The US Doesn´t Have Everything...

Last night we went out to dinner with our dear, dear friends the Carl and Glenda. They moved to Coch a couple of weeks before we did to be with and help out their daughter (our friend Jennifer) who started an orphanage here. So we´re kinda like foxhole buddies. We´ve gotten really tight, really fast. I don´t know what we´ll do when they leave our little foxhole. We truly enjoy their company. Anyway we had a great time out at dinner as usual. Afterwards we went out for ice cream and were walking around a plaza in town. We were looking at and listening to the singing Christmas lights. The music is not syncronized so personally I think they sound just like the screaming eels in The Princess Bride....truly. Anyway. Carl said something to the affect of "You won´t find these in the US". That started a quick conversation about things that the US doesn´t have.



Of course I love America, but there is much to be said for living in a place that isn´t so corrupted by perfectionism, efficiency, tort law, and materialism.

• Like here in Bolivia we can have any kind of fireworks anytime we like to celebrate anything from a birthday or a futball victory to Christmas or Tia Maria´s recovery from her hangnail surgery or even just because we had a few extra bolivianos (our currency) to spend. We all agreed that is just plain ole fun.



• Also we don´t have to hurry up and eat when we go out to dinner. We can sit at the same table all night and no one will be upset. Not other patrons, no the waiter, no one. In fact we have to find our waiter to get him to bring the check.



• We can buy juice in a plastic bag. In fact the other day Joe got some take out chicken and ordered two liters of lemonade and they gave it to him in a plastic bag. Less waste. Here´s his pic with that lemonade.



• When we have a traffic accident we can usually work it out between the drivers without having to call the police. If you are driving in the left hand lane and you need to turn right, no problem. The other drivers will be looking out in case you do.



• You can carry anything you want from a living room suite to three goats in a taxi across town for 1.50.



• You can set up a booth selling newspapers, cokes, or whatever you have in the middle of the traffic circle.



• If you want to have a private party and you need some extra room all you have to do is park your car sideways on the street, set up some tables, and have at it. The people who are driving down the road will figure it out and go down the wrong way on the opposite side of the street. (This even happens on four lane roads.)



• You can stop and eat lunch in the middle of an intersection (literally IN THE MIDDLE) where someone has set up plastic table and chairs.



• If you have a party, you can crank your music as loud as you want for as late as you want. All the neighbors let it slide knowing that they too will have a party soon.



• You can cram more than 20 people in a small van (think: shared taxi) and go across town for 25 cents.



• Sick? Need some meds? Go to the pharmacy and get whatever you need over the counter from pain killers to antibiotics.



• Want to open up a restuarant? Open up your garage and set up some tables. You can cook it all in your own kitchen.

These things and many more we can do. Personally, I like this way of life.