Sucre

Before I get into the blog, I want to toss out one piece of savory meat for you all to chew on. I have been doing a little thinking about my plans when I return. I may take advantage of what might be one of my last opportunities and unrestrained freedom to visit my father in Lake Tahoe for a while. This means that I might have to put together a cross country road trip in mid to late August. So, if anyone is driving across country with me and making some stops in Mount Rushmore, the badlands, Yellowstone, Glacier, Canada or others, let me know. We could drive out and you fly back....think about it....think about it....you know who I'm talking about.

I have now been in Sucre for about one week. I must say that I really like this city. It stands in stark contrast to the other places I visited in Bolivia. Its main downtown section is full of beautiful colonial buildings, all whitewashed to perfection. Their bicentenial celebration is the 25 of may (at least sucre's) and the whole town has been spruced up and the gardens are all very green. Its great just to walk down the streets. Most of the building here are classic latin design. I will be walking down the street beside a big building that takes up half a block and someone will open a door to reveal a beautiful interior full of courtyards and gardens. Generally, the center of most buildings here have large central courtyards (some as large as basketball courts)surrounded by balconies where the actual living quarters and rooms/offices are located.

Sucre is also a city of learning. There are lots of schools and in the afternoons the streets fill with students from middle school age to college. They generally congregate in the central plaze where I have enjoyed many afternoon enjoying the sun and the buzz of activity. As economically challenged as Bolivian familes may be, their children always seem to be dressed in spiffy duds and in good spirits. That is of course with the exception of the ultra challenged families. In the central plaza there are young boys called lustrebotas or shoe shine boys. They are relentless at trying to sell you shoe shines for about $0.20 USD. It doesn't matter if you are wearing flip flops, they will try to convince you that you need a shoe shine. Once, one boy has polished your flip flops another will come by to say that he could have done a better job. Its very entertaining. I have gotten to know a few of them and enjoy the conversation. However, their stories are usually very sad. One of the older boys is walking on what at one time was an obviously broken ankle that was never set. He now basially walks on the side of his foot and will never run or walk without a limp again. In states, especially in the cities, one gets used to the homeless in the streets but rarely do you see children in the streets and in such dire circumstances.

The town feels very safe and I have a very nice family with which I stay who live close enough where I can walk to town. They have a very nice home with a dog, cat and a parrot who lives free outside and talks to me when I return home. I have my own bedroom and private bath. The family has husband wife, two sons and a daughter who I can talk with in the mornings and at night. We have done some talking about politics and I'll write more when I am out of Boliva but lets just say that being an American in Sucre is much safer than most of the other large cities at this time. However, its still difficult to blend in. There are not a lot of tourists here and we stick out sorely. Attributes, I have that no one Bolivia has: White, beard, light eyes, tall, oakleys, a nalgene and long (non black) hair. I've only been called a gringo once and I punched him in the nuts.

Yesterday i went to what is one of Sucre's biggest draws. El Parque Crestacicio. Some 20 years ago a cement factory uncovered a giant vertical slab with over 350 sets of perfectly preserved dinosaur foot prints. It was really amazing. Its one thing to see these in pictures but to be in the same place as the prints, you can almost feel the Dino's. This location has the longest set of dinosaur prints in the world at nearly 1/2 kilometer.

Thats enough for today. I have some other deep questions I have been pondering, spurred by my new environment, I'll get into those on the next installment. In the meantime, enjoy summer back home!

P