Santa Cruz, BO - Friday-Saturday, Final Days in Santa Cruz

Tired from the movie we watched the night before, we woke up late again, and scurried down for a quick breakfast before they cleared everything off the buffet. We didn’t have much to eat before the food was taken away, and we headed back to the rooms soon after. Vee stayed back in the rooms to hang out with the family, and I went down to the wi-fi area to get caught up on emails and blogs and pics. It was not long after I sat down before Andrew popped by with his PowerBook to work on his seminar program that he was giving in La Paz the next week. Sonya joined us, and eventually Vee came down too. We had a few cappuccinos and another very nice conversation. They were very nice to offer to go to the HyperMax grocery store and by tickets for us to the ExpoCruz tonight and we took them up on their offer. While hanging out back in the room, I worked on the computer a bit and Vee spent some more time with the family. We eventually made our way down to the pool and had a few drinks, and then Mom and Vanessa came down too. After some conversation, and the disappearance of the sun, we went back to the rooms to get ready for the big night out. We caught a taxi to the the ExpoCruz and walked around for about 4 hours, highlighted with a delicious meal in a small restaurant on the grounds where I had some more trout, and a tasty shrimp bisque. The expo was quite an affair with live bands playing, mascots walking around, and a huge number of “azafatas”, or Bolivian models, who were representing every kind of product imaginable, including cars, motorcycles, industrial products and services, electronics, foods, liquors, beers, agricultural products, real estate and vacation packages, etc. Most of models were handing out flyers detailing whatever product they were selling, or just standing there looking pretty. I made sure to not look at any of them out of fear that they’d approach me and I’d be helpless with my horribly limiting Spanish. One of the few that actually did approach me was none other than Miss Bolivia herself, and being completely unaware, I gave her my usual “no gracias” and continued on my way. It was not until afterwards that Vee told me who she was, and we had a good laugh over it. Outside, we saw the Miss Bolivia from the prior year, and with video camera in hand, Vee went up to her and asked her to say a hello to Philadelphia, which she graciously obliged. After a lot of walking, we decided to call it a night, and taxied back to the hotel and to bed, as Saturday was going to be an early, and long one. We woke up Saturday morning around 5:30, packed, checked out, got our last breakfast buffet, said our goodbyes, taxied to the airport and began the long trip home. The air turbulence was pretty bad, and we got held up in Miami customs, but otherwise the trip was fine. When we got back to Philly, the R7 was done running, so we took the R1 to 30th Street, and taxied home.

