Military Parade

Today went smoothly without any reports of violence in the city. I think the clip I included says that the reason was because they held the demonstration in the airport and it was closed and regulated instead of in the streets. I know a lot of people were praying and I think that is what saved this day from turning violent. Here is a short clip from CNN

"Bolivian President Evo Morales' government held a military and Indian parade in a center of anti-government sentiment Tuesday without the feared violence that prompted a U.S. Embassy warning to Americans.
More than 10,000 uniformed soldiers and Indians in traditional dress marched down an airport runway in the eastern city of Santa Cruz in honor of Bolivia's Armed Forces Day.

The U.S. Embassy in Bolivia had warned Americans not to attend the event, citing "potential violence" between marchers and counter-demonstrations by Santa Cruz groups.
But the fact the event was kept away from city streets may have helped avoid any conflicts in the city, where racial tension sometimes is mixed with political differences."

We avoided the streets anyhow today. We were at the school and then at home. We live in a fenced, barbwired, glass and nail protected compound. Theft is a problem here so we have two gates that are always locked with two barb wire strands around the top of the wall. There are parts of the wall that have nails and broken glass on top. The school is the same way with a 24 hour guard post that is always manned. To get to school we walk out the back gate and there is a field that we walk through. It belongs to a family that lives in the middle of it. It's their cows that sometimes choose to be large obstacles to getting to school. But if we walk through the field we come to the back of the school compound and we walk around and the guard lets us in the gate.

Today at school they ordered food from one of the staff's favorite restaurants that is located close by. It's called Nescar. It's a chicken place and the food is very delicious and cheap. It cost 13 Bolivianos for 1/4 chicken, a huge plate of rice and french fries. 13 B's is roughly 1 dollar and 55 cents. The other day Grant and I ate at a restaurant that is inside the Hipermaxi (grocery store) and it cost 23 Bs which is a tiny bit less than 3 dollars and we had more food than we could eat and it was amazing. So eating out here is cheaper than anyone could ask for. One day a group of us ate Mexican food for 25 dollars for 14 people. So far all the food we have had has been very good.