$60 treasures

This might be a fairly random post, but I haven't done random for a while... So, normally it is very cheap to live in Bolivia. A bus fare to a city 8 hours away costs $4. A large meal in a high end restaraunt will run you about $7. But, then there are other items that can only be imported from other countries, usually the states, Brazil or Chile, that cost significantly more than you would pay back home. Cars, for example, can be outrageously priced because they all have to be brought in from other countries. Then, if your vehicle is anything other than a Toyota or Nissan, you pay like crazy for replacement parts. Basic houseware items like plastic storage bins, trash cans, rugs, etc... that you could pick up at Wal-Mart (and find a plethora of all in the same place) for cheap, cost more than a month of groceries. We've been searching for a new trashcan for the kitchen for months, not willing to pay the $40 that most places were asking for the same, poorly made, small, plastic can that we had bought the first time, which broke quickly. Today, as we were grocery shopping, a shiny new can presented itself at the end of one of the rows. I think Scotty must have seen a sunbeam shining down on it and heard angels singing. I just saw the price tag of $399 Bolivianos and said, "how can we pay almost $60 for a trash can?!" Scotty presented what seemed to be a rehearsed speech about how perfect this beauty would be in our kitchen and for all time and I realized that we had searched high and low and were destined to pay the price. So, I stuck it in the cart. I've got it pictured here with one of our favorite treasures that we just picked up in the states- a stainless steel french press that cost about the same. We've broken about 4 glass ones in the last year, so we were ready to splurge and this one was actually significantly less money than all the others of the same size that we had found online. Anyway, there you have it...sometimes you have to suck it up and pay more than you know you could find something for at Wal-mart.

Another random event that happened to me as I was driving home yesterday. I found myself following an old, beat-up pick-up truck with 2 cows standing in the bed. Large cows with udders swinging right in my line of sight. The man had tied a rope behind their rumps, as if that would stop them from tumbling out the back if he had to stand on the brakes. It was pretty funny to watch them sway back and forth as he drove over speed bumps and almost loose their footing when he changed lanes too quickly. Then there was the herd of llamas that rounded the corner onto the major road we were taking home this afternoon...

Now that we have a baby, going out on the town is a big event for us. The other night we met up with some of the international school teachers for Mexican food. Natalie had been fussy all day and I was a bit nervous about how she was going to do. As soon as we got there, she became mesmerized by the TV, which was showing awesome '80's videos. She was quiet and content for a while, had some dinner herself, and then sacked out in her carseat. On the way home, I got a hankerin' for ice cream- the kind with chunks in it- which is uncommon here. Thankfully, a new ice cream place opened up this past year that has some mix in options. They are an open air venue with no seating, so we ordered our cream and sat in the car chatting and watching the people walk by. I told Scotty that it was a real treat to do things like that, which never seemed too exciting before, now that we have a baby. I like being able to enjoy more the simple pleasures of life.