Santa Cruz, BO - General Thoughts in Santa Cruz

So what can I say. I guess the first thing is that I am really impressed with our hotel, Los Tajibos. I did not have very high expectations. The last time that Vee and I were in Bolivia last year, we took an overnight trip to Chapari where we stayed in a high-end hotel, and it was then that I realized the disparity between what we consider high-end in the States versus what is high-end in Bolivia. The hotel in chapari was pretty much right in the middle of the jungle, and so obviously did not have access to the resources that a hotel in the city has access to. Even so, it was still nice, and clean, and comfortable and we had a fantastic time there. But, at least in my opinion, and Vee is not in total agreement with me, I think Los Tajibos truly is a high-end hotel, not on par with the best of the best in the States, but I am confident that it certainly is within Bolivia. The service, pretty much all around, is fantastic. In the morning, a newspaper is delivered to the room, and room service cleans everything, makes the beds, mops the floors, refreshes all towels and linens. They must also spray an air freshener in each room as everything always smells so very fresh and clean when they are finished. In the evening, they come by again to turn down the sheets of the beds and leave some chocolates behind. They check the inventory in the refrigerator probably every other day and replenish anything that we have consumed, which in our case has only been bottled water a Corona, and a granola bar. They also leave two glasses of purified water in sterilized sealed glasses in the bathroom so that if you are afraid to use water out of the tap for washing and brushing, you can use this water. We both have confidently been using tap water for everything but drinking, and have not had a single “episode”. The water pressure in the shower is very good, as well as the water pressure in the sinks. The floors in our rooms are a beautiful large faux-marble tile, with area carpets in the reading room and the sleeping area. The carpets are in good condition, and have unusually thick padding underneath them that I noticed right away since I almost tripped and fell over them since they were so thick with padding. Everything in our rooms is immaculately clean, and this attention to cleanliness is a constant throughout the grounds of the hotel. Each day, no matter what the weather, the groundskeepers are cleaning, whether it is sweeping leaves, hosing the pool deck, polishing the hallway floor tiles or hard woods, pruning trees and bushes, watering plants, they are always taking take of the place. Also, everyone is very friendly to us, everyone from the room service folks to the waiters to the security guards and the people at the front desk, although they aren’t as convincing. This hotel is obviously the place where the Bolivia’s most famous, powerful and wealthiest people stay, and also where all the biggest and most extravagant weddings are held. We’ve noticed that American Airlines must have an arrangement with the hotel as we have seen all of the people from the crew that flew us into Bolivia here at one time or another. I think that the majority of people here at the hotel are international, a lot of business people from Argentina and Chile, big fat Texas oilmen from the States (according to Andrew anyway…heheheee), and a good number of business people from Asia too. The food is excellent here too. Although the items on the breakfast buffet never change, the array of food is plentiful and it is all good. The presentation of the food is always very appealing too, as for each meal, they change the linens on all the tables, and on the buffet with coordinated color themes. The lunch buffet is very good too although yesterday was the only day that we’ve had it. And dinner has been excellent each time. The menu is in both Spanish and English so it is very easy for a gringo to pick out their meal. They have a wide variety of items on the dinner menu including steaks, chicken, pastas, seafood, with choices that are “local” and others that are more international traditional fare. I have eaten green salads, vegetables, eggs and omelets, steak, fish and have drank coffee, fresh lemonade and glasses of water, and I have not had even ONE single bad reaction. This in itself is a testament to the quality of the hotel and its commitment to the international traveler. Room service food has been good too, and the selection of foods is very adequate. Aesthetically the hotel is gorgeous, with very pretty, classy yet simple architectural design, whitewash walls, terracotta tiles, natural hard woods, an in-wall water fall, goldfish pond, peacocks, large clean pool with thatch roofed huts, comfortable whicker chairs and sofas in the hallways and cozy little nooks. The business center is outfitted with about 5 Internet-connected PCs each with MSOffice installed as well and it is all free to use. There are always hotel taxis waiting out front if you need to get around the city, although they the fare is more expensive. As I have said before, the grounds of the hotel are beautiful with lots of tropical trees, bushes and flowers, manicured lawns, and singing birds. I think that the one caveat in all of this is this: remember, this is Bolivia, not New York City and everything here is relative. You cannot come here expecting the Waldorf-Astoria. I would guess that the GDP of Manhattan alone is more than the entire country of Bolivia. But regardless, bottom line, this place is fantastic and I have loved our stay here. And, of course, you have to remember that the dollar goes A LOT further here. For example, a double room here, and Los Tajibos is a 5 star hotel, with a full breakfast is $85. In the states, you’d be lucky to find a rat-infested hole in the ground to sleep in for $85 in any major metropolitan area. So, enough about the hotel, how about Santa Cruz. Most of our time was spent either in the hotel, on the Ave. San Martin which is the street on which Los Tajibos resides, or on the Ave. Monsignor Rivera also known as El Christo. Outside of this extremely limited range, I cannot say much except that from the elevation of the apartment we looked at the other day, it seemed very pretty with lots of green mixed with Palms and terracotta roofs. It is a flat city so you cannot see much of what is around you. The vegetation is rather tropical, but I cannot say that there is lots of it. After all, it is a city, and it is the most populous one in Bolivia. The cars are a mix of mostly asian imports, with a few European cars in the mix and even fewer American cars, mostly older models in pretty bad condition. The sidewalks are mostly walkable but not in very good condition, and there is lots of broken glass. You hardly ever see policeman. You see a lot of private security guards though. Every decent residential area, and in a lot of cases, individual residences, and a lot of businesses, if not all of the larger ones, have their own security guards. I was happy to see that Santa Cruz has not been Americanized. Of course there is plenty of signage for Coca-Cola, there is a Burger King, there is a restaurant named “American Style” and on the menus in the places serving lunch, you can even find “Filly Sandwiches” which is their interpretation of a Philly Cheese Steak which I have had no desire to order. I would say that the majority of people I have seen are of mixed descent, and that I see many of the same kinds of native people that I remember seeing in La Paz and Cochabamba although I don’t think there are as many here proportionally. On the two main streets that we have visited, there are plenty of cafes and bars, but a lot of these places do not open during the day. Actually, it is difficult to know when and how often a lot of these places are ever open for business. The city streets are designed with few traffic lights and stop signs, all of which seem to be optional anyway. There are lots of traffic circles which make it very difficult for pedestrians to navigate since there is very rarely a break in traffic around these areas and the cars come from all directions. It often comes down to a game of chicken, in the hopes that the car you have decided to step out in front of is being driven by someone having at least half a conscience and will slow down enough for you to scurry to the other side of the street. The other day, I made the mistake of assuming that cars stopped for the “Pare” (stop) signs, and decided to cross a street where a car was still a good distance away, and had a stop sign. Well, he had no intention of slowing down, and certainly no inclination to stop, and the guy practically ran me over, only missing me by a few inches as he blew through the stop sign as if it was not even there. This is normal here. In general though, the first few days out and about in Santa Cruz gave me a feeling of sadness. But by Wednesday, when the weather began to get better, that feeling transformed into a wonderful feeling that I think I have only ever experienced in Cochabamba before, and it is hard to describe. It is a VERY good feeling. It is one of release; of freedom from the trappings of material and societal weight; a feeling of acceptance of something that you know is flawed yet beautiful in its own way; an appreciation for the rawness, the relative innocence; an embracing hopelessness that negates expectations and elevates your appreciation of the simple things. It is a light feeling that I can feel in my chest. It does not last long, but when it does happen, it is very real. It is something I have felt different varieties of before, though, but infrequently. It is similar to the feeling I’ve had standing in awe of the mountains in Denali State Park of Alaska, or in one of the cascades along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, or in the woods when mountain bike riding in Western PA, or hiking one of the peaks in the mountains of New Hampshire. It is a similar feeling, but not the same, arising from a different set of stimuli. Anyway, it is a good feeling.

