Today is the last day of September - where did this month go?  One of our friends here said, "The weeks go slowly but the months go fast."  That sounds impossible but it's true.  We've been here 6-1/2 months already; one third of our mission.

One of the most special things about the temple is that marriage therein is not just for "time" ("until death do you part") but for all eternity.  The ceremony in the temple is very simple and sacred - no "pomp and ceremony" - but the activities afterward are what you would find anywhere else - i.e., the photos on the temple grounds and then the reception at one of the LDS chapels or at one of many reception halls here in the city.  However, on Saturday, the 21st, we saw something new - the bride and groom were driven to the reception in this car!  (Frankly, I wouldn't want my beautiful hairdo and/or veil blowing in the wind, but apparently the bride didn't feel that way.)  We didn't get to see her, but the driver and car waited in the parking lot just outside the hospedaje so we got a pretty good look at it.  He drove up to the front steps of the temple when they signaled him and picked up the bride and groom there.  Anybody recognize what kind (and year) the car is?

 

Sunday, September 22nd, was the first day of spring and there was a HUGE parade in the south part of the city (where we go to church).  ALL of the high schools (both private and public, I assume) and many civic groups participated.  The parade began about 10:00 am while we were still in church (and went right past our building). Most of the schools had a drum corps and a band and they were playing right outside our windows.  The bands seem to be primarily made up of cornets and all of them were equally loud and equally out of tune. During choir practice, I could hardly hear my singers and they could hardly hear each other. When we finished choir practice at 1:00 and started walking up to the main drag to catch our trufi, the parade was STILL going!  We only got pictures of the groups we passed in the 5 blocks we walked, but I think/hope you’ll find them interesting.

Of course we don't know what any of the costumes were supposed to represent (like the guys in the center right, for instance, or in the second picture, the woman in the center.)

This group had special headdresses; I hope you can blow up the picture big enough to see them.

Other groups were dressed in beautiful outfits but they didn't seem to reflect any kind of historical or cultural images.  One thing they all had alike:  the boots the girls wore. Can you imagine dancing/marching 3 or 4 miles in those boots?

This group must have had some kind of mythological or historical reference, wouldn't you think?  I assume the feathers are supposed to be wings.

This guy (their leader) looks scary from the side . . .

. . . but to me, even scarier from the front!

This was the last group we saw.  The parade route turned right and we were going left - across this wide street to stand in front of that brown and yellow building you can see, and catch a taxi home.

One of the hardest things about being here is saying good-bye to other missionary couples who have completed their mission and are heading home.  This was a despedida (farewell party) for Bill and Linda Johnson (seated on the right - he's in a suit, her sweater is purple.)  We gathered at a place called the "Cine Center" (literally, "Movie Center") which is in the bottom of a big movie theater complex.  It's a food court, basically, as you can see from the signs on the wall behind the group.  (Dumbo's is a hamburger place.)  The couple standing behind Bill and Linda are President and Sister Diaz.  He is first counselor in the temple presidency and she is the one who planned this.

All the other people at the table are temple workers - some missionaries (the two Anglos on the left in this picture are the Hursts) - and some local members who serve regular shifts at the temple.  Everybody went and ordered their own food and we just sat and visited and took pictures - a pretty easy way to have a party, actually.

Lastly, a picture I should have shared in July.  This is a poinsettia tree that we walk past every time we leave our apartment to go shopping - it's at the east end of the lower parking lot.  In the middle of winter (July) it had no leaves, as you can see, but still had lots of flowers.

This is what the flowers looked like, close-up.  Aren't they gorgeous?

Today when we went grocery shopping I noticed that the tree has been pruned down to nothing but stumps. I guess that's the right thing to do at this time of year, but it looks very sad and definitely not beautiful - which made me remember these pictures and want to share them with you.

That's it for today.  Have a great week . . . and vayan con Dios!

A week or so ago we visited the Palacio Portales here in Cochabamba.  It was the city mansion of "The Tin King", Simon Iturri Patiño.  Some of you may remember the pictures I posted last March of his summer home.  I told a little about his history then and I'm re-posting it here, in case anyone missed it last March and also because I think it's extremely interesting.

Simon Iturri Patiño was born 1 June 1862, died 20 April 1947 in Argentina and was buried in Cochabamba.  I'll skip his early life.  The important thing is that as a young adult, he started in mining with Compañía Hunanchaca de Bolivia, a silver company, and then with Fricke y Compañía. Patiño was assigned to collections for the store, and in 1894, he agreed to accept a deed of land in compromise for a $250 debt owed by a prospector. The deed turned out to be for the rocky side of a mountain, and Patiño was fired from his job for settling an account in exchange for a worthless piece of property. Legend has it that Patiño was forced to pay back the store from his own funds, and was stuck with his bad bargain.

