La Merced and one of Sucre's two hills.

The Cathedral at dusk

The Light in Sucre

A brilliant blue sky
Red ceramic roof tiles
White washed walls
A quiet patio – just a few feet from a busy street
The sun’s warmth can still be felt although in an hour it will be quite chill.

I just came back from the mini-Supermarket. Sucre has two and their combined stock would fill maybe one aisle in my Save-a-Center in New Orleans but there is more of a selection than you can find anywhere here other than the busy and municipal market or the mercado campesino. I also stopped by the neighboring pharmacy and got a rehydrating powder.

My “problemas estomacales” have diminished but I have not dared eat anything substantial. I bought some fiberous cold cereal and a banana and we’ll see if that helps. That is the risk one faces accepting an invitation to dinner and a significant change of diet.

Tomorrow, with luck, I will be able to visit the university and my friend el arquitecto Roberto Castellon, the director of the architecture program. The students are turning in final projects and maybe I can participate in final project reviews. I also plan to go to a travel agency to see if there were tours to the Salar de Uyuni – giant salt flats north of Potosi which are a huge tourist attraction here – and to the Chiquitania – a group of Jesuit Missions in the lowlands between Santa Cruz and the Brazilian border. Both tours will take several days. AeroSur has a promotion of inexpensive all-inclusive tours to Buenos Aires and Sao Paolo, which I might consider. But, my time is still limited.

I will also make final reservations for Linda and Kelly’s trip. They arrive in Santa Cruz on the 27th of June. I think a brief stay in the relative warmth of Santa Cruz will ease the adjustment and, while it doesn’t possess the colonial richness of Sucre and Potosi, it is still interesting to visit a city which grew from a population of 40,000 in 1964 to it’s present million.