LORCA - Santa Cruz, Bolivia
We arrive in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in the dead of winter. I know much has changed since the last time I was there in 2002, so I ask my best friend from high school, Ana Carola, to meet us at Cafe Victory, an old hangout spot we used to frequent in high school. We get to Cafe Victory around noon, and except for a few old men, the cafe is deserted. We order a cup of coffee and hot chocolate to stave off the freezing cold. Whoever thinks South America is a tropical paradise has never come here during the winter (summer for the U.S. is winter in South America, and vice versa). Ana Carola meets us and takes us down the block to her favorite hangout spot, Lorca. She's good friends with the manager, Ubaldo Nallar, who is also an actor, producer, theater director, dramaturge, and cultural manager. Felipe Ibarreche, who is also the Bachelor of Tourism and Cultural Heritage Conservation expert, is the mixologist and part of Lorca's administrat...