Travels with Marg

The river came rushing down the road the evening of December 21, announcing the beginning of flood season. Plans for Christmas in Santa Cruz were in place and we were eager to get out and have some quiet time. I had hoped that the house would be completed by Christmas and I needed to make some mental adjustment when I realized that would not happen. Now I was hoping for everything to be done before the girls came in January. We were expecting our first visitors -- my grand-daughter, Karmen, and her friend, Jolyn. We were hoping to give them a good experience so that they would go home and spread the word that we had a wonderful place.

But everything changed with the rains. We, along with some of our employees, decided to walk out on the morning of the 22nd. There were about 10 of us in all. The waters started about 100 meters from our driveway and it was not long before we were walking in water up to our calves, and at one point, up to our thighs. That was not bad for us -- imagine the height on our short Bolivian friends! We walked about 3 kilometers through the water and then hit the dry ground. From that point on we walked periodically through water but at one point it was thigh deep and running rapidly. After I had a bit of a spill, we all joined arms and walked across that section together. If only I had had my camera on that trip but I had left it in Yapacani.

The length of the journey was about 11 kilometers and although I would like to say that I managed it well, I have to admit that I rode a moto part of the way. When we arrived at the La Pista corner we waited for some type of transportation for the rest of the way to Yapacani. Marcos went to the next town to try to get a taxi but was unable to do so. So we ended up riding in the back of a three ton farm truck, along with the goats, sheep, fish, produce and people. It was an experience but not one that I would want to do every day. It gave us an appreciation for the local transportation available but also made us really appreciate our truck! Meeting the locals was a great experience. We realized that we were well known in the communities as the people who picked them along the road when they were going to town. What goes around, comes around!

We spent Christmas with friends in Santa Cruz and I ended up staying in the city until I left for Canada. There was constant rain in the city and I knew that every drop would make its way into the campo at some point.

While in Canada I spent time with the the kids and grand kids. It was a memorable, and emotional, occasion to witness the baptism of our grandson, Kolten. We also celebrated the birthdays of our oldest grand daughter, Karmen, and our youngest grand daughter, Sophia. It always is great to see the kids. We also celebrated another birthday -- the 60th birthday of my sister, Agnes.

Plans were that I would fly out on February 9 and the girls would come on Feb 12. So I was at the airport on time, went through customs and security in about 15 minutes and thought things were going great. But the plane never left due to a mechanical difficulty and I stood in line for the next three hours to rebook the flight. Understandably, I was unable to make my connections after that time and I was quite sure that this would not be easy. Santa Cruz airport has a habit of being short of jet fuel so flights are regularly cancelled. It turned out that I was not able to catch another flight to Santa Cruz until the next Thursday. Jake took care of the girls when they came and I enjoyed the luxury of a first class flight and a restful night in a hotel in Miami. Finally I returned to Bolivia but was still not able to go home -- but that is another story.