Our Man in Antigua

Update/Upchuck..take your pick..

major kudos/thanks/tip of the panama to Antigua’s best…MDC, who volunteered unasked to give blood…Shawn Griffiths of Ocelot…and a big crowd at 5ish for Lava!…ask him about the bar fight last night…3 barstools broken, cops called(for what?) and so on…Alex Ferrar of Sobremesa and Neil Craig of
Michos…yep, we’ll be there to give blood for Santiago tomorrow…per Neil, who’s now fronting/selling Mateo B’s excellent bakery products (try the cinnamon rolls) Mr B, owner of La Casbah, has been in France for a month learning the bakery biz…if the cinnamon rolls are a clue, he learned quickly….what’s gonna happen to La Cashbah? probably a sale…to who? good question…some have suggested a franchise…KFC, Taco Bell…gotta be a difficult property to sell, given the format/layout..a steakhouse? how about a casino/whorehouse? perfect!  again, major thanks to these folks who responded/rallied to Santiago’s aid in a typical Guatemalan Catch-22 last minute ruling….’oops…you gotta have 4 pints of blood tomorrow before we cut.’…thanks, docs..and get well wishes from Terry of the Revue and Elizabeth Bell, among others.

there was a slight emergency…I’ve been keeping tabs(plus water and books)for a local friend in the dank/dark Nacional Hospital in San Felipe. I need to mention his name, as some of you locals might know him: James aka Santiago Durham, long time Antigueno. The ‘short’ of it is that he broke his hip a few weeks ago, the new ‘ball’ is ready but before they do surgery this week the hospital needs 4 pints of blood, any type and you gotta be under 50 yrs old…one sweet lady, MDC, stepped up immediately(angel)so he’s short three pints. If you can, go to the Nacional Hospital in San Felipe any time tomorrow(the chicken buses stop there)and go to the front desk, ask for the banco de sangre and make a vital/timely donation…the place sucks and if he can get blood/surgery this week, he’s out there next week. Tell the banco de sangre that your making a donation for James Walter Durham..any questions, text or email jameswdurham2@gmail.com   thanks…the place is the pits.

whew…an i thought last week was weird(it was)…my 94 yr old went back into the hospital and now is in a nursing home for at least 6 weeks, til her broken elbow heals…christ, what next?

have you noticed all the cars on the streets of Antigua with ‘for sale’ signs? new shiny SUVs and I even saw an old Range Rover up for grabs…times are really tough, obviously(ask me).

the flash drive with the November version of Our Man in Antigua-stan was dropped off at the printer this morning….”next week”….probably, maybe, could happen, depending how hungry the printer is..

and yes, I’m going out and about tonight…make up some flyers for Santiago’s Blood Drive and see what I’ve been missing…see you around, hopefully…we can swap vicious rumors, ‘scandalous babble’ and whatever chisme is floating around.