Pictures with Papa

Due to the masses begging for pictures (A.K.A. a sweet friend who actually cares about Rick in Bolivia!), I have posted a few choice pictures from his 4-day trip to La Paz!
Sadly, there aren't very many pictures to choose from since he lost his camera on his last day...and I didn't take many on my camera because he was snapping them left and right! Oh well...at least he was able to make more memories than any picture could.

The double-decker bus tour turned out to be quite entertaining. Partly because of the game we had to play with all of the wires and banners hanging low enough to almost decapitate us at moments! That was just one of the ways we figured out that these buses were used elsewhere before making their way to La Paz!
Here we are at an awesome bird's-eye-view of my city!

Here Dad is enjoying a Bolivian treat....saltenas! Not only did this stew-in-a-pouch satisfy his Bolivian palate, but it also warmed up his body during a rainy-season-style torrential downpour in the middle of a sunny day.
Since my dad is the closest thing I have to a "honey" right now, I made him do a few "honey-do's" while at my casita. One of these was hanging up my newest purchase in the city...

Thanks, Dad, for coming...it was a pleasure sharing my "new life" with you!

Mr. Speicher...

...is in La Paz!!
He arrived early Sunday morning and is now in Bolivia with me...I kind of can't believe it!
But it has been so nice. He leaves Thursday morning, so it's a quickie, but it's been good!

So far he's...
..seen my church and all of the friends there...
..eaten my favorite dish at my favorite Italian restaurant...
..napped for 5 hours only to go to bed for 8 more about 3 hours later..
..shared "kid-Megan" stories with my awestruck students....and..
..played golf on the highest golf course in the WORLD...that's right!

Tomorrow we're going to take the city tour of La Paz....on a double-decker, red bus! I don't think Big Ben is a stop, but it should be fun anyways. Then we'll walk around the city a bit more before he has to go back to Brazil, and then back to the states.

So far he loves my new city and the wonderful people I get to share it with....and we're both just so thankful for God's goodness!

Cuzco's Curse

To end my 3 part saga of Peru, I would like to share some pictures of the beautiful city of Cuzco. This city has a rich Incan history as well as a strong Spanish influence.

We enjoyed the cute little cafes and restaurants surrounding the Plaza De Armas.

However, don't be fooled by the outer beauty of this city! As you might deduce from the title of this post, Cuzco carries a curse for the innocent traveler. That curse comes in the form of Typhoid Fever! Yes, while in Cuzco, both Steph and I ate something, we're not quite sure what the "something" was, that was contaminated. Feel free to look up typhoid if you're curious as to what exactly contaminated our food....I don't really want to say! As a result, we have been sick in bed for the past 5 days and have missed the entire first week of school!
We went to a clinic nearby soon after we started having symptoms of tyhoid, unbeknownst to us that that's what they were, where they thought it best to pump us full of this gross-looking-neon-yellow-vitamin-enhanced liquid.

Steph's IV-ed wrist and the huge liter of who-knows-what!

It wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that we felt TERRIBLE at this point and the nurse couldn't find my "invisible" veins. She kept saying "nada" and slapping my arm, which actually really hurt, and poking the needle in my skin only to find that the vein was NOT where she thought it was. When that happened, sometimes she would just pull it out and try it again. But, sometimes she would move the needle while under the skin hoping, in vain, to locate the elusive vein...I didn't like those times to say the least! Finally, after 7 tries and a smaller needle (that I had to pay for!) I was finally able to receive the takes-2-and-a-half-hours-to-get-into-my-body solution that, when it was all said and done, did end up helping my body! But I honestly think I hated every needle-poked, dry-mouthed minute of it!
Thankfully we are on antibiotics now and are recovering. We even think we can be back at school on Monday....which is great news because we miss our students and can only entertain ourselves for so long!
Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers thus far. God is faithful and has shown Himself to be more than enough...even if one has tyhpoid!

Machu-Picchu!!!

As promised, here are some of the breathtaking scenes we experienced at the Incan ruins tucked away, high in the Andean mountains.


