Samaipata

Wednesday evening I arrived in Samaipata, after a bumpy 3 hour ride from Santa Cruz (which cost me about 2 euros...). Thus far, anytime I tell someone what I am doing here people tend to react with a faint smile, followed by a great list of warnings. Don´t go there and there alone, don´t let people take advantage of your kindness, take care of your stuff, don´t walk through that street after nine P.M., etc...

When I arrived here, in Samaipata, I got off the bus and stepped into a little restaurant and asked for directions to la Vispera. My LP told me it was a dark but doable walk but that it was possible to take a taxi. I asked the restaurant lady if it was far and she nodded yes. She told me it was indeed possible to take a cab, but when she looked over my shoulder she also saw an empty plaza... I asked her if it was very dark, she nodded. I asked what I should do then... and somewhere between all of my questions I was expecting her to start telling me to be careful and that it would be better not to walk alone and yaddayadda and then I would say I would promise to be careful and she would give me a concerned look.... but no, she gave me a look I hadn´t seen before... Her look said: "Do you want to go to la Vispera or not?! Sit down and place your order or get going already and stop worrying...!"

I felt like a wuss for about 10 seconds but then thanked the lady, pìcked up my bags and walked into the dark.... And dark it was... loads of stars too and all sorts of nightly sounds and at some point I was just walking on gut felling because I really couldn´t see where I was going. In the distance there was a bundle of lights though... and sure enough, after a 20 minute hike I arrived. Pieter, a friend from way back, opened the gate and he was especially thrilled to find 2 boxes of hagelslag, 2 books and a pack of stroopwafels in my bag.

After a short walk down memory lane, Pieter showed me my cabin with private kitchen and shower and the best bed I have slept on in weeks. When I woke up, I walked out my door and the first thing I saw was a beautiful view of the valley, some banana trees and a hummingbird taking a sip from one of the flowers... If I would´ve died then and there I would have passed away smiling... Then I went up to the "slow food" restaurant, where I had real sturdy brown bread, which was also a first in Bolivia for me. I have been eating mushy or dry white bread with extremely sweet jam or rubbery cheese, and have been content with that... but this was breakfast as it´s supposed to be. They even brought me a pot of tea, with loose tea leaves in it, instead of a cup of lukewarm water and a little dusty teabag, which, again, hasn´t been a problem really, the contrast is just really big.

Then I went for a walk over the property and sat on a stone throne they built on top of a hill, which overlooks the valley and makes you feel like the king/queen of the world for a minute...
In the afternoon they introduced me to Don Gilberto, a guy with an incredible amount of knowledge lodged into his very small halftoothed head. I have an appointment with him in about 20 minutes, in which he will hopefully enlighten me on the ins and outs of the land reform project in this region. He was talking about introducing me to the people from the local INRA-office, which is the institute that carries out the reforms.

Later that day Pieter asked if I wanted to go for a ride and before I knew it there was a saddled horse waiting for me that took me up and down the hills and through the streams and aaahhh.... so lovely... In the evening I had my first hot shower and ofcourse I slept like a baby...

Another thing worth telling is what happened just before I left Santa Cruz. I went to an organization called APCOB which has a nice little library on indigenous affairs and very friendly staff. On my walk back to my hostel, I saw a sign saying there was a room for rent for a student. I knocked on the door and was shown to the room by a sweet old couple. The room was completely empty and I told them I was looking for something furnished. They said they could put a bed, a desk and a chair in the room for 100Bs extra...
And a little later, after I had signed everything, they whispered to eachother for a second and then told me I could move into their daughter´s room, who had moved to Belgium and didn´t really call or write anymore. My arrival was a sign for them to start cleaning out her room, which was furnished in pink princess style. There is a big (pink) closet, a (pink) little desk and a (pìnk and purple) bed and the lady is so sweet, I think I´m going to adopt her... So now, for the next months, I have a room in Santa Cruz for 60 euros a month and a new family to take care of me. There are also other students in the house and they all looked very nice. I told her I would be back after the weekend and she gave me a big hug when I left.

That´s all folks. You´re up to date again! Catch you later, gotta go see my walking encyclopedia, Don Gilberto!