Santa Cruz, BO - Thursday, Day Six

The sun has finally made an appearance. However, we took our time to introduce ourselves to it as we slept in past 9am and finally got out of the room around 10:30 or so. Just as we were about to leave our room, Mom stopped by to tell us that the breakfast buffet was about to close. At the same time, the phone rang in our room, and when Vee answered, it was one of the people from the restaurant telling us that they were about to close the breakfast buffet, and they wanted to see if we would want them to prepare some food for us from the buffet and bring it to our room. Where else would this happen? What a nice touch. Anyway, we were still full from dinner last night and were not interested in a full breakfast. Instead, we went down for a cappuccino with plans to have lunch a while later. Not long after we got our drinks, Andrew and Sonya appeared and we invited them to our table and ended up having a really nice time together, with conversation, coffees and lunch. Around 1:30pm or so we decided to go our separate ways and met up with the family at the pool. I put on the headphones, pulled down my hat, sprawled out on a lounge chair and took in the sun. Chris joined me, and the girls sat at a table by us, had some fresh lemonade and talked. The sun was warm, but never got too hot. The sky was a beautiful clear blue, and the wind died down to just a slight breeze. The pool water was still pretty cold from the rain we’ve been having, but Chris braved it and went for a swim. Mom pointed out a man who was walking by, and who must have just been checking into the hotel, as Jaimie Doria-Medina. He is one of the three main candidates for president of Bolivia, and is the one who Vee’s father is supporting and running with. Vee’s father is running for office as Deputy of the State of Cochabamba, and the elections are in December. Vee was able to pull the camera out in time to snap a pic as Sr. Doria-Medina walked by. Once the sun began to dip behind the hotel, we decided to head back to the rooms where Vee and I changed and headed to the gym for a workout. We had it all to ourselves for a time, but then another bunch of people came in. We were about finished so it was no problem really. After our workouts, we went back to the room and spent some time getting cleaned up, reading, etc., and then met up with the family for dinner. Although the stop was called off late in the afternoon, and many of the restaurants and bars would be open tonight, we decided to take it easy and have dinner here in the hotel. Dinner was excellent and we had a great time exchanging stories. I had a delicious trio of fish including fresh trucha (trout) from Lake Titicaca, surubi, which I think is similar to a catfish, and pejerrey. It was all good, especially the pink-colored trucha filet which apparently grows to be a huge fish in Lake Titicaca with steaks being 3 fingers thick. Our waiter was the same one from the other night that we ate here, and he remembered what each of us ordered for dessert and helped us decide what we should each have this time. Vee and I shared a tasty warm brownie with vanilla ice cream. After dinner, we turned in, and spent the rest of the night relaxing in our rooms. We got sucked into a movie called The Astronaut’s Wife, with Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron; it was entertaining. I guess it was after 1 or so in the morning before we finally went to sleep. Not an exciting day, but a beautifully relaxing one.

