Dogs

Those of you who know me will get this. I love dogs.... here is a brief pictorial history of ours from the last two decades (and aren't you impressed I have pictures of all of them on my computer!)

 


Lola 1996-2004

Lola started out as Hayden's dog, and ended up as mine. She was very smart and knew the difference between shake, high five and down low. My belief is the Lord took her early because he needed a really good dog!

                                                                


Doris 1999-2012

Doris started out as Slade's dog and ended up as mine. She was Lola's niece, and not as smart, but very sweet and loyal. She went everywhere with me. Jack always thought I treated her better than him. She did always love my cooking and agreed with everything I said!

Gertie and Pearl 2012- up to Slade and Shaela !

 Labradoodles. Gertie (red) was Jack's idea and after we had her a couple of weeks, I knew I couldn't run around the yard all day to try and wear her out so we got Pearl (black). Gertie is smarter than me and very conniving. Pearl,not so smart, but very sweet. Slade and Shaela have them while we are in Bolivia. Since we have been gone they have gotten into the porcupines 3 times so bad they had to go to the vet for quill extraction, lost both of their shock collars for the electric fence, which had to be replaced. Before the new ones came, they got loose and started fighting with the neighbor's dogs. Recently, Gertie bit into a hot electric cord. Luckily, Slade remembered his CPR skills and was able to revive her. Last week they, as a team, tore up a bean bag chair...and these are just the things Slade and Shaela tell us! The girls spend their days looking up into the trees for squirrels. Sometimes they get lucky.Right before we left, Pearl brought a dead squirrel in the house and left it in front of our bedroom door. They were so proud!

 Love 'em to death!

 

This is one of the things I absolutely love about Bolivia. They love their dogs! And they have a LOT of dogs. Translated, this says,

"Please don't run over me! I cross the street with the innocence of a child...as if I were your child."

Bolivia has named this the "Ceendee' Meella" Campaign (phonetically correct) a.k.a. "Save our damn dogs"



Here are a few of the dogs I have met in Bolivia, ranked in order of esteem:




Gaucho

Gaucho is the dog of our good friends Nacho and Claudia. He was born in Eagle Mountain, Utah and immigrated to Cochabamba for the weather. His owners moved into an apartment that didn't allow pets, so now he is Claudia's dog and she is afraid I am going to take him back to the States! I thought he was a Labradoodle until he got his dreads shaved off. Either that or a poodle. Very smart and has a cute personality. He is neutered and isn't allow to roam the streets.



Rocky. Rocky belongs to the people who run the tienda across the street from the temple. He sticks pretty close to the tienda. The owners have pictures of him taped to the candy counter inside and were honored when I asked if I could take a picture of him.

These two live next to the salon where I get my hair cut. The first time I saw them they were dragging a dead chicken around and left it front of the salon doorway. Morning nap time.

This was a dog I saw in Potosi and I thought it was so cute that he jumped up to the tienda door like he was going to buy a Coke. He wasn't as impressed with me.

I just saw this little Samoyed puppy today in the park in front of the temple. Chances are, he won't ever look this clean again when he gets too big to carry!

Highway Dogs. We have traveled though out the country on some pretty nice new roads. No matter where you go, these dogs are there, spaced at even intervals all along the highway hoping someone will toss a bone their way.These dogs were located between Tupiza and Potosi

 

Temple dogs. As much as I like dogs, these are annoying. They spend their days asleep in the grass in the park the temple maintains or in the middle of the sidewalk so you have to step over them. They have to sleep all day so they will have the energy to bark incessantly all night.

They have staked out their turf and will fight newcomer dogs!


I woke these two up from their nap for the picture. They still barked all night.

Park packs. This was in a park within barking distance of the temple. We drove by one night and were so amazed to see 12 dogs that we had to drive around the block to get the picture! We had the windows down and it sounded like they were building up for a big turf war. That night, we heard a lot of barking off in the distance in their direction. 

