I suggest everyone takes a look at a few of these pictures to understand just what they are looking at, and how much effort GlobalNomad !!XMTpdWLTIMZ on /trv/ put into this.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Global festival list
My unemployed self has been lurking on travel sites/forums like crazy for the last few weeks. I have never, ever, evverrr seen such a comprehensive layout for "things to do" / "what country is gud" in a list or graphic layout such as this.
I suggest everyone takes a look at a few of these pictures to understand just what they are looking at, and how much effort GlobalNomad !!XMTpdWLTIMZ on /trv/ put into this.
I suggest everyone takes a look at a few of these pictures to understand just what they are looking at, and how much effort GlobalNomad !!XMTpdWLTIMZ on /trv/ put into this.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The People you Meet : Part 1
This will be one post of many detailing someone I met in hostels in Colombia and Venezuela. During my time there I wondered why I spent so much time agonizing over my destination, when the most influential factor of your trip is the people you meet.
Profile 1: J
I knew J for 2-3 weeks before I knew his name. When you meet 5+ new people everyday you eventually forget to introduce yourselves, or you hear them say their name but it never sticks in your mind. I never found out his last name, but maybe that is for the better.
J is an American expat living in Colombia on and off for the last 15-20 years, he has spent the last 7 years in Colombia (other than little trips).
His Colombian experience begins in Bogota, where he ran various small businesses and managed his stock portfolio. He made a few hundred dollars a day with his stocks in the early 90's, this allowed him to live in extreme luxury as Colombia was extremely cheap at the time.
When he went to top-tier Bogota restaurants, he would often tip more than 50 USD (possibly more than the weekly income of a typical waiter), so when he occasionally showed up without a reservation on the busiest nights, the employees would run into the back and bring out a table just for him and his guest.
Eventually his small businesses attracted (his "baller" lifestyle was also to blame) the kind of people that required him to pay a monthly "you want to do business here, you pay us" fee. The perks of shelling out to these people that threatened physical harm was that they periodically asked J if anyone was hassling him. One time J said yes, these guys are hanging out front and follow me after I lock up.
The next day was the last day on Earth for the "leader" of the thugs giving J a hard time. No one ever heard from him again, and a body was never discovered.
The thugs either completely avoided eye contact with J or called him by the nickname they used to call their leader--kind of awkward for J as he thought the leader would be beaten or maybe just threatened.. not whacked. Oops. From this point on he was a little more careful what he said to the guys he was paying for protection.
J was(still is) also subject to money grubbing women asking for some cash to tide them over. Nearly everyday we sat in the lounge area of the guest house talking for an hour or two. Every conversation was always interrupted by text messages or phone calls from different women asking to borrow $$. He had it worse than I ever did, although the girls I was talking to were from 19-27 while his were 30-45 (he's an older guy), so maybe that has something to do with it.
I cannot remember the name of the popular drug/mix that is often used to rob people in Colombia. Once the chemical is on your skin you will experience a rohypnol-like reaction, this is when the robbers either clean out your pockets or take you to an ATM for some withdrawals. Instead of putting it on a business card and having J touch it, he is pretty sure he had it sprayed in his face (and subsequently breathed it in). He remembers walking down a street, and then he wakes up in the hospital a few days later. For the next few months J experienced periodic memory loss, yikes.
One night J was out with some friends at a small mob-run casino. His possibly drunk/buzzing/doped up buddy got into an argument, pulled a gun and actually shot and killed a guy. A small crowd developed on the street in front of this casino/bar, a crowd containing J and his friends.
Normally.. if you just killed someone in public.. wouldn't you leave the scene?
"When the cops came they didn't touch us, they were paid off. Do you know how I know they were paid off? -- I paid them off."
There's more, I'll continue J's profile later.
Profile 1: J
I knew J for 2-3 weeks before I knew his name. When you meet 5+ new people everyday you eventually forget to introduce yourselves, or you hear them say their name but it never sticks in your mind. I never found out his last name, but maybe that is for the better.
J is an American expat living in Colombia on and off for the last 15-20 years, he has spent the last 7 years in Colombia (other than little trips).
His Colombian experience begins in Bogota, where he ran various small businesses and managed his stock portfolio. He made a few hundred dollars a day with his stocks in the early 90's, this allowed him to live in extreme luxury as Colombia was extremely cheap at the time.
When he went to top-tier Bogota restaurants, he would often tip more than 50 USD (possibly more than the weekly income of a typical waiter), so when he occasionally showed up without a reservation on the busiest nights, the employees would run into the back and bring out a table just for him and his guest.
