Michael and Samantha on House Hunters International Sept 18th

So first off, Samantha and I are the least likely people to end up on a reality TV show. I mean, we don't even own a TV—neither did we have one back in the states. So what a surprise it was when we ended up being chosen as the subject of a 30-minute episode of House Hunters International!

So how did it happen?

Well, it seems the producers of House Hunters International wanted to take the show somewhere a little... different. Showing a rich family choose their dream villa in Florence or flat in Paris is nice, but apparently they wanted to showcase a different type of story—one where two people decide to leave their lives behind and start over in a place almost no one knows anything about. So the producers contacted a friend of ours here in Tarija who happens to be the only English-speaking expat services agent around. They wanted to profile a young couple as they searched for an apartment in Tarija. Our friend Martin thought of us, we spoke with the producers, and before long it was lights, camera, action. 

So what apartment did we end up choosing? You'll have to watch the show!

House Hunters International

"Time out in Tarija, Bolivia"

HGTV

Premiering September 18th, 7:30pm/10:30pm/1:30am
http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/time-out-in-tarija-bolivia/index.html

Check your local listings as airtimes may vary in your area!

Part of our backstory was my failed music career ;-) Here's Johnnie and I shooting a scene at the Santa Fe Tracking Station in Downtown LA

Filming an outdoor shot at the Coimata waterfalls

Looking at an apartment—nice views!

One of the three options we had to choose from... What would be the final verdict? Tune in and find out!

Ecuador 2012: Hitting the beach

After our awesome time in Guayaquil we decided to head up the coast and find out what Ecuadorian beaches are all about. While there may be prettier beaches in the world, they do have an undeniably addictive vibe. There's nothing like sitting on the beach, beer in hand, watching the waves and enjoying the best fish and ceviche the country has to offer. 

The coast is dotted with small fishing villages. The perfect atmosphere to relax and unwind…

A local shaper putting the finishing touches on a new longboard.

I think I heard that local guy in tan pants say “Are gringos falling from the sky?!?”

Yeah… just a few bags. When you’re traveling with a crew of 12—some of which have been traveling for a long, long time—finding where to stash the bags after checkout / before bus ride is a tough challenge. Thankfully, once again the brotherhood helped out—more than once on this trip we had local friends we didn’t know offer to watch our bags for us!

This is the sorriest excuse for a batmobile I have ever seen.

Our group. All Kiwi’s except for a few of us. The accent started rubbing off, and by the end of the trip we all sounded like Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords.

Montecristi is a great place to buy handicrafts—and oddly enough, the birthplace of the Panama hat (who knew?!?).

Panama hats for sale. I was kinda disappointed this guy didn’t have them all stacked on top of his head. I bet he’d sell way more that way!

One of many beautiful sunsets along the coast.

Fishing boat.

Ecuador 2012: Staying in Guayaquil

Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador, and by all accounts one of the dangerous and least picturesque.   However we needed to stay there to attend the convention. Thankfully one of our friends here in Tarija is from Guayaquil, and he arranged for us to stay with some of his friends in the city. That's one of the amazing things about the brotherhood of Jehovah's Witnesses—we were able to show up at the house of complete strangers and instantly we were like family! They treated us incredibly well, the hospitality they showed went way beyond what we expected.

Here’s us with Ana Contreras and her mom. They made us promise to come back some day!

Our room at the Contreras’ house. We had the upstairs bedroom, complete with hammock!

The malecón (boardwalk) in Guayaquil. One of the few places in town you don’t have to worry about getting mugged and/or killed.

This is an Ecuadorian drink Ana made for us every day. It’s made from a type of sweet tomato that grows on a tree (OK, maybe it’s not a tomato at all, but they call it one). Most deliciously refreshing!

Ceviche is a national dish in Ecuador. Ana made some shrimp ceviche for us the first night we arrived. Served with some sweet tomato juice and fried bananas, it was incredible!

  

Ana kept us supplied with an endless variety of rare tropical fruits (rare for us anyway, in Ecuador I'm sure they practically grow on trees). This one is a type of passion fruit. Crack it open and the pulpy fruit makes a great snack. One of the most amazing fruits we’ve ever tasted.

