Weekend in Santa Cruz

Now that I'm home from Bolivia, I'm hoping I can go through and remember the weekend at Santa Cruz accurately. Every moment was full so that days blurred into one another. I think it would be more effective if I just jotted down some anecdotes instead of trying to go through in perfect chronology.

We finally met Jean Carla's kids. They are very sweet and well-behaved. I was impressed. Her little girl is such a princess, very cute.

While in Santa Cruz, we stayed in a hostel called Jodanga, which Jean Carla explained means "big party." I think it lived up to the the name. On Saturday morning, I was sitting outside the bathroom Jean Carla and I were sharing with another room, and a tall, very white, scruffy red-headed Brit stumbled out, pointed at me and said, "Good morning." I commented likewise and asked how he was. "Terrbile." Did I mention he was wearing nothing but his underwear?

Speaking of underwear... in Santa Cruz... no wait, I promised I'd wait on that story. Drat it all. Well, be ready, there's an underwear story.

We were just outside Santa Cruz on Friday afternoon- Daniel, Dave, Jean Carla, Matt, and I. We went down to the river and did some stuff. Then Dave and I decided to go for an ATV ride. It was fun and funny. I would estimate it at a whopping 10 HP. Maybe 15. We got stuck trying to go uphill over some rocks, lol. The road was pretty bumpy and twisty, though, so that offered it's own thrill, and I can always say that I went 4-wheelin' out in the country in Santa Cruz. :)

Random Fact: Kids from the country around Santa Cruz have been seen using oranges like we would use snowballs. We had to plead for a cease fire on our way back from the river.

Jean Carla took us for coffee/tea time, which quickly degenerated, or in my opinion progressed, to completely sober reggaeton, cumbia, and merengue dancing at 4pm. It went on for a couple hours. I heard the music and saw all the locals dancing, and without my Zumba and the cessation of the Latin party in Morgantown, I've really been itching. Jean Carla led me out and hooked Matt along the way, who was on his way back from the pay-per-use bathroom and didn't even have a chance. Some of the local girls got us invovled, and soon they decided that they wanted the rest of our group- Daniel and Dave to come out. So then that happened. I had a great time. I think it's safe to say everyone did.

One night... I think it was our first night so Thursday... we went out to dinner and then for drinks with a couple of Jean Carla's friends. They seem like nice people. We went to a bar where a band was supposed to show up and play. Anyone wanna guess how that one ended? OK, I'll help you. They didn't come.

Our last day in Bolivia, Saturday, we spent at Guembe. Everyone talks about it like it's a butterfly park, and while the butterflies certainly are cool, there's a lot more to do there as well. There's an aviary with all kinds of crazy noisy birds. You can climb up this tall, spiral staircase and then look out over the treetops. That was cool, but climbing was a little scary. Oh yeah, I saw a sloth. They really are slothful. It's like the poor little thing was stoned or something, trying so hard to move its paws to feed itself. One of my favorite parts was the orquidearia (don't know what that would be in English, but it's where there are orchids). There were only two orchids in bloom because of the season, but the way they have the place set up is really awesome. It's all based on sevens. They have 14 columns bordering the whole thing, 7 rings on the ground, a seven point star in the center. The star is surrounded by chunks of amethyst, and apparently, it is supposed to be on top of some special energy spot. I thought that was cool. People go and do yoga there... yay for yogis... Daniel and I took pictures of each other "meditating" on top of it. Lunch there was delicious, but I think I ate too much... 3 steaks... I've never done that before, and I payed with over a day's worth of indigestion. (Now I'm having cheesecake for breakfast. :( Shame.) They had "natural" pools there, which I think just means they dumped sand in the bottom of them. There were soooooo effing cold. I got in and got right back out. Daniel said the water was nice. Liar. He and I also went kayaking, but I couldn't take that for very long. The pond was extremely dwarfed, and there was some dumb rule about having to wear your life jacket. I was given a lifejacket for a 100K person, so I could barely move. It was a truly beautiful place, one of those places that just naturally draws you to contemplation. I loved the ripple fountains. There were circular ones around a statue of a woman kneeling down in contemplation. I love to stare at ripples, and these ones just kept coming and coming.

Right before we left for the airport, Jean Carla, Dave, Andres, Daniel, Matt, and I played "beach volley," aka our best/worst attempt. Then Jean Carla went inside to order what we later learned was 3 square feet of pizza that all came in a single box while the rest of us stayed outside to play beach soccer. I am not good at sports. I was more interested in figuring out whether I would be seeing the other half of the crescent moon when I returned home. I looked up last night, and I think I was right. The left side was lit up from Bolivia, the right side from here. After failing at blocking Dave's goal and just getting sand all over me, I went to build sand mounds instead. We had the pizza in Jean Carla's family's condo. They are all really nice people, very warm and welcoming.

Speaking of warm, welcoming, people, I got my welcoming back to the US. I woke up on an otherwise empty plane in Miami to a really grouchy flight attendant telling me I had a whole 20-minute walk on which I could wake up and that I needed to leave the plane now. I was very apologetic and embarrassed, but in retrospect, I wish I'd have had a nasty retort in my hip pocket. All our flights went pretty smoothly. There was some turbulence from New York to Pittsburgh, but I think that's because of the size of our plane. It was little.

Back in Pittsburgh, John and Mom were waiting for me at baggage claim. MEOW!!!!! So I was conscious for a few minutes, and as soon as we got in the car, I turned John into a pillow and went to sleep. I woke up in Moundsville, because I heard Mom and John saying bad things about me. Then I went to sleep again until we got to New Martinsville, at which point I decided I wanted SnoBiz. It's HOT in the Ohio River Valley. I am no longer accustomed to this sticky humidity. Mom initially drove past because of the line, but I began to whine about how I'd traveled thousands of miles and all I wanted was a stupid 2-dollar snobiz. So she hissed and turned around. John offered to get out and get it for me, and looking the way I did, I didn't refuse. I was a total slimeball. So, as I was sitting there looking like a slimeball, Meredith and Marcus walked up. Fancy that I should see them my first day back. But that was nice, made it feel more like home again.

I came home and passed out on the couch. Then I woke up, and John was here. He came in to show us some pictures from his trip. But I fell asleep. What an ass. I'll have to see them when I go back to Morgantown in a few days, but not too immediately, because I did finally get this week off at Healthworks! :) Good. I need time to prepare, and the whole month will go better if I can plan my choreography instead of just whipping it together, because once classes start rolling there is no time to stop and catch up.

My dirty laundry is out drying on the line... one thing I like from Bolivia. I got my feet soaked in the dew on my way out there this morning. Humidity. Humidity. Humidity. I was the garden my parents planted. It looks really good, healthy. I'm proud of them for planting their garden. Dad says I can go out and hoe it later. Whoop whoop. I do want to mow the grass tomorrow though. I could use a day of driving around on the tractor and thinking. Anyway, it's good to be home. I miss the kids, esp. Belen, and being with my group. But I'm glad to have this time to be home for a few days and visit with my parents and grandparents. I just heard that Mam-maw and Pap-paw are putting their trailer up for sale. I know (well, I just hung up on my first telemarketer since I've been back) that's where they are happy and need to be. I'll still miss them, though.

I'll probably post one or two more times to this as thoughts come to me about the trip. It's hard to integrate everything until a little while later until things start falling into their appropriate slots in my head. Everything is still kind of a jumble. But, I can't wait to see everyone again, and an Irish Creme cappuccino or Mocha Crush sounds realllllly good right now.

Peace. Blessings.

-Casie