When we landed in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, I was sure we had left far behind Miami. If someone told me five years ago that I would take a vacation in Bolivia, I would have laughed. After all, my idea of holiday shopping in Paris or see places in Prague, but a holiday in the Third World? Thanks to my partner, Russell, and his Bolivian-American family, I could have a wonderful experience in a charming yet very poor country, and I look forward to making an annual trip there. Add beauty to see a country through the eyes of the people who live there and you have a relaxing and cultural vacation.The moist humidity of summer in February in the southern hemisphere was apparent when we stepped out of the airport and I tried to catch my breath. The landscape of Santa Cruz is a tropical look with a slow ramp up to the Andes foothills, the perfect addition to moisture and heat. As a tropical dweller myself, I saw that this area of the tropics is much more green and lush than our home in Miami, the image of the subtropical rainforest, I have always had in my mind. My first impression of Santa Cruz is probably the same as many traveler's first impression of the third world: we are definitely in a different location. As we drove towards the small town of La Guardia, on the outskirts of Santa Cruz, where the Russell family home is located, I noticed that traffic was very different than in the U.S., not only in driving but in appearance. Many of the cars are old and even newer models are sometimes less-than-perfect condition because of road conditions and fender-benders. The city of Santa Cruz uses a roundabout system, where an unwary driver can find himself in the path of several cars at once. The method to handle this situation is simply to stop, no matter how fast the package of car travel. I also saw a number of people walking and noticed that in some places cows take up so much space the way that cars and people. If a particular drive, I had the pleasure of seeing a single trailer pulled by a yoke of oxen, a first for me. The roads are decorated with storefronts and cafes in different pastel colors, washed out with time, weather and a lack or repairs, which gives charm to the landscape that may be shocking to a first-time visitors. Center or El Centro, Santa Cruz, around Plaza 24 de Septiembre, is colonial in feel, with old Spanish-style houses from different periods, red tile roofs and long porches overlooking the streets, an atmosphere that made me expect a linen suitable for plantation owner smoking a big cigar while walking through the palm trees in the Plaza. Many of the Spanish house, which is characterized by concentric outdoor courtyards, now companies, including one of those who belonged to Russell's great-grandmother, who is now a microcredit bank. Below porches, frantically moving traffic through narrow streets and descend from the high curbs to hail a cab has to be done very carefully, not only from the risk of being run down by a car with screeching brakes, but also from the threat of becoming a muddy mess. These scenes stay with me as part of the colonial yet hectic charm I found in Santa Cruz.Obviously landscape in a country like Bolivia talks about the lifestyle is different. The hard fact is that many people there have a standard of living is much lower than some of the poorest in the U.S. On the other side of this, people with just enough money to live a very comfortable lifestyle. Russell's family lives on a multi-acre property, in a home that cared for by a maid, a cook and a janitor, but the cost of the U.S. dollar is not at all what you expect. The idea of having housekeeping and not having to clean up after myself was great, but getting used to it took a couple of days. To understand this, we should look at the fact that to be a domestic worker in Bolivia is not a "bad" career as a well-paid maid or cook can have food and shelter, food, and even a siesta after lunch as part of her job. In fact it was siesta common to everyone in the house, a lifestyle that I had no problem getting used too. When I got home I had the strong urge to close my office door every day after lunch and snooze for a few minutes. When I became accustomed to home care, I also recognized that the Latin approach to time is true even more so in Santa Cruz, where the 6 o'clock can mean quarter past six, thirty six, or even seven, and yet no one seems be in a hurry. As I've written before, every American to learn from this perception of time and slow down. Another interesting aspect of lifestyle is the makeup of the population, with approximately 55% of Bolivians of indigenous descent, and the remaining 45% of European or mestizo descent. The native population was sporting charming dark eyes, features and skin, which tends to make a blue-eyed gringo stand out. After a few minutes walk to downtown Santa Cruz, I realized that people stared at me. When I asked Russell about it, "he said simply," It is gringo look, "although I was convinced I could have been the first gringo to some of the people had ever seen. In addition to population, the language is different than what one would expect. I'm pretty fluent in Spanish and can follow a conversation pretty well, but the dialect spoken in and around Santa Cruz, what locals call a "country" accent is very difficult to understand, with missing consonants and very rapid speech patterns . After a few days in Santa Cruz, I could easily point out that was not from the area just because I could understand their Spanish. As we made our trip during the second week in