Written Saturday, June 11, 2011 3pm
I made it!
It's been a long couple of days, but I would do it all again and again if I had to.
After another delay in Chicago and a nice sprint through the Miami airport, I boarded my flight to La Paz. I sat next to a wonderful LaPaz native, Joel, who told me that Cochabamba was the best place in Bolivia, and assured me that it would be "very easy" to book a flight from LaPaz, and it was. Going through immigration was a piece of cake. The only thing the officer said in English to me was "money." He didn't even want to see the color photo and the vaccination records I was so worried about having in hand. Go figure.
During my layover in LaPaz, I enjoyed cocoa tea with a Dominican Seminarian (who was able to figure out how to set my watch) and a budding Jesuit (who will be studying for the next six weeks at Maryknoll with me), who were both on their way to Cochabamba. We all felt the effects of the altitude. My stomach was a little queasy, and my lungs felt like I just had a good cardio workout, except I wasn't short of breath. I wandered around the terminal asking kind-looking strangers if I could borrow their cell phones to call Beatriz, and eventually got through to her with my arrival time. My new friends and I found an oxygen bar in the airport to hang out for a while, before narrowly missing our flight to Cochabamba.
I cannot express the magnificence of this city. Flying in over the Andes, Cochabamba appears out of nowhere. The name means "high fertile plain," which is exactly what it is. It's as if God took a tiny rolling pin to the middle of the Andes, and decided to build a city in the clouds. It is very urban, aside from a few civilians on horses galloping through the streets, and Beatriz assures me that her neighborhood is very, very safe. It also feels very secluded, because when you look in any direction, all you see is mountains. I cannot imagine driving through them, but I'm considering taking a bus back to LaPaz to see the country by land.
My flight landed a few minutes early, and I have to admit those few moments of standing around as the only gringa in the airport and looking for Beatriz were a little nerve-racking. She picked me up with her younger brother and brought me "home," a gorgeous, big apartment with a spectacular view, and only a 15 minute walk to the Institute. I even have my own bathroom. And a couch in my bedroom. It's more than I could have asked for, and I have not stopped saying prayers of thanks since I landed.
Beatriz served dinner at 1pm, and her brother joined us. He didn't hesitate to ask my religion, political preferences, if I liked the Bolivian president, and what I thought about Obama, all in Spanish. There was also a 15-minute debate about whether Sabado or Domingo was the Lord's Day (Beatriz observes Sunday, her brother observes Saturday), complete with a reading from the Deuteronomy and a conversation about whether or not it is to be interpreted with the Gregorian Calendar. I'm just impressed I was able to understand the gist of what was going on. I really wanted to say that I didn't think God cared all that much, as long as you're living a good life, but I'm in Latin America and a guest in this house, and I know better than that. And I also don't know enough Spanish to communicate that yet, either.
There were also lighter topics of converation at dinner. I was impressed that I was able to communicate that I had siblings, and a niece, that I lived with univeristy students, and to learn that Beatriz studied German in college and has visited the US several times, and that her brother (Gonzalo) is a lawyer. I didn't understand about half the words, and I didn't pretend to. Beatriz and Gonzalo are very patient with me in re-wording things, and I'm very grateful for that.
It's time for a siesta of sorts. Beatriz cautioned me that I need to be well rested for Monday because after an oral evaluation, I will have four straight hours of instruction, and Spanish will be spilling out of my ears. Bueno, I said, that's the reason I'm here!
Love and mountains beyond mountains,
Kathleen
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