i’m in the last lap of my evening walkabout, turning the corner of 6th Ave/2nd calle and I’m hearing live piano music, coming from….Caffe Opera…at the old brown upright in the corner(the piano)is this guy playing old american standards and good…’ducked home for the camera/notebook…Caffe Opera is one of the classier joints in this/that part of town(like DaVinci)that doesn’t get a lot of action..so..’what’s your name and where are you from?” Guam…naah…couldn’t possibly be Guam(i’ve been to Guam and you don’t wanna go there)…’turns out that with his accent and my bum ear..he’s Cuban..Adan Martiniz Leon…’been here for 8 years, yes..knows Ignacio and so on…where the hell have i been? (no good answer to that)but he’s xlnt…and i have a new pit stop..they pour premium vodka, btw…skyy/tanqueray’s version of V-ka…
ebony and ivory
town packed!…guatemaltecos/gringo tourists, traffic bummer to bummer getting out of town..’passed some exceedingly tasty senoritas on upper 5th…city girls…no, city women..if i weren’t so tapped by the latest ATM scam, etc..Caffe Bourbon!..Piano Mike and Moriah packing them in…Nelson does a good job but M&M…well, maybe its just the difference of what night it is..Sangre…poor bastards..trying yet another angle of the dangle…’all you can drink in two hours…75q’..in gringo bucks that’s about…8$ or so? even if they’re pouring Pavlov/XL or whatever swill…’wondering how Cashbar’s gross is doing with the absence of Reilly’s across the street…they were always kind of symbiotic..and with the street closed on Saturday night..Ricardo’s Tabaco y Vinos…’was busy as hell after the move…slowed down a lot lately…por que? funny how some businesses have a curve..Luna Miel continues to totally dominate the crepe biz…sidewalk packed..the delicious Ms E and sidekick Pat seen at O-lot…their patio/terrace/bar packed..Adan at Caffe Opera? 7 nights a week..7-10..yeah, i’ll be back..this is music, at least to my ears or what’s left of them.Queso y Vinos? night after night, packing in the Guate crowd and the ones with $$..or is it Vino y Quesos? who cares..they rock..H? yeah..packed..Jason from Australia, back in town…seal of approval on the changes(decorwise)at El Muro..me too..my watch, the old rolex? seems to have gotten the cure since i started wearing it on the wanker arm…tomorrow? a gringo birthday party…is there a Blood Bank in town? can i make a deposit and take the cash? (fuggedabout the sperm bank) if I can find some ribbon I’ll write out a big IOU instead of a present..and yes..even the locals/long time ex-pats say that the weather is weird/unusual, which also describes most of my acquaintances(but i love you anyway)…in a platonic kind of way..C seems to have found a new friend..’wish her well..she’s a great lady and deserves more than she’s found…next week is a plethora(lottsa stuff)of music here and there..yeah, i’m ‘doin’ the pub quiz…’asked to, in a nice way..have a great weakend and buenas nostrils to one and all…again…John Rexer and his superb Ilegal Mezcal…made the front page of Fox News…huge..
Our Man in Antigua 
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