Santa Cruz, BO - Wednesday, Day Five

Finally, the weather has broken, and we’re able to get outside without being cold and/or wet. The day started with our usual buffet breakfast. This time we were also joined by a woman that Mom met who was from Uruguay and was here on a business trip. Unfortunately for her, she ended up having to cancel her meeting because of the stop that is going to be happening tomorrow, which will shut down all mass transportation. After breakfast, Vee and I changed into our workout clothes and went over to the spa and played a few games of ping pong while Mom and Vanessa went to the 7 Streets markets again and Chris went to the business center to use the computers there. After finishing up with our ping pong games, Vee and I showered, watched a few minutes of tv, and got dressed for a walk back to the Ave. Monsignor Rivero area where we were yesterday. It had warmed up outside and we were eager to get out and enjoy it some, as it was still a bit too cool to sit by the pool. During our walk, we stopped into a few condo/apartment buildings to see if they had any information about places for sale or rent, but each place was full or just didn’t want to make any effort to show us anything for whatever reason. We continued on to find a place for a mid afternoon coffee and ended up at a café with nice outdoor seating in the sun. We had cappuccinos and a pastry and enjoyed the activity of the busy-ness around us. Once finished, we were determined to find out about some of the high-rise apartment/condos in the area, and after trying to get in a few more, unsuccessfully, we finally found one called Castelo Branco with a sales office, and got inside one of their smaller two bedroom units that was selling for $47,900. The bedrooms were small, and the condition was so-so but the views were beautiful. They also took us up to the rooftop pool where the view was even better. However the pool was questionable, despite the area itself being quite pretty in design. We thanked them for the tour and went on our way. Monthly fees were 40 cents per square meter of your unit and that covered maintenance, security, water, etc. We then made our eventual way back to the hotel where Chris was watching some soccer and the girls were on their way back out to the 7 Streets market area. Vee and I lounged around the room, and napped a bit before we re-grouped and got a taxi down to the Ave. Monsignor Rivero for dinner. On the way out, we ran into Andrew, and talked with him more. He highly recommended the restaurant El Hierro and so that was our destination. Dinner was very good, and the service was excellent. Dinner included fried yucca, fried potatos, rice, a salad buffet, a cheese and meat plate, a fried provolone and tomato plate, in addition to each of our entrees. Mom and Vanessa had pasta, Vee had chicken, Chris and I had steaks. Again, I had a Huari, and this has established itself as my favorite beer here. We had a great time with lots of fun conversation, and topped it off with some delicious desserts including lemon pie, crème Brule, and lemon mousse. Not bad for $40. We got a taxi home, and although we had intended to go out to a club/bar afterwards, it seemed a bit too crazy out for us tonight. The Avenue San Martin, where the hotel is located, was lined with kids drinking in their cars parked on the side of the road with music blasting. It was like a tail-gate party at a football game and they were all partying it up before going into the clubs. Tomorrow is a stop, and most businesses will be closed, so tonight is a free night for most people, and they are taking advantage of it. Instead, we went back to the hotel and let our stomachs settle from our feast. Vee and I went down to the lounge around 11:30 for a nightcap, and to update the blog. The weather forecast for tomorrow is 80 degrees and partly cloudy so we are looking forward to a day by the pool.

