It's been a great month, there's no comparison, and everything comes in a bag

Yesterday marked one month to the day since we arrived in Bolivia.  After having officially been a resident of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia for one month, I have much to talk about!  Over the next few posts I want to talk about some observations I have made since living here.  I think the easiest way to do it, so as to attempt to cover as much as I can, is to do it in list form and then to go more in-depth as it occurs to me.  I don’t want to miss anything and I want to get it all out before I forget!!!  In my absence I seem to have gotten kind of rusty with this blogging thing and it’s going to take me a hot second to get back into the swing of things.  I’ll be back to jotting notes and taking pictures everywhere we go in no time!  The truth is that I have missed blogging, and have sincerely wanting to go back to it since the day I stopped.  However, the last fifteen months have been one roller coaster of a ride (that’s a whole other show, as Oprah would say…more on this later), and life never permitted me the kind of time commitment it would need. Nevertheless, I promised myself (and my friends) that I would start blogging again once we moved here.  I’m doing it in part to document our adventures while starting our new life in a new continent and in part to allow my friends and family to keep up with what we are up to.

My first impression of Bolivia is definitely a positive one!  I LOVE it here!  I love my beloved United States of America and while I absolutely loved living in Houston, the only thing I genuinely, truly miss with all of my heart is the people I left behind: my Mom, my friends and my family.  I especially miss this lady…I love you, Mom! 

 

Mom and I.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are certainly other aspects about the motherland that I am going to miss as well.  I miss the creature comforts, the overabundance of EVERYTHING, the clean streets, and the excellent customer service at restaurants.

Before I continue,* turns down the music* I want to take a second to talk about something a little more serious. A disclaimer, if you will.  I do not, and I repeat DO NOT, want this blog to turn into a “Bolivia vs. USA” thing.  I want to make that clear from the start!  Obviously I will be comparing life here to life in the USA as part of the sharing of my adventures but I don’t want this to turn into any kind of competition.  If I share experiences while living here it is strictly for entertainment purposes.  What I don’t want this to turn into is a “it’s better here than there or better there than here” thing.  I enjoyed living in the United States, and it will always be my home.  Period.  End of story.  But I see absolutely no reason why I cant fully embrace and enjoy living here as well, and sharing my stories as I go along.

Now, with that being said, let the fun begin. *cranks the music back up*



La familia: this is what I live for. :)

Back to what I was saying.

 

One of the first things that made me want to start blogging again is the fact that everything here comes in a bag.  The most random things are bagged here!!  Ever since we got here and I first started noticing, it has become my personal mission to seek out as many random things that come in a bag as possible.  The mission is going well up to this point.  I’ve discovered many things that are sold in a bag so far.  Everything from mayonnaise to milk to salsa (which, incidentally, is not called salsa here – that is the Mexican in me talking – but is called “yahua” instead) to yogurt is sold in a bag here – even Coca Cola!  I’ll never forget the first night we were here we went to Fidalga, one of the main grocery stores here, and I saw, for the first time ever, mayonnaise in a bag. 

 

I thought it was the coolest thing!  That is, until we went to the dairy aisle and I saw the milk in a bag.  They don’t sell milk in plastic gallon jugs like they do in the states, or even in cartons like Mexico – although they have those here too – here, it is bought/sold primarily in bags.  And it comes in all flavors: plain, low-fat, chocolate, strawberry, banana, peach.  And the flavored milk tastes like a milk and fruit smoothie, not like milk with sugary, artificial strawberry flavoring like the one we have back home.  And don’t even get me started on the drinkable yogurt, which is very popular here…and which comes in tiny bags perfect for kids’ lunchboxes.  It’s like the Bolivian version of a juice box; it’s like Capri Suns or Sunny Delight or Kool-Aide…only healthier.

 

One night while still in our first week here, our oldest daughter came home from having walked to the little neighborhood store with her friends.  In her hand she had a little sandwich bag halfway filled with coca cola with a straw sticking out.  It was so funny to see her drinking a soft drink out of a bag!  What a genius use of a sandwich bag!  

 

Now, if I walk into a bar and get served a stiff drink in a to-go bag then I will consider my mission complete.  Until then, the search continues…