Michael: Settling in Cochabamba

We are now settled in our new city, Cochabamba. All of us love it here, for a variety of reasons The city has a beautiful natural setting, in a V shaped valley surrounded by mountains large and small. Thee are many trees and much greenery, both convential and exotic. At the airport when we met our new host families, we could quickly see that they were organized, and fluent in English. They made us feel right at thome and helped us forget the unpleasantness of the prior day's episode at the roadblock. My hosts are Jaime and Patricial Portugal. They live in one of the most stupendous houses I've ever entered. The exterior is a tasteful yellow stucco with multiple roof-lines of adobe tile. There are multiple storeys and each has an outdoor patio or sitting area. The rooms and hallways have magnificient artwork and many of the windows have custom stained glass panels. My bathroom and bedroom are lit by chandeliers. Like many guys, Jaime's prized possession sits in the garage: a 1951 Chevrolet Pickup truck, in mint condition. Jaime was born in La Paz, but educated in the USA where he spent most of his career in veterinary nutrition, helping farmers obtain the maximum yield from pork, beef, and chicken production. He is a kidney transplant recipient, and like many people who have faced pre-matrue death but given a new lease on life, has devoted his considerable energies towards people in need. He worked tirelessly to deliver potable water to a nearby peasant village where the groundwater was polluted. He is working now to provide restorative services to children with clef lips and clef palates. In the morning yesterday, Jaime took me to a nearby outdoor stadium to watch the finals of a professional beach volleyball tournament. The American women won with a vicctory of the host Bolivian team. The American men lost to the Brazilian team. It was exciting! Quite coincidentally, we seated oruselves in front of some fans waving a large American Flag and word has it that we were on international ESPN TV. I learned that Anne was also there as one of the Bolivian playwers was the daughter of her hosts! After lunch, I joined the team for a tour of the town. Our hosts, a tourism professor at the college in town and Judah's host Ferdinand, took us first to a hilltop on the east of the city where a 400-meter statue of Jesus stands. From there, we were treated to a magnificient view of the city and the surrounding mountains. We descended the hill into the downtown where we strolled the traditional town square. Our hosts bought a selection of nuts from one of the indigenous women vendors selling from a cart. We finished the afternoon at an outdoor ice cream parlor where we all feasted on homemade ice cream in exotic flavors. Across the roundabout, there is one of the city's major cathedrals. At one point, a parade of worshippers walked the street towards the cathedral, carrying and waving palm fronds. Several men carried a platform atop which was a figure of a white mule, atop which was a figure of Jesus, covered with a long purple robe. A Brass band took up the rear, playing a Simon and Garfunkel tune. Fire crackers went off in the street. Gotta run!