Coffee & Merlot
09.16.2003Last night I finally moved into my apartment in earnest. It´s currently bare and sparse — just the way I like it. Still, I should probably get some furniture and accessories soon, you know, to liven up the place.
To celebrate, I went down to Café Ciudad to drink strong Bolivian coffee and read Henry James' The American, which seemed rather fitting. It was already getting late (it was a Monday night, after all), and the streets were empty, except for the occasional boehemians roaming the streets.
Café Ciudad is open 24 hrs, which makes it the natural ex-pat hangout. It´s at one end of El Prado, the city´s main boulevard. At the table next to me sat a biologist from St. Lucia, two other tourists, a Canadian and a Chilean. They invited me over to their table to share a bottle of Bolivian red wine. We passed the night talking in Spanish & English about our various experiences, about international politics, sometimes quite heated, but always enjoying each other´s company.
Once the bottle was polished off, I accompanied them up the Prado for a block, then turned towards my apartment for a good night´s sleep.
Posted by Miguel at 11:12 AM
Comments
Glad to see you being safe in La Paz and starting to find a "new life" there. Good luck to you and keep posting ... always curious to read.
Posted by: Melli at September 16, 2003 12:57 PM
I am so jealous. I am sitting in class right now hearing about how to use the library. I would much rather be in Bolivia, with some Coca tea predicting when the next time Bolivia will qualify for the Copa Mundial.
Posted by: Sam at September 16, 2003 02:42 PM