Eventually his small businesses attracted (his "baller" lifestyle was also to blame) the kind of people that required him to pay a monthly "you want to do business here, you pay us" fee. The perks of shelling out to these people that threatened physical harm was that they periodically asked J if anyone was hassling him. One time J said yes, these guys are hanging out front and follow me after I lock up.
The next day was the last day on Earth for the "leader" of the thugs giving J a hard time. No one ever heard from him again, and a body was never discovered.
The thugs either completely avoided eye contact with J or called him by the nickname they used to call their leader--kind of awkward for J as he thought the leader would be beaten or maybe just threatened.. not whacked. Oops. From this point on he was a little more careful what he said to the guys he was paying for protection.
J was(still is) also subject to money grubbing women asking for some cash to tide them over. Nearly everyday we sat in the lounge area of the guest house talking for an hour or two. Every conversation was always interrupted by text messages or phone calls from different women asking to borrow $$. He had it worse than I ever did, although the girls I was talking to were from 19-27 while his were 30-45 (he's an older guy), so maybe that has something to do with it.
I cannot remember the name of the popular drug/mix that is often used to rob people in Colombia. Once the chemical is on your skin you will experience a rohypnol-like reaction, this is when the robbers either clean out your pockets or take you to an ATM for some withdrawals. Instead of putting it on a business card and having J touch it, he is pretty sure he had it sprayed in his face (and subsequently breathed it in). He remembers walking down a street, and then he wakes up in the hospital a few days later. For the next few months J experienced periodic memory loss, yikes.
One night J was out with some friends at a small mob-run casino. His possibly drunk/buzzing/doped up buddy got into an argument, pulled a gun and actually shot and killed a guy. A small crowd developed on the street in front of this casino/bar, a crowd containing J and his friends.
Normally.. if you just killed someone in public.. wouldn't you leave the scene?
"When the cops came they didn't touch us, they were paid off. Do you know how I know they were paid off? -- I paid them off."
There's more, I'll continue J's profile later.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Bang Bang
It's been a while since I've talked about people killing each other so I will break the dry spell with a bit more of L's history. I want to play with my dog so this will probably be really short.
During my last day or two in Medellin I found out some more information about L. You may have noticed I always say she has killed "at least" 8 people, that is not an accident, no one is really sure.
Dutch and I talked about a lot of things I never saw myself ever discussing with another person, but I never asked if he knew the exact stories of each of her at least 8 murders. I feel kind of bad sharing this because most of the things we shared in this particular conversation were just for our ears, but, ...I can't think of a decent counterpoint. I'll say, I need to tell these so you can fully understand my future posts including her (I have had one in mind but it's going to be really long and I haven't gotten around to it yet).
I still don't know about all of them but here are a few:
- After her brother was gunned down she needed to vent. So she called a friend and told them to pick her up with their car, and make sure they had their gun on them. She tells this friend to drive. Drive where? Just drive.
When it felt right she leans out the window and shoots a complete stranger in the head.
- I'm not sure if she had a problem with this next person, or if she was ordered to take them out. This one also involves shooting out the window of a car.
Medellin has perfect weather nearly every day. The temperature is usually pretty hot and a little humid even in the early morning hours, so some clubs have a front "gate" type thing that creates a wide opening into the club from the sidewalk instead of a small normal sized door. The person she was planning on shooting was on the edge of the club crowd and the sidewalk/street. After she squeezed off a few rounds from the road into this crowded club the car took off.
The target lived (oops, can't be perfect every time) but who knows what happened to the 4 rounds that went into a crowded club.
During my last day or two in Medellin I found out some more information about L. You may have noticed I always say she has killed "at least" 8 people, that is not an accident, no one is really sure.
Dutch and I talked about a lot of things I never saw myself ever discussing with another person, but I never asked if he knew the exact stories of each of her at least 8 murders. I feel kind of bad sharing this because most of the things we shared in this particular conversation were just for our ears, but, ...I can't think of a decent counterpoint. I'll say, I need to tell these so you can fully understand my future posts including her (I have had one in mind but it's going to be really long and I haven't gotten around to it yet).
I still don't know about all of them but here are a few:
- After her brother was gunned down she needed to vent. So she called a friend and told them to pick her up with their car, and make sure they had their gun on them. She tells this friend to drive. Drive where? Just drive.
When it felt right she leans out the window and shoots a complete stranger in the head.
- I'm not sure if she had a problem with this next person, or if she was ordered to take them out. This one also involves shooting out the window of a car.
