12/19 - i’d love to be able to report my bloodshot eyes and pounding headache are due to my deadly encounter with senor aubelo, or that i’ve been infected with some new strain of syphilis. i can’t. truth is, i’ve picked up el gripe.
it’s seems almost inevitable that i’d get sick. i’ve spent the last week bouncing around p-city like a fat super ball. if you like holiday shoppers, heavy traffic, petty crime, and high humidity, panama is definitely the place to be for christmas.
i did get some good news today. i bumped into a pack of sexy girls dressed as santa’s helpers, and after waiting in line for over an hour at migration, i was told that i can stay 3 months, and re-apply later for 2 more months.
please, do not assume the law’s changed. i don’t. the lady in immigration wrote “90 dias” on my tourist card, and refused to process me, so i moved out of line. you can’t argue with a bureaucracy.
at breakfast, my girlfriend reminded me tomorrow’s the 20th, the day president bush invaded panama. alex tells me there was no Christmas that year. stores were looted, chorillo burned, hundreds of natives dead.
the locals were afraid to walk the streets. alex’s brother took part in the looting of a supermarket so the family could survive. today’s tv news shows someone burning an american flag. and reports that panama will be investigating this horrible moment in time.
makes sense. why investigate the incompetence over at social security, the corruption in the courts, the blood on the hands of papa torrijos, or my man manny, when you can get some street cred by beating up on the u s of a.
for the record, i thought the invasion was a bad idea. but if you ask me it’s worked out for the best. Panama’s got some kind of democracy, their economy’s growing, they’re poised to clean up the bay, and re-do the canal.
is this really the time to piss off gringos? apparently it is. after breakfast we head over to multi centro to buy alex christmas gifts, and she goes off on me ’cause i’m “only” spending $300 on her regalos.
the girl can’t balance a check book but she knows to the penny how much i spent last year on gifts. i remind her i’ve recently spent $5k on her medical care, $400 for food and booze to host her family.
perhaps i go too far when i suggest that christmas is about giving, not getting, that she’s a catholic for fuck-sakes, and i recall something about a bastard baby being born.
it goes quickly downhill after that. i give her some money, and tell her to get what she wants. but what i’m really thinking is it may be time to move on.
panama, or my girl friend can open investigations, burn flags, or demand more and more money, but i don’t have to bend over and take it. to paraphrase ruben blades, you need to look in the mirror, stop blaming, and looking to others to solve your shit.
merry xmas
you need a colombian girl, my friend…
Comment by marcopolo214 — December 24, 2007 @ 8:40 pm
I have to agree with Marco here Cojito. I am in my 6th Christmas with my Colombiana…and all she wants is a $100 sewing machine so she can make things for me and the house. Every time she gets money from me, she comes back with something for me from the store. Not trying to boast, just demonstrating that the spirit of giving is out there even with some chicas.
Heres wishing you and yours a good holiday and fantastic 2008.
Comment by tman — December 25, 2007 @ 10:42 am
I have to concur with the others, my friend. Ditch the broad. Find a good Colombiana.
In fact, I’m finding Colombia in general to be a much more enjoyable place to live. People are friendly and cultured (people actually say, “Thank you!” here– imagine that!), weather is nice, infrastructure is much better. And you don’t run into the anti-gringo stuff. Come on down to South America.
Comment by Costa Rica Jones — December 26, 2007 @ 2:38 am
Time to dump the G.F and head on down to colombia and find youself a raven haired beauty with that classic colombiana bubble butt that appreciates your gringo ass. Besides that the writing material you have there should be interesting .
Comment by Tmc55 — December 26, 2007 @ 10:57 am
costa rica jones in colombia? wtf? was colombia jones already taken? you need a colombian alias my friend.
shit, i can’t believe you’re there - good for you. where you at? i may visit this winter. let me guess, you already have an ebook. “safe in colombia - how to avoid kidnappings and deadly std’s.”
i guess its unanimous then. everyone thinks i need a colombian girl friend. we’ll see. Tman, your girl have a thin, oversexed 38 yr old sister? ideally, i would want her to be a stripper/farc guerrilla. that way she’d have some killer stories for my book/site.
you know, things change, love fades. but don’t get me wrong. alex doesn’t have expensive tastes. mostly she’s quite frugal.
i haven’t married her. and i may sell our flat. naturally this worries her. maybe, for her, how much i spend on her gifts is a measure of how much i care.
Comment by cojito — December 26, 2007 @ 11:40 am
And who the hell needs that? Might as well go get yourself a Gringa!!
I’m in Bogota. It’s a little chilly, but not bad. I love the architecture here, and they got fantastic restaurants. Infrastructure is far better than CR, too.
I want to get down to Medellin, as I hear the weather is even better.
(No e-book yet, but I’m thinking about dvds?)
Comment by Costa Rica Jones — December 26, 2007 @ 3:57 pm
shit happens everywhere, been there just recently. same exact situation to the tee, nonetheless you move on and think of Julio Iglesia’s song with willie nelson “to all the girls I loved before”.
Keep writing my man, you’re on and also I remember informing you that these stupid laws that affect the ruling class always seem to reverse themselves.
Comment by rrroyo — December 26, 2007 @ 4:52 pm
cojito…it is getting expensive for you because there is a direct correlation between how much attention they are getting from you…you know…caresses, romance, carino…and how much money they will start needing. and if they start feeling insecure, they will try to get as much as fast as they can.
buyerrenter…beware.as for colombia…i love it there. would live there tomorrow if they had dollarization, dollar bank accounts and easy to open for foreigners, and solid legal protections that you didnt have to bid to maintain. And I dont have enough money to be a kidnap risk…which means i dont have enough money to live there…yet. But maybe i’ll meet you down there one of these days to take a closer look at it…just us guys…ya know what i mean?
Comment by tman — December 26, 2007 @ 8:59 pm
If you do decide to leave, can I live in your flat?
Comment by tejano — January 16, 2008 @ 4:01 pm
sure, if i go, it’ll be for sale or rent.
Comment by cojito — January 16, 2008 @ 9:33 pm
Very cool, I’ve been passively looking for places to rent or buy. I’ve been contemplating ‘moving’ down there for a while now, for many of the same reasons I imagine you’re there. The plan: come down on a tourist visa and see what happens, maybe find a legitmate job and work visa.
Comment by tejano — January 21, 2008 @ 10:07 am