Our favourite altitude side effect is sluggish thought processes. Good excuse, eh?? "Lack of oxygen" is quick to exit our mouth when we can't remember something or we screw something up. It doesn't work with the few people that knew us elsewhere, we haven't really got any worse (thank God!) but it's helpful with our new acquaintances!
Nausea, shortness of breath and headaches are mild but were rather consistent for our first few days. The shortness of breath comes back quick still, just walking up a flight of stairs or talking too fast makes us stop and pant a little. Mom can attest to this - I spoke to her a few days after we arrived and I had just walked up a dozen steps to our friend's Vonage phone. Everyone has told us not to exercise at all for atleast 30-45 days.
The side effect that's been bugging John and I the most has been insomnia. John's been taking mild sleeping pills which don't seem to be helping too much. I tossed and turned all night last night so went back to bed this morning after getting the kids on the bus. Slept two hours and now I think I feel worse. Oh, well...had to give it a try.
There may be a shortage of meat here in La Paz as the farmers in the lowlands are threatening to stop sending meat. Ahhh! Third world country...divided country. Keeps one on their toes. Dominga and I are going to go to the market after lunch and hopefully stock up. We have a full size upright freezer here at the house with lots of room. Hopefully there will be meat there to stock it with. I refuse to buy the llama meat though! :-)
Somehow, John's secretary was able to squeeze us in an appointment with the local Internet provider. They're supposed to show up tomorrow morning and John's supposed to stay home to help coordinate the installation. Internet here is slow and expensive. We had to pay for six months in advance...a bummer if we're only at this house for four months but you do what you have to! So Kim, I'll call you at work tomorrow morning if they show! They tried to set a 7PM appointment time...what are the chances that the guy would show up at 7PM on a Friday evening? Ha!
John and I went to the school for the High School Orientation. No big surprise...the girls' teachers are delighted with them. They're in the same Spanish and Philosophy classes together. John got "told" by the Spanish teacher for not speaking Spanish to the girls. She told him it was a crime! Hee Hee! He agreed then walked out with a smile but his head hanging a little lower. Funny how being scolded by a teacher still stings even when she's the same age as us!
Well, time for lunch...leftovers from the dinners I haven't had to cook. Yeah!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
We're Here!
We arrived just over a week ago. It was an overnight flight from Miami, delayed a few hours but otherwise a decent flight. Decent because I slept the whole time! :-)
Lisette became ill from the altitude as soon as we landed. Poor baby! She was white as a sheet, John had her sit down right in the middle of the chaos that La Paz airport was at 7 AM. He gave her water and she improved considerably. Nicole and I had to visit the ladies room so we missed most of the drama but I was very happy to see Lisette had pink lips instead of blue when I returned. There were half a dozen people there to welcome us (and look after my baby) so we whisked through the diplomatic lines (so cool!), gathered a yelping Buddy (poor puppy!) and climbed into the three vans that were waiting for us and our 85 lb. Lab and our 10 large suitcases.
We spent our first week in a beautiful two story condo with incredible views of the mountains and city. It was a four bedroom luxurious deal but a house was found for us which was actually even more beautiful. John calls it the "Soprano House" due to its opulence. Our eventual house is under some major renovations...supposedly it will be ready in January but we're preparing to make this house ours for at least 6 months.
The house has only 3 bedrooms but they're all master bedrooms. The girls have to share a room but we've also given them the entire third floor which includes a huge open space they'll use as a study/TV room. Not a bad deal. Jake's bedroom is huge as well, he has two twin beds in here and the only Internet access as we're borrowing the wireless connection from the Marine house across the street. Yes, the Embassy Marine guards live twenty feet away. Great for security of the house...not so sure about the security of our two beautiful teenage girls! Ha!
We've hired a maid. Her name is Dominga and she started work yesterday. She's a sweetie but she's not Lilian so I'm not quite as happy. I'll keep you posted! :-)
I became sick as a dog on Friday...possibly something I ate or drank. The water isn't potable here so we all have a water distiller in each house, our apartment one stopped working - possibly before I last drank from it. We moved into the house on Friday so that was fun. Thank goodness for wonderful Embassy help. My stomach troubles turned into throat and sinus trouble on Saturday. May as well get it all over with at once I guess! Today is much better, just a little weakness and sinus ache left. Nicole's home with a sore throat but her energy level seems good enough for school tomorrow.
Jake is conditionally accepted at the school but has been doing terrific! Knock on wood! I think his teacher is an angel! His best friend from Argentina is in his class. They begged the teacher to sit closer to each other but she was smart enough to sit a two girl buffer between them. The whole acceptance issue was a problem when we first arrived. As opposed to what was indicated via email, they were only going to have him "audit" for the first four weeks which gave him no protection at all, they could show him the door at any time. Thanks to a few puffs on the oxygen mask, we approached the superintendent and asked for the status change and got it. Normally a conditional acceptance is for a semester but as Jake is apparently doing so well, they've offered us a quarterly review...so he may be completely accepted as soon as October. The elementary principal has been doing back flips for us, being exceptionally friendly. Although I appreciate her effort (she could have been very nasty), I can't quite warm to her. We'll see.
No word yet on my job. I need to take the Spanish test but that won't be for a week or so. I'll try to be good about stealing Nicole's laptop and getting a blog in daily. Supposedly it takes about three months to get Internet set up here. Third world? Yup!
Miss you all! Love and Besos!
Lisette became ill from the altitude as soon as we landed. Poor baby! She was white as a sheet, John had her sit down right in the middle of the chaos that La Paz airport was at 7 AM. He gave her water and she improved considerably. Nicole and I had to visit the ladies room so we missed most of the drama but I was very happy to see Lisette had pink lips instead of blue when I returned. There were half a dozen people there to welcome us (and look after my baby) so we whisked through the diplomatic lines (so cool!), gathered a yelping Buddy (poor puppy!) and climbed into the three vans that were waiting for us and our 85 lb. Lab and our 10 large suitcases.
We spent our first week in a beautiful two story condo with incredible views of the mountains and city. It was a four bedroom luxurious deal but a house was found for us which was actually even more beautiful. John calls it the "Soprano House" due to its opulence. Our eventual house is under some major renovations...supposedly it will be ready in January but we're preparing to make this house ours for at least 6 months.
The house has only 3 bedrooms but they're all master bedrooms. The girls have to share a room but we've also given them the entire third floor which includes a huge open space they'll use as a study/TV room. Not a bad deal. Jake's bedroom is huge as well, he has two twin beds in here and the only Internet access as we're borrowing the wireless connection from the Marine house across the street. Yes, the Embassy Marine guards live twenty feet away. Great for security of the house...not so sure about the security of our two beautiful teenage girls! Ha!
We've hired a maid. Her name is Dominga and she started work yesterday. She's a sweetie but she's not Lilian so I'm not quite as happy. I'll keep you posted! :-)
I became sick as a dog on Friday...possibly something I ate or drank. The water isn't potable here so we all have a water distiller in each house, our apartment one stopped working - possibly before I last drank from it. We moved into the house on Friday so that was fun. Thank goodness for wonderful Embassy help. My stomach troubles turned into throat and sinus trouble on Saturday. May as well get it all over with at once I guess! Today is much better, just a little weakness and sinus ache left. Nicole's home with a sore throat but her energy level seems good enough for school tomorrow.
Jake is conditionally accepted at the school but has been doing terrific! Knock on wood! I think his teacher is an angel! His best friend from Argentina is in his class. They begged the teacher to sit closer to each other but she was smart enough to sit a two girl buffer between them. The whole acceptance issue was a problem when we first arrived. As opposed to what was indicated via email, they were only going to have him "audit" for the first four weeks which gave him no protection at all, they could show him the door at any time. Thanks to a few puffs on the oxygen mask, we approached the superintendent and asked for the status change and got it. Normally a conditional acceptance is for a semester but as Jake is apparently doing so well, they've offered us a quarterly review...so he may be completely accepted as soon as October. The elementary principal has been doing back flips for us, being exceptionally friendly. Although I appreciate her effort (she could have been very nasty), I can't quite warm to her. We'll see.
No word yet on my job. I need to take the Spanish test but that won't be for a week or so. I'll try to be good about stealing Nicole's laptop and getting a blog in daily. Supposedly it takes about three months to get Internet set up here. Third world? Yup!