The mountain turned out to be richer in minerals than anyone had imagined. Although the first several years of work yielded little, the turning point came in 1900 when Patiño located a very rich vein of tin, later called "La Salvadora" (The Savior). Over the next 10 years he built up the control of nearby mines and other important mines in Bolivia.  By the 1920s he had also bought out Chilean interests in his mining company and went on to buy tin smelters in England and Germany. By the 1940s he controlled the international tin market and was one of the wealthiest men in the world, hence his "title" The Tin King (Rey del Estaño).  During WWII he was considered to be one of the five wealthiest men in the world.  How about that?!?  And I'll bet you had never heard of him either.

What is really sad is that because of his health (he had a heart condition that could not survive the altitude in Bolivia), he had to live abroad for the latter half of his life.  He never set foot in either the beautiful home he built in the country for his wife and children or the even more grandiose home he built within the city of Cochabamba.  Apparently his family spent at least half the year in Bolivia, even though he had to stay in another country.  His descendants (great-grand-children) still come to the country home in the summers.  They live in the second story; the first story is a museum.   His city home - Palacio Portales - has been given to the government and is a museum and cultural foundation.

Here are the pictures we took at Palacio Portales . . .

These are the entrance gates, taken from just inside.  The Palacio is located north of downtown Cochabamba but still in a very busy semi-commercial area.  The property covers between 5 and 10 acres.

 This is the information building just inside the gates.  This is where you get your free pass and your guide.  (English-speaking tours are available every day.)

This is looking down the side of the information building, toward the south boundary of the property. 

This is a map of the property.  You will note that the official name now is (translated):  The Simon Patiño Cultural and Pedagogical Center.

There are pieces of statuary here and there on the grounds.  

This is a copy of a famous Swiss statue.

In fact, as a preface (and/or warning) to the rest of the pictures, 

here's some information from a website about the Palacio:

" . . . the gardens are beautifully arranged around the grounds, with Italian-style marble statues, ponds filled with goldfish and lily pads, and a wide variety of trees and vegetation. The gardens are lavish and ostentatious, but manage to remain tasteful — a tricky balancing act which the palace has trouble with.

Like the Recoleta Palace outside of Sucre, Patiño’s Palacio de Portales marries together a huge swath of styles, from French to Mozarabic to Italian. It’s called “Portales”, because of the massive ornamental doors which lead into the main receiving room. The mash-up of styles might have been impressive for a city unused to such extravagance, but nowadays it seems a bit ridiculous."

I didn't take this picture - I copied it from the above website because it was bigger - but as you can see from MY photo just below - it's the same angle, and a beautiful picture of the Palacio.

This is the entrance where the tour begins.  Unfortunately - and this was a BIG disappointment - photos are not allowed inside, so I can't show you any of the luxurious rooms or furnishings.  There is real silk on the walls, for instance - instead of wallpaper.  There is a grand staircase that's about 5 feet wide.  There are many rococo, Baroque paintings (like the Sistine chapel) as well as sculptures ranging from Roman and Greek to Renaissance.  It really is what the above author called a "mish-mash".  Our guide explained that it was the fashion in South America at the time to copy everything from Europe old and new.

After touring the inside of the house, we came out on to the veranda which faces south. (This picture is taken from one end of the veranda, facing west.)

This is one view from the veranda, looking south.

This is the grotto under the viranda, with Farron in the picture to give you an idea of the SIZE of this place.

These are the portales grandes or "Grand Doors" opening from the veranda into the main receiving room (also a ballroom).  The place is called Palacio Portales because of these doors.  Again, you can see how big they are in comparison to Farron.

This is just to show you the ornate carving above the doors.

This building was the servants' quarters originally, but now is an open-air theater.  That is, the building is used for props and for changing rooms, etc.  The plays and/or concerts are performed on the veranda or porch area and the audience sits in chairs on the grass.  We hope to attend a concert there soon.  

(All events at the Palacio are free to the public.)

This is an art gallery in what used to be the basement.  Admission is free here, too.  They were setting up a new show when we were there, so we couldn't go inside.

We think this must have been where the carriages parked, back in the day.  

It's on the west side of the Palacio.

Not sure what this building was originally, but now it is the Center for the Study of Literature.  It is behind the Palacio on the northeast part of the property.

This was probably a swimming pool originally, and the building on the left was where the guests changed clothes.  Now there is a "false bottom" in the pool and it is more of a "reflection pool" than anything else.

This building on the northwest corner of the property was originally the stables!  Isn't that amazing?  Now it has been converted inside into the very nice and highly-acclaimed Simon Patiño Library.

This building was where the servants who cared for and drove the horses lived.  

Now it is the administration building.

At the back of the Palacio there is a patio covered with flowering vines - mostly bougainvillea.

This is one of the bougainvillea plants.  I have never seen bougainvillea this color, have you?  They also had orange and the usual hot pink.

