Last day in Cochabamba

Today I moved out of my family´s house into a hotel in Cochabamba. It feels like pure luxury. Had my first bath in two weeks. Cool showers were all I could have there. I have grown quite fond of this town and of Mercedes whom I stayed with.

You may have heard of Cochabamba. The photo is from my friend Bob (he´s the one with the red shirt in the photo) whom I met at the Rockwood leadership institute. He was here during the water wars when the whole town rose up against privatization of water here again from the Democracy Center are some articles about the water wars. http://www.democracyctr.org/waterwar/ Outside of Bolivia they are widely seen as one of the most important struggles that led to the victory of the MAS in the last election. Here we find it is a bit more complicated. I will be meeting with Oscar Rivera, a leader of the struggle who is quite well known outside of Bolivia when I come back here next week.

Tomorrow it is off to La Paz. Still hoping for an interview with Evo who is currently in Argentina at the Mercosur meetings. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Mercosur_UN_Venezuela.html
The Mercosur is a trading block of South American countries. Surprisingly, or not, this is the only article from a North American newspaper I could find on the meetings. Needless to sayreports are all over the papers here.

Just discovered (thanks Charlotte) a web site promoting a film about Coca and Bolivia
http://www.dwdtv.org/home.html