an outing to a nearby lake and then a dinner and music. In addition to us, family members came from all over Bolivia, Texas, Florida and Brazil. I don't have the official shots, but here we are on a bus heading to the lake:

In between family events we got to see friends from our past life in Cochabamba and visit favorite restaurants and shops. Well actually the 'shops' are more like stalls in the vast informal market called "La Cancha." The Cancha must take up 10 square blocks. It's massive and you can easily get lost inside. One block has shoes, another block has meat, another block has flowers....

When we went to the Cancha to find Charlie a Charango instrument we ended up in the middle of a wedding party. Here are some shots of the wedding and Charlie picking out his Charango.

The weather and pace of life was just as ideal as I remembered, but what once seemed like a perfect place to live now seemed like it didn't fit our lifestyle. I'm not sure if that is good or bad. With the kids I found myself worried about everything from food and water issues to road safety like crazy chicken buses and "trufis" (group cars that pack people in) and wondering what terrible things the coca issue would bring in another few years. I was the person I never imagined myself - Instead of eating anticucho (bbq'd cow heart) from street vendors I was constantly armed with 5 different types of wipes, hand sanitizers and bottles of water! I used to love the pervasive indigenous culture and customs and some of that did come through but I realized that I've become so ethnocentric that what I was seeing most was the dirt and germs rather than the special culture.

Overall it was really nice to go back and I wonder when we'll get a chance to go again...It's been almost 10 years since our last trip there.

Here is Charlie driving a remote controlled car in the plaza: