DAY AT HOME....AND ....MORE.

                Today was a nice relaxing day starting at 7:30 with the roofing crew next door working on their project.  They have been working everyday on that roof.  They have lunch up there.  All the tiles have been removed and the roof recovered and sealed.  Then they took wire brushes to scrub the black mold off the old tiles and make them like new. To prevent breathing in the mold they wear bandannas over their face.

       I relaxed and read while laying out in the sun for parts of the morning. When I finished lunch I booked my flights to Mexico City on Inter Jet for $175 round trip...got 20% Senior discount.!  Ham and Eggs with fresh oranges and toast was dinner.  Last night I watched Jack Barrymore DVD about his life done by Christopher Plumber playing the role of John Barrymore.  It was really good.  Tonight I'll finish the Borges , about the Spanish Cardinal that became Pope and his family.  Very realistic, decadent, and mischievous. Starring Jeremy Irons with Derek Jacobie as guest star on first three episodes.
     I happened to think you may want to see a Calendar of Events that is posted daily to get an idea of what goes on here.  Understand this is for the tourists and more affluent "art" - political community.  The villages withing the state of Oaxaca could give a hoot about this.  There are 50 different languages spoken here...that doesn't include Spanish...well maybe one is Spanish. Some of these indigenous languages such as Mextica is the fifth.most spoken language in L.A. So this is the Calendar.
       I just became a Twitter follower of Pena Neito , Mexico's President. He is in Davos for the World Bank meeting and will address the assembly as the opening speaker.  His topic...New World Order.  International Laws that all countries are beholding to.  Isn't that what the UN was supposed to have done.
           Mexico's  politicians , businessmen, religious leaders and wealthy people...28 Billionaires and the richest man in the world...are the whitest.  They have Ivy league school diplomas. Claim direct descendants from Spain, born in Mexico...called Creoles BUT they never use that definition. I think this is a country to watch.  FIRM...Obama's Immigration Reform  will, when it's passed , change the face of America...and to be honest, I thought for the better.  Our country has gone to shit. No jobs, no values, no family traditions, no mentors, no support organizations , no quality education, no equal opportunity, no middle class, no true Congressional representation....we have everything to lose and not a lot to gain by accepting immigrants at an unsustainable rate. Accept a reasonable amount of those qualified.  Then insist they comply with the required path to become citizens.  They have to learn to speak English, have employment, be literate, serve our country, contribute and pay for there freedom like all those during the immigration wave of past.What is wrong with that?  We need to clean up our country for us first before we open the floodgates.   Then we would be the strongest and best country in the world.  The impoverished countries that these immigrants come from should take responsibility for their own citizens and SO should we!
    World Poverty 
      OK...let me get back on track...I went to bed at 10 pm and woke at 9 pm well rested.  Shit , Shower, Shave and I was out the door to meet Courtney for coffee.  A Moto-Taxi picked me up on the street and delivered me to the Bus Stop.  Getting on the bus I noticed two young ladies with infant babies. One was openly nursing hers, with her 2 year old by her side while the other sat behind her.  I suspect they were visiting their doctors together.  A guitarist boarded the bus, went to the back and started serenading the passengers. He played about 4 songs well and had a great voice though I understood nothing, live music was a great way to start the day...vs Rush Limbaugh.  I'm not conservative or liberal...I'm a center focused Libertarian.  Think about it.

      So the Driver's assistant, who helps passengers on and off, watches for laggards (old people who shuffle..me) , announces the arrival and departure with the destination, and keeps the bus clean and shining....he has his girlfriend following him around all day in the front seat of the bus and flirts with her every chance he has to sit with her.  He helped the nursing mother off the bus by carrying her 2 year old down the stairs. Everyone rides the bus that doesn't own a car or motorcycle .   Students, day workers with their lunch, businessmen reading the news or fumbling with the cell phone, villagers coming into town to sell their wares at the market, entertainers soliciting tips, old and young selling candy, lotions, coupon books...you never know.  Some of the buses are luxury, most are utilitarian and too small for my legs.

