Sobota zapowiadala sie leniwie, szczegolnie dla mnie, poniewaz nawet nie chcialo mi sie wstac na cotygodniowe zakupy na bazarze. Mialam jednak powod – nieprzespana noc, ktora zafundowali mi mieszkancy sasiedniego budynku, balujacy do poznych godzin nocnych (lub rannych) kolo basenu. Pocieszylam sie przynajmniej tym, ze bylo im zimno, ale coz, mnie rowniez…
Po poludniu zgadalam sie jednak z jednym z bylych nauczycieli szkoly, w ktorej ucze, na dawno obiecane piwo. Gdzie? W ‘beer agency’ – jak nazwal to miejsce Theo, ‘gdzie pija zwyczajni ludzie – 11 bs. za duza butelke piwa od jednorekiej sprzedawczyni.‘ Przyznajcie sami, brzmi to intrygujaco:)
Wystarczylo nam tylko zlapac Micro czyli autobus 42 i ruszyc na koniec miasta, w poszukiwaniu ulicy Che Guevara. Po okolo 20 minutach asfaltowa droga sie skonczyla, co wrozylo, iz bylismy niemal na miejscu. Theo i Sofia, czekajacy na skrzyzowaniu, zaprowadzili nas do ‘beer agency’, ktora miescila sie jeszcze dalej od asfaltowej drogi, obok sklepiku spozywczo-przemyslowego. Przyznam, wiele razy mijalismy takie miejsca z Freddym, ale jakos nigdy nie mielismy okazji zawitac do srodka, a miejsca te sa naprawde interesujace.
Niby nic takiego – puste odrapane sciany, kilka plasktikowych stolikow i krzesel, dwie maszyny do gier z golymi babami, kartka na scianie ze strzalka w strone WC – normalka, a jednak ma swoj urok i czar:)
Theo zamowil piwa (Pacena Tropical, produkowana w Santa Cruz) i niemal natychmiast zjawila sie u stolika jednoreka caserita z butelka i szklankami. Chwile pozniej powrocila ze scierka, by przetrzec zakurzony stolik. Doswiadczona zyciem, ciezko-pracujaca kobieta o wielkim sercu!
I tak sobie siedzielismy, wspominajac stare czasy, dyskutujac o tych obecnych, popijajac zimne piwo z dala od zgielku wielkiego miasta oraz spogladajac na gole baby i ‘bezdomne psy’, bawiace sie z dziecmi na ulicy. Tutaj dodam tylko, iz nie wszystkie psy uliczne sa bezpanskie – te akurat obraly sobie za swoj ‘przytulek’ sklep, gdzie zapewne byly tez dokarmiane.
Po relaksujacym czasie prz 4 piwach, Theo zaprosil nas do swojego domu. Mieszka on z rodzina pochodzaca z regionow Tarija na Poludniu kraju, ktora okazala sie dla nas bardzo goscinna. Przy kolejnych 4 piwach oraz mojej pierwszej oryginalnej ‘Yejba Mate’, w towarzystwie zwierzakow – papug oraz 3 pieskow i w otoczeniu drzew papai i mango, milo spedzilismy reszte popoludnia w domowej atmosferze.
c.d.n
***
Saturday was going to be lazy, especially for me, as I didn’t even want to get up to do the weekly shopping at the baazar. I had a reason – sleepless night, sponsored by the inhabitants of the neighboring building, partying late into the night (or morning) at the pool. I consoled myself that at least they were cold, but well, so did I…
In the afternoon, however, I arranged with one of the former teachers from the school I teach, the long-promised meeting and beer. Where? In the ‘beer agency’ – as Theo called the place, ‘where the ordinary people drink – 11 bs a big bottle from the one armed lady’. You must admit, that sounds really intriguing :)
So, we just needed to catch a bus (Micro 42) and we were on our way to the end of the city, searching for Che Guevara Street. After about 20 minutes, asphalt road has ended, which ment that we wer close. Theo and Sofia met us on the crossroads and took us to the ‘beer agency’, which was located further away from the asphalt road, next to the grocery store. I admit, we passed this kind of places many times with Freddy, but somehow we never really had the opportunity to go inside.
And believe me, these places are really interesting – empty shabby walls, a few tables and plastic chairs, two game machines with naked women, hand-written page on the wall with an arrow pointing to the toilet. This place definately had its charm and atmosphere :)
Theo ordered us a beer (Pacena Tropicana, produced in Santa Cruz) and almost immediately appeared at the table one-armed caserita with a bottle and glasses. Moments later she returned with a cloth to wipe our dusty table. Really hard – working lady with a big heart!
And so we hung out, taking about the old days, discussing about the present, sipping a cold beer away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, looking at the naked women and at ‘stray dogs’, playing with children on the street. Here, I’ll just add that not all ‘street dogs’ are ownerless – those ones have chosen this shop as their ‘hospice’, where they probably were also fed by its owner.
After a relaxing time and four beers, Theo invited us to his home. He lives with the family originaly from Tarija on the South of Bolivia, which turned out to be very welcoming and hospitable. So the rest of the afternoon had passed in a homely atmosphere -drinking beers and my first original ‘Yejba Mate’, being accompanied by couple of domestic pets – parrots and three dogs, surrounded by papaya and mango trees:)
To be continued.