Our Man in Antigua

in the immortal words of Alfred E. Neuman or was it ‘Neumann?…aka Mad Magazine…who cares/who knows? it’s just another Tequila Monday in this 3rd world country we call home…realize, as i have, that Guatemala is the same size as Tennessee but with twice the population…14 mil vs. 6 mil, give or take a few..and that our hillbillies wear huipiles..yeah, the education system sucks, the highways aren’t being fixed and the beat goes on…not

Cashbar? closed on a Sunday, Monday and Tuesdays? the new reality…ain’t no bucks/$$ in town…more and more cars with for sale signs..grim faces on some of the food/beverage people, hoping that June will bring in some turistas w/$$…segue way…in La Prensa this morning a piece about an italian airline now proving service to Managua (Nica)…WTF? there’s a demand for this? and no, the airline isn’t named Genitalia…drum roll..

Ocelot/Lava doing fine..Jason due in from Mother Russia in two weeks, assuming that he doesn’t get ‘side-tracked’ in Tijuana..dos Reilly’s very very quiet, Flor of Dasha snoozing at her PC/desk, not very incandescent/florescent…maybe its just another Monday and we’re all moving slowly…kinda like those butt-heads at INGUAT…Mexico is spending 52 Fu…..king million dollars on tourism re 2012…what is Guatemalo spending? INGUAT’s new head can’t even get their website up and running…his picture is all over it but….where’s the beef, dude? tomorrow’s rare Venus/Earth/Sun thing? fuggedaboutit…even Honduras/Copan is doing stuff(when their journalists are being shot) this country has a lot of potential for tourism, especially this year…Tikal, El Mirador, Takalik Abaj, Quirigua….it’s not even 3rd world/can’t get it together/banana republic stuff…call it lame/ludicrous…I’ve lived/worked in tourist-oriented places most of my life…San Francisco, Carmel, ‘Vegas, Hawaii…even Costa Rica and Nicaragua have their act together…Nicaragua? yeah, baby..o well, what, me worry?..maybe Otto has the right idea:  legalize drugs and have Antigua be ground zero for cheap blow…that’d ramp up tourism overnight…bolivian marching powder for one and all and an idea that’s nothing to sneeze at..nobody would be eating at the 150 restaurants but the bars would be doing great..pass the straw, dude..let’s go dance somewhere, eh?