 

Bolivia is mostly Catholic, and their teachings on birth control carry over to their dogs. Very few are spayed or neutered. Bolivian dogs are doing their part to multiply and replenish the Earth! Cochabamba has no leash laws and no noise ordinances. If you see a pure bred dog, it will most likely only be for one generation! We have seen some litters that have just grown up together on the streets, 3 or 4 dogs that look just alike and travel together! We have seen some pretty odd combinations. One had a German shepherd head and body with 6 in legs. You hardly ever see dogs hit by cars or dead on the side of the road. The joke is Bolivians yield for dogs, but not people. The first Sunday we were here in June they had nation wide vaccination day. After the dogs were vaccinated, they tied a piece of yarn around their neck. At least it puts peoples minds to ease after they are bitten to see the dog's yarn collar! Bolivia might love its dogs, but I love how the US has a few regulations that make it better for people and dogs.

 

 

 

 

 

Operacion Sonrisa (Operation Smile)

 

Jhoselin Rodriquez, just turned thirteen last week.  She lives outside of Bella Vista the small farming community where we go to church.  She lives  on the other side of the river, which nine months out of the year is dry and a huge gravel pit.  Jhoselin (Joslyn) has been raised by her grandparents. Her grandmother speaks no Spanish, just Quechua .  Her grandfather speaks limited Spanish.  Her father died when she was young and her mother lives about 12 hours away in Chile, where she runs a small kiosko.



Blankets are used for doors

The Rodriquez house is very humble

We met Jhoselin in Sunday school, when we were teaching the youth one week.  We noticed she had her head down and her hand over her mouth.  When Lorna gave everyone cookies at the end of the class, she noticed that Jhoselin had problems with her mouth.  She was born with a cleft pallet and had two operations when she was a baby by "Operation Smile"  The second one was not successful and left her with her bottom lip protruding out about one inch,  she only has one or two teeth in the front, and her upper lip is sunken in.  Her father passed away and her mother one of nine children, left for Chile to support her daughter.  The Bella Vista community accepted Jhoselin and she had many friends there, and I think this was a factor in her mother leaving her daughter behind.


Lorna  Marina and daughter Jhoselin

 

Jack checked with Operation Smile and found out they didn't have another mission until next year.  Several weeks later, he was talking with the Branch President about it and Jack called the US office to see if there was any way to get her in somewhere sooner.  He found that they were coming back to Santa Cruz in October.  We started working on contacting her mother. The language barrier with the Grandmother made things more difficult, but we arranged to have the mother  come back and go with us to Santa Cruz. 

Jhoselin and Marina's fist airplane ride from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz

For those of you unfamiliar with "Operacion Sonrisa" Operation Smile,  its a wonderful charitable organization where doctors from the US and other developed countries perform operations on cleft pallets and lips, free of charge.  A bank here in Bolivia helps with food and some transportation.

Lorna right Jhoselin and Marina waiting for information on operation
90 degree heat with 90% humidity in an open air hospital

When we arrived at the hospital there were 125 patients ahead of us.  They processed over 160 that day,and many the next day.  Marina and Jhoselin stayed at a house  much like a Ronald McDonald house where they have some meals. Saturday we returned to the hospital where they were going to announce the selection process.  Another hot humid day. Many sad cases. Some Cholitas had traveled for days with their children. and some of the moms didn't look like they were even 14 years old. About 12:30 they announced the schedule.  Jhoselin passed all the tests and was selected for Wednesday.  You would have thought she won the lottery the way Lorna was yelling and clapping. They started on the operations on Monday and since Jhoselin's surgery  was  four days away ,we returned to Cochabamba Sunday morning. The surgeons operated Monday through Friday, I don't know the exact number but 15 to 20 people per day were operated on. Jhoselin was in surgery for about 3 hours on Wednesday. She came out of it fine and is doing well today. Her mom sounded so relieved when we spoke with her today. Jhoselin and her mother will be in Santa Cruz for another week. Operation Smile is a great organization and we will be cheerleaders for their cause in the future.



Lorna Downtown Santa Cruz

Government building in Santa Cruz

Main Plaza in Santa Cruz

We stayed in a great hotel

Bambino's in Bolivia?

