Our Man in Antigua

all too often all there is here is ‘night stuff’…who said what, who was seen hiding out with …etc..I’ve discovered that walking around town from 6am to 7 is perfect in so many ways..the light is clear, sharp and distinct, cuz the usual valley haze hasn’t begun, so the photo ops are perfect. The streets are clear of traffic, people and noise and yes, there’s the occasional pool of multicolored puke, a few mashed dog turds and a scattering of cigarette butts outside Gaia or #35…the croissants are fresh at El Viejo Cafe and the little butcher shop on 6th avenida has the red flag flyin’..

there’s a rare treat for shoppers but you probably need to be there today: in the park is an exhibition of arts/crafts and they’re good…seriously good. I’ve been thru most every arts/crafts from Panama to San Cristobal de las Casas…Costa Rica sucks, aside from the Panamanian molas brought up  by Manolo(in San Jose)Nicaragua? only the village of Masaya is worth seeing…Honduras? fuggedaboutit…they’re so laid back that Copan Ruinas doesn’t have shoe shine boys…the local Lions/Rotarians tried to get a project going there, bought new shoe shine kits and no one wanted to partake..El Salvador? as much as I like the place, Gautemala is ‘it’…and Antigua, expecially today. How many more shopping days til Christmas?  damfino..

looks like that Livingston Cafe on 5th calle has given up the ghost…they were next to the Bagel Barn…not any more..the ‘cuisine’ concept didn’t pan out….drum roll…today? 6pm, Neil the Craig’s last shift as a bartender at Ocelot..yeah, he’s got some other ideas cookin’…something to do with beer…I’m still shakin’ my head at Brielle’s gallery success at PV…sold 8 outa 14? some kind record..we walked past the morning congregation of AL outside El Portal yesterday…heads swiveled..’had to explain that she’s the daughter of friends…nope, nothing more…hell, i’m older than her folks.

I love the way that Lily the Newspaper Lady hoses down her corner in the mornings…broom, soap, water..smiles..”Prensa Libre!”  she quit selling the Bingo tickets, my last hope for fame and fortune…wonder why? 

had a long conversation with my 94 yr old mom in missouri earlier…8am, electric blanket set at 9(high)and asking’why Guatemala?”…well…the climate, the beauty, the cheapness of living here..medical, transport…yeah, this country is as corrupt as India and that’s a world wide standard. Yeah, paperwork takes a year or so…so? Comparison shopping? out the door of Bodegona with Bloody Mary kit…vodka, two limes, can of local V8 juice, pack of cigarettes…50q..top that, San Francisco..no listeria in the cantaloupes, no arsenic in the chicken, Bull Durham’s xlnt pork chops, 2 to a pound, 24q..La Rosa Cristal, 3rd calle..yep..’definitely made the right choice for a place in the sun and a great little town to live in: it ain’t perfect but it’s damn close.