MONTEVIDEO - semana santa / ghosts / dolls

South America
April 4th 2007

Published: April 4th 2007

We arrived in Montevideo by bus from Colonia and were met by Diana and MuÃ±eca and in theory Julio....but we had to do a little hunting to find him.

It is Semana Santa (Easter) so everything is pretty quiet as businesses close down for the holiday, though I imagine that Montevideo never really reaches the kind of bustle of Buenos Aires. And indeed this is the charm of Montevideo.

Uruguay only has a population of 3.5 million and Montevideo houses 1.3 million. Time has slowed for Semana Santa and what little movement there is on the street stands out in contrast in the still cityscape. Mate drinkers in doorways, the few small businesses which have remained open, a lady crossing the street, someone fixing their car.

Diana and MuÃ±eca are stying in an apartment "Palacio Salva", once the tallest building in South America at 26 stories high. The building is indeed a majestic dame. Wide marble staircases wend between floors opening out to a landing as big as some dance floors with the ensignia PS inlaid in the centre.

In contrast we are staying at the "Los Angeles" which boasts 100 rooms of which I believe

coridor plans at Los Angeles

80 are haunted. There is no doubt the Los Angeles too had her day of splendour as her high ceilings and bay windows suggest but the years have taken their toll and there is only so much wallpaper a wall can take and for that matter the wardrobe, windows and light switches. Los angeles is now an aging tart with babies crying in darkened rooms and lights that mysteriously turn on and off. Dried, plastic and dying plants cheerlessly in habit the darkened corridors. Dim paintings hang drab and dumb on her poor bandaged walls.

Last night a dreamt of

">horses and woke to a pounding in my chest. Carla and JJ must already be down for breakfast. I got changed and made my way down the corridor ...... as soon as I had left my room I heard the thumping. I was walking towards it but wasnÂ´t too sure where it was coming from. I stopped at 510 - well that is what i thought it was as the numbers had fallen off leaving only their shadow.
Thump thump thump
I knocked on the door
"quien es?" I donÂ´t know why but I was surprised to hear the

grafitti 1

voice on the other side.
"yo" was my only surprised reponse.
"tu"
"me" it knocked again...I guess the conversation was seeming a bit ridiculous. Morse code may have been a better form of communication.
knock knock
"quien es?"
"i donÂ´t know, i was just walking by"
"help me"'
"come out"
"yes.....no I canÂ´t"
"why?"
"I canÂ´t come out"
"why? ....... OH.... you CANÂ´T come out......do you have the key" there was rustling behind the door and I imagined someone tied up in a hessian sack.
"si"
"Pass it under the door" The double winged brass key poked abruptly from under the door. I slid the key into the lock and turned, then the door handle turned from the inside and a dark Chinese man in an unfashionable tracksuit stood in front of me. His bright smile was the first thing I saw as my eyes adjusted to the sombre light in the room. He must have gotten one of the rooms where they had wallpapered the windows. He stepped into the corridor with a loud "Muchisimas Gracias!" He would have walked straight into me had I not also stepped back, though he finally gained on me and enveloped me in

grafitti 2

a happy hug. To my surprise he smelt quite nice and I hugged him back to see if I could squeeze any more of that nice smell out of him. It was not a perfume but a residue of where he had been that clung to him. A cool tiled floor, rose water and coffee, cotton. Definitely not Chinese but probably Peruvian.
"Muy linda gerrrl! Gracias Gracias" His happiness made the ghosts in the corridor flee for the lift to the next floor. "Espera espera...." He disappeared into the room again and gave me a doll. I took the doll and played with it as he began a long story - about the doll I guess - He made flying gestures and touched different parts of his body, his head, his heart and his stomach. then it was over. He took the the key and went back into his room.

I went downstairs to meet JJ and Carla for some fizzy orange juice, stale croisants and coffee.

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