Santa Cruz

What was supposed to be a 12-hour bus ride turned into an 18-hour ride but the bus was comfortable so it wasn't so bad. It's called "bus cama" and the seats really unfold to almost beds. The roads in some places felt like dirt roads - that's why it took so long. But it turned out good in the end because if we were not so delayed I wouldn't see the jungle in the daylight. From 7 am I could see its beauty. We passed through very lush vegetation, many broad rivers with murky milk-and-coffee waters and many clear-watered waterfalls. The houses in the selva looked very very poor. We stopped a few times along the way and it was sad for me to see the state of people and animals in this part of the country... When we left the jungle and reached the plains it got much wealthier and the outskirts of Santa Cruz looked like many outskirts of the Polish cities: a lot of nice buildings of foreign capital companies with well-kept grounds around them. Also many nice haciendas. Bolivia seems like a place of great contrasts. Santa Cruz looks a little like Florida - it has this feel of a warm place, full of palm trees and the specific architecture of such places. There's a nice town square with freshly painted buildings and a beautiful cathedral. Immediately after I arrived I went to look for food and I found this big restaurant inside some kind of a palace where whole families were sitting at long tables. They looked very elegant and highly mannered and were all of European descend - I think they were the people running this town. They also seemed to know each other. They were visiting each others' tables and kids were playing in the main part of the big room. It is very obvious here that there is this class of intelligentsia here which holds all the privileges and the very poor. There seems to be no middle class in Bolivia. The dinner consisting of an appetizer, soup, second course, desert, and fresh fruit juice (all for $2.5 with tip, for a tourist Bolivia is cheaper than Peru) was very nicely served, and in a very nice scenery, but not so tasty. This is so far my problem here - I have to be very careful what I eat. In La Paz the only place that looked and smelled good was Cafe Club de La Paz. It must be a place with a legend and history - I will heave to look for some info about it. When I went to eat there the only people there were middle-aged men in three-piece suits and they looked very noble. The club, I think, exists from early 40s. On the walls there were photos of La Paz in the 60s and they showed a very nice and clean city. It deteriorated badly since then... I went to the Cafe yesterday before getting on the bus and I saw on the tv the CNN live report from Vatican about the death of the Pope and the people around the world grieving (also in Cracovia, Polonia). I was touched... Thoughts of the day when the Pope was elected the Pope came back to me. I remember the day very well. Viola, who was a student and was renting a room at our house and who later became my very dear friend, came running to my room: "Asia! They elected the Pope and it's Karol Wojtyla, a Pole!" I didn't agree with many of the things he did (I don't agree with much of what the Church does) but I still respected him as a person as I respect all human beings who try to change the world for the better, even if it doesn't turn out for the better always... It saddens me that he passed away but I also rejoice because much of his life lately was suffering so this is the end of his suffering. His soul is free at last. For us it's an end to an era...