Coroico

Yet another sick day! I know there must be a reason for all these illnesses we're all getting. Maybe God knew I'd get in a car crash or run into a genocide if I went to work today, or maybe it's just character building. One thing I know: we're all gonna have the immune systems of Chuck Norris by the time we get back.

Last weekend my parents, Lin, Jordyn, and myself found ourselves in Coroico, a small town three hours away from La Paz that attracts tons of tourists and weekend travelers. The area surrounding the town is stunning; Coroico is nestled within gigantic green mountains full of exotic trees and plants, crazily-colored birds, happy local people and tons of delicious fresh fruit. It's amazing how contrasting the landscapes are between Coroico and La Paz, despite the very short distance between the two cities.

 As we were leaving La Paz, this is what you see:

(Here we drove through clouds for about 30 minutes,
we were at the highest point in Bolivia!)

And when we came out of the clouds on the other side of the cordillera...

It was like the Wizard of Oz--suddenly everything was in color! It was really awesome.

Our weekend in Coroico was a gift from a wonderful couple at church who had a room in the Rio Selva resort that they decided to give to us for the weekend. As a result, we had the most relaxing and enjoyable time in a breathtaking hotel right on the river, spending long mornings in hammocks with our Bibles and eating the juiciest fruit we've ever tasted. Needless to say, we were all pretty happy campers (except I got sick, but laying out by a pool in the sun does wonders, let me tell you).

My favorite part of the weekend was on Sunday afternoon, a few hours before we headed back to La Paz, and Dad, Lin, Jordyn and I decided to take a short hike up to a look-out with an amazing view. Jay and I, in a creative spur of the moment, decided to wear dresses and skirts with our tennis shoes, just for the fun of it. The hike was only about 15 minutes up the mountain, where a heart-stopping view awaited us. Truly, it was gorgeous, and tons of fun, especially when buckets of tropical rain began to shower down on us as we began the downhill trek. A memory I'll likely not forget: hiking down a mountain in a white lace dress, completely soaked head to toe, singing old songs with Lin, and laughing the whole way about the goofiness of it all.

So basically Coroico was awesome, but we were glad to come home to the capital and I was excited for another week with my wonderful daycare children. I kind-of just posted this update about Coroico for the sake of a post, but that was two weeks ago, so I'll post again soon.

Please, please, please keep La Paz in your prayers!