February, was the Carnaval celebration in the final planning stage. One of the biggest events of the year in many Latin countries, beginning with a carnival parade and lasts three days, with an abundance of music, dance, drink, general partying, and in Santa Cruz, spraying fellow celebrants with color. All of Russell's family, including Russell, are alumni Carnaval celebrations, and they will offer tips to new partygoers, covering yourself with baby oil to make sure that the paint will not stick. As the weeks wore on, I knew for certain that the Carnaval celebration is a big part of many lives and provide a lot of fun and fellowship once a year. Sadly the weather took a fall just before the big carnival parade in Santa Cruz, raining for several days in a row, and parade organizers decided to postpone the event. This decision became the talk of town for several days.I have briefly mentioned the economy I have ever met, but the best way to demonstrate this is through the value of the items I bought. I am a consummate shopper, and can always manage to find bargains here and there, but every shopping experience I had in Bolivia was a bargain. My prized acquisition was a measure tailored tuxedo, which I paid $ 150 for imported Italian fabrics and $ 140 for the stitching, for a total of $ 290th The same item in the U.S. would have cost hundreds if not thousands, more. I bought three specially-designed .925 sterling silver rings, two of them with citrine and peridot, from Rafaella Pitti, a local jewelry designer, for a total of $ 160. We also bought some handmade folk items, including a crocheted runner for my grandmother, for less than $ 10 each. One of the highlights of our trip was a foray into the market at La Guardia, inside a large warehouse. This is really a market economy country, with open sacks of grain, skinned ducks and chickens hanging from the rafters stand, and any number of straw market items. In one of the booths, run by a very nice older gentleman, we found Havainas, Brazilian made flip flops, the rage with the trendiest of the trendy South Beach is $ 20 a pair, for about $ 3 per couple. In Bolivia, I found out later, this trendy shoes are definitely for the maids to mix about doing their daily housework. The nice thing to find such bargains everywhere you look is pure heaven for a shopaholic like me. The problem with this in a country like Bolivia is the feeling that you really are in the economic elite, spend very little of your own money freely, while so many people do not enjoy a very high standard of living. That statement left me feeling slightly out of place.Food played a big role in my Bolivian holidays, as with any holiday. As I have mentioned, and a chef in a foster home is a wonderful thing. The food at Russell's family's home was an exquisite blend of traditional Swedish food and typical local dishes, along with fresh fruit from the farm every day. I had the opportunity to try multiple regional objects in different forms, including salt delayed, similar to empanadas. The art of salt to agree is that the juice from the fillings stay inside the bakery, even after cooking. To eat one, you need to keep it upright, taking small bites and suck the juice out as you go. Anyone with marked difficulty in this art are found quickly because of dirty diapers and nails and how much juice running down the chin. Barbecue is a staple in Bolivia, as in other South American countries, where sausages and various pieces of meat grilled to perfection on the large brick barbecue. The barbeques allowed me to try two unusual items, hump on the back of a Brahma cow, known as Hiba, and thymus, which ultimately was glands. The Hiba tasted like the leanest pot roast I've ever tried, a great taste with much less fat and the thymus, despite the gruesome description, was a bit salty, but absolutely delicious with a good piece of bread. For the more fastidious foodie offers Santa Cruz cafecitos, what could be called tea houses, where you can get tea, coffee and pastries. At a tea time we had cunapes, which are light, doughy, cheesy pastries and empanandas the queso, fluffy, deep-fried pastries stuffed with white cheese and lightly sugared. To wash it all, I could try mocochinchi, a refreshing cold drink made from boiling apricots, sugar and cinnamon. One of the most unusual delicacies I could eat was a llama meat, which looks remarkably like a regular steak, but is much lighter in flavor and has much less fat. The economic equation plays in food as well: the meal of llama meat was a dinner for eight, appetizers, and a bottle of Moët-Chandon champagne for under $ 200. The economical and cultural culinary experience in Bolivia is one that I will enjoy and definitely look forward again.I was slightly worried about this trip because of many factors, my first trip to South America, my first trip to a country in the third world, to a country where the political situation is unstable and dislike towards Americans is growing. I even worried about the possibility of picking up nasty intestinal bugs or possibly malaria. I was much less worried after realizing that I was in good hands between Russell and his family, further proof that the best way to see a country through the eyes of the people who experience it every day. In Bolivia, there are obvious problems with the distribution of wealth, the bureaucratic system and the country's infrastructure, but the culture is warm, and definitely a change from the American brand of hustle and bustle. Gracious charm of Santa Cruz, Bolivia has captivated me and keep me looking forward to my return.
