Yes more random thoughts…
This title is nowhere near as clever and tidy as ‘random randomness’
A Citizen Eco-Drive dive watch works after 3 months of darkness. I swapped out the Luminox for the Citizen for some unknown reason. It had no power for about 2 hours then the solar power kicked in and my watch is working again. Neat.
Something peculiar happened to me twice in a week’s time? No I didn’t find myself on the pot without tp. That happened THREE times. I had two separate people ask me if I was Australian. Apparently my Spanglish comes with an Australian accent. Not sure how that happened. My English is still good ole talking too fast and slurring my words Dave Connors. It may be even worse now. I get so excited when someone speaks English I think I rattle off 50 words in 8 seconds. What do I get in return? The same confused and uncomprehending look I have given to hundreds of waiters, waitresses, hotel clerks, police officers and gas station attendants over the last few months. Yep I know that incomprehension very well.
One of the sites I find myself visiting when I get a connection is A Long Drive. Shreesh and I have distinctly different writing styles. His are thoughtful, intelligent, informative. He wants to learn Spanish to read Borges in the original text. I only read Borges because my professor made me. I talk about bodily functions and quote cheesy movies from my youth. He talks about the culinary wonder of Oaxaca. However I enjoy his words and am jealous of the pace and length of their adventure. Maybe you will too.
I drank a bottle of sprite, ate two granola bars, a small banana and 2 small pieces of bread over the course of 3 days. Since then I’ve had Alpaca twice, cuy (guinea pig) four fruit smoothies (mango, orange, strawberry, and some fruit I can’t spell mixed with carrot), peanut M&Ms, a pizza, a calzone, some chicken soup with rice, and about 8 bottles of water. I feel like I’m back to full health.
I walked into a bar last night in Cuzco after visiting Machu Piccu. I order dinner and looked up to see the NBA All-Star game on TV. It really hit home how out of touch I have been with my ‘old’ life. Having once attended All Star Weekend with my by Bush it always high on my list of sports highlights. The Freshman/Sophomore game might be the best bball game all year, college or pro. I watched about half the game, it was boring. I finished my meal, thanked the owner, Nick from the UK, former soundman for a few mid-level british rock bands, and went back to my hotel. I guess the NBA doesn’t matter too much. Nice to see Deron Williams win the skill challenge though. I’ve been defending him since day one in the face of all the Jazz Fan Chris Paul lovers.
At said bar I learned how to play Inca Darts. Throwing metal pucks at a golden frogs mouth. Weird. Good thing I don’t drink or I’d be still hung over tonight.
Missed a turn today and drove 40mins down the wrong road. Good tunes and beautiful scenery will do that.
Peru is HUGE.
3 more days and I’ll be able to talk English all day long as a friend joins me in La Paz.
I heard Radiohead in a restaurant. Was almost as shocking as hearing Jay Z’s 99 Problems at the Mickey D’s in Costa Rica.
Something else happened in Cuzco that hasn’t happened since Cartagena. I was offered the full gamut while walking down the road. Exact same approach.
‘hey man you speak English?’
‘almost exclusively’ (man I am one witty cat)
‘you want to come to a club tonight?’
‘no I’m pretty tired, just headed back to my hotel’
‘okay man, it’s a hot club though, here’s a flyer’
‘no I’m good I’m heading out tomorrow anyway’
‘you need anything else? I got pot’
‘no I’m cool, really’ as I continue walking toward nowhere
‘you want coke, heroine, I got it all? How about a girl, I can get you a girl too, they like gringos, they’ll do whatever you want’
‘nah I think I’m okay’
‘man it’s cool here policia don’t care it’s cool, no one cares, it’s cool’ apparently the word ‘cool’ is going to convince me to change my mind.
Speaking of women and money. I was at a national park near Huaraz. I paid my entry fee (did I tell this story already?) and filled out the form for my ticket. I’m talking to the large, smelly indigenous woman behind the desk in my best castellano. She asks where I’m from, I tell her the US. Then in perfectly rehearsed English, ‘can I have a tip?’ didn’t even skip a beat. I smiled, laughed, thought of dropping a Michael Scott ‘that’s what she said’ on her but told her I’d pay her on my way out. Oh whoops I was doing the loop. I am fine tipping people along the way. The guys at the garages are my favorite, hoping that will keep Ruby safe. But I refuse to tip anyone that asks for it. The waiter during my recent puke fest actually refused one and gave it back, said he was just doing his job. I think he felt bad for Sir Gringo in room 201.
There will be one more post following this one for the night.
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