Finding Ernesto

 

Two ugly Cholitas; Maceda & Hoopes.  Notice  the Gringa's left breast is sagging to look authentic. They have a hard life..........so do the Cholitas  In the firesides I've talked about the beauty of the Bolivian women, but state on my first mission I ran into two ugly ones, the members get a kick out of the picture

 Several weeks ago, we arrived home one night and as we were getting out of the pickup our friends Lynn and Diana Crayk were leaving from their shift at the temple. Lynn came up to the window and said that he had with him, one of my old missionary companions. When giving Firesides down here I've had said some members come up and say the knew someone that served the same time, but normally their timing was off or we didn't know each other. 

Left to right: Elder Cranney, Hma Douglas, Elder Pierce  ELDER MACEDA, ELDER HOOPES  Hma Dallas

 However, there was Ernesto Maceda and his wife. Ernesto was the only native companion I had on my mission, there were very few back then.  It's amazing we found each other again.  He is a civil engineer, and does some work for the church. Several months ago he was in Betanzos, a small town outside of Potosi, doing some work on a chapel.  He ran onto one of our missionaries, who was asking him how long he had been a member.  He said he had served a mission about 40 years ago.  The Elder said we have an OLD missionary couple here, the Hoopes, and he served about that time.  Maceda said yes I know him he was my companion.  He took my phone number, however the number he got was from a cell phone I had left in a taxi, so he wasn't able to get a hold of me, we were over to his house last night,  He has a great wife and five children.

  All who have professional careers a nice house He has been very successful and has a great family.  We spent the evening discussing politics, business, and laughing over old times in Oruro.



One story was this old taxi.  We lived in the house behind the car in the picture, but our area was several miles, on the other side of the tracks.  This taxi would wait for us every night to take us home.  Notice the suicide doors, and his wife in the front seat.  She was of average Bolivian Height  4'5".  The car didn't have a starter on it, just a hand crank.  He would crank it while  his wife would grab the bottom of the steering wheel and try to reach the gas pedal.  The car would die several times on the way home.  We rode in so often we would climb into the back and say "Home James"

OK Lorna talked me into putting in the whole picture,  This picture is shown in the firesides,  The members get a big kick out of the suit. To my defense, Elder Maceda had one just like it, it was the 70's

In my firesides, I've also talked about the family in the  picture below with Ernesto. As you can tell, they are black. We baptized the grandma (sitting on the steps in the pic). They were the strongest family in our tiny branch. This was pre-1978, and teenage boy couldn't hold the priesthood.  The branch needed a Young Men's president.  Although they were suppose to be active priesthood holders, we put him in anyway.  I tell this story about how strong this family's faith was and how necessary they were to the branch.

Juan and Ernesto

 

Ernesto, said that Juan immediately received the priesthood after the ban was lifted and served a mission.

MAXWELL SMART AND AGENT 99

 

Lorna at the top of the Plaza

After 5 days of not getting anything accomplished except staying out of jail, we went down to the Caesars Plaza Hotel (sounds nicer than it is). A 70's hotel in the center of the city. You can receive a massage for ten bucks, on Wednesday its couples night and you get two massages for ten bucks.  They also have a steam shower and dry sauna and a cold hot tub with moss growing in it.  Any way the massages were great, especially since we were still stiff from our wreck. 



looking west toward Plaza Principal

looking north down 25 de Mayo
 

 Afterwards we took some pictures from the roof then made our way down to DUMBO'S (that's DOOMBOS in Spanish) which is a popular ice cream parlor with at best, mediocre food. 

