An Afternoon in
Samaipata
My morning with
Napoleon ended at a pizzeria eating spaghetti, overlooking purple bougainvillea
in the plaza. A man was watering the
plants and wetting the sidewalks, making it smell like it had just rained. A hippy is in the plaza playing the Bolivian
caña. It is one of those postcard moments. I don’t know if anyone else felt it at that
moment but me.
The tropical
sun turned fierce, though temperatures did not venture past the low 80s. I wandered the streets a bit after lunch, but
everybody was going indoors for a siesta.
The hammock on the back porch beckoned me.
My goal for
this weekend was to write; Samaipata was to be my inspiration. I did what I set out to do over the next few
hours. I wrote. Currently I have three books I am working
on. One is very short, so a few weeks
ago, I decided to drop everything and finish it.
This one is a
love story, set in the not so distant past, of Bolivia. Like Romeo and Juliet, the lovers come from
different worlds. As always, that causes
disaster as their worlds collide. I want
to finish this one soon, so I can send it to two different editors; two ladies
who have volunteered to look over my work.
I want to finish before November is finished.
By 4:00 the
mountains are beginning to cool off, so it was time for me to explore again. At this hour, if you stand in the sun, it is
fierce. I discovered that I got a little
sunburned. But if you walk on the shady
side of the street, you get a little cold.
I walked the
length of Calle Bolivar to where there is a small Catholic church. As I am returning from taking a picture, I am
met by the Gregories. They are Baptist
missionaries here in Samaipata and I taught their son, Lance, one of my
favorites, back in the 80s. They drop me
off at the Plaza and mention a few places where I should eat. I promised to visit them the next time I go
to Samaipata.
I walked around
the plaza and wandered the market. This
is a small town, very difficult to get lost in.
I sat in the plaza for a while, watching life go by. Young couples walk hand-in-hand, and the new
reality, sit together on a bench texting.
Kids rushed by chasing each other, or riding their bikes, or kicking a
soccer ball. I discovered a statue that
is really a fountain that you turn on from the side. There lots of hippies in Samaipata, but they
are harmless. Like me, they are seeking
their escape from the life of the United States.
I ate early and
returned to the house, so I could look at the grandeur of the Milky Way from
Mariela’s garden.
Samaipata parece linda,un día me gustaria visitar, pero ahorita no hay tiempo! Por favor nos llama porque tenemos un poco dificultad con los teléfonos para comunicarse bien. Hoy, sábado, tenemos un poco tiempo libre, pero domingo vamos a estar con los sordos y lunes vamos a LaPaz por la semana. Mi número es
ReplyDelete78029107, de Ron es 76685762.