Home again

Well, we made it back to Santa Cruz. Even crossing into another country it seems like we can't escape Bolivia. In what we hoped would be a one-day event on Monday at the Bolivian Consulate on the Argentine side of the border, we ended up staying for 3 days and nights. We were applying for our new visa so we could stay here in the the country, for which you must leave the country and re-enter with the new visa. Well, like we have found in the other 5 Bolivian consulates with which we are aquainted, this one also had some surprise requirement which we had no idea we needed to meet. So we had to wait a few days for Eva to get the required document from the government in Santa Cruz and for Cristina to bring it down to us, but in the end we are here and have made a big step towards getting our 1-year visa now. 

But coming back home this time was a little different because we didn't even unpack before we were picking up and moving into our own place. Just the week before last, right before leaving on our border adventure, I found us a place to live by randomly hopping on a bus that went by our office and getting off in a random spot and walking exactly one block. There I saw a house with a cardboard sign on the door that said "Apartment for Rent." I met the owner, brought Ann back to see it the next day and the same day we left on our trip we went by to pay the first month's rent. 

It was an easy desicion really because this place has I think all the things we were looking for: lots of fruit trees (coconut, plantain, guayaba, lemon, orange, grapefruit, mango, papaya!) and the shade they bring; right on a park with a little soccer field and playground that is crawling with kids in the evenings; quiet and simple neighborhood; two other houses on the property (the landlord and his extended family) so Ann won't be alone when I'm travelling and so our house is safer since someone is always around when we are at work; one 15-minute bus ride to work that leaves us right at the door and 7 other bus lines just a block away that take us to any part of the city; and two puupies for Ginger to have companions. 

I say house, but it is really two rooms with a small kitchen and bathroom (you could shower and use the toilet at the same time), but it is all the room we need and we enjoyed it a lot this weekend. There were a lot of firsts in our almost 6 months here already on our first day in our new home too: first shower with good water pressure, first time we didn't have to open a suitcase to get dressed or to get some kitchen utensil out, first time to wash dishes in a kitchen sink, first soccer game (finally I have neighbors to play with and the field is right outside our door!), and first night's sleep without the roar of traffic and bright city lights pouring in the window. Also it was the first morning that a rooster woke us up at 4:30. That will take some getting used to, and the chickens roost in the mango tree right outside our bedroom window too. Sunday we went to a small charismatic presbyterian church (sounds oxymoronic, right?) called "Jerusalem Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Bolivia" that is only 4 blocks from the house and is probably where we will be attending from now on. We are also a short walk from the Ayoreo community that I have been building a relationship with. 

So we are pretty excited. Hopefully we´ll have some pictures for you soon.