We sat down and started looking at a menu and ordered coke zeros and nachos.  A lady came up and asked what languages we spoke, we stated Spanish and English.  She was delighted that we spoke English and immediately started speaking to us in English.  She asked Lorna where she got her hair to look like it did.  Jack told her it was cut with a weed whacker.  She asked if she could sit down and did so before we could say yes.  She said, so you are missionaries.  We told her we were, and asked what she knew of the church, she said nothing, but knew that some of us were spies for either the US or Russian government.  We laughed, thinking as anyone would that she was kidding and said no that isn't true.  Jack told her that when he was in La Paz years ago, for awhile he lived across the street from the house of the Bolivian President, and that the missionaries would pull their tape recorders out of their trench coats and talk into them when the guards were watching them, so the guards would think they were CIA. First wrong statement! She didn't think it was funny.  She said she lived with a man for 3 years in Moscow, who was a correspondent with CBS.  She said she now believes he was a spy. We asked her why she thought that, she said she could see it in his eyes.  She rambled on about another guy she lived with that worked for a charismatic church, (like the Mormons!) that was a spy too, because in his church, which was connected to a building for the European Union, that they had a satellite dish.  We both thought, I hope she doesn't drive past any of our Stake centers! That is all the evidence she would need!  She said she lived in Russia during Perestroika, and asked us what we thought.  Jack said maybe they changed too fast, because there seems to be a lot of corruption in their system now.  Second wrong statement!  She pulled back and stared at him and said, "You have given yourself away.  I know now that you are a spy". We were hoping she would leave, having found us out, but no, she stayed and started rambling on about a guy she was living with from Oaklahoma that she knew was a Russian spy, because he got angry with her when she made a negative comment about Russia.   They traveled from Cochabamba to Chile, which should have taken about 15 hours but took a month and a half.  By this time we were thinking no man is going to stick with this nut case for that long.  He probably pretended to be a Russian spy just to get rid of her! She said she hadn't been able to find a job for 10 years. (Can't imagine why!)  Lorna said later that she was afraid to look at me for fear she would break out laughing, the whole situation was so bizarre.  This woman had already eaten so she blabbed the whole time we were eating.  The waitress brought her check.  We asked this woman again what she ew about Mormons and she said little, but cut us off.  

            She went on to tell us that her mother lived in Santa Cruz in some subsidized housing and shared  a courtyard with some Mormons.   Many houses have shared courtyards, and most houses have walls built to the sidewalks with metal gates.  She stated that the Mormon neighbors were spies also.  We asked her why she thought that and she said they didn't have curtains in their windows. And she knew they didn't have them on purpose. That way they could keep track of everyone!  She said one time she was staying at her mother's and a carpenter came to give her a bid on some work.  They were not home so the guy entered the courtyard and was looking in her mothers windows.  She said the Mormons went out and asked the man what he was doing.  They told her when she got home about the man.  We guessed for being good neighbors they were spies.  About that time we could hear the black helicopters hovering over her and were thinking about some other folks we knew that might get along with her just fine.  Jack was just about to take off his shoe and start talking in it when she finally left.  A few minutes later the waitress brought us our check and asked if we were going to pay her check also. We told her we didn't know the lady and that she was bat crap crazy.  She had left without paying, and the waitress was upset because she would have to pay the unpaid bill.  They called their security guard, checked the bathrooms and the rest of the restaurant.  No wonder she has managed to live ten years without a job! She has a real nice crazy lady-Russian spy racket going with a 3D model, Dine, Distract, Dash!  We ended up paying her tab because Lorna has a soft spot for waitresses, since that is what she did the first year I was in law school. We laughed the whole way home and thought the church sure dodged a bullet thanks to our lousy missionary work!

GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT

 

 VIGILANTE JUSTICE

Burning boy left arm and leg, trailing his body

                A couple of weeks ago we posted about going to the jungle to find members.  Last week two thieves were caught there, stealing. The locals, tired of the criminals being let go after being caught, went for some vigilante justice.  They burned the two alive.  We first saw this in a tabloid which had two graphic pictures of the boys running in flames, then their charred remains after.  These pictures have been cropped  but you can see his arm behind him and his leg  The authorities say they are going to find those who did this, but it has happened  before.



Charred remains of seventeen year old

Jacaranda tree in bloom

            It's turning spring, and the winters are here are dry.  We have had wildfires all week in the mountains above the temple. We drove up there the other night.

            Last Week, they finally started the remodel on the mission office so we packed up the office and put most everything in storage. 

