Paradise
At 10:00
this morning, after a drive out of the city along muddy, bumpy roads, I found
myself having sonso and coffee in paradise of beautiful flowers, green trees, and a gentle breeze.
The Bible talks about Heaven being a paradise. The Bible describes a mighty river flowing through the city with trees bearing fruit all year long. I imagine it with blooming trees like we have in Bolivia, like the toborochis and tajibos. I imagine a park along the bank of the river wending through palms and a vast array of flowers. There will be birds singing in the trees, like what I was hearing today. I can imagine this, but it will not be like this at all, but better.
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him.”
That’s why
I know it will be more amazing than what I can imagine.
Today, I
wanted to find a little corner of paradise, called La Rinconada. Fabiola and Carmen took me here in March of
2016. I have wanted to return ever since. It was raining that day, but it was one of
the prettiest places I had ever been before.
Today was cloudy too. After
several weeks of rain, I dreaded that today would be the same. But after my shower, I looked outside to see
patches of blue among the clouds.
La
Rinconada is across the Pirai River, in a new city called Urubó. It is not a close trip, but the only way I
know how to get there is taxi. A normal
taxi across town would cost $3 or $4, but this one cost $11.50. It sounds cheap in dollars, but for Santa
Cruz that is steep. Today, I had the
best taxi driver ever. His name was
Jorge Rudy Sanchez – yes, he wanted me to know his full name. I wrote in a recent blog about Bolivians
loving their country. This man loves
Bolivia, especially Santa Cruz, and its food.
He chided me for ever paying 50 Bs. for a meal at the Pascana restaurant, since he said the best
can be found for just 10 Bs. He was so
engaging that I asked if he’d pick me up later in the afternoon. My only regret of the day was that I did not
get his phone number to call him in the future.
Maybe God will lead him to my path again in the future.
The first
thing I did at La Rinconada was have a breakfast of sonso (baked yucca with
cheese) and a café con leche. Then I sat
down in a comfortable corner to write and enjoy the morning. I settled in to write for a few hours, with
an occasional stroll through the gardens or a bit of time chatting with the
toucans. I know this is not exciting,
but that is basically all I did. I think
you can tell from the pictures that it is a beautiful place.
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