Birthday in Cartagena
Thank you very very much for all the good wishes, the electronic cards and bottles of wine, and other beautiful "virtual" presents! Your e-mails is having you all here with me; your thoughts about me make you present here with me, in a distant land.
I think that every birthday brings me closer to eternity so I will celebrate it always and each one will be special... This one was celebrated in Cartagena - one of the most beautiful cities I have seen. It is an old city, the first built by the Spaniards in South America. It was encircled by huge walls to protect it from pirates who nonetheless sacked it a few times. The walls are still there and so are the colonial houses with patios, gardens and waterfountains. Many are public use buildings and one can enjoy walking through the gardens and listening to the soft whisper of the fountains... I walked around until I dropped (it is unbearably hot here - every day about 34 degreed Celsius and high humidity - it's like the hottest, most humid, summer days in NY except here it's the all-around-the-year norm) and I dropped in a really nice, but also down to earth, Italian deli/restaurant in which I had a really delicious dinner and got revived with lots of lemonade with a lot of ice. I went to a few museums and in one of them there was a shop with emeralds and the woman who was selling them gave me one as a present. I told her then it was my birthday and she hugged me and wished me happy birthday. It was really nice. Then I also talked to a few people on the street and one of them turned out to be an herbalist from Ghana - we had a lot to talk about, of course. I told him about my experience in the jungle and he told me that in the village where he is from people also live very long lives (and never go to any other doctors than natural healers). His aunt lived to be 136 years old (died 3 years ago) and was in good health (had all her teeth in place until the day she died) except her hearing was impaired during the last years of her life. His grandpa, who is a famous healer in Ghana, is 96 and is not planning to retire soon... I am learning all these really interesting things - it's amazing. I would love to visit Michael's grandpa. I think I have lots of time to do that... Michael invited me for a birthday drink and we toasted another year closer to eternity.
I am staying in hostal Holiday, one of the two gringo hotels among lots of other hotels, most of which, I learned, are brothels. The two hotels, Holiday and Casa Viena, are the cheapest in town and are in the area called Getsemani - it used to be a place where artists lived and it is still a very much bohemian place but rather run down. It seems like nothing has changed here since 1500s when Cartagena was built. I enjoy this atmosphere of the old bohemian quarters of a port city. "Ladies" are discreet and don't walk around in the daylight. In Cali, around the hotel where I stayed, they did, however, I noticed after a while that they were not ladies but men - transvestites. Hostal Holiday is nice but the water is quite warm and here I would prefer icy cold to cool down during hot nights - there's no such modern thing as a/c in Getsemani. In terms of water temperature in the shower my wishes are never satisfied... Lizards run around in great number, up and down the walls, and make a formidable noise resembling tapping a coin on glass. It's like sleeping in the cabana except there's no mosquito net. Lizards are beautiful, however, I would prefer that the only feet present in my bed were my own feet! Tiny sticky feet are not permited. To make that regulation clear I sprayed the window and door with my insect repellent. Anyone in violation of the regulation will be extradited to the patio! That brings me to Extraditibles and the book I am still reading on Columbia in the 80s and 90s, more about which soon..................
I think that every birthday brings me closer to eternity so I will celebrate it always and each one will be special... This one was celebrated in Cartagena - one of the most beautiful cities I have seen. It is an old city, the first built by the Spaniards in South America. It was encircled by huge walls to protect it from pirates who nonetheless sacked it a few times. The walls are still there and so are the colonial houses with patios, gardens and waterfountains. Many are public use buildings and one can enjoy walking through the gardens and listening to the soft whisper of the fountains... I walked around until I dropped (it is unbearably hot here - every day about 34 degreed Celsius and high humidity - it's like the hottest, most humid, summer days in NY except here it's the all-around-the-year norm) and I dropped in a really nice, but also down to earth, Italian deli/restaurant in which I had a really delicious dinner and got revived with lots of lemonade with a lot of ice. I went to a few museums and in one of them there was a shop with emeralds and the woman who was selling them gave me one as a present. I told her then it was my birthday and she hugged me and wished me happy birthday. It was really nice. Then I also talked to a few people on the street and one of them turned out to be an herbalist from Ghana - we had a lot to talk about, of course. I told him about my experience in the jungle and he told me that in the village where he is from people also live very long lives (and never go to any other doctors than natural healers). His aunt lived to be 136 years old (died 3 years ago) and was in good health (had all her teeth in place until the day she died) except her hearing was impaired during the last years of her life. His grandpa, who is a famous healer in Ghana, is 96 and is not planning to retire soon... I am learning all these really interesting things - it's amazing. I would love to visit Michael's grandpa. I think I have lots of time to do that... Michael invited me for a birthday drink and we toasted another year closer to eternity.
I am staying in hostal Holiday, one of the two gringo hotels among lots of other hotels, most of which, I learned, are brothels. The two hotels, Holiday and Casa Viena, are the cheapest in town and are in the area called Getsemani - it used to be a place where artists lived and it is still a very much bohemian place but rather run down. It seems like nothing has changed here since 1500s when Cartagena was built. I enjoy this atmosphere of the old bohemian quarters of a port city. "Ladies" are discreet and don't walk around in the daylight. In Cali, around the hotel where I stayed, they did, however, I noticed after a while that they were not ladies but men - transvestites. Hostal Holiday is nice but the water is quite warm and here I would prefer icy cold to cool down during hot nights - there's no such modern thing as a/c in Getsemani. In terms of water temperature in the shower my wishes are never satisfied... Lizards run around in great number, up and down the walls, and make a formidable noise resembling tapping a coin on glass. It's like sleeping in the cabana except there's no mosquito net. Lizards are beautiful, however, I would prefer that the only feet present in my bed were my own feet! Tiny sticky feet are not permited. To make that regulation clear I sprayed the window and door with my insect repellent. Anyone in violation of the regulation will be extradited to the patio! That brings me to Extraditibles and the book I am still reading on Columbia in the 80s and 90s, more about which soon..................
posted by Asia Kabat at 6:37 PM
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