Miss you all! Love and Besos!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
My Miami
We arrived here in Miami yesterday. It's very hot. Very, very hot. Yuck. But it's worth it, the in-laws are awesome. We met John's sister and her kids at a restaurant for Nicole's 16th birthday last night and she ended up taking them all home with her (her husband's away on business) - six kids...brave woman!
I zipped up to Cuqui's house this morning and ended up taking the girls (x4) to see Mamma Mia this afternoon. I shed an awful lot of tears through that movie but it was amazing! Especially impressive was Meryl Streep's performance. Who'da thunk Meryl could sing like that??
Tonight I've been suffering with a headache from lack of caffeine. I'm trying to cut down and paying the price.
Another note regarding my baby girl turning sixteen. She wore a big cloth crown with tall cloth candles on it - the front read "Birthday Princess" - all day yesterday. At the airport in D.C. we were buying some sushi for lunch when a group of teenage boys broke out into "Happy Birthday to You" from the railing above us. Precious moment! :-)
I zipped up to Cuqui's house this morning and ended up taking the girls (x4) to see Mamma Mia this afternoon. I shed an awful lot of tears through that movie but it was amazing! Especially impressive was Meryl Streep's performance. Who'da thunk Meryl could sing like that??
Tonight I've been suffering with a headache from lack of caffeine. I'm trying to cut down and paying the price.
Another note regarding my baby girl turning sixteen. She wore a big cloth crown with tall cloth candles on it - the front read "Birthday Princess" - all day yesterday. At the airport in D.C. we were buying some sushi for lunch when a group of teenage boys broke out into "Happy Birthday to You" from the railing above us. Precious moment! :-)
Sunday, July 27, 2008
We're In!
The school in La Paz has "conditionally" accepted my wonderful son. I would really love to tell this principal where she can shove her stupid school but first we have to visit the competition and decide if the warm fuzzy feeling would be worth it. Perhaps I should be the one they should have accepted "conditionally"? Nah, that would have taken too much thought processing. They're not too good at that.
So off we go to Bolivia. I promise more regular entries once we're settled.
If you have ever wondered what life might be like at 13,000+ feet, the welcome mat is always at our door!
So off we go to Bolivia. I promise more regular entries once we're settled.
If you have ever wondered what life might be like at 13,000+ feet, the welcome mat is always at our door!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Trip was Great!
The kids and I are back from a week long trip to check out universities. We only looked at three but the other two are in Miami and we'll be there in a few weeks.
First off, FSU. Florida State University is in Tallahassee, FL. None of the three high school kids wanted to stop there but as we were driving right by it, I thought we should. Good idea. Great school, beautiful campus...small campus considering they have 40K students but very nice! We were all very impressed. Coolest thing - a circus class.
Second stop, UCF. University of Central Florida is in Orlando, FL. It's HUGE! 48,000 students and it's spread over a million acres. Well, it surely felt that way after our walking tour. Very nice campus as well but it did feel a little massive. Jake voted for it strictly due to its location...oh, and they have a chocolate lovers club.
Lastly we went to Flagler College in Saint Augustine, FL. We were all very excited about visiting Flagler. An absolutely stunning school...from the outside. It was a big let down. Smelly and old, the classroom we were shown stunk to high heaven and the main hall, while it was architecturally beautiful, was run down and rank. Our tour guide was barely tolerable, not the least bit enthusiastic. Obviously intelligent but it was also obvious he must have been volunteered for the job.
So, it was definitely worth the trip. The kids behaved extremely well. We were able to visit some great friends on the way too. FSU went to the top of the list, a surprise first place finish. The girls have also seen and love Duke University. We gathered a bunch of good information about the application process, scholarships and housing.
Today I took a pile of pictures of our possessions. Then I started packing and separating. I'm done in the living room and halfway through the kitchen. Lisette is about finished in her room and Jake is almost done with sorting through his toys in the basement. Tonight is movie night...I'm finally going to see "Transformers" - oh joy, oh bliss! :-)
First off, FSU. Florida State University is in Tallahassee, FL. None of the three high school kids wanted to stop there but as we were driving right by it, I thought we should. Good idea. Great school, beautiful campus...small campus considering they have 40K students but very nice! We were all very impressed. Coolest thing - a circus class.
