Savoring Sucre

Hi everyone! We know it has been along time since our last post but it just goes to show how busy we have been and also our lack of a good wifi connection.

We've been taking Spanish lessons at Me Gusta Spanish School here in Sucre and we love the school. All of the people here are amazing and really care about teaching people Spanish. Me Gusta is owned by a wonderful couple Fernando and Ely and they have created an environment of warmth and comfort in their lovely school. They have an awesome staff of teachers and they are teachers also (Fernando is Ali´s teacher and Abel is Sarah´s) which just shows their love of teaching. Me Gusta celebrated their two year anniversary and we got to help celebrate. It's really like a little family here. We had a toast and salteñas during the day from this wonderful restaurant called El Patio. Salteñas (we prefer the carne salteñas rather than pollo) are kind of like empanadas but they are more juicy and so delicious. Then at night there was a big party at Ely and Fernando's house for all of the students and teachers with lots of delicious food. Also it was talent night nd people participated by playing guitar, piano, sharing baked goods or introducing an awesome game (Celebrity!) like we did to everyone. If you ever want to learn Spanish in Sucre absolutely 100% come to Me Gusta!

Ely and Fernando toasting for Me Gusta's two year anniversary

Us with Noelhia our favorite receptionist at Me Gusta Spanish School. Yesterday she painted Sarah's nails green with black stripes and glitter. 

Ely with her giant trifle celebrating 2 years!!

Our school has different activities that we can participate in throughout the week which also helps create the sense of community we feel (Salsa lessons, cooking lessons, sports). For example, wallyball! We know you're probably thinking volleyball, similar, but different. Wallyball is played on a racquetball court with teams of 3 or 4 and it's played like volleyball except you get to use the walls which makes it much harder because when the ball is hit off the wall you have to pay closer attention to where its going. Oh! And how could we forget, you can hit the ball with any part of your body and a lot of people like to use their feet. It's really fun! Maybe you could try and find a YouTube video on wallyball. :)

Sarah with her teacher Abel. Bueeeeeeno. 

Us with Fernando and Ely

At talent night at Ely and Fernando's Vicente sings some lovely Jason Mraz. 

We started volunteering at an orphanage here called Hogar San Juan de Tata. We have just finished our first week and it was overall a good experience. We are planning on continuing to volunteer next week too. We spend time and play with the kids, ages 2-5, and help the caregivers with snack and dinner time. Volunteering at the orphanage (orfanato) has brought up multiple feelings and emotions for both of us. We've seen corporal punishment which was extremely alarming and difficult for us to be witnesses to. Most of the kids are here because they've been abandoned by their parents, have experienced some type of violence or abuse or their parents have passed away. We are grateful we are able to share our love with these little kids and model healthy relationships with an adult. Although at times it has been difficult we hope that the hugs and kisses and laughs we have shared the with kids has made them feel good.  We sure know it has made us feel good! It has also been a great way to practice Spanish!

Ali with Noemi and Anette

Sarah with her best friend Tomas. 

Nico y Dora

We've met wonderful people while being in Sucre and we've had to say goodbye to some but have welcomed new ones. We met one girl from Italy (Francesca) who we were with for a week and were so sad to say bye. It's pretty amazing how you can feel so close to someone so quickly and in reality it was one week of our lives and our trip, but someone who made a difference in our lives. We love you Fran! Fran and our other friend Gerben, a Dutch prince (appearance alone) went to this fun market called Tarabuco which is about an hour and a half from Sucre. We have had fun with our Dutch prince while in Sucre and will miss him as well when we part.

Fran celebrates 3 Kings day in Italy where you typically 
get stockings full of candy. She was feeling homesick so we got 
her some socks and filled them with candy and of course a piece of coal. :)

Excited to go play basketball!

Gerben at Tarabuco market.  Loving the meat.

Fran and us at the Tarabuco market sporting
some typical hats of Bolivia.

Dutch Prince reenactment time. 

Gerben, us and Francesca leaving Tarabuco

While being in Sucre we also did a little day hike to seven waterfalls with Fran and two other amazing friends, Brian and Erica. They are from Canada and definitely know how to have a good time! They are leaving this weekend but we've loved having them around. Seven waterfalls (siete cascadas) was beautiful. Huge rock formations, some water was flowing and we ate lunch under a tree. We thought we'd try to find our own route back but that ended in us having to turn around because we got a bit lost. Not exactly lost, just put on a new adventure with bushwhacking, carefully walking along ridges and trying to find the next trail.

