Undoubtedly, I'm a little sad that I am leaving, since I've gotten comfortable here, but I am also excited to get back to the backpacking and seeing tourist sites and being on my feet for long periods of time and having to figure things out again.
For Tuesday, though, I'm just chilling in a cafe. I have some work I need to take care of, Spanish lessons, and planning for the rest of my trip. I walked by a nice little place on my way to the Immigration office from yesterday that has great wifi and though the cinnamon roll that I ordered could be better, I have no complaints.
The last day I planned to spend in Cochabamba kind of crept up on me. I realized that there was something I had yet done, so in the morning I walk to Palacio Portales in hopes of visiting it. Apparently it opens at 3 pm only, but there was a person at the front desk already – it was weird, but I think it’s to let the people who work there get some things done before they have tourists getting all up in their grills and stuff. I was told there would be an English tour at both 4 and 5pm, so I should come back then if I want to take it.
On the way to the café as a result, I stopped to buy a samosa-like thing from the street food cart along the adjacent road (SO GOOD). When I arrived, I ordered a caramel macchiato, which is delicious. Ugh. I took advantage of the time and wifi to get a good amount of work done.
My Spanish lesson was moved up so I could go to the tour, so I was there from 12-3 more or less. I learned almost all the rest of the verb tenses (I don’t know if this exists in Spanish, but I still don’t know how to use “would”, like “I would like to” or “It would be great”, etc. I’ve encountered it in songs so I’m pretty sure it’s a whole different tense. I forgot to ask, dang it). It was an overwhelming amount of information, but I think I can handle it. Maybe. It will probably take me a while to get comfortable using all the tenses, considering I still have some trouble with the simple present sometimes. Lol.
After that, I stayed at the café for a while, planning on going to the tour at 4pm. However, I left a little too late (or underestimated the time it would take to get from the café to Palacio Portales) and basically had an hour to kill. I used it to walk around more, go to the ATM, and sit and read. I was also able to explore the part of the city near the area, and it was actually the most US/Europe-like area! I can’t believe I hadn’t been there before.
The Palacio was incredible. It was built by a guy that was born in Cochabamba and was able to profit a lot from the mines near Sucre and Potosi. The grounds were not that large, but there was a huge garden in the courtyard area with this guy’s house in the background. The tour guide (a woman, yay!) took me and another guy – a Canadian living in DC – inside to see it. No pictures were allowed unfortunately, but we had a chance to see the extravagance of it. This owner was seriously loaded as heck because the entire place was modeled after European architecture, complete with imported materials from marble to wood. Everything was about showing off his wealth and love for European culture, it seemed. He had statues that looked a little Greek, paintings of many places in Rome, a room full of Arabic style arches, and much of foreign-inspired culture, including French silk. I was able to take some pictures of the outside, and these are the doors – the large and former main entrance into the house that gave the house its name. Because they were about 5 meters high, they almost resembled portals – or portales in plural in Spanish.
In the basement, the organization had changed the cellar into an art gallery – and this month they were displaying comics. Some of favorite below!
During the tour, it turned out that the other guy, some banker who travels to Latin America about 2-3 times a year for work, had a lot of questions. Afterwards, we exchanged some contact information because I think he will be in Sucre when I will (at least for a day or so) so I might have someone to meet! Woohoo at my making friends!
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