Countdown! 15 dias

Funny I tend to be writing on Wednesdays...guess midweek musings fit the bill as I anticipate the Big Day Dec 27. It's been a big week, getting my tourist visa on Monday at the Bolivian Consulate in NY (remarkably frustration-free, if not the picture of efficiency) and selling my Sentra as well as training my successor as Program Manager of the Committee on Human Rights at Harvard. Eagerly anticipating word of our will-be home in Sopocachi and the status of furnishings (present, absent, mix thereof) and incredulous that in just 2 weeks from today it will be the "night before." Hopefully by then my thoughts will be reeling in slightly different directions (by then my stuff will HAVE to fit in the allotted suitcases to go and boxes to stay!) I'll be moving my bedroom set this weekend (hopefully before the N'oreaster forecast) and supposedly folks off Craig's List will collect the mattress and box spring, making this an even easier move than my last prize-winning one in August. Saying lots of social good-byes (though I do prefer this less scary "hasta luego") and looking forward to a final mega-rendez vous at a favorite tapas bar this Saturday before my final week of work and last days with family over the holidays. And reading all I can from Bolivian politics to contemporary short stories. Buenas noches...

A picture is worth a thousand words

The day before Thanksgiving and I'm wistfully imaginging linda La Paz, which awaits me in a mere 36 days. Surrounded by the vivid yellows and oranges of an unusually long and mild fall in New England, I'm reminiscing about my June trip to Coroico on the coldest day of the year, and sipping watermelon juice after a swim in the pool of Hotel Esperanza. I've posted some scenes of both cities and the memorable road between them, as well as some maps of the country. Hopefully such images will entice many-a-visitor as the plan is to have a two-bedroom apartment in the neighborhood of Sopocachi, sort of mid-mountain.

Bolivia-bound

Only 44 days til I relocate to linda La Paz, leaving the stress (and comforts) of home in Boston. I'm excited to share the trials and tribulations, fun and frustrations, with friends and family around the world as I prepare for this adventure. Thus far challenges have already included packing furniture pieces in my VERY limited check-through luggage and learning of the (as yet) forthcoming tourist visa requirements of the NY Consulate. Never a dull moment! At any rate, I plan to keep entries short and sweet and hope to include marvelous pictures of my new home....