Panamaña

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We gotta get out of this place...if its the last thing we ever do...sounds familiar?...well its been a few days and you're all probably wondering just what's going on...crikey, he hasn't written anything for a day or 2!..shock, horror...ahh, I know you're all suffering withdrawal but really, there's been very little to say....don't say it!....so maybe just a little picture of our town...like it is our town now..........we have become embarrassingly local, I know every crack in the footpath, how deep all the puddles are, where the pit-lids are missing (many), all the sharp bits of steel embedded in the path (many) right at toe-amputation level, all the buildings....our street is lined with tenement buildings, about 4 or 5 storeys high, 2 flats wide, balconies with elaborate wrought iron grilles, washing, mats and people hanging out to dry or cool off...muggery as buggery most of the time....the bottom levels of the buildings have small businesses, also with elaborate wrought iron grills, sliding cage doors, huge locks....altho' security isn't anywhere near the issue as in other places....there's the copy shop, he knows us by name!, the laundry where Katty greets us every second day!, the travel shop where Jennifer has been very sweet despite the fact that I have been in every day for 10 days booking flights and then cancelling!...today she went and bought a lottery ticket because Iactually went in and PAID for my ticket and confirmed it for Friday to Crack-ass....yes the bikes are sorted!....905 bucks, 5 days, two rainforests of paperwork, 35 gallons of sweat, the patience of Job to the power of 25, much assistance from Edward and Minette at the freight place.....back to the street....at the end of our street is a T intersection...on the facing side an enormous new casino/hotel is being completed...8 storeys high and most of the block wide, the gigantic facade has a huge VENETO sign in neon and gold, a mammoth stylised VENETO in gold with side panels of chevrons in gold, both covered with flashing globes...we have been watching the progress of 2 groups of 3 guys who winch their way up the wall, adding bits of the signs, one whole day putting in the globes, one day later replacing all the blown globes!...these guys take about an hour to crank themselves up 10 feet!...and as they spend most of their time whistling at the chicas walking past....and there's lots of them!...they invariably end up cranking more at one end than the other and nearly tipping themselves 50 feet down to the street. And there's 'corner boy' ...one more in our long list of boys...this guy looks about 50 so he's probably about 25, barefoot and scruffy he's really as thick as 2 short planks...but this corner is his patch...he points out parking spots, to people who have already seen them, then tries to charge for the service...he puts the bite on everyone around the corner and and does a pathetic job of faking assistance to drivers who succumb to the other great feature of our corner, the hole!....The Hole is right in the middle of the T intersection, its about the size of a regular, circular manhole pit and its bottomless. No-one seems to take responsibility for it....in the mornings there's often a sign or a drum placed over it....by night theres sometimes a cardboard box!!...or a chunk of concrete or rock!!...and I suspect 'corner boy' is the culprit who takes away whatever is there by about 6pm. ...after that, at regular intervals, a car will just drop a wheel into the hole.....and stay there.....sometimes they spin the wheels and get out, others start fumbling with jacks (what they think they'll achieve I don't know)...eventually 'corner boy' and a few mates come over...the mates lift the car while it drives out, 'corner boy' sort of leans against the car then hits on the driver for $$ with varied success. I sit at Manolo's (we call the boss Barry) cafeteria/bar/restaurant on the corner....the centre of the universe, inside its a bit chilly in the aircon so I prefer the outer part with tables and chairs around the corner with good views of the workers on the casino and also the Hole....the wait staff are mature aged, slow, but friendly...and now I've become such a regular, they have the beer ready pretty quickly when I appear in the evenings.....matter of fact I should be there right now!!....and they make the best pizza this side of Trevi's........Barry, the boss, strolls around keeping an eye on everything...he even acknowledges me with a 'buenos' now...its really a bit scary...I'm even starting to feel like a local...no panama hat yet, but then again, no-one around here wears them either!!
A range of touts, salespeople, bums, religious types and other botters frequent Manolos at set intervals...its like its all arranged aforehand...first up is usually 'blindy' (thanks Kate) he taps his stick along the tables mumbling about a school for kids or something, then there's a Mum with 2 little kids flogging flashing lights of some sort...'chewy boy' with his 4 or 5 packets of gum, 'cigar man' an 90 year old guy with a sack of 'genuine' cuban cigars...and further in the bag, sunglasses and other stuff, then the nun looking down her nose at the display of wealth and decadence in front of me...beer, cigarettes, peanuts as I indicate my lack of support for whatever she's flogging, another dead horse?...flower guy tries to sell me a rose every night...I tell him I'm single, he tells me if I buy a rose I'll pick up!!.....and so it goes....and always other beggars going past in the street asking for money over the cafe wall....and , amazingly, they all get a little something...everyone, me included, give something to some-one every now and again and so they all survive...its a complex system that lives on everyones sense of responsibility to these poor stiffs, or tweaks at the consciences (?) what is that word?...is this a classic Freudian shlip?...anyway this is life in the fast lane, a million stories in the street, many beggars, many flash cars and rich people, many shady characters doing dirty deals. and not dirt cheap, I'll bet. And then it rains for a while...a guy ducks into Manolos with a bunch of umbrellas...everyone pisses him off...I catch his eye...he unfolds several, I pick a $3 model, offer him $2...he bleats...its pissing down...I give him the $3!!

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