Our Man in Antigua

another obscure movie reference, unless there’s weird stuff happening in the Park tonight, which if its anything like my day has been, i wouldn’t be surprised..and then, later when the Welsh rugby team beat whoever it was they had to ….o, right…the Irish..probably a match that i should’ve watched but that’s over…enough of a reason to let Shaun of O’lot an excuse to jump into the fountain in the park..

re the ‘charity event’ last night…I knew when i discovered that the last name was misspelled…using a “c’ where the ‘k’ woulda been…one or two others provided more proof…i’d been a chump who fell for an almost perfect story…where in the hell did i put my bullshit filter? probably by the little-used thinking cap,no doubt.

the Mime and the Maya KakKaChel marimba group did just fine…the cruceros/turists off the boats weren’t as generous as hoped..some get hustled to specific jade shops, so the rest of the jewelers/salemen are watching the $$ walk by…the heavy afternoon rains didn’t dispell any strolling city folks up 5th and around the plaza…’hope that new jewelery shop where the gelato store was makes it….they’ve got a touch of class, sadly lacking elsewhere..Gina C, at el portal…didn’t get very far, frankly, scarlett..the full moon, asteroids later tonight(as if we could see them)…

walking along 6th ave south, i noticed that the City’s water truck had just hosed off a popular pissoir(yep, a church)…not ten seconds after the truck left, a man stepped up and rededicated the shrine…only in Antigua, eh?

a few days after a dear lady friend, MDC, explained the Guate version of ‘pain in the ass’ being known as ‘shuco’ i noticed a sign on a restaurant on Santa Lucia…

i know there’s variations on words/spelling in this town, so i went by with this photo and asked…’wtf?’….well, not quite, but….it’s not really the same but if you’re eating there, you might want to specify that you don’t want the pain in the ass special.. ah, this town…the busloads of cruise ship passengers descended early and were swarmed by the maya ladies…biz is sucking for a lot of people…spanish schools reporting big drops in students…Alex B of Fusion is back from a few weeks in Florida with wife/kid…gonna do remodeling of the bistro and be ready for a kickass November…he says that all the hotels in town are booked for november..all except the smaller, outlying cold water shower places..the delightful Ms E and Ximena at O’lot…Bob the Wheat checking in(and staying with the ‘delightful…’)…Pat’s outa town, probably in Israel per last plans…no, there’s nothing hinky going on…i helped two damsels in distress today and then, leaving Bangalore Betty’s about 6, there’s a guy on my doorstep…robbed, beaten…seemed legit…’gave him all my cash, got a note, name, phone number…the story kinda checks out, per Ximena…i’ll know tomorrow if i’ve been …etc…so, if you see me with a tin cup, pencils or an apple for sale, you’ll know that i was, yet again, taken for a ride..and put away, wet…great conversations with Franklin of Whisky Den…who knew that he knew about specific gravity tests and refractometers?  this story has legs…i t ruly love this town….4 people on a moto, a sweet young thing on a  scooter, phone to her ear as she navigates the cobblestones…the 80 yr old guy humping the wooden chest that weighs more than he does, bent over and using a tump line…delivery, Antigua style..give him a good tip…has anyone ever seen a Guatemalteca not eating and/or not talking on a cell phone? nosh, nosh, blab, blab…nosh..Pangea’s (segue way) promotion of Ladies Night, drink for free…semi-working but i don’t see the profit angle..lights, liquor, staff…$$…the moon is up, the skies are semi-cloudy and the tuk-tuks are snarling…the taxi drivers are scowling(as usual)and it didn’t rain today…will i ever see my money again? you know…it was a great story and it wasn’t that much $$…pass the scotch…have a great weekend…and thank you, Ms E…a noble gesture and if/when the so-called shooting range returns yet another email/phone call, we’ll go there and smell the gunpowder in the morning..