Second stop, UCF. University of Central Florida is in Orlando, FL. It's HUGE! 48,000 students and it's spread over a million acres. Well, it surely felt that way after our walking tour. Very nice campus as well but it did feel a little massive. Jake voted for it strictly due to its location...oh, and they have a chocolate lovers club.
Lastly we went to Flagler College in Saint Augustine, FL. We were all very excited about visiting Flagler. An absolutely stunning school...from the outside. It was a big let down. Smelly and old, the classroom we were shown stunk to high heaven and the main hall, while it was architecturally beautiful, was run down and rank. Our tour guide was barely tolerable, not the least bit enthusiastic. Obviously intelligent but it was also obvious he must have been volunteered for the job.
So, it was definitely worth the trip. The kids behaved extremely well. We were able to visit some great friends on the way too. FSU went to the top of the list, a surprise first place finish. The girls have also seen and love Duke University. We gathered a bunch of good information about the application process, scholarships and housing.
Today I took a pile of pictures of our possessions. Then I started packing and separating. I'm done in the living room and halfway through the kitchen. Lisette is about finished in her room and Jake is almost done with sorting through his toys in the basement. Tonight is movie night...I'm finally going to see "Transformers" - oh joy, oh bliss! :-)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
My Computer's Back!
Yeah!
The Geek Squad took care of it...for a hefty price but now it's working just fine!
We're in the "on again - off again" mode. The embassy is working on getting John down to La Paz for a couple of weeks but there's no way to know if it's going to happen. In the meantime, we're looking at bringing him on our university tour next week. Of course, if he has to go to Bolivia, those plans will be moot. I do hate this back and forth nonsense! I'm a planner and it drives me crazy for things to be so up in the air.
The hysteroscopy is tomorrow so I'm packing for our college road trip today...expecting to be a bump on a log for the next 24 hrs. Thursday will be somewhat busier, picking up a rental car and Lisette has a doctor's appointment before her Theater camp production Thursday evening. We're hoping to be on the road Friday but that's still to be determined...depending on how I feel, where John will be. The miracle of it all - my blood pressure was fine at my pre-op appointment. I laughed out loud when one of the questions was "what's your stress level right now?" Hee hee. Where to begin.
Seems Lisette is full-blown teenage "you don't understand me" now. John can't give fashion pointers and we can't possibly understand how much she misses her boyfriend. I know this is nature's way of making our separation easier come next summer but it's incredibly annoying. Shake my head, throw up my hands, or roll my eyes, sometimes all three. I wouldn't be 17 yrs. old again for all the tea in China and this is part of the reason why not. Not being in control of your life, your future is a big question mark and you've got these people bossing you around. Wait a second...my life's still like that!!
The Geek Squad took care of it...for a hefty price but now it's working just fine!
We're in the "on again - off again" mode. The embassy is working on getting John down to La Paz for a couple of weeks but there's no way to know if it's going to happen. In the meantime, we're looking at bringing him on our university tour next week. Of course, if he has to go to Bolivia, those plans will be moot. I do hate this back and forth nonsense! I'm a planner and it drives me crazy for things to be so up in the air.
The hysteroscopy is tomorrow so I'm packing for our college road trip today...expecting to be a bump on a log for the next 24 hrs. Thursday will be somewhat busier, picking up a rental car and Lisette has a doctor's appointment before her Theater camp production Thursday evening. We're hoping to be on the road Friday but that's still to be determined...depending on how I feel, where John will be. The miracle of it all - my blood pressure was fine at my pre-op appointment. I laughed out loud when one of the questions was "what's your stress level right now?" Hee hee. Where to begin.
Seems Lisette is full-blown teenage "you don't understand me" now. John can't give fashion pointers and we can't possibly understand how much she misses her boyfriend. I know this is nature's way of making our separation easier come next summer but it's incredibly annoying. Shake my head, throw up my hands, or roll my eyes, sometimes all three. I wouldn't be 17 yrs. old again for all the tea in China and this is part of the reason why not. Not being in control of your life, your future is a big question mark and you've got these people bossing you around. Wait a second...my life's still like that!!
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