Santa Cruz, BO - Tuesday, Day Four

So this nasty weather just won’t break. It is cold, grey, and very very windy. Apparently this is somewhat normal for this time of year as the winds blow in from the Argentinian coast. We all went down to the breakfast buffet together and had a nice meal as per usual. After eating, we went back to the rooms, and then I came back down to the business center to use their computers to check email and make sure my servers were up. I then brought Vee’s laptop down to the wifi area and uploaded pics and blog entries. Vee came down as I was finishing up, and as we were leaving, we ran into the couple that we had met from Philly last night. We had another nice conversation with them, of course disgusted with the Eagles performance last night, and learned more about there lives here in Santa Cruz. We parted and went back to the room, where Vee spent more time with her Mom and sis, and I continued reading my book in the cozy reading room. You could tell that there was a feeling of lethargy and a bit of cabin-fever setting in as we all wanted to be outside but with the weather being so nasty, we felt more compelled to stay indoors. Finally, Vee gathered the troops for a taxi ride to an area of Santa Cruz where there were to be cafes and restaurants. We walked around for a bit, but there was not as much there as we expected, and wandered into “Alexander Coffee” for some warm drinks. It took them forever to get us menus, and almost as long to take our orders. Once received though, everything was good; mostly espresso drinks and pastries. The excitement of the evening was when a tv reporter and cameraman came to our table to interview Vee. With the lights of the camera shining in her face, Vee was asked by the reporter (in Spanish of course) “what is the best lie you have told so that you could come home late”. Poor Vee really didn’t have anything to divulge and said so while being filmed. I was just relieved that I was not the one being interviewed. After a few moments, with no juicy material, they left. We got the check and left soon after as well. It was getting to be dinner time so we debated ways of getting pizza at the hotel and decided to walk to Eli’s, get the pizza while we waited, and then get a taxi to the hotel and hope that the people at the front desk don’t give us a hard time. Whenever getting a taxi, it usually involves a sort of game I call “hide the gringo”. This is where I stand away from the group, looking around aimlessly, while Mom, Chris or Vee negotiates a decent fair, and then calls me to come to the car when everything has already been agreed upon. This way, the taxi driver gets paid a “normal” fair, as opposed to a fair that has been adjusted up to a level they believe a rich gringo should pay. No problem, it’s kind of fun in a strange way. We got back to the hotel with no problem, and thoroughly enjoyed the pizza. Then I finished reading my book and listened to some music. Then Vee, Mom, Vanessa and I went to the spa and got a good workout in. Vee spent most of her time showing Mom some exercises she could do with her weights at home. After that, we went back to the room, changed, and headed down to the lounge for a drink.