Medellin has perfect weather nearly every day. The temperature is usually pretty hot and a little humid even in the early morning hours, so some clubs have a front "gate" type thing that creates a wide opening into the club from the sidewalk instead of a small normal sized door. The person she was planning on shooting was on the edge of the club crowd and the sidewalk/street. After she squeezed off a few rounds from the road into this crowded club the car took off.
The target lived (oops, can't be perfect every time) but who knows what happened to the 4 rounds that went into a crowded club.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Progress
I awoke to an email this morning from EPIK that began with,
"Dear EPIK Teachers, (oh fuck, I'm actually going to be a teacher soon)
Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you have become a successful EPIK teacher for the Fall 2010 semester. "
Woo! I still cannot crack open the champagne and party because they could still change that. It isn't final until I receive my hard copy contract and notice of appointment(NOA).
I also FINALLY bought my flight to Germany last night. The night I gave myself to "sleep on it" I realized I couldn't apply for my S Korea work visa until I received the NOA.. which could be anytime. I contacted my recruiter and he said he can send it to Thailand and I can do it at the Korean Consulate in Bangkok instead of Chicago. However.. this email I got this morning says I should have it by the end of June, now I may be able to do it here in the US.
"Dear EPIK Teachers, (oh fuck, I'm actually going to be a teacher soon)
Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you have become a successful EPIK teacher for the Fall 2010 semester. "
Woo! I still cannot crack open the champagne and party because they could still change that. It isn't final until I receive my hard copy contract and notice of appointment(NOA).
I also FINALLY bought my flight to Germany last night. The night I gave myself to "sleep on it" I realized I couldn't apply for my S Korea work visa until I received the NOA.. which could be anytime. I contacted my recruiter and he said he can send it to Thailand and I can do it at the Korean Consulate in Bangkok instead of Chicago. However.. this email I got this morning says I should have it by the end of June, now I may be able to do it here in the US.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
I cannot win
This teaching Englishee in South Korea thing has been a dark cloud above my head since January. After learning the last week in February that my program fucked up and I wouldn't be able to start with EPIK until JULY instead of March, which was repeatedly promised to me. I snatched up that one-way flight to Cartagena and had some good/interesting experiences for three months.
Now, I'm home in a small suburban midwestern 'murican town, unemployed, rotting.
The good news is that my TESOL certification starts late July. I passed my EPIK phone interview a few weeks ago so things were going well on that end. Once they changed the application rules for Seoul (actually they made the application process much more difficult this session for all the cities, but especially Seoul) it was clear Busan was going to be everyone's new first choice.
I was one of the earlier phone interviews, and Busan was already full when my recruiter passed my info along to them. My second choice is Incheon, which (depending on which part I end up) may be indistinguishable from Seoul as the two cities have basically grown into each other (I like that). I am now waiting and waiting and waiting for some news from EPIK, hopefully that news is a mailed copy of my contract.
Recent conflicts:
North Korea being a bigger douche than normal. South Korea needs to be there when I show up. I'm not sure if I'm too stupid to figure out the link function here or maybe it doesn't like Google Chrome as a browser.. but here is an aptly named article on this topic -> http://koreanrumdiary.blogspot.com/2010/05/retarded-kid-with-gun.html
Thai civil war.
My 5 months of work with EPIK is meaningless if I do not have my TESOL cert completed before the position starts in Korea. My certification is taking place in Chiang Mai, Thailand (at least it isn't BKK), so if things get too crazy there my program may suspend or outright cancel the certification "batch" and I am fucked, last minute, again.
One way flights to CNX are about $1,400 at the moment, in March I could have gotten there for about $500. If I'm shelling out that much, I want to stop halfway and take a few days to hang out.
-A flight to Singapore and then to Bangkok (the short flight with Tiger Air) totals about $800, not bad. A few days in Singapore could be a good time too, and I've always been intrigued in this city/country so I would be satisfying a childhood dream.
-A flight to Frankfurt (FRA) and Berlin to Chang Mai will go for about $1,150 plus I get to crash at my German friend's places, which will offset the higher European prices than Singapore. I MIGHT even swing by and see Dutch for a day or two, this would be pretty cool as I didn't expect to see him again for a few years.
-Flight to IST (Istanbul) to BKK, will be about $1,000ish.
I still want to check this place out, here's my opportunity.
Other options are Amman Jordan, New Delhi or Mumbai India.
I am leaning towards Germany the most but.. ANOTHER POSSIBLE CONFLICT
Eