Leaving Cocha

07.03.2004

My 2+ days in Cochabamba were great. Amber's a fun host & great conversationalist. We exchanged books: Life of Pi for Shipping News (which I've already started & much enjoy).

Spiderman 2 was as great as we both thought it'd be. Took Friday afternoon to visit the Palacio Portales (she'd never been) & ended up also taking in the Alcide d'Orbirgny Natural History Museum (quite nice, too). Didn't make the 5pm Spanish tour, so settled for the 5:30 English tour of Palacio Portales. Had fun taking photographs in the ground's gardens. Didn't enjoy the contemporary art exhibit.

Other than that, we mostly hit the tasty vegetarian restaurants in Cochabamba in the day, the quaint little cafés along Calle España at night. Seriously, Ganesh Restaurant's one of my favorite places to eat in all Bolivia. For Bs. 10 you get an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet that just leaves you not only full, but completley satisfied.

Got all my stuff from CEDIB (the official "purpose" of my trip) & am now a truly happy camper. I won't be when it comes to coding five election's worth of newspaper coverage ... But I also know that (barring really horrible luck), I'm in good shape for a year of data analysis & dissertation writing. Seriously, CEDIB's the most useful research-oriented organization I've come across in Bolivia.

Interestingly, there was a march in Cochabamba while I was here. It was so polite, they even left half the road open for vehicle traffic. They carried green & yellow balloons & were preceded by a well-dressed drum & buggle band. Such an interesting juxtoposition to the paceño variety.

Well, I'm back at Aeropuerto Jorge Wilstermann, waiting to fly out to Tarija. Two nights in Tarija, than on to Santa Cruz. And since I've already done the tourist thing in Tarija numerous times before, this part of my round-the-country adventure will be more quiet, still, reflective. Unless I can get a guided tour of one of the wineries ...

Posted by Miguel at 02:16 PM

Comments

Hey Miguel , email me about your mopeds ... :) I want o ride them !

Posted by: Andres at July 3, 2004 04:47 PM