 Cochabamba has restrictions for driving downtown based on the last number of your license plate. I was stopped for crossing a boundary line, which I was unaware of.  The police officer got in the car with us and we went to a police station.  Lorna was told to wait with the pickup while I went inside and waited for them to write me a ticket.  I was told to take the ticket about seven blocks to another building where I would pay a fine.  Upon arriving I was told to take a number and wait.  About an hour later I was on my way back to the first station to give them the receipt, from the second place.  Things are really efficient here.

Beijing Circle (notice, they have stop lights in the round about!)

  The next day we moved the financial secretary over to another church office building.  Late that afternoon we were heading out to our branch in Bella Vista to visit Jhoselin, the 13 year old girl we are taking to Santa Cruz next week for her operation.  It was about the busiest time of day.  We entered a roundabout when a small pickup to the side of me decided to turn left in front of me, I slammed on my brakes and barely missed him, however a Micro bus a regular bus that is short, ran into the back of me. He hit us hard.

  From my experience before (see Punata blog post) I knew I had to get to a safe place.  Because there is a cement barrier on the side of the highway, I had to go down about an 1/8 of a mile to turn on to an access road. When I turned, I noticed that the back of the pickup was scraping the rear tire. As we made our way back to the scene, a police officer was talking to the Micro who had gone down past the intersection and stopped.  Two police officers were talking with the Micro driver. They  started asking me why I had slammed on my brakes in the middle of the intersection and caused the Micro to hit me. I said there was a pickup in the left lane in front of me who at the last moment turned in front of me.  Why would I slam on my brakes for no reason?  By this time I could see the police were not making sense and something else was going on. The Cholitas were taken off the bus and proceeded to scream at me for not just waving them on.  They were put out that they would have to board another bus. I told Lorna to call Nacho, a good friend of ours who we work with purchasing things for the mission.  He told me if I ever had any run ins with the police to get a hold of him because he knew some people there.  They said we were going to the police station. I told them that I didn't think that I should drive my pickup since it would ruin the tire.  They put me in a police car with 3 other police officers who dress in military attire here and look like swat teams.  It was an SUV with jump seats, and they had me sitting on the jump seats.  Nacho and his son had arrived.  They wouldn't let Lorna ride with me. Nacho and I told them we didn't want to leave her there, but they didn't care. Lorna took a cab with Nacho's son and arrived  at the police station at about the same time.  We entered a building that was probably built in the 1930's and looked like Stalig 13 from  Hogan's Heroes. Lorna stated that the place was a dump,  I said,"It's better than the other two I was in this week!


 

      I was placed on a a bench with broken slats about 4 inches apart and drilled by 3 officers why I was speeding so fast and caused the accident.  I was not allowed to respond only told what I had done wrong.  They took me over to the other side of the room and told me I needed to pay to have my blood drawn.  Nacho paid, and I got jabbed several times, to have my blood drawn, no identification was put on the sample.  They did draw the Micro drivers blood afterward. Then they sat me down and told me again that I was in the wrong.  Anytime I tried to speak I was told to be quiet. We waited an hour or so for the captain to show up but he never did   Another officer with his green khakis tucked into his green socks took my drivers license and information, then I was told to come back in the morning. The next morning we arrived about 8:30 am   My arm was black and blue from the unsuccessful pokes. The Micro driver arrived with about 4 other people, we found out it was the Micro syndicate "accident resolution" team who represents public transportation. We found  that the micro driver didn't have insurance. The Godfather from the Micro company went in and talked to the  captain.  I could overhear them talking about the blood results.  When I asked  to see the results, I was told I could mine but not his.  Great Rules of Discovery!  We waited in line for over 2 hours and every time we would get close, the captain would either leave or he would kick everyone in the room out.  It was like the game red light green light. If the officers didn't see you move forward you could advance.  If you didn't advance others would butt in front of you. 

