La Paz is Still Quiet...

There was a small demonstration in front of the Embassy today. Someone threw some firecrackers, Bolivian national police (some in riot gear) kept them clear of the Embassy walls.

On an interesting note - General Trigo, the armed forces commander, who we briefly met at a Brazilian celebration earlier this week - has spoken heatedly against the idea of the Venezuelan or any military forces entering Bolivia. General Trigo reacted to meeting us rather like we were vipers (not too surprising, considering the relations between his country and ours) but his wife seemed very warm - I liked her at first sight.

Things have deteriorated in the state of Pando, the government declared martial law tonight. Pando is quite far from here, I believe it's the state farthest north (we're in the middle of the country).

There are discussions about a voluntary evacuation for families. There's a great deal of cooperation/communication between the Embassy and the American school the kids are attending. It's hard to believe we may evacuate when we've only been here a month but the possibility is there. In the meantime, we had a generator and multiple boxes of MRE (meals ready to eat) delivered today. There was gas at the gas station today...no disruption of power yet either. One of the ladies at dinner tonight said there was not one piece of meat at the grocery store today though.

I went to a birthday party for another American attache spouse. There were a whole bunch of international attache spouses present. I received a whole lot of hugs and kisses (even more emphatic than usual) from them. They're a nice bunch.

John met Jake and I at a local restaurant for dinner with other Embassy families. The political issues were the topic of conversation of course. Later, I lamented with John the fact that so many of the Embassy personnel and the families get along so well and so many of us are new. The potential for such a great tour is at stake here. Please pray that we all get the opportunity to work and live together for the next few years!