It's hard to put into words how completely lost I am down here, so let me tell you of this morning's "shopping".
I need quite a few things, as you can imagine, so I went to the front desk of the hotel, where again no one speaks English, and tried to explain to the guy that I needed a taxi to take me to a big, Grande, Department Store. Evidently somewhere in my explanation I mentioned furniture, big mistake on my part.
We walk out the hotel and he explains to a taxi driver where I want to go. The taxi driver drives for 30 minutes, main roads, back streets, over a mountain, etc. Finally stops in the middle of this alley and points to the right. He says in broken English "Very, very dangerous, no speaka to anyone." and drives off. This is a hugh city of over a million people, and I swear one Gringo.
I start walking and come to a row of furniture "factories". That's it, nothing but people making furniture. I am in like South Chicago, or South L.A., far worse than the Jewlry District in L.A., Joeline.
I start walking. I have no idea where I am, or where I am going, but my feet have always gotten me out of trouble so I just gave them the lead and we headed off.
Two hours later, by some miracle, I came to the street my hotel was on - didn't know the name of the street of course, but I walked past my hotel and then recognized it.
Course the fear suddenly was replaced by hunger and my good old feet said "enough, I gotta rest"
So I sat down at a sidewalk restaurant.
I know enough to order Un Coka.
The waiter said jkljlkjlkjjkjjjj;ljkj,
so I said my usual, No Comprende Espanol
To which he asked j;lkjlkj;lkj;kjj;ljjj
So I said Si
He brought me out a palm said, Hey, my spanish is not so bad.
Then he brought me out some sort of soup. No idea what it was - Well, I do know it was not Octupus Eye Soup, because I ate that in Nam and this was not it. This wasn't that good.
Then he showed me five items on a hand written menu. I looked for carne (meat) and pollo (chicken), but seeing neither I just pointed to one of the five.
Have no idea what it was either, but it wasn't bad, lot of potatoes and rice.
When does school start? I am in my element there, I am at home on any campus, but this big city is "eating my lunch".
Carl