Che vs. Mickey or The Escape from Monkey Island

Sorry for the odd title. It's a bit of a throwback to the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Which, by the way, I never really liked when I was little, but my brother always wanted to watch it. Who knows?

So of the few common denominators in all the countries I've been to, the most interesting are the icons that cross cultures and oceans to become a commonplace everywhere. Of these, the two most recurrent images I've seen depicted are Mickey Mouse (in various forms) and Che Guevara. While there's no mistaking Che (it's always the same picture) Mickey comes in so many shapes sizes and colors it's sometimes difficult to recognize that it is even Mickey at all, but upon close inspection, the he shows his true colors. While I think most people know the symbolism of Mickey Mouse (if there is much symbolism), I think you'd be hard pressed to find a Ghanaian that knows who the man is on their shirt. It's understandable that Che appears in Bolivia with that whole latin america connection, but in China, India and Ghana? I also don't know what's more interesting (or scary), that Mickey is as recognizable as Che or visa versa. While I love the animals, the food, the public transport systems and the methods of dress, it's the little things like this that make other countries so much fun.

Last weekend I left the hills of Cochabamba for the jungles of Chapare in western Bolivia, where the mountains flatten and opens into an expanse of jungle that turns into the Amazon basin. We stayed in a not so quiet little town of Villa Tunari, which is much like a glorified truck stop. I say not so quiet because, although it was tiny, there was a brass band that had gathered for some celebration. At first, I thought it was an old man band. You know where there talent is betrayed by the lack of dexterity due to old age. But then I realized they weren't good enough for that. I'd say more like a high school band... a really miserable high school band, playing really awful music. Every once in awhile someone in the back would hold up a roman candle and let the fireballs fly (for dramatic effect?). The small party seemed not to notice or care that the band was horrid and proceeded to dance about. I don't know if I'd call it dancing, more like drunken stumbling around, but they weren't drunk. And they all seemed synchronized, like it was a rehearsed dance. Certainly a good laugh for the first ten minutes, but then it dragged on a bit longer than I would have liked.

The next day we headed to the nearby national park for a good hike. The park was also loaded with monkey; friendly, meddlesome, kleptomaniacal monkeys. Fortunately, they have lockers to store your bags and other valuables you're afraid will be filched if left unguarded. Ok ok, so the title is misleading, it wasn't an island, but monkey island sounds way more exciting than monkey park. Anyway, you don't have to go far into the jungle before you start seeing the monkeys. They have no fear of people or cameras whatsoever. This was made clearly apparent to me when a monkey came over and grappled with my leg for a minute or two before climbing up my body, checking every pocket she passed, to rest gently on my neck while she picked through my hair. She was also a jealous monkey because whenever my friend, Alyssa, came close trying to take a photo, the monkey would lunge out and grab her arm and try to take the camera. It was quite an entertaining spectacle. She stayed there for quite awhile before we started moving down the trail to another area.

The jungle was hot and humid, but since it's winter here the mosquitos are few, fortunately. We saw many many more monkeys along the way, red and green macaws, beautiful butterflies and some amazing ant colonies. The trail led up the hillside for a great panorama then to some meager but tranquil waterfalls. I imagine that during the wet season it's far more dramatic. After the hike we had some lunch in a quaint restaurant where a kitten became very friendly with my lap and my lunch. We had dinner at the same restaurant where another kitten, probably of the same litter, took a little nap on my lap (but had no interest in my food, which was a nice surprise). It was strange because on both occasions there were other people in the restaurant, but the cats came straight to me. This prompted Alyssa to call me Dr. Doolittle and say that maybe I should go into veteranery medicine instead.

Other than the parks, there was very little to do in the town. It wasn't even a relaxing getaway because the highway ran straight through the town where there was a steady stream of bus and truck traffic. The next day we ventured to a nearby 'Orquidario', which was apparently an orchard, in a way, but also had orchids so I don't know what the translation is. There were also a couple of crocodiles and turtles in a small pen. I don't know why, but it was still interesting. We then hopped on the bus and had a beautiful ride back through the mountains to Cochabamba.

As for things here in Cochabamba. Things are moving along well. I'm becoming good friends with the interns at the hospital, despite the immense language barrier. We went out to dinner last night, then to coffee where we played cards and just had a general good time laughing. I wish I could stay longer and spend more time with them. I'll just have to make the most of it. Hopefully I'll be able to have a whole conversatoin with them before I leave.... haha, who am I kidding? I can't learn spanish that fast.

As an aside, the big news lately is that the Harlem Globetrotters are coming to Bolivia. Nice to see that they're living up to their name, but I find it strange since Bolivia isn't a big market for basketball. Oh well. Take care all.