Now just some shots of the grounds, some flowers and plants, etc.  The grounds really ARE lovely.

I don't know what this flower is, but we have one at home and I love it for its color.

A flowering cactus. 

Farron beside an enormous rubber tree.

A beautiful bank of iris in bloom.

A shot of the grounds from the graveled area which I think of as "the carriage sweep".

One of the lily ponds with a Grecian statue at center.

Another shot of the grounds.

  

And my favorite, taken from the steps at the edge of the carriage sweep.

All in all, in spite of the fact that we couldn't take photographs inside the Palacio, this was a thoroughly enjoyable activity and we're really glad we finally got around to doing it.  One can enter for free and stroll the grounds or sit on one of the benches and enjoy the quiet beauty any time, Tuesday through Saturday.  I think we may do that occasionally, and we most definitely will get down there for a free concert or two.  The trick is finding one that we want to attend that is also at a day and time we can manage.

Okay, that's all for today.  Have a happy week . . . y vayan con Dios . . .

During the second week of our vacation we visited the Martin Cardenas Botanical Garden, which our trufi passes every Sunday on the way to and from church.

The garden covers (we think) somewhere between 30 and 40 acres, and when it first opened it must have been absolutely gorgeous.  Unfortunately like most everything here it is not well maintained.  They don't quite keep ahead of the weeds, some of the "water works" (fountains, reflection pool, etc.) aren't functioning, the barbecue area is unusable, and so on.  It's sad.  We can't figure out how a country that has so much in the way of natural resources can be so poor, but that's a political issue we shouldn't and won't discuss.  As to the garden - as with most of life - you can find beauty if you're looking for it, and we found quite a lot.

This is a planter just inside the front gate (just past the above sign) . . . 

. . . and this orange flowering tree was just past the planter.  I asked Sister Norman if she knew what kind of tree it is and she said it's a jacaranda, but I just can't quite accept that.  The leaves AND the flowers are all wrong, as you can see in the second picture.

These are the blossoms.  I LOVE THIS TREE.  I want one at home, so somehow before we leave I have to find out what it is.

Jacaranda are extremely plentiful - we have them on the temple grounds and there were lots of them in the botanical garden (see below).  In the summer when they have all their foliage, they must make the park extra beautiful.

This is not jacaranda but rather (as you can see if you can open this to full-size) bougainvillea which is in the process of taking over this tree.  I don't know what the host tree is, unfortunately.  Most of the little signs they originally had everywhere to identify the different plants and
trees are either gone or illegible.

Believe it or not, this is a plain-old-fashioned alfalfa plant - just like the alfalfa my dad planted on our ranch as a hay crop.  I'm not really sure why it is here, but I was glad to see it anyway.

This is one of their stands of bamboo.

 

This is the reflection pool I mentioned earlier . . . wish we could have seen it as originally planned. 

Now we get to the flowers . . . I think this flower (and the yellow one that follows) are amaryllis, right?  I need Vanessa here to tell me what everything is!

I'm calling this bush "bleeding heart" for lack of better knowledge, because I know there is a flower by that name that looks very much like this.

Beautiful bronze daisies . . . 

. . .  and a heart-shaped planter full of white and lavender daisies
(at least they looked like daisies to me.)

We saw quite a few iris plants but only three were blooming.  I want to go back in October or November, whenever it starts raining regularly, and see if the rest of them are open.  They do have the same wonderful fragrance as our iris at home.

This is lavender, right?  I know I should recognize it, but if I've guessed wrong, 

somebody tell me what it really is. 

We thought this planter was interesting.  Can you see that the iron thing on the top is a plow, attached to what looks like the front of a bicycle?  I would like to know if (and how) this thing truly can be used to plow the ground.

This plant looks like a calla lily but it's orange . . . is that just another variety of calla?

I have no idea what this is, but I love the color. 

This is actually a very slender, fragile looking tree with these hanging fuschia-colored flowers.  No idea what it is, but it's pretty.  And of course everyone knows a daisy on sight.

 

                                             

Now the next several pictures are just "vistas" of the garden from different angles . . . 

You can see from that last picture how big the place really is.  This is looking back toward the entrance. There were many students at the garden, every age from kindergarten to college. I expect the younger ones were on field trips and the others were just looking for a quiet place to be with their boyfriends (or girlfriends, as the case may be.)  The garden is located near a large military building of some sort, also some light industry AND a busy interchange (can't call it a freeway because it isn't, but there is an underpass and an overpass and constant traffic), yet it is amazingly tranquil. There are wooden benches scattered here and there (several without seats, unfortunately), and we sat on one for a while just listening to the birds and enjoying the light breeze, the greenness and the relative quiet. It was a lovely "field trip" for us!

That's all for now.  Have a beautiful week and vayan con Dios . . .