Santa Cruz, BO - Monday, Our Third Day

Today, Monday, our third day in Santa Cruz, began down at the breakfast buffet. Actually, I had woken up around 6am, read some, written some, then went back to bed, until we woke up at 8:30. After breakfast, we headed back to the rooms where I continued to read my book, and the rest of the family watched shows and relaxed. With our stomachs a bit less full, we got dressed in more comfortable clothes and headed over to the spa. We rented a walleyball court for an hour, and had a great time playing 6 games or so, mixing up teams and playing competitively but without rigorous rule-enforcements. The net and ball were in surprisingly excellent condition, and the guy who hung the net made it nicely taught. The floor was a very slick hardwood that made it very difficult to maneuver without slipping and falling. Mom took a pretty hard fall once, and cracked her head on the floor, but swore that she was fine, and kept playing with us as if it never happened. We were all very concerned but she was not. She bounces around like a little girl; it is really amazing. After an hour of walleyball, we returned the equipment and took out the ping pong paddles and ball. I lifted weights for a while, and Chris went to the pool while the girls played ping pong. Then I played a few games with Vee and Mom, and we eventually finished and went back to the rooms. We got changed again, and met up with Chris, and took a taxi to the city plaza where we walked around for a while. We went in to a massive Catholic church, and were begged by a lot of poor little kids and campinas on our way out. It is so sad to see so many people on the streets with nothing. I just wish that I could help them all. In the plaza, there was a peaceful stop going on in front of one of the government buildings. We found a “Picolo’s” restaurant and we stopped for a coffee to hopefully warm us up. It was a nice break and we stayed for a while, having some desserts and coffees, etc. We walked around town a bit more, but soon got a taxi and returned to the hotel. The plan for the night was to get pizzas and watch the Eagles opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football. Unfortunately, according to the people at the front desk, there are no pizza places nearby, and they do not allow pizza to be delivered to the hotel. So, plan B is to order room service for anyone that is hungry. I ate an entire avocado, and snacked on some crackers, and Vee does not sound very hungry, so we may be fine with nothing more. Since we still had a bit of time before the game, we went down to the wifi area and attempted to get some things done online. While we were sitting there, a young couple came up to us and the guy asked me if I knew whether or not the Eagles game was going to be on ESPN tonight. I said that I really hoped so but I could not say with 100% certainty that it would be on. He explained that he saw me wearing my Eagles hat and that the was also from Philadelphia and that he and his girlfriend Sonia just got off a plane from Cochabamba and that they have a place here in Santa Cruz. He is a journalist and is teaching down here. I introduced Vee and I to them and explained what we do, and what we were doing here in Santa Cruz. We agreed that if the game would not be on ESPN, we would meet back up with them in 10 minutes in the lobby and go to a sports bar he knew of that would almost certainly have the game. They seemed real nice and we half hoped that the game would not be on ESPN so that we could get together. I told them our room number but didn’t think to get theirs. It turned out that the game was on ESPN, and so Chris, Vee and I had a great time staying up late watching the game despite the disappointing loss to the Falcons.

