I guess not everyone fell asleep. I was awakened at 1:30 by one of the students yelling. I could tell immediately he was shit-faced. People, from within and without our group, kept telling him to shut up but he kept getting louder. He tried to climb out the window but David and Will restrained him. Audrey shrieked as his hands came over the top of the chair onto her. He put David in a headlock. I finally blew up at him and told him he was no longer on the trip and that he had to take the first flight home when we got to La Paz… Unfortunately, I knew that was the same flight as ours. That didn't slow him down. We stopped at a Peruvian toll station and I told him to get off the bus and make his own way to La Paz . Before he could react, the bus pulled out of the toll. Things quieted down and I fell asleep again. At 4:30 Paige called me. I awoke to find the drunk student's hand reaching over me. Startled, he withdrew. It was relatively quiet after that; he fell asleep.

After watching a beautiful sunrise, w e reached the Desaguadero border crossing after 8:30. Again, the inefficient paperwork went fairly quickly. We walked across the bridge over the Rio Desaguadero, the natural outlet of Lake Titicaca . The Cordillera Real was magnificent as we headed toward La Paz under crystal clear skies. This was a new road for me. We didn't need to use a ferry to cross the narrow strait in the lake.

We arrived at the bus terminal at 12:20. Audrey spotted Rosse Mary out the window and yelled a greeting to her. Everyone was very happy to be with her again. She had our bus waiting and we were quickly at our hotel which was only 7 blocks away.

Anne and I discussed what to do with our drunken charge. I pulled him aside and told him that he did not have a place in our group anymore and had to find his own hotel. I pointed to one down the street. He was not invited to the farewell peña either. I had Rafael follow him as he walked up the street.

As we checked in, Rafael came back and said the other hotel was full and could the student stay at the Rosario . I said no and off he went in another direction.

Bob, Anne, Drew, and I walked down the street to look for a place to eat. We ended up at the restaurant where I first ate llama, in 2004. I had a milanesa this time.

We split up after lunch. I explored the Witches' Market on my own. I bought a bunch of trilobites—some real, some casts for gifts and collections. I also bought Joan a nice Bolivianite pendant. Although I was tempted to buy a mummified llama fetus, I restrained myself. I went back to the hotel with my shopping done.

I took a shower and did some writing before getting on the Internet and emailing the student's father and the Brevard administration of last night's incident. The student apparently remembers nothing about it.

Rosse Mary came over with Abigail and I paid off the balance, about $2800. After Abigail left, Bob, Anne, Rosse, and I had a bottle of wine. The bus came to pick us up at 6:45 and we went to the Italiano Restaurant for the peña. Rosse and Rafael cornered me and convinced me that La Paz was too dangerous for our problem child student to be out alone. We had accidentally left Dan asleep at the hotel so I sent Rafael back for the two of them.

The peña was attended by all of us, Rosse Mary, her husbandMay 8, 2007spouses and children. The chief archaeologist from Tiwanaku was also there so Bob gave him the gold leaf he had found. He also showed us photos from the underwater city sites in Lake Titicaca .

The peña consisted of singing and dancing of Andean and provincial music played by two different 5-man bands and 8 dancers, all of whom were excellent. Everyone was pulled onto the dance floor at some point to participate. The finale was several dances by Rosse's sons and two of their cousins. It was cute.

Then came the obligatory short speeches of thanks and acknowledgement. Somehow, I ended up singing a verse of “The Weight”. Rosse gave both Anne and me Andean flags. It was a wonderful way to end the trip. I think most students were glad that I let our wayward student attend. He took the mike and apologized to the group. We returned to the hotel to prepare our luggage for our 4:45 wake-up. I got to bed around midnight.