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We had agreed to meet Heinz and Agathe in the plaza by our hotel to go to dinner that night, seeing as how it was New Years Eve, and it seemed appropriate to share in the festivities. We joined them at 8:30, and took them to the place we visited three nights ago for dinner. (We knew it was good, so we figured we couldn't go too wrong, and it made us look like we knew what was good in the town, at least in their eyes.)
The owner, a Greek woman who acts like she's spent way too much time in America, gathered was American, was especially nice as we walked in, and even recognized us, shaking our hands when she saw us. I wouldn't have thought two times, plus a chance meeting at a neighboring restaurant, would make us regulars, but apparently there are big benefits to return visits in these tiny towns. Our service was uncharacteristically poor and slow, but we made up for it by spending the entire time talking about all experiences, both on the road, and living in the US or in Europe. It's refreshing to learn what Europeans think is unusual in the states, just as we do for them. And it's some small consolation that I still have yet to meet a European who doesn't think that our 60 hour work weeks and paltry two weeks of paid vacation a year (compared to their five) isn't positively inhumane. Yeah: tell them Heinz.
But eventually, we tired ourselves out, and knowing we all had to wake up early in the morning for our bus ride to Bolivia, we headed back to our hotels. We left the restaurant just a few minutes before midnight, and walked over to the plaza just in time to see hundreds of fireworks going off all over the place. It certainly didn't compare to any celebration in a big city when judged in quantity or technical prowess, but in terms of sheer volume — fireworks being individually fired off on just about every single street corner for a radius of two miles — it was purely earth-shattering. It was a stunning contrast to the deafening silence of the past two days, miles away from electric lighting.
And so it was, that at midnight, we all exchanged a small kiss (Erin and I had a slightly bigger one), and celebrated the coming the new year. May 2002 continue to bring us happiness in the way of new experiences, beautiful lands, and entertaining fellow travellers who don't openly despise Americans. And may it also bring us more hot showers and smaller change.
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