Santa Cruz, BO - Second Full Day

We slept in Sunday, day two, until about 9:30, but the rest of the family was up earlier, and we met them at the buffet breakfast. The weather was very different today, with a lot of rain in the morning, very windy, and cold, and this is how it would be for the rest of the day but mostly with clouds instead of rain. I am very happy that I got out to the pool yesterday while it was hot and sunny. It is Spring here in Santa Cruz, so this rainy windy weather may be what is in store for the week. After breakfast full of delicious food and very interesting conversation about life in Bolivia and the social and political issues here, I came down to sit in the WiFi area between the restaurant and the pool so that I could do some work on my blog software. Mom and Vanessa took a taxi to the 7 Streets area to do some shopping, and Vee and Chris hung out in the room. Vee came down and recruited me for a walk around the hotel and surrounding areas. So we grabbed the camera, and went exploring. It turns out that this place is a lot bigger then any of us expected. We found the tennis court, putting green, driving range, bird sanctuary, and a whole other beautiful building with numerous huge ballrooms where they were being prepared for wedding parties later on, and many other smaller conference and meeting rooms. We found another bar in the main building, and a business center with Internet computers, etc. And best of all, we found the spa with wet and dry saunas and whirlpool, racquetball court with walleyball net hookups, a converted squash/racquetball court, ping pong table and exercise room with a full spread of universal and free weights, cardio, tv, etc. We asked the guys in the spa how we could get racquets, balls, etc. and found out that the ping pong stuff and exercise room was free, but the walleyball, racquetball and squash courts were 10 dollars per hour, so for today, we decided to stick with ping pong. Chris and Vee played first while I got in a little workout, then Vee and I played while Chris worked out, and finally Chris and I played. It was a lot of fun, and very competitive. Tomorrow we plan to come back with Mom and Vanessa and play some walley in addition to the ping pong. After playing around, we walked outside the hotel to see what lies beyond these walls. There were huge water puddles in the streets from the rain the night before so we had to be careful where we walked since the cars passing through the puddles probably would not be too concerned about giving us a drive-by shower. During our walk, we saw that there were a lot of dance clubs, restaurants and even some higher end retail stores in the area. Of course this is mixed amongst some incomplete housing development, and other not so nice commercial establishments. It’s difficult to describe. It’s not that the area is bad or good. It’s just different. In me, it induces sadness. Perhaps it was partially a result of the grey cold sky, and the wind. But after talking with Vee about my impressions, I learned that it had the same effect on her too, and probably even more so since she has memories of her times in Santa Cruz from the mid to late 1990’s when things in Bolivia were generally better. I did not take any pictures of the area, but maybe I will later on in the week. There were a few large buildings that looked to be really nice hotels, all beautifully landscaped. During our walk, since I must have “American Sucker” painted on my forehead, a homeless guy apparently hailing originally from the U.K., wished me a hearty and cynical “welcome to this mother-*^#% country”, and then came to ask me for money to cover the cost of a bottle of milk he wanted to go buy…not booze…not cigarettes…not drugs…just milk. Right. I gave him the 4 or 5 bolivian coins in my pocket, due to his persistence and seemingly very coherent and intelligent-sounding speech in mixed English and fluent Spanish about how he came from a very wealthy family and that he chose to leave it all behind to live on the streets and that once he was a beautiful man with lots of women and now at 46 he looked like an ugly old man and so on. He probably would have continued on all day had we not walked away after 5 minutes or so of this. I bid him good luck, and he wished us God’s blessings. So after covering most of the immediate area around the hotel, we went back to the rooms where I did some reading and some napping while the others had time to get caught up. After a while, we took a taxi to the Hyper-Market for some munchies and loaded up on water, beer, juice, fruits and lots of sweet cookies and other snacks. When we got back to the hotel, we put on the U.S. Open Men’s final between Agassi and Federer, which went four sets before Federer finally won. Vee made avocado sandwiches with the gigantic, almost-cantaloupe-sized avocadoes, and later on, we ordered room service, with Vee and I sharing a club sandwich while it was hamburgers for the rest of the family. Despite having a range, cabinets, a fridge, etc., there are NO utensils, plates, pots or pans, so we thought it would be good to have some silverware, and kept the knives, forks and spoons from room service and put the remaining things back on the tray and out in the hallway to be picked up. After the match, I did some more reading and promptly fell asleep.

