📸 Photo

CHANGE OF PLANS

'You see. That is the altitude.' I tried again with the glass tilted almost horizontally, but it still didn't work.

'The beer is the woman,' he instructed me, snatching the bottle from my hand and demonstrating how it should be poured. 'You must treat it very nice. The woman from La Paz is also called paceña, like the beer. You must treat them with same respect.'

After the first beer, Colonel Lanza seemed to relax a bit. However, I still had the impression that he didn't fully trust me. He was polite, but I think he was trying to work out whether I was an undercover American agent. He kept asking me questions about England. His suspicion made me trust him more.

'Salud,' we said at the same time, clinking our glasses after I had successfully poured the next round of Paceña. I was already feeling a bit light-headed.

'That's strong beer,' I said.

'Yes. That is the effect of the altitude also. You know, many people have died from drinking too much and taking cocaine on their first night in La Paz.'

This was the first time drugs had been mentioned and he made it sound like a passing comment only. However, I knew that he had thrown it in to test me. I took a small sip of my beer and didn't react.

'I'd better have only one glass more then,' I said when the critical moment had passed. 'Normally, I don't drink when I'm on a business trip.' He didn't react either and I sensed we were beginning to reach an understanding.

When the waitress brought our desserts, we finally got around to the real reason behind our meeting. It was Colonel Lanza who brought up the subject.

'I understand you have hurry to catch your flight, no?'

Without mentioning specifics, we agreed that I would fly the day after next. When I asked him how much I could give him for his assistance, he asked for double what I normally paid Tito. Added to the cost of the flight, it would use up most of my remaining money. However, I didn't want to bargain with him in case it caused problems later. We shook hands and agreed that I would come to his house the following day to meet his family.