Friday, August 26, 2011

Nuthin' new......

A couple of mornings ago, I was sipping my tea and enjoying the quiet when i glanced out my front window and caught a glimpse of color. I went to the door and saw this woman standing across the street by the lagoon (thats a mound of freshly harvested salt to her left) looking at the flamingos. In the small villages, this is what the older women ( Ok...so some of them are my age...) traditionally wear. usually there is a shawl/scarf sort of thing that goes along with it. i love the colors... Well, the summer vacation season is winding down. The hordes are beginning to disembark from our peaceful little village. Its been nice to have a milk guy in town...he drives a motorcyycle that pulls a little trailer behind...his horn moos..he has cheese, milk and eggs. The "milk" you commonly find elsewhere comes in a small rectangular carton and sits on a shelf-not refrigerated. It leaves a feeling in your mouth like you've been guzzling vegetable oil...oh! thats because evidently it has quite a bit in it....the "moo" guy has actual milk. There is also a guy who drives around selling periodicals..they are all in spanish of course, but its good practice. One day as a gift he had an insert from a New York Times he gave me...also, one of the tiendas in town has been selling fresh tortillas. Normally, none of these things exist in Santa Clara but since all the city people ( this includes the Dzidzantun folks...city! hahaha...if you've been there, you'll know why im laughing...)anyway, this has already stopped. the temporary little snack shacks have folded up and by the end of the week there will be nothing left but the trash. I intend on being a one woman litter patrol. Each day i'll target a small area and clean up.....Maybe by the time the next vacation rolls around i'll have it done!
I know i've sent you sunset pictures before but...what can i say. When i one day ride off into one, i want a vast selection to choose from......




Before we came down, i had long since given up eating beef and actually, kind of struggled with all meat products. Here, i am even more motivated. Here is a photo of a local meat vendor. What exactly is that hanging from the hook you may wonder/ i can't tell you...i avert my eyes, frankly, as we drive by these. how do people not get sick from this? Remeber that it is VERY HOT HERE too...do you see a screen of some sort to keep flies away? No, you don't, because there isn't one....I'm not saying it's wrong or bad. it just is. It's how it's been done for who knows how long and it works for them. I, however, will not be partaking....Speaking of flies,





I'll leave you with one last bit of weird info....I can't remember where i was, but a few years back i was sitting in some country and saw small plastic bags of water hanging from various locations. i asked someone what they were for. " they keep the flies away"....? Really, are the flies frightened by the site of plastic ? The water makes them afraid they will drown if they come to close? maybe they are afraid the bag will fall on them and crush them (this will seem like they are drowning due to the water but actually they are smothered..) Made no sense to me. Recently we were on a little side trip and i passed a little store that seemed to have nothing but a singular bunch of plantains for sale. mysteriously, there was a clear bottle filled with water suspended from the ceiling by a string. I took a photo of this shop and showed it to someone pointing out the bottle of water. "I dont know what that was for". " Probably to keep the flies away" was their response.?..This conversation took place in spanish so i couldnt get any clarification on why a bottle of water would scare a fly. you know how they have ..what is it....Im trying to think back on my reference material on flies that i obtained by watching the movie "The Fly" ( both the Vincent Price and Jeff goldblum versions)...isnt there something about them having multiple eyes or eye lenses? maybe the refraction in the water causes them to see sooo many versions of their reflection they are totally freaked out by it. Thinking they are having some sort of acid flashback they buzz away and find somewhere to curl up in a fetal position (what does a fly fetal position look like?) until it passes...i don't know but i'll tell you what, ill try just about anything so i filled up a couple of ziplock bags with water and hung them on the back porch where those little rascals like to hang out because its cool. Guess what? Virtually no flies! What? what kind of crazy phenom is this? i need to google 'flies and plastic bags" to see if this can be explained...Yes, thats right, i have a lot of free time on my hands........So the next time someone tells you so and so couldnt scare a fly, you can respond " well, he could if he dressed up like a plastic bag full of water!" so what if they think you've lost it. it'll make you more mysterious.....







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