the krols part dos

continutation of the family visit with some pics to spice things up...

at the ¨sky bar¨ in front of the catedral.
awwww, my families!

wednesday we had to say goodbye to samaipata and head back to santa cruz. this taxi driver was silent, but deadly. he manuevered those hills in a mini-van like he was james bond in some sweet sports car. but we made it back. we ate lunch at my favorite pensión ¨don freddy´s¨ (yes the sign for the restaurant is in quotations) where you get soup, bread, a massive plate of rice/veggies/meat, and gelatin all for 10bs (or $1.43) back in centro menno, my coworkers jerry and irina were having their despidida, or open house goodbye party. i introduced my fam to my coworkers, showed them around, and of course drank some tereré. and got loaded with a ton of fresh oranges and lemons to make fruit juice. huzzah! for supper we went to the wednesday night english speaking potluck. traveled in a micro like situation with stuffing 12 people into a prado and then drove around lost for 45 min. but it was like giving my fam a free tour of santa cruz!

samaipata!

thursday...

we had breakfast at lynn & laurie´s , my coordinators, house. baked oatmeal, fresh fruit, and discussion about the awesomeness of the bowl cut! a very full krol family rolled out of there and off to mariposario, a eco resort/research center. it was gorgeous! there was an enclosed butterfly house and another enclosed area for rescued birds. everything looked very natural and it was clean! that´s kind of a big deal here in santa cruz. the best part were the swimming pools. they were made out of rock and kind of waterfalled (yes my english is suffering) into each other. and there was a lake for kayaking with an island of monkeys and an island of rabbits. we had a great time. had to keep the white fam out of the sun so that they wouldn´t blind the other visitors. ordered pizza for dinner and let me just say i hate talking on the phone in spanish. i didn´t know what ¨supreme pizza¨ was in spanish, so i said ¨ supremo pizza¨ and kept getting told ¨i don´t understand you.¨ so maybe you can understand that i was mad when i looked it up and saw it was ¨pizza suprema.¨ but we did get our pizza.

played cards or fill or bust every night...

friday...

was a chill day because dad and pete were sick and the girls were also not feeling 100% so me and the sisters and mom went out for breakfast and then did some artisan shopping. found some great souvenirs at one shop. after shopping we got manicures. i´m sure you´re all thinking what? manicures? well like my host bro here says ¨manicures are for the people¨ as in they are super cheap. fun. just relaxed in the afternoon (really hot again) with a little more shopping. dana found some great shoes and jewelry for her winterfest and we took pete back to ¨our¨ touristy shop and the store owner gave me a coin purse because i had brought her so much business haha. their flight was at midnight, so one last time we squished all 6 into a taxi. i was not ready for them to go, but i also didn´t feel too sad. i´m already half way done with my time here and it flew by, so i know i´ll be home before we know it. but we had an amazing time. it was great for my fam to meet my host family, coworkers and friends and to see the everyday places of my life as well as seeming some of the beaurtiful sights bolivia has to offer. and now a new countdown for another special visitor :)

hanging out. my fingers indicate how many times i have already told my siblings something, yet they asked again because i think they listened to me about 30% of the time.