Part travelogue, part love story, this weblog follows Josh Renaud's trips to Bolivia. Since marrying his Bolivian fianceé, Yoli Zegarra, they have had four kids — with whom they now travel to Bolivia.
Our kids love yogurt — specifically Yoli’s homemade yogurt. Bolivian store bought yogurt is runnier than what we eat in America, but just as sweet. The girls, surprisingly, have complained about this.
So yoli is trying to make her own yogurt today, using the heat of the coils behind the refrigerator. We’ll find out tonight if it worked or not.
Jadzia has been keeping a notebook of her adventures in Bolivia. She wrote the following for “the public” to read on the blog:
bq.. We went and visited Tia Eliza and Tia Lucy.
They shared a dog family. “Lucky” and “Oso” were newborns. The dogs’ mom bit Josie when she passed the family.
They had cable, so Josie, Joseph, Ludi and Lucky watched some goofy shows where robots danced and said “Eee oo ah oo” and other noises, The robots lost their teeth too. They walked like in the picture below (on Disney channel).
Ten years ago I learned to ride Bolivian buses by myself to and from Hebron Seminary where I was staying. Now my four kids are learning the ways of the bus. Things like: kids give up their seats for adults when the bus is full; keep your hands inside; get on and off quickly; and hold on tight.
Harmonicas from Josh Renaud on Vimeo.
Jadzia and Ludi brought two harmonicas so they could both play harmonicas with Don Hector.
I shot some video and edited on the iPad. It’s sort of an experiment to see how much the iPad can handle (it’s 1080p video) and how long it takes to upload. The video was only a minute and a half, and the iPad was fine with it. Bt the u/l was quite slow. It _did_ complete, though, so here it is. Enjoy!
After (mostly) sleeping in, we awoke this morning refreshed, and had a nice breakfast of pastries that Heidi and Corina left with us last night.
At last it was time to walk the Santa Cruz streets and grab a bus to go to see Don Hector and Do{n~}a Lucila, Yoli’s parents.
Continue reading “Majadito, motos, y musica: a trip to Abuelito’s”
It was going so well. We sailed through check-in and security at Lambert, and had few problems on the long flight from Dallas to Santiago, Chile.
We got to Chile and followed the signs for “international connections,” because after all the final leg of this three-part trip was going to be a LAN flight from Santiago to Santa Cruz.
But things were’t right.
!http://joshrenaud.com/bolivia/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Screen-Shot-2012-02-21-at-10.06.52-AM.png!
Last night Yoli and I watched a movie called “Blackthorn.” The premise is that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were not killed at San Vincente, Bolivia in 1908. The film follows Cassidy around 1928 as he prepares to come back to the United States.
It’s a great western, with action and twists. But the best part is that it was filmed mostly in Bolivia and has Bolivian actors in it.
I have seen Robert Redford’s version of the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Yoli, and it’s kind of pitiful the way all the Bolivia scenes were filmed in Mexico. Similar deal with the recent “James Bond ‘Quantum of Solace’ film”:http://joshrenaud.com/bolivia/archives/2008/11/james_bond_movi.html — all the Bolivian scenes were filmed in other countries, and the actors weren’t Bolivian.
“Blackthorn” shows off some of Bolivia’s most beautiful features, including the “Salar de”:http://joshrenaud.com/bolivia/archives/2005/01/the_greatest_salt_lake_uyuni.html “Uyuni”:http://joshrenaud.com/bolivia/archives/2005/01/photos_salar_de_uyuni.html, which I visited with Yoli in 2005. Cassidy has a ranch, possibly in Chuquisaca, and visits “Potosi”:http://joshrenaud.com/bolivia/archives/2005/01/photos_potos.html and “Oruro”:http://joshrenaud.com/bolivia/archives/2005/01/photos_oruro.html among other places. The amazing landscapes and towns really make you feel like you’re in the right time period, and it also gives this western a different vibe (Bolivia has a different look than the American west).
The cast includes many Bolivians, and the story takes into account Bolivia’s history. Mining and colonialism definitely figure into it.
I can’t say enough about the film. Go rent it!
That I hate the changes to U.S. airport security since Sept. 11, 2001 is no secret to anyone who has traveled with me or has listened to me talk about my travels.
On “Daring Fireball”:http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/09/14/lukacs, John Gruber linked to an eye-opening story by Paul Karl Lukacs on his blog “Knife Tricks.”
Basically, Lukacs refuses to answer questions posed by passport control agents. His stance is that a U.S. citizen cannot be denied entry to the U.S., and that once a citizen has furnished proof of his citizenship and a written customs declaration, he is not obligated to answer any questions.
On this particular trip from China, he was detained in San Francisco for refusing to answer questions.
The blog post has caught attention across the web. To me, the guy is a hero. This passage sums it up for me: “To the extent that people decline to assert their right of privacy, it slips away. Lack of vigilance by citizens begets more government power.”
* “Read about Lukac’s experience”:http://knifetricks.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-am-detained-by-feds-for-not-answering.html
* “Read his follow-up where he answers 10 points raised by commenters”:http://knifetricks.blogspot.com/2010/09/10-brief-responses-to-700-comments.html
What do YOU think about this story? Share your thoughts below.
Just a bunch of photos I took over the course of Saturday at Don Hector and Do{n~}a Lucila’s house.
!http://www.joshrenaud.com/bolivia/archives/images/2010/IMG_3791.jpg!
!http://www.joshrenaud.com/bolivia/archives/images/2010/IMG_3759.jpg!
Friday morning we headed over to the _Plaza 24 de Septiembre_ at the heart of Santa Cruz. The scenic cathedral at one corner of the plaza, the _Basilica Menor de San Lorenzo_, opened a _mirador_ several years ago. In 2008, “we tried to go up”:http://www.joshrenaud.com/bolivia/archives/2008/09/putzing_around.html, but could not because we got there after 11:30 a.m. and it closed at noon.
We got a late start to our morning (as we usually do), and it was looking like this attempt would turn out to be a repeat of two years ago. But we got to the cathedral right on time and had no problems going up.
Maybe we are a little crazy, climbing twisty stairs with four children in tow, just for a nice view. But we like “church towers”:http://www.joshrenaud.com/bolivia/archives/2005/01/churches_convents_and_crypts_oh_my.html, “faros”:http://www.joshrenaud.com/bolivia/archives/2005/01/down_a_mineshaft_and_into_a_mac_store.html, and “observation towers”:http://www.joshrenaud.com/bolivia/archives/2008/09/paradise.html. That’s the way we roll.