Our Move to Bolivia

My son and I first came to Bolivia in 2009 so I could work on a graduate project. We fell in love with the country and its people, and didn't want to leave, but our visas ran out and so did our money. We had to use the tickets we had to return to the USA. We planned on being back in the USA for only six months. It ended up being three and a half years! We just made it back to Bolivia at the end of May, 2013, and we're so glad we never gave up on returning. If we had, we wouldn't be here now.

When we here before, on our first trip, I learned that there are certain things we needed, and I tried to prepare by collecting or buying these things. These included an electric stove, plastic plates and bowls, a tray, cookware, a decent can opener... Important things like electrical adapters, flatware (that I had to borrow from my landlady here) and so on. The only thing I actually got to bring, thanks to my horrible roommate and her friend, our landlady, was the electric stove. Those two are an entire story all on their own. Anyway, having to buy these other items is putting a bind on what we can and can't do here at first.

If I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't let my son bring a suitcase and a half of toys. I didn't realize how many he was bringing until after we were here and we were sorting our things. Toys are much much cheaper here. I bought him two Ben 10 sets for around ten dollars! One of them was $28 in the airport, but I'm glad I knew better, and promised him the same in Mercado Seis. It was there, too, and the other set I got him, all for 70 Bolivianos, or Bs (pronounced beece, rhymes with Reece). I spent less than that on groceries, and 360 Bs on clothes to replace the ones American Airlines lost. The clothing alone was about $51 and some change.

I'm looking for work, while trying to explain to prospective employers that I can't work yet, because I have to go through immigration first, and get our first year visas. I need the letters that state I will be working for them, but not start until granted permission from immigration authorities. So there's the original job, working in my friend's daughters' school they founded, teaching English to kids. Except I haven't been able to contact them on Facebook to confirm, and the emails I've sent have bounced back. I'm going to have to visit to make sure they are still there (can't work for someone I can't find) and that they still have the school up and going.

Then there's the au pair companies who need someone to verify and test their potential au pairs on their English usage and comprehension. The oen I've been talking to the most is based in La Paz, so I'm hoping I will be able to travel and add to their base, and include Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and Cochabamba and places in between, as well.

When I was reading through the BoliviaBella.com website, I found a post regarding needing teachers in Santa Cruz to work with employees of different companies. This would let these companies compete in the global market, so I'm hoping the pay will reflect that. If it does, we'll be able to buy our desired farm that much quicker. I've already spoken with the man who is starting the service up, and another lady who will also be teaching with him. He's a native Bolivian, and she's from New York, but has lived in Indiana, which is where I am from. I got an email from her earlier and she is the best friend of the lady who runs the BoliviaBella website, so we might have already met at Thanksgiving in 2009.

But why Bolivia? A few years ago, a good friend of mine who has been like a second mom to me for many years (yes, I call her Mom) posted on Facebook that she was moving to Bolivia to start an orphanage. I'd been unhappy in the States for some time, and had always wondered about people who moved from one country to another. My first 'boyfriend' in elementary school was from Trinidad, so to me it was quite normal to just pack up and move from one country to another. But when I was presented with the opportunity to actually go to Bolivia to do some data collection for my graduate project, I jumped at it. We loved it so much we didn't want to leave, but had to. Now, we're back, and we definitely want to stay.

You can do things in Bolivia that you can't in the States. I don't mean just little things, either, like get great tans and fresh air. It's important things like controlling your own food production, or at least knowing the food you are buying in the store is good for you. No additives, no hormones, no antibiotics added to the meat. Chicken actually tastes like chicken here! And the laundry soap is better, too, by the way.

When I get enough money saved up, which is always fun because I'm self employed, we're going to be able to buy a farm close by to where we are now. Walking or biking distance. Read: self-sufficient! Big time self-sufficient. I've already gotten seeds for luffa, kiwi, tomatoes, and many other vegetables. Even have tobacco seeds. Flower seeds, too. Two big bags full of seeds. There are three growing seasons here, not just one, so I'll be able to get quite a bit grown, and that means nice easy money doing something I love to do. My son wants to have chickens, so we'll have that, too, and that's extra income, plus we get to consume part of the product there, as well. Plus there's still teaching, and comprehension assessments for the au pair agencies, also.

You can start reading our new blog titled Lorrenza (that's what most people call me, or Loli or Lorenz) as this one will be pretty much abandoned now. I won't post much here after this.