Santa Cruz (for the fourth time)

Ok time to catch up. I have survived the most dangerous things yet! (Don`t worry, all is well and I like to exaggerate.)

On Thursday morning I went with Jauma to the chief again to watch them interact. Jauma was calm and reasonable the whole time he spoke - I half expected him to get all worked up like he does with some of the parents - and in the end we got our permission to photograph the children.

With or without permission, we had already planned to rent a moto (motorcycle) and take photos in the small communities near San Pedro. So that morning I waited in the market while Jauma went to rent the bike. He pulled up shortly, I hopped on, and we took off down the highway, sans backrest for me the passenger, sans gloves or the proper clothing, one long highway (which is thankfully very quiet), and a driver I didn`t completely trust. It was kind of scary actually, but he proved to be a safe driver and there were no problems on the road.

We started off by heading to a small community near Santa Maria called 4 de Julio. All the kids were in school at the time, so we just got the teachers to line the kids up, and one by one we got names and photos. In half an hour we had about 70 photos - much more efficient than San Pedro.

We tried to get to some other communities near San Pedro after that, but the whole experience there was frustrating for both Jauma and I. There are small dirt roads that branch from the community of San Pedro to other small areas, but everyone we asked gave us different directions and it proved too difficult a task, especially with the motorbike. A bicycle and nothing bigger is what Jauma will need when he returns later. So the San Pedro adventure was unsuccessful, but I was happy to see Gerano, Lurdes, and the other kids again.

We scrapped that plan and went to Santa Maria instead, where we`d arranged to meet all the kids at the school for photos. There was a bit of a spat with some of the mothers when we started with this session, but once everything was explained it went relatively smoothly. It, too, was much more organized (and chaotic at the same time), and within 2 or 3 hours we had photographed all the children (200 or so).

Again, the ride home was a bit scary, but there were no problems and I was glad to be safe on the ground again in the evening.

Problems and all, I don`t regret going back to Guarayos. I learn so much from every experience I have, and I always look forward to the next one. I`m still so so happy to be here in South America, and the only thing I`m worried about is that I`m not going to have enough time to see everything I want to see.

Anyway, for the fourth time now I am in Santa Cruz, the fancy city I only sort of like, and which, now that it`s late November, now makes me homesick when I pass a store with a Christmas tree in the window.

I`m in the main bus station right now, just had some tea in a restaurant upstairs, and I`m waiting for the bus to Sucre. I showed up early (8am) not knowing what time the buses to Sucre were and not wanting to miss an early one, but it turns out there aren`t any till 4.30pm. So I will be waiting here for 8 hours, an idea that really doesn`t bother me right now. I have restaurants, in internet place, and a washroom at my fingertips, and no excuse not to work on my film plot.

haha yesterday while I was waiting in the house for the bus to Santa Cruz, I lent Jauma my mp3 player so he could listen to Canary Mine. he (sorry this keyboard won`t let me type a capital h) like it a lot, said it was very strong music, ´incroyible!´ he said in his enthusiastic way. At one point I looked back and saw him standing in the open doorway, looking out with the headphones on, and bopping up and down. It was quite hilarious and it`s an image that will stay with me. Just bopping to the beat, the beat, bopping to beat.

Anyway that`s all I have to say for now. I will try not to get bored here in the station. The bus to Sucre is quite long, I think 15-20 hours, so I should arrive sometime around noon tomorrow.

The heat, by the way, has been almost unbearable the past few days! At least 35C and so much humidity it`s like 50C. Gah!