Santa Cruz, Bolivia Trip: Sept 9 - 17 2005; First Day of Travel and Arrival

Santa Cruz, Bolivia, is where we're headed. We took the train from home, the R7, to 30th Street Station, and switched to the R1 to the airport. This was a great way to go, so easy, pretty quick, and much cheaper than driving with gas at $3.49/gallon and economy parking at $9.00/day if you can find a spot. We packed light, bringing just one pull-behind suitcase, one day-pack, and one carry-bag. There was no line at American Airlines check-in, so that was a breeze, and although I got angry at security for having to unpack my entire day-pack just to get out the video camera, we got through without issue as this line was very short too. We got to the gate with about a 30 minutes to spare before boarding, so we watched a Friends DVD on Vee's laptop, and I had a few Coors Lights from the bar located so conveniently right at our gate. Once aboard the plane, we were seated together in a row of 3 seats, with a guy sitting next to me, and upon seeing the emergency exit row was empty, we asked to move up there and did so with the benefit of much more legroom. Strangely though, some Argentinian (...we think) guy sitting behind the exit row decided, as soon as we sat down, that he wanted to re-claim his seat in the exit row, and moved back into "his" seat, right next to Vee. Anyway, the extra leg room was nice, despite this guy's intrusion into what we were hoping would be a row to ourselves. We got the customary bag of chips and a drink and were off to Miami. Just a hair shy of 3 hours later, we touched down in Miami, and walked to the next terminal for our connecting flight. Hungry, I persuaded Vee to take walk through the airport in search of someplace still open that would have some food. I eventually found a Cuban place, and got us a delicious chicken filled pastry, and a guava filled pastry. Yum. Back to the gate, and we realized it was going to be a full airplane. We boarded the big bird, and yeah, it was big, but yeah it was full. Vee was stuck in the middle, but the lady next to her was sweet. We tried sleeping some, but even though it was plenty late, it just seemed like every position was painful, and did not sleep a quality wink the whole trip. We flew into La Paz, and got a nice pic from the airplane of the big mountain Illimani while taxiing back onto the runway for our final leg to Santa Cruz. We had a few scary moments on this leg of the journey, with a few screams and gasps, as the plane unexpectedly pitched up and down a few times, but otherwise it was fine. The final leg of our flight was only 30 minutes, and before we knew it, we were touching down in the tropical flats of Santa Cruz. It was early in the morning, about 7:30am, and it looked to be quite windy outside. We got off the plane, through immigration without even a look, then to baggage claim, and on through customs, again without issue. We changed some dollars for Bolivians and took a taxi to Los Tajibos. My impressions of Santa Cruz, from our drive to the hotel, was that although it was flat, and full of palm trees, it was otherwise very similar to Cochabamba in the architectural style, types of businesses, types of people, signage, etc. Los Tajibos seemed to be plopped down in the middle of a very ordinary mixed commercial, industrial and residential area, which was surprising; I thought it would be nestled in a prettier area but it did not matter once inside. I was impressed right away with the service folks attentiveness, and the comfortable, quality of the resort. Despite check-in not being until 12noon, our room was ready, and they let us in immediately which was a huge relief as we were both exhausted. They showed us to our rooms and again I was very impressed. Our room was actually a connecting suite of 3 rooms. Our room has a King bed, a sitting area, a full bathroom with bidet, fridge, closet, cable tv, accommodative furniture, and a whole other separate sitting room with desk, chairs and loveseat. The middle connecting room has a granite wraparound bar, stove, cabinets, bar stools, fridge, sitting area, and a half-bath. The 3^rd room, where Chris, Vanessa and Mom are sleeping has 2 Queen beds, sitting area, and a full bath. Everything is very nice, and the views from the huge open windows are beautiful. In general, the landscaping here is absolutely gorgeous with lots of mature trees, perfectly manicured grass, exotic birds singing, flowers, pools, etc. Security is amazing with a number of guards stationed throughout, and keeping a close eye on everything. So, we were starving, or at least I was, and hustled down to the restaurant to gorge on the breakfast buffet, with omelets, French toast, potatoes, bacon, sausage, eggs benedict, 5 kinds of fresh cut fruits, tons of pastries, meats, cheeses, juices, coffees, teas, cereals, etc. We were about finished when in came the rest of the family, fresh off the 10 hour bus trip from Cochabamba. We changed tables to accommodate the larger group, and they dug into the buffet as well. It was great to see them, and they all look fantastic despite the grueling trip. After eating heartily, we wandered back to the rooms and relaxed in front of the tv for the beginnings of the U.S.Open Mens Semifinal between Agassi and Ginepri. Agassi ended up winning in yet another 5 set thriller. I went out to the pool, and eventually stumbled through a conversation well enough with the guy selling sunscreen poolside to get a bottle of SPF30 before I could fry. Chris came out and we talked and swam for a while, then the girls finally came out, and I swam some laps while they sat and talked by the pool. Everyone was pretty tired, so we went back to the rooms and caught the end of the Agassi match, and the beginnings of the Federer-Hewitt match which Federer won in four. Vee and I napped while Mom and Vanessa went swimming. We re-grouped around 6pm and headed back down to the restaurant for a delicious dinner. I had French onion soup and a delicious white fish, Vee had a salmon-topped green salad, Mom had ravioli, Vanessa had pique, and I can’t remember what Chris had. Then we shared 3 desserts: tiramisu, mousse, and lime pie. ALL GOOD! I enjoyed my two Huari cervezas too. After dinner, we began watching the Klijsters-Pierce match, which Kim won in two. I think we are retiring early tonight. This completes the day one blog. I will be uploading pics from today as well. Looking forward to a very relaxing week. Tomorrow I think we’ll get some groceries and explore the grounds and the immediate area more.