 

Classic Band shot. Fran, Erica, Brian (Osito) and Sarah

Self timer photo near the waterfalls



Siete Cascadas (7 waterfalls)

Making friends with musculos on our hike to 7 Cascadas



We apologize for the gap but know we are safe and are having fun. We have had such a lovely time in Sucre, making new friends, learning Spanish, feeling like we have a stable place for awhile and missing hostel wifi :) We love and miss everyone! Chau chau.

A & S

"You can close your eyes to things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to things you don't want to feel." -Unknown

Bienvenidos a Bolivia

It's been awhile. Hi everyone!! So much to catch you all up on about our recent adventures. We had an incredible week with Ali's family filled with so much love and laughter. The week included but was not limited to: relaxing by the pool, relaxing by the beach, adventure activities (jet skiing, zip lining, freeze tag), being creative (book writing, drawing, paper cutting), private yoga sessions by Sarah, Sarah and Jan (Ali's mom) performing NIA (type of dance) in the living room, Hebrew sing a longs in the car, getting sunburned (only a little), eating really good food, philosophical conversations and of course THE REDSKINS!!

Speaking of the Redskins that is a good way to explain how it was when we first saw Ali's family. We arrived in Costa before them so we were relaxing at the pool when they arrived. Ian and Jordan (Ali's amazing brothers) were of course wearing their RGIII jerseys (if you don't know who RGIII you don't deserve an explanation). Ian gave us huge hugs while Jordan ran inside to pull up the Redskins game on the computer. Talk about a culture shock back to America. Of course we are both huge football fans and Ali was very excited to watch the game but it was kind of jarring after our two months without that piece of American culture.

So the week was incredible and it was really sad to say goodbye to Ali's family. We want to thank you Jan and Bern for your incredible generosity and amazing spirit we had such a great time and felt refreshed if somewhat homesick after the week. After Costa we flew back through Panama to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We originally were planning on going to Chile because there is a $135 visa for Americans to come to Bolivia. But we had heard such incredible things about Bolivia that we changed our plans.

In Santa Cruz we stayed at Hotel Italia, a cheap, nice and clean hotel with friendly staff. We spent New Years in Santa Cruz with some fun Argentinean guys on vacation. They showed us their dance moves and we went to a fun live music venue that would not stop playing Gangham Style. And let us just say that you haven't lived until you've heard a Bolivian band sing Psy's song. We spent a few days in Santa Cruz before heading to our next stop Sucre. Sucre is where Ali has wanted to go for the entire trip as she learned about their Spanish schools about a year ago and that inspired her to want to come to SA.

We have heard that Bolivians are not as friendly or open to tourists or tourism and this was proved with our stressful and anxiety filled attempts to buy a bus ticket. At first we thought we might fly because the flights are only about 50 dollars but in arriving to their office at the airport everything was incredibly disorganized and it seemed like it would be hours until we were helped.

We decided to walk over to the bus terminal to try to find a bus to Sucre. Every bus was either sold out or did not go to Sucre and the employees were not very friendly. We were told that if we wanted tickets we had to come back tomorrow and the office opens at 6 AM. We asked what time people arrive to stand in line and we were told 5 AM! So we set our alarms, woke up at 4:15, and were at the terminal by 4:50. There was already a line of 15 people! Also when we arrived at the terminal it was packed tons of people everywhere and there were even people sleeping on the floor from the night before.

It was incredibly crazy once they opened everyone kept trying to cut the line and find a way to the front. Luckily we got seats on the 4 PM bus and we couldn't wait for our 15 hour ride :). It actually wasn't so bad and we learned an interesting part of Bolivian culture. When we stopped at a rest stop people were quickly served full meals of soups and chicken and rice. They had a fast paced sit down meal, Ali thought this was interesting because when she would come home from NY on only a 4 hour bus they would stop and everyone would get fast food.

After a not too exciting bus ride we arrived in Sucre at around 7 AM this past Friday morning. We came to our hostel Gringo Rincon Hostel (only $5 per night!!) and loved it immediately. The owner, Mike is German and keeps the place immaculate. He is literally always cleaning something. As Sarah can attest to the showers are hot and the kitchen is beautiful including light green marble countertops!! We have signed up for Spanish school at Me Gusta Spanish School for the next week and plan on staying in Sucre for a few weeks.

Thanks for reading! Love to all!

Xo

Beach in Costa Rica

Having a ball

Horseback riding

Merry Christmas

Zip lining with the Weisz's

New Years with our Argentineans

Fun guys!

"Goodbye Old Year!"

A & S