Happy New Year

Dear Readers:

My family and I have marked the new year by moving house, from the urban hillsides of Barrio Temporal to the flat and open countryside beyond Tiquipaya. In other words, we now live in the Bolivian version of "out in the boonies". In fact, here is a photo of one of our new neighbors. As you can see, she is pretty happy to have us in the neighborhood.

All this means that I won't be posting for a few days, due to both the lack of time and the lack of either a phone or Internet connection. Also, FYI, even though the news is certainly full of things to write about, it is New Years. So whether you celebrate by dancing until dawn in Cochabamba, or by sleeping on a freezing sidewalk in Pasadena waiting for the Rose Parade, or by vegging out in front of a TV watching college football in the U.S. – a Happy New Year to all!

Have a great start to 2008 and I'll be back on-line in a few days.

Jim Shultz