Off to Cochabamba - Travel Adventure

So...where to start? Well, it all began with us having a conversation with our CR's about a language school possibility for future workers. In that same conversation, we were reminded that we were up for more language study. "So how about you guys go check out this school and take some classes?" Sure!

Packing and preparing were a bit of a whirlwind. We had to arrange schedules, leave keys, guest house schedules, hire extra staff etc. etc. In all of it, I was packing and hoping that I didn't forget anything.

Tuesday night, as we were ready to leave, we realized that we couldn't find our camera. Lynn had already come to pick us up and we were frantically running around the yard, Marcelo with flashlight in hand. We all suspected Asha had something to do with the disappearance. Seriously, it couldn't have been worse timing. Finally, we gave up, ran across the street to borrow Hans and Elma's camera and quickly loaded up to head to the bus depot. I had visions of my camera stuffed behind a bush on the back part of the property. And it'll probably rain tonight, I thought.

When we arrived at the terminal, it was so busy. There were hundreds of people everywhere, either arriving or coming. Bus drivers were yelling last minute seat sales before they pulled out, "Boos cama, Boos cama, Boos camaaaahhhhhh". Carl went to pay the entrance fee and I waited with the suitcases and the kids. After he came back, I headed to the bathroom with them before we got onto the bus, since there is none on the bus. Carl waited and watched that our bags made it safely in the compartment of our bus. We were on the top level of a double decker bus and since we were riding "Boos cama", the seats were like lazy boys. It was quite comfortable to recline and almost be horizontal for sleeping.

We got the kids in their seats as we left the city. I was really hoping we hadn't forgotten anything, and of course I remembered the camera and prayed that it would show up. The kids looked out the window for about an hour, and then were getting tired so they curled up on their lazy boy seats and went to sleep.

Asha was quite the thrasher and so I couldn't really sleep well, thinking that she would slide off the seat. Plus, the adnoids on the guy behind me were rattling like a freight train! I finally got a few winks before the bus stopped at 2 a.m. just outside of Chapare for a pitstop. We woke the kids up, as this would be the only time for a bathroom break before we arrived in 5 hours. They stumbled out of the bus as we made our way among the throng of travelers. Traveling by night is much busier than during the day, so we waited in line for the bathroom for a while. Bathroom, well, we'd call it a bathroom here, you folks up north would maybe call it something else....

We got back on the bus, and the kids thankfully fell right back asleep. Mr. Snorer wasn't so bad, and I slept until just as we were arriving in Cochabamba. It was light and it was COLD. When we left Santa Cruz, it was probably 28 degrees, but I could see my breath as I quickly covered up Asha with a blanket. Once the bus stopped, we gathered up our things, bundled up our kids in jackets and blankets and waited until everyone else was off.

I was glad that the bus ride was uneventful. As we stepped off the bus to wait for our luggage, a security guard asked us where we were from. He told us that he would have to take us to an office to be checked out. ??? We collected our luggage and then followed him to a small office where a nice lady asked us how we were feeling. She checked our temperature and then let us know that they were screening all foreigners for A1H1 flu. But we've lived here for almost a year? No matter, we look like we just arrived. That won't change no matter how long we live here. Well, better safe than sorry is their policy.

We made our way into the terminal, found the information desk and called our host family. Normally the directors of the school would pick students up, but they were away. I was wondering what our host family would be like. We waited in the terminal, and I was glad that I brought little gloves along for everyone. The kids were pretty sleepy still, and I was hoping that we'd be able to sleep more once we got settled into our home. Once Charo arrived, I was surprised. She wasn't anything like I was expecting. She greeted us and helped us with our luggage out to the taxi. This should be quite the 10 days......