Ecuador 2012: District Convention

So what made us decide to visit Ecuador in the first place? The impetus for our visit was the 2012 District Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It happens to be one of the only English conventions in South America, and is organized every year by the branch in Ecuador. There are many English-speaking JW volunteers in Ecuador—the convention had an attendance of about 1000 each day—so it’s a chance for everyone to hear and experience the program in their native tongue.

There were delegates at the convention from UK, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, US, and other countries, and we made lots of new friends. The program was incredible—nearly every speaker was a graduate of Gilead, a CO, DO, missionary, or branch committee member. Since almost everyone there was like us—volunteering in another country—it was great to share experiences, tips, and get a feeling for how others have coped with common problems and challenges we all share.

The convention was at an assembly hall on the branch property. Despite it being an open-air venue, and near the equator, it was surprisingly pleasant and breezy. The grounds are full of iguanas and interesting birds.

Lunch time!

Sam, Michael, and our new Ecuadorian friend Diego, who joined shared a taxi with us each day to the convention.

Here's the contingent representing Bolivia—five americans, three Kiwis, and one Canadian!

The assembly hall was quite empty in the early morning before the program started...

Badges...

Badges...

Ecuador 2012: Whales off the port bow!

So we recently visited Ecuador—much more on that later—and went whale watching (among other things). We just happened to be there during the best two-week window of the year for seeing humpback whales. And they didn't disappoint. Check out the photos below!

Back to Tarija—with suitcases packed to the brim

So if you moved away from home to Bolivia—a country that, let’s face it, has a pretty limited variety of packaged consumer goods to choose from—what would you bring back? Ah, yes. The “desert island” scenario. Interesting to speculate on when enjoying a long road trip with friends, but a painful reality when you have to pack your bags and keep them under 50 lbs each.

Before you take a closer look at our haul, I’ll warn you—most of what we brought back is food-related. What can I say…

Foodstuffs (Clockwise, starting at bottom)

• Seeds for planting herbs and Mexican chiles—you just can’t find them in Tarija!
• Saffron, vanilla, Spanish paprika, herbs de provence, Trader Joe’s chicken stock, and Lindeman’s seasoning
• Trader Joe’s probiotics
• Maseca for making homemade corn tortillas and sope shells
• Mexican chocolate
• Mexican dried chilies
• Jamaica flowers
• Plastic ziplok bags
• Plastic wrap—you get two choices for plastic wrap in Tarija: 1) doesn’t stick to anything, or 2) sticks to absolutely everything and you can’t even dispense it properly
• Loose-leaf tea (from the Loose Teas)
• A bottle of beajoulais from France—thanks Johnnie and Brittany!
• Three bottles of Lillet blanc
• Water bottles
• Yogurt starter
• Spiderman parephanallia (I’m known as “Piter Parker” to the kids in our congregation, had to bring them something)
• Cast-iron skillet
• Gum

 

Dry goods (Clockwise, starting at bottom)

• Mouse pad
• iPad case
• Digital photo frame
• DSL modem
• Telephone
• Door sweeps
• Books
• Monopoly deal
• Candles
• Bath oils
• Ikea wall decals
• Curtains
• Contact lens solution
• Ikea curtain brackets
• Settler of Catan
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (not for me, I swear!)
• The New iPad (yes, for me)
• Airport express
• Toys for Miles (hey, gotta bring the kids back something)

Trip to California recap

So as many of you know, we took a trip home in April and May of this year. Samantha’s dad needed to have back surgery, so we decided to make a trip up and be with the family. Having been away from the states for over five months, we weren’t sure how we would react to coming home. On the one hand, there’s the possibility of falling back into the ease of living in SoCal and undoing the months of “getting-used-to-things” we went through moving to Tarija. On the other hand, what if we had become truly acclimated to Bolivian life and just plain didn’t like the US anymore? Only time would tell…

The first two weeks of our trip were spent almost entirely with family, bouncing around between El Monte and the high desert. We were there when Sam’s dad had surgery, and thankfully, it went well. It’s a good thing we were there too—her family’s car broke down the day before the surgery and we were able to rent a car and shuttle everyone around. While it’s never ideal to come together because of medical reasons, it was good to see our family and catch up. As great as Skype is, it’s no substitute for getting together.

The rest of the trip was quite a whirlwind—hanging out with friends, getting our fill of cultural activities (like going to Dodger games ;-), and I even got to go surfing. Can’t do that in Bolivia! As soon as we got home to LA my mom has asked “what kind of food are you guys looking forward to”—that’s easy: seafood and pinot noir!