      Two police officers talking to the Micro driver and syndicate, told me that if my insurance didn't settle it, both vehicles would we locked up for weeks maybe months, and we would both lose.  They told me the only way to get out of it was to say I didn't know the Micro, he had no insurance, and have my insurance pay the damage to mine.  Nacho went with me to the insurance, while his wife Claudia and Lorna went to get something to eat.  I filled out the insurance papers as the police told me and we went to see the pickup across town in an impound lot  Upon arriving there we told the agent that we did know who the driver was and we could locate the micro, and that I was told to say that. The agent said that he would work it out.  We took pics of the vehicle and took us back to the agency. He told us he would meet with us and the Micro Mafia at 3:00 pm. Nacho's only form of transportation is a Chinese motorbike so I drove wearing  my suit, tie flying back with 6'4" Nacho on the back. People don't believe he is Bolivian since he's more than a foot over their height  (Two people on a motorbike is uncommon in Bolivia. Usually it's four with a newborn strapped to the front fender.)As soon as we left the agency we passed the Temple president and missionaries.  It's a good thing Old missionaries don't have many rules. Come to think of it my license was still being held by the Bolivian police! 

            A fter lunch we went down to get in line again. The Micro syndicate people were there waiting for us.  After 45 minutes of waiting for the insurance agent  I called him. He stated they decided they weren't going to pay. I told the micro driver and thugs that we just as well go back and talk to the police.  After waiting  another  hour, I got  to the captain, he said "I've waited here all morning, for you."  I stated that I was here all morning and not allowed to see him plus a couple of hours the night before.  He said well I'm a very busy man.  Then he started in that a girl was hurt on the bus.  I asked if I could explain what happened. They just kept telling me their version  (scenes of the old movie  Midnight Express  regarding a Turkish prison kept running through my mind, and I've been inside the Bolivian prisons, they resemble the ones in Turkey)  I told them no drivers seemed to obey any laws, that they  didn't want to listen to the truth and how could it be my fault when I didn't hit anybody.  As their faces got redder I knew I was in trouble. Nacho led me by the arm and said Elder lets go. I told Nacho his country was corrupt and foreigners had no rights.  Lorna and I got into a cab and went home. I have never felt so low in my life.  That night Nacho and Claudia brought a pizza over and checked on us. Part of Lorna's toe nail got ripped off in the accident and both of us had mild whiplash and sore backs.  
            The next morning we went back to the insurance.  The agent reiterated that they were not going to pay.  I told him then I wanted a refund on the premium since they had never paid anything including my tailights which were stolen in front of their office while I bought my insurance.( See second blog post).  I happened to mention that the LDS church pays their company  premiums for nearly one thousand  missionaries  in the four missions in Bolivia and maybe I would let them know how I was treated, and that they had been looking at other insurance companies.  Their tuned changed, and told me to wait to cancel and to come back after lunch. When I went back they now said they were paying 100 percent and would go to meet with the Micro thugs.  I called the Micro syndication who agreed to meet us.  The insurance agent drove us to the police station and talked with the captain then settled with the Micro thugs within about five  minutes. We all went back and signed contracts,  which we were told to take to the police the next morning.  Saturday. Lorna and I arrived early and began the red light green light game again.  One of the Micro syndicate was there and told me I wasn't at fault and shouldn't  pay any fine,  (some people do have a conscience) . After waiting for the captain several times (they have to go to the scene for accidents), we got up to the front. My guy, Captain Morales (must be a cousin of Evo) said a girl was hurt and I was partly to blame, that we were both driving way too fast and were both at fault. After being interrupted numerous times I explained to him about the pickup turning in front of me, that if I was driving too fast I would not been able to stop without hitting him.  I told him neither one of us were driving too fast, that the Micro was following  too close. I told him I had been an attorney for the state, and although the laws might be different he should look at it reasonably.  He agreed, then told me I needed titles and other papers from the vehicle that I had never even heard of.  After nine trips to the police station which is across the city from where we live, I told one taxi driver as he dropped me off at the station, " Well I'm home!" All of that, along with three trips to the impound lot and one to the bank to pay a fine, and we finally got the pick up out and to the body shop.
            I know that many of my FOX news friends and followers of Rush, complain about our system of justice, and that criminals have too many rights, and sometimes get off on a technicality, but our system is so much better. There is nothing worse than feeling like you have no rights. So Kelly Mallard, keep on defending the guilty. By doing so you are protecting the innocent.