Cochabamba and the Gonzalez Family
I arrived in Cochabamba slightly nervous, as I was to be met and hosted by the father of Rodrigo, who is an acquaintance from Santa Cruz (see next blog) that even him I had not yet met. Rodrigo´s partner Paola is the sister of Martha, my great friend in Neuquen, Argentina, who I spent two weeks with back in March (Martha´s husband, Hector, was one of my students of English in Buenos Aires). But this mild apprehension was soon replaced with great ease on discovering a lovely, generous and fantastically hospitable Bolivian, José who showed me the large house (belonging to his son, Rodrigo) within his property that I was to have all to myself for two weeks, and made me feel completely at home.
In the next couple of days I met his other children, Andrea, Miguel and Sergio, who all took great effort to get to know me and make me feel at home. Andrea also went out of her way to show me the nightlife, which was great fun! One evening karaoke, another cinema, the next a tour of the best nightclubs – my first night out dancing in a really long time! I danced to cumbia (a sort of Latino techno), reggaeton (a Latino reggae) – both of which I knew from Argentina and Chile -, English-language classics and then some folkdances, including the carnival dance of Bolivia! A great night in great company!
A good part of my 2 weeks in Cochabamba was spent translating for Chipperfields, but once that was done I managed to spend a bit of time walking around the centre of this attractive and quite westernised town (compared to the very traditional west of Bolivia).
To Jose, Andrea, Miguel, Sergio, and especially Rodrigo, a big thank you very much for a lovely two weeks in Cochabamba, in which I was able to experience a place in Bolivia from a local perspective for a change!
Here are the photos.
DISTANCE TRAVELED SINCE USHUAIA: 21,147
In the next couple of days I met his other children, Andrea, Miguel and Sergio, who all took great effort to get to know me and make me feel at home. Andrea also went out of her way to show me the nightlife, which was great fun! One evening karaoke, another cinema, the next a tour of the best nightclubs – my first night out dancing in a really long time! I danced to cumbia (a sort of Latino techno), reggaeton (a Latino reggae) – both of which I knew from Argentina and Chile -, English-language classics and then some folkdances, including the carnival dance of Bolivia! A great night in great company!
A good part of my 2 weeks in Cochabamba was spent translating for Chipperfields, but once that was done I managed to spend a bit of time walking around the centre of this attractive and quite westernised town (compared to the very traditional west of Bolivia).
To Jose, Andrea, Miguel, Sergio, and especially Rodrigo, a big thank you very much for a lovely two weeks in Cochabamba, in which I was able to experience a place in Bolivia from a local perspective for a change!
Here are the photos.
DISTANCE TRAVELED SINCE USHUAIA: 21,147
posted by Louise Parmenter at 3:40 am
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