Clown Entertainment on the Bus

      I arrived at the Santa Domingo Plaza in front of the church early to meet Courtney.  I just relaxed and observed . There were what appeared to be a parade coming up the street.  It was two classes of 7-8 year old with the children taking turns pushing the wheelchair with one of the paraplegic children in the front. They gave him the respect that no one who advance in front of him. They were taking a waking tour with the teacher herding them like a sheep dog to the Santa Domingo Basilica and around to the garden behind

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     Courtney showed up and we had morning (11:30 am) coffee together.  I left shortly after for a lecture about the Peasants of Oaxaca at the library.  It was given by a Professor at Queens college N.Y. who has been studying the culture of Oaxaca for thirty years I think.  It was wonderful and spiked my curiosity for more.

 I left to buy some black thin poster board to cover my windows at night because of the neighbor's security lights.  Home early...bed early.
     Today I awoke with a start...it was like what Jack Nickelson said in the Bucket List...Never trust a Fart. I took a shower and did my laundry at the same time.
          Off to Oaxaca but when I departed the bus, I realized , in my rush I forgot my hearing aides. I went to my Internet Cafe to print out some documents .I failed to be able to print out my airline ticket, directions to a party Sunday, and a host of other documents I depend on...like my year end tax statement from my brokerage. I need to find a new Internet service.
           I got a haircut. The Barber makes me feel so important.  He spends at least 30 minutes to cut what few hairs I have.  $4 and I walk out a new man.
          I stopped by the Oaxaca Coffee Company and had a Croissant, Latte and a 1/2 Kilo of Organic Coffee. The sat at the park bench in front of the Basilica to relax and read.  A woman with her son approached me.  I think her 7 or 8 year old son was curious. She spoke a bit of English and inquired about my home.  She introduced me to Emilliano, her son and we chatted a bit.  I think her son needed a father figure and she wanted to encourage that.
         I stopped at the Mercado on my way to visit Darcy for a beer. I needed a phone that works.  My phone is over 10 years old and I have not been able to make it work. I bought a cheap used phone for $32 with a SIM card.  I had the lady call my Skype number to insure it worked.  I heard me answer the phone and paid her.  Not sure how long the card is to last but I made my first call in Mexico to Darcy.   I got an voice recording to leave a message that he said was on his used phone when he bought it but never bothered to change it.  I was happy that I figured out how to operate it in Mexican.
           I noted it said it was 2:15 pm and I was to meet him at 2 p.m.  When I arrived it was closed so I went next door and had a beer while calling him and leaving a message. I checked the time again and discovered my phone was 30 minutes fast.  I returned to find Darcy sitting at the bar.  It was good to see him again.  We shared bad news.  Me with the Prostate Cancer and he had a auto accident and had to have an operation...then four days in the hospital.  He went to the Carmen Hospital and had a pin and a plate screwed in to his thigh bone.  His Brother in Law helped with a Credit Card for the operation, until he could pay him back  The four day stay in the hospital costs 50 Pesos...$4...the price of my haircut. He had booked a flight to Saskatchewan to visit his Mother over Christmas.  When he returned, his house had been broken into, his car used as the getaway with everything he owned (TV, Computer, paintings off the wall, BBQ, all his propane gas lines cut, etc) loaded in the stolen truck.  He does take everything like me...do what you can .... and move on.

           We had a nice visit, he gave me a couple of his homemade chocolate/cherry Muffins and we took the bus to Llano Park where he hoped to replace one of the paintings with another by the same guy.  I stopped to get a BBQ Sausage Tortas.  I gave the guy the money and he took it then while I was waiting he told me I had to wait as their were others ahead.  OK.  I waited while watching him clean up, pack up and get ready to go home?  Where is my Tortas...oh...sorry, we ran out.  Excuse me...my money?  Oh...he gave it back.
           I don't understand that but got another Tortas at the bus stop, paid my local store for taking my trash, and returned home to my neighbor's barking dog.