Because I LOVE learning and am now officially a history teacher, here are some quick lessons for you:
This is an example of how the rocks were cut so precisely as modeled by our Buckeyes-fan tour guide:)!

And, here is where the people would have gathered to hear the great speeches of old!

Yep, I was really there...
...and loved it!

One Last Stop....

Before work started again, Steph, Molly and I decided to take advantage of our "summer" break and travel South America while we had some time. Last semester we figured out the school year is not as conducive for traveling as we had hoped!
It was not hard for us to decide where to go since both Steph and I have the same life goal ....to behold the ancient Incan ruins of MACHU-PICCHU before we die! (Although neither of us are close to dying...that we know of...we thought this time was as good as any!)
After I arrived back in La Paz....which ended up being a day late because I had yet ANOTHER horrible flight experience where I slept in and had to pay way too much for new flights even though there was NO WAY my seats were already taken. Oh well.....I can add it to my book of traveling nightmares, right?!
Anyways, after I arrived on Friday we made our plans, packed our packs and tried to rest our excited minds for our 12-hr bus ride the next day to Peru! The ride across the border was pretty uneventful except for the featured film, 2012.....a hand-recorded version of the big screen that was dubbed in Spanish with Russian subtitles...and our greeting at the bus station where this sign was plastered against the chain link fence.......
Just one of the many examples of how my name was butchered this trip!

Sunday we drove from Cuzco to the Sacred Valley and saw the unfinished ruins of an Incan village.

On our way, we spent some time at the Pisaq market.




Peruvians markets are very similar to Bolivan markets. Can you tell that I love all of the people and colors?!

Monday was the moment we were waiting for.....and you'll have to wait too:)! (sorry)
Look for the next post that will showcase a few chosen pictures of our day in Machu-Picchu!

sshhhh...Don't Tell!

There are some definite benefits to having a sister as a nurse:

- she'll answer your "medical emergency" call at anytime of the night
- she can uncover the truth behind the many medical urban legends
- you can use her to help you justify any "bad" habit through an explanation of the excess needed to really make the activity/item truly harmless

BUT, the BEST benefit so far is getting to see your new nephew who was supposedly locked up in the NICU and not to be visited, let alone held, by ANYONE except Mommy and Daddy!

That's right....Nurse Jenny pulled the "gone-in-Bolivia-for-6-months" card and got me into the NICU secretly to spend some sweet time with Baby Ian before I flew out!

He is doing well and is improving quickly. He no longer needs to be connected to oxygen and is on his way to leaving his little incubator! However, he has not gotten rid of all the things poked into his little body.....you might notice the bluish glow eminating from him. No, he was not beamed down from the mothership!

Awww...precious, huh?

I feel SOOO blessed that I was able to change him, hold him, feed him, burp him and just talk to him....we had a great little conversation! Life is a wonderful gift from the Lord and I was so moved by his tiny body and the thought of what God will do with it!

Ian, you are loved and prayed for! May you know and appreciate both of these truths all of your life!

IAN is here!!!

Yes...you read it correctly!
My nephew who was supposed to be born February 13th decided to come into the world today, January 3rd! And even though I wouldn't have wished him to be 6 weeks early, I was thrilled to have the chance to watch his birth and see him before he was whisked away to the NICU.
So, because I'm a proud Auntie AND because my sweet sister is dying to see some photos....
Ladies and Gentleman, I would like to introduce you to, for the first time, Mr. Ian Kent Jorgensen!

Sorry it's black and white....and a photo of a photo! Oh well...it's the best one of my bunch.

Here we are in the delivery room with the whole hospital taking care of Nurse Jenny's baby! You can't see Ian yet but......

...here he is!

And here is with his mommy and daddy!

Awww...who's Daddy's boy?!

We are all so proud and even though he'll be in the NICU for 2-3 weeks, they are sure he'll come out healthy and ready to keep up with Ella :)! But, this means that, until June 21st, this is the closest I'll get to holding the little guy....

I'll take what I can get!