Buenos Tardes!
Well we are back from our Vacation. In an earlier email I shared that Sarah and I were going to La Paz and Copacabana, but things did not work out for us to go there, so we changed our plans and went to Sucre instead. There are a few Missionaries in Sucre, so we contacted them and we were able to stay at the Guest House in Sucre. The Guest House was a two bedroom apartment, so Sarah and I were able to get groceries and make a lot of our own meals which was nice. We enjoyed 6 days of relaxing, reading, watching movies and playing card games. Along with hanging out around the Apartment, we were able to get out and see some of the sights in and around Sucre.
On our first full day( Wednesday), we went to a Park that had real preserved dinosaur footprints. We were able to see the footprints from a distance but it was still an incredible sight to see. From the research that has been done, the park found that there were 4 different types of dinosaurs that roamed the land in the area. They were able to make casts of these footprints and we were able to see them up close. The park also has a lot of real life scales of different dinosaurs which were fun to see. At the end of our time there we visited the gift shop and got two dinosaur posters for two little boys that we have befriended. When we told them that we were going to the Dinosaur Park they were jealous, so we though a little gift would help brighten up their day!
On our second day( Thursday) in the city we went up to the “recoletta” area where we were able to see an amazing view of the city. On our taxi ride up to the recoletta we could tell that we were going to be pretty high up, but I was not expecting the kind of view that we saw. We had a fun time taking pictures and enjoyed a nice lunch at the café that was up there. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the apartment.
On our third day( Friday), we spent the morning visiting two museums off of the Main Plaza. The first museum that we visited was the Casa de Libertad. This was the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed. There was also a room that held pictures of every president that Bolivia has had. This was a really interesting place to go. On our tour we were able to learn a lot about Bolivia’s history and got to see some interesting artifacts. Next, we made our way to the Museum of the Cathedral on the Main Plaza. This Museum had a lot of old church relics which were nice to see and we were even able to go into the Cathedral which was really beautiful. After our tour of the museums we spent the rest of the day reading and hanging out at our apartment. As you know Friday was also New Years Eve, so we stayed up until midnight to help ring in the New Year. Sucre celebrated with a nice show of fireworks all across the city. We enjoyed watching them out our window. It was definitely an unique way to spend New Year’s Eve.
The next day was New Years Day and we stayed in our Apartment because most things would be closed. I enjoyed sleeping in late, reading and watching some movies. Sunday brought about our last full day in Sucre. We went out for Lunch one last time and spent the day reading and cleaning up the apartment. We flew out of Sucre Monday morning and returned to Cochabamba. It was nice to come back to Cochabamba, it definitely felt like coming back home. Overall it was a nice vacation. I was able to get a lot of rest and read almost 5 books!
We came home to find that we had no internet, due to a change in the company. So sorry about the delay in getting this out, no internet kind of throws a wrench into the plans :) .
My Mom came on Thursday and it has been really nice to see her and spend time with her. We have been doing some stuff locally and are planning on seeing some sights today before school starts on Monday.
I hope you were all able to enjoy a great Holiday Season with your family!
Our Christmas ended up being nice. A few days before Christmas a group of us got together to exchange “Secret Santa” gifts and to have a nice dinner. It was a lot of fun, and it was great to be able to celebrate Christmas with our family in Bolivia. It is amazing how God uses people wherever you are to feel like family, that is definitely what my friends in Bolivia are to me.
On Christmas Day Sarah and I went to a family’s house for part of the day. It was fun to be able to spend Christmas with a family. We were able to play with the kids and their new Christmas toys and enjoyed a British Christmas Dinner. Again God blessed us with great friends who treated us like Family that day.
Here is a link to my pictures from the Christmas Vacation... http://www.
Adios! - Rachel