Check out the pics below…

A trip to Disneyland is always good… Especially when it’s free! Thanks O&T!

Our friends the Martin’s always have “interesting” pets. This time, it’s a tarantula.  

Paella is a Sunday tradition in Spain, where they say it is taditionally prepared by men. But I suspect that's because 95% of the prep work is done by the women in the kitchen. Nice job, mom!

The night before we left. Beautiful weather, delicious food, and pinot noir…

A blog neglected no longer…

My goodness, how did we let so much time pass without posting anything? There’s been a lot going on the last few months, so surely no shortage of news to tell. Now that we have some down time it’s the perfect opportunity to catch up on the blog. And so away we go…

The wonderful thing that is bottled Bolivian coke

Maybe you've heard about or noticed the popularity of "Mexican Coke" in the United States. Mexican Coke is basically Coke brewed and bottled south of the border and shipped across to the USA. It differs from the American variety—and is arguably superior—in two important ways:

1. It comes in a glass bottle. Of all the materials that beverages are bottled in, I'm pretty sure glass is the most inert, so it doesn't impart any flavor into the beverage. Personally, I think glass is best to drink from, followed by an aluminum can, then cardboard (ever noticed that paper-y taste that comes from milk in a box? Yuck!) Mexican Coke comes in glass so doesn't have that aluminum can taste.
2. Mexican Coke is made with real sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup. I'm not going to go into it here, but HFCS is really bad for you and has a chemical taste that some say ruins American Coke. The Mexican recipe calls for cane sugar, just like the original recipe. 

So for all those out there who swear by Mexican Coke, I have something even better for you...

Bolivian Coke.

Why is Bolivian Coke better? Well, again, it's made with real cane sugar. So even though it's bad for you, it's still not as bad as Coke made with high-fructose corn syrup. And again, it comes in glass bottles so you get a pure taste. But here's where Bolivian Coke differs from Mexican Coke sold in the USA—it comes in returnable bottles! 

Why are returnable bottles so great? A few reasons...

1. When you're bottling what is basically flavored sugar water, the bottle is probably the biggest expense. By allowing people to buy Coke in glass bottles and then return the bottles, The Coca Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, reduces the cost considerably! It's cheaper than water here!
2. No plastic bottles filling up landfills and harming the environment
3. Coca Cola makes Coke available in a variety of sizes:

2.5 liters (huge!) for $1.50

2 liters for $1.25

1.5 liters for $1.00

1 liter for $0.80

1/2 liter for $0.40 (this is the one we usually get, it's perfect for two people)

190ml—basically a few gulps—for only 15 cents! It's like going back to the 1950s!

So while Mexican Coke is great for those in the USA—and I would't recommend eating tacos without it—we'll continue to enjoy the national beverage of Bolivia: Glass-bottled pure-cane-sugar returable-bottle available-in-myriad-sizes Coca Cola!

By the way, if you're interested in finding Mexican Coke near you, check out this site!

http://wheretofindmexicancoke.com/

Michael

Trip to the waterfalls at Coimata

Drive just 10 minutes outside the city of Tarija and there are some extremely beautiful places to visit. One of them is Coimata—a wilderness reserve that offers great hiking and photo-snapping opportunities. We recently went there with our friends from New Zealand. It was great to get away from the noise of the city and connect with nature. Check out the photos below!

Michael and Samantha at the waterfall

The hike to the waterfalls was pretty steep. We had to climb a sheer rock face that had been polished slick by thousands of years of running water and thousands of bottoms using it as a slide. Tough to walk up!

Shimon’s trying to decide if that murky water is deep enough to take a 15-foot jump into—turns out it was!

Samantha starts off the cannonball competition with a 9.2 (nice form!)

Michael takes a dive into the black, trying to avoid the sharp rocks on either side of the swimming hole

The whole group (minus Ana, the photographer)—on the rocks

Needed to rest a bit after all that diving...

The grill was primitive to say the least—but highly effective. We built a small fire pit from river rocks, gathered sticks and leaves to start the charcoal burning, and threw the meat on. I don’t think Smokey the Bear would consider it “forest-fire safe”…

Enjoying lunch—the meat was grilled to perfection!