Rurrenabaque: My New Little Circle

Rurrenabaque: My New Little Circle.
May 15.

I like walking down the street and dudes on motorbikes wave at me because I kicked their asses in pool last night.  I like this Rurrenabaque.  I could spend two weeks here in Rurrenabaque.

There are red parrots in the trees that scream like children, in several different tones, and they tease the dogs who howl along and bark with the parrots.  It is obvious that they love taunting the dogs.  This went on for about a half hour during a disastrous nap I necessitated.

It was a fairly quiet evening in Rurrenabaque that I spent with new friends who were all going to bed early.  A Colombian/Bolivian talked to me in the bar in Spanish, apparently to say hello and tell me that she was leaving, and offered her cheek for me to kiss.  Wow I need to speak better Spanish.  I decided to see what I could find for entertainment on my own.  As I walked down a street I heard music playing.  A small building was open where a party was taking place.  Near the front door was a man playing a guitar, a man missing a front tooth playing an accordion, and a man playing something I later found out was called a wacharama which is basically a fancy fork rubbed against a rough pipe/stick.  They were singing and it looked like a great time.

I squatted down next to a young lady sitting near the entrance.  I asked, “English?”  She said, “No.”  She pointed at herself as she was stroking her hair and asked, “Bonita, no? (Pretty no?)”  I was so surprised by the question that I replied, “Si,” and pointed to myself and said, “Bonito, no?”  She had no choice but to say, “Si.”  It made her smirk.  I asked her how old she was.  “Quince.”  15.  Whoa.  No wonder she was not drinking.

Someone brought me a chair and someone else brought me a drink of Kaluah, so I enjoyed both.  It turned out that I was at a birthday party but the birthday host was already asleep…presumably passed out.  There were a lot of giggles as I sat in a chair next to a 15 year old named Jacquline who was smiling at me and all of the older ladies in the room were staring at me and giggling.  I could see the ladies looking at where I was sitting and I heard the words ‘Linda (pretty)’ and ‘Siempre (Always)’ and I assumed they were saying that pretty Jaquline always brings boys around.  I was not interested in being in that category.

Jaquline asked me to dance, and it was traditional music so I could not resist, but I kept a lengthy distance from my partner.  The ladies of the room were all watching with delight and showing me dance moves from their places.  I felt really awkward but had a good time.  After the dance I sat back down, finished my drink, said goodbye to Jaquline, stood up to thank the room, and headed home to bed.