Thursday, March 24, 2011

ultimo

capitol of the island that shall remain nameless
i believe i mentioned in jamaica that i am a wuss when it comes to cold showers.
i stayed with alba, intending to spend my entire visit with her. i was being eaten alive by mosquitoes but i didn’t care, she was swell, and she had helped me find c. i was grateful and i would show it. c immediately started trying to get me to move to la casa de candida y pedro. i said no, i’d stay with alba in her not so nice neighborhood. the casa was very nice, conveniently located in a slightly better neighborhood, candy and pedro were swell, and they didn’t seem to have mosquitoes, but i was grateful to alba. right up until i went to take a much needed shower. cold water. ugh. i couldn’t bare to step in, so i opted to just wash my hair in the sink. i despise cold water.
i asked c if they had hot water - yes they did.
how soon could i move in?
so much for loyalty to saint alba.

i spent my first full day wandering in old havana with c. she showed me the ropes, from buying peanuts to waiting in line at the best restaurant in town - and this is important to know! they have a very civilized queuing system, you go up to the last person in the line and ask them 'ultimo?' if they say yes, you are now the last person in line, but if they say no, they point to the last person they handed off the ultimo position to and you go up to them and ask 'ultimo?' and again they either say yes, or point to someone else. this way you can wait in line, comfortably lounging against a wall down the way, or sitting on a bench, or in the actual line, up to you, ultimo!



C reflecting on old dodge
we got hot chocolate at the chocolate museum, went to a modern art museum, ate wonderful pesto pasta at los nardos, wandered the streets with me snapping wildly at every amazing car i saw.
c assured me i would grow accustomed to seeing them - i didn't. she pointed out places i should go and warned me away from places they had found disappointing (names quickly forgotten).
c and e walked me back to alba’s that night and i spent the remainder of the evening watching episodes of modern family while i packed my gear and made alba a felted flower pin, wishing i had more that i could give her.
in the morning i told her i was moving and she seemed to understand. 'claro'.
loaded up, i hoofed it over to my new casa.

1 comment: