Rum a rum, rum a drum

tis Christmas week…the only carols I’ve heard were in San Cristobal de las Casas last week…where the %$#@! is the monotonous sounds of Frosty the Fucking Snowman, or Don we now our gay apparel? …that’s a visual, no? twas cold/rainy for two days but the sun is out, Volcano Fuego is speweing ash/boulders on every side and the beat goes on.

Estrella! Murray’s knick-knack store in front of Sangre..closed, gone, and cleaned out…story goes, according to Frank, is that the folks who currently rent Sangre(from Murray)have take over the whole space..as I asked Frank, where’s the $$ coming from…since Sangre, with the departure of Mike, Ken or Barbie(I forget their actual names)has been steadily sucking $$…is it time for a photo?

One could only wish for flight attendents like this…I’m tired of traveling this year…next year, who knows? a couple of story  ideas to pursue before the year is out…Love Hotels…and a place in Escuintla to be further explored. Aside from that, it’d be nice to be in San Salvador at Lips and drooling/on over Ashley…Damn you, John Kim, for showing her to me…I thought I’d gotten over such fantasies(obviously wrong)but its nice to know that somewhere, somehow, there’s a tasty morsel to be…..whatever the phrase is(and thank you, John)for illuminating that long worn-out step on your tongue feeling…I’m pushing close to a 100 articles on the Ex site..#$%@! pennies per each, but its kind of like paying dues(I say to myself every $%#@! day)…do me a favor and sign up..www.examiner.com/x-22480-central-america-travel-examiner

Have a great week and holiday…one never knows what’s gonna happen around here but I’ll take it in stride.

 

Rum in the afternoon

So…a serious case of ’shuttle-butt’….a ten hour shuttle to San Cristobal de las Casas, followed by another ten hour day to Palenque and back(the Mercedes bus broke down)and thence 12 hours back to the welcoming embrace of Antigua and home…its a wonder that I don’t have creases there(I might, but I can’t really see ‘em)…note to self: who can I ask to give me a bird’s eye view?

San Cristobal! I was expecting the worst, being mid-December and 7000 feet…nope, arrived on a sunny Sunday afternoon and folks were sitting on the street, slurping cappuchinos in shirt-sleeves…the Casa Margarita remembered me and I took the same room, #16…a bottle of 5 year old Flor de Cana from the market a block away and all was good.

Side-trip….I’ve been noticing a lack of energy, enthusiasm and general apathy, accompanied by intestinal woes…the answer? NoDik 500…three day series of pills, twice a day…killer stuff..

an unfortunate name but very memorable…’oh, could I have some NoDik?’….I’ve become a poster boy for the stuff.

so…off to the land of the Sub-zero comandante Marcos…via Ux Chuc and the splendid waterfalls of Agua Azul. The most outrageous and beautifal waterfalls I’ve ever seen…

this is only a small sample…the fuller assortment is on the Ex site….www.examiner.com/x-22480-central-america-travel-examiner    ’stucking funning, in other words, and Palenque? better than I had hoped or imagined….yes, an article tomorrow w/great photos(again, on the Ex site)

the long and the short of it is that I’m tired of traveling..this year has been a ‘year’…no more busses for a long time and I assume that my ear is well enough to handle the cabin pressure in a plane..but not this year..if I were to travel, this is how I’d go…

Ruminations

 

 

The new Cuban joint, on the corner where Tapas y Tintos used to languish? besides flogging a dated drink from the late 1900’s, they have a signage problem(see above)…they’re playing salsa, once in a while someone might dance and I think they’ve used up their ‘friends list’ …the soviet blonde, the burly guy in the brown velvet jacket and the rest of the crew don’t seem to have that touch(like, maybe smile once in a while)…the location isn’t great but at least try..

So…you pharmacologically inclined few…name this  plant. If you caught the ‘Mayans on  Dope’ article in the Ex, you might recognize it as Datura and this healthy specimen grows next to La Merced.

Worsely, of various paths/routes, has been visiting this week…we were going to use him to mule some car parts to Cuba but that’s not ready: the shaft is still being located(the drive shaft, that is) and lastly, if you’ve noticed I haven’t been posting its because I’ve been under the spell of unknown intestinal organisms…I tried one series of meds as recommended but that only covered the sypmtoms: now I’m taking ‘get the fuck outa my gut’ meds, which ought to leave more energy for this…and working on the Venetian Ball site and trying to etc…Mexico and San Cristobal de las Casas looms on Sunday…too cold but I gotta go now…

Rum, bah

the coast

Ah…the week of ‘bus hell’…’left on Monday, figuring to catch the 1p Ticabus out of Gautemala City for San Salvador.  The traffic in the city was worse than usual(if possible)but the driver, knowing every backroad/short cut, got the shuttle to the terminal at 5 after…long lines of waiting people, piles of cardboard cartons/back-packs and luggage stacked here and there. The man at the counter smiled apologetically….’no hay asiento’s…(ain’t got any more seats)…’but…I have a reservation’…alas, no…’can you say chingado?’….(spanish phrase for hosed)…ok, fine: my choices are to return to Antigua($)spend the night at home and return in the morning($)or…spend the night in the City, and catch the 5am bus.  I did Plan B and cabbed over to my hole in the wall hotel($24 without a receipt)..the cabbie was there at 4am, I’d been up at 1am, 2am, and 3 am, looking at the time…the doors were locked and no guard in sight. I finally opened the whole front door, in sections, escaped with my luggage and left it as closed as possible(still no guard)…the early departure, from now on, will be my route: no traffic and a swift run to El Salvador and the waiting arms of the Meson De Maria and that group of lovelies. Room #9(my usual), unpack and up the street to the El Rincon(superb mexican food)followed by rest, rum and relaxation. A check-in with John(no on the strip club that night, at least for me)tomorrow? to the coast and Lips later(its business…leaving American Legion posters)

’some very disturbing conversations with Dan re the political situation in El Salvador…more later, as I decompress…and a visit to the Pompeii of Central America.

Rum Dumb Ramble

f4%#@! net access down all day Sunday…so what? I’m off in a few hours for another stab at El Salvador and wrap up the unwrapped f#@$! assignments I didn’t get to last time per the ‘truck in the ditch at midnight’ event…ah, impetuous youth….speaking of impetuous, here’s the latest project:

a little something for the evening stroll

WTF? take a nice sized section of bamboo,  do a little alteration on a fairly decent antique sword and bingo….sword cane!   just the thing for those leisurely strolls in the evening, when the Beretta is a bit to bulky, licenced or otherwise.

Thanksgiving? come and gone…Christmas is in full swing, lights and trees, dead saints being hauled up and down the avenidas accompanied by fireworks…St Saltpeter or St Gunpowder? I must be missing the point of the mortars and firecrackers, as it relates to the ‘peace on earth’ stuff.

Caffe Bourbon!…doing well, packing them in nightly. Hector’s not too visible these days at the original spot, although the town is full of tourists and they keep asking for him….the new joint, about to open in Jocotenango, is taking time…the suitcase is packed, the new residente visa/stamp is in my passport and the road is calling me..hasta..

and yes, in the interest of science and man’s fund of knowledge, I’ll have to go back to ‘that’ club tonight…I have posters to take, things to do and….I”ll try to fend them off or at least away.