Listening to a Monkey´s Heartbeat

On Friday morning we left at 8am for the Chapare (hope I´m spelling that right). Eight of us- Thomas, Matt, David, Sergio, Daniel, Kaitlin, Cari, and I piled into a 28 year old Volkswagon van and headed for the Andes. The trip there was fine. It was interesting to see some of the poorer villages of Bolivia, though I have to admit, this alleged poverty really makes me question just what it we really "need." Some of these "poor" kids seem very content. I know I had this conversation with Sheryl recently, and often, I think, we don´t need half of what we think we do. It just bogs us down chasing after one thing and then the other until we can´t enjoy it anymore. For example, I don´t really take any pleasure out of a hot shower (unless my back is really hurting), but I am very pissed off when hot water isn´t available to me. We should learn to enjoy things I think.

Thomas´s brakes overheated on the descent into the tropics, and we had to stop for about an hour to get them to cool down. We were filling water bottles in a river and using them to pour on the brakes. I took advantage of the time as a photo op. and to put my feet in the river, as someone I once hiked with said, to remind myself I am alive. I love to touch things.

We got to the "hotel" in the rainforest about 2 in the afternoon. It was more reminiscent of the cabins at Seneca than any hotel I´ve ever been to, which was, for me, a pleasant surprise. I love the simplicity of things like that. I feel so much more tranquil and less distracted in those types of places. The flora was beautiful from what I got to see of it. Very bright and vibrant. I´m at an internet cafe hoping I can post a picture or two, but... it doesn´t seem to be recognizing my camera. So... I may have to add them later again.

We attempted to go to El Parque Manchia on Friday, but they were closing. So we instead went into town, had some coffee, and watched another parade. I was very spaced out and in a weird mood. Something about music, especially drums, and seeing people dance together does strange things to me. It´s so alive. I really wanted to join in, go back to Magnolia, strap on my drum at 8am and just march and beat my drum. I always felt I was moving in some large animal when I played in band... sort of like in Hotel California. Anyway...

At night, we had dinner at the hotel. It was outside on the porch. I loved the simplicity of sitting outside in the night air, under the stars, enjoying the food and the company of others. I accidentally bought an entire bottle of wine. Language barrier. That´s OK. I shared it with my friends, and David bought the next bottle, and we all had a good night playing Cacho and sharing wine. I love the popular red wine here. It´s very inexpensive, but it has a nice berry flavor.

I was surprised on Saturday that several people really seemed to want to leave. I guess the hotel wasn´t the quality they were looking for. I guess I can understand that, but I mean... I like to sleep out on the ground in just my sleeping bag by a fire with spiders crawling into my mouth, so who am I to judge the quality of a hotel? I could have dealt with it, but the day got better when we made it to El Parque Manchia.

It´s a rehabilitation park for animals. The monkeys are usually released back into the wild, but the birds have all been abused and can no longer survive on their own. I had a monkey sit on my shoulder. His little furry body was pressed up against my ear, and I could hear his heart beat. To me, that was really exciting. They had spider monkeys. I know John will be happy to see these pictures. And the monkeys are thieves. They dig in your pockets, climb down inside your shirt, among other mischief. But they´re so cute, you can´t really be mad.

We hiked through the rest of the park. Probably only a couple of miles, but it was intense and steep. I got a workout from it. My legs are sore today. There is a really interesting specie of tree that grows there where the entire root system, about ten feet tall, is all above ground. We came to a waterfall, and Daniel and I wound up going into the waterfall. I was wearing all cotton and became a delicious drink for mosquitoes. Actually, it wasn´t a problem as long as I kept moving. I just had to go into the waterfall. As Joe would say, it was calling my name. PS- Joe, there are grapevines down here if you feel like you need to do some swinging.

On the drive home, we ran out of gas. David had a good quote: "This one time, in the Andes... we were driving in this small yellow bus that didn´t have gas, and there was this eccentric ex-German driving us." All I could do was just sit in the backseat and laugh with Cari. I mean, it was really freakin hilarious. I mean, here we are, stranded in the Andes Mountains in a van that´s using a garden chair tied to the bench seat as the 8th seat. The van is only supposed to seat seven. Well, that was interesting. Thomas had some gasoline in a can with him, and we barely made it about another 20 miles (estimate) to a gas station. He really didn´t think we´d make it. I think we all expected to sleep in the van in the mountains that night. I was both relieved and disappointed when we made it to the gas station. I was looking forward to the adventure. Impromtu camping never hurt anyone.

The stars were incredibly bright. Even the ones that usually aren´t visible could be seen. At one point in the drive, we were up so high that we could look down on pools of clouds filling in the spaces between mountains. It was sunset.

Then we went out to a bar called High Class. We played some games there that I can tell anyone more about later. Suffice it to say, we had a good time. Daniel and Cari went back to the hostel, and the rest of us went on to Casa de Campo, a restaurant where a guy named David was having his birthday party. I wound up having a conversation with a guy there who spoke in broken English... but his English was still better than my Spanish, so we went with that. He was interesting to talk to. He is in law school. Used to work at a kindergarten for kids whose parents were in prison. Daniel said he found out from Alexis that that guy´s dad is a lawyer for Evo Morales. Small and tangled world. I´ll never see the guy again, but I like to get ppl´s stories.

Then it was time for bed. Kaitlin slept on my floor because we were back in town a night earlier than what her host family was expecting.

This AM I was up at 6:30- porque es siempre como este!!!- and went for a run, first one here in Bolivia. The air is thinner here, and I could feel that, but it didn´t hurt. I couldn´t run as hard, but it wasn´t as difficult as I´d expected. I know my way to the orphanage and back now, so that´s good, and I´m glad to have gotten some exercise now that I lost my yoga space.

We had lunch today as Casa de Campo. It was good, nice to have lunch and talk with people. Everyone in this group seems to have a lot of good ideas and intersting things to say. Then we walked to el Cine Center to see what was playing. Not much. Daniel and David went to see something, but Cari and I just went in search of an internet cafe and had drinks at Globos. I think she´s a really intersting person and easy to talk to. I´m grateful that we have a professor who is willing to interact with us on a personal level, because from what I keep hearing from John, having a shitty professor can really bomb the whole experience. It sounds like he´s doing better, but he still just wants to come home.

Anyway, that´s about all for now. I feel like I am summarizing so much on these!

Peace. Blessings.
Casie