Hello friends and family. It's been a while since we got serious about posting anything of real interest to you folks (that is, pictures). So, we devoted this weekend to a photo tour of Santa Cruz, the city that has been our home for the last month. We'll be leaving here soon to head back to Moro Moro, our little pueblo in the mountains. We've adjusted pretty well to city life, but are looking forward to more tranquil living. It's been very hot during our time here (summer is approaching, and Santa Cruz is in the lowlands), so we're also looking forward to chilling out a bit. Okay, here's a little taste of Santa Cruz:
Cassie hanging out on the yard of MCC's compound. When MCC arrived in Santa Cruz in the sixties, they built the buildings on this property, which is located just outside the first "ring" (Santa Cruz is organized in concentric rings - with the first ring being the smallest and nearest to the center. Each ring is maybe 1-2 kilometers outside the one before). At the time the compound was built, the road in front of it was unpaved, and the property was very close to the edge of town. Now, fifty years later, the radius of the city is 8 rings in some locations, and pavement is more or less constant from the center to just outside the fourth ring. Obviously, this geographic growth was accompanied by a major population boom that was (so we've heard) driven by migration from the then more densely-populated highlands of Bolivia to the lowlands, and particularly to the city of Santa Cruz. When MCC came fifty years ago, the city had a population of something like 50,000. We've heard current population estimates of over 1.5 million. 
Andy and Cat, also hanging out on the MCC grounds. This is taken just in front of the Unit House, where most of our time is spent when we're on the grounds.
Cassie, suffering terribly.
The soccer field on MCC's grounds. In the background is the office of Centro Menno, the branch of MCC Bolivia that works with Low German speaking Colony Mennonites.
Andy and a really bulbous tree that I can never remember the name of. 
Intersection near the indoor/outdoor market closest to MCC headquarters. In the background is a Micro, one of the buses you can hop for around 20 cents to get you around town. Some of them are shorter than this one, so us tall folks (people over like 5'6") have to crouch down for our entire ride if we don't manage to get a seat. This street, as packed as it is with people browsing the many vendors, is one of the main routes through downtown for Micros, whose drivers are quite skilled at squeezing through micro-sized openings.
Jewelry shops. Businesses here cluster together with others of their kind. So, it's normal to find 8 jewelry shops in a row followed by 8 paper shops in a row, followed by 8 fruit stands all selling the same types of fruit. This system has a lot of advantages, especially for us as newcomers. If we think one vendor's price includes a gringo tax, we know (and she knows) that we can just walk three feet and get another price quote!
Used clothing for sale. We have been amazed at the number of entrepreneurs in Santa Cruz. There seems to be widespread knowledge of how to start a business without investing much capital.
A store composed solely of things "as seen on TV." From what we can tell, the mail system wouldn't really accommodate a lot of on-line, mail-order, or TV purchases. So, some brilliant person opened a store to provide the masses with special space-saving clothes hangers and the like.
If you want to sell your house, by far the most common way to advertise your intentions is with spray paint.
A cell phone tower that someone decorated to look like a tree. We've been walking by this corner for a month and only just noticed it!
Cool statue: Andy was especially fond of this statue, as it was built out of plow parts and the like.
Fence and gate typical of houses in Santa Cruz. Notice the giant spikes on the section of fence on the right, and the broken glass keeping intruders off of the section of fence on the left. EEK!
Giant house!!
Andy and Other Cat, hard at work. Which of them do you think understands more Spanish?
And...not quite so hard at work. Notice the "look, I WAS studying" pile of books next to the hammock.
Coming up next....photos from our armadillo dinner. Don't miss it!
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