friday, february 18, 2005 - copacabana - 1:21 pm

we are on a bus that will take us back into peru where we will eventually head back to cusco. it will be a long trip. 9 or 10 hours. but it will be nice to rest up.

we have now parted ways with all our recent companions. it's cold and rainy in copa, and since we checked out of the hostel at 10, we had a few hours to kill. we shopped and tried to spend every last boliviano we had. there is nothing quite like buying crap just for the sake of buying crap. it's great. anyway, we (of course, since copa is not a big place) ran into maxi and maria just as the rain started falling more steadily. we decided to find a café and sit out the rain and the wait (their bus to la paz left at about the same time.) we then ran into kirsten for the 5th or 6th time and she joined us as well.

café europa: maté de coca, a couple of sandwiches and some chocolate cake. nothing spectacular, but the point was spending a few last moments with our dear friends of just over 48 hours now. i am truly amazed how, when good people meet regardless of circumstance, it takes almost no time to bond like old friends. they will be missed. i can't wait to see where we all meet up next year to celebrate art's birthday.

of course, the other person who left us today was jeff. i have so thoroughly enjoyed spending even just a few days with him. his sense of humor and patience made this weird little town seem so much greater. the thing i really like though is that, while my extended family has never really been that close, it was great to get to know a cousin that's a similar age and that i get along with great. i hope we will be able to hang out some once he gets back to the states. at least every once in a while. family is a good thing, especially when it can exist at the friendship level.

so we bid goodbye to what little we saw of bolivia. despite the obvious existence of evil here, it was quite nice. judging just from copa and what those who know the country have told me, the people here, while at times no less cold, seem less pushy and more laid back. bolivian standard time i guess.

quechuan woman at the market.

by the way, art's birthday celebration was great last night. we had the usual international crowd, as well as two dutch girls we met on the island, judith and roelinka. even a friend of jeff's (that he ran into on the island), dan, stopped by. it was a festive celebration, and i am sure that art enjoyed it.

oh, and also; i suffered two losses in the last 24 hours. first, was my cherished, lonely planet peru guidebook, which i sold to a couple on their way in. that is a big step for me.

RIP 2004-2005

second, and far more devastating, is that i can't find my mp3 player. i think i left it in puno somewhere. alas, a little over 2 years was a good run. maybe it was time to move on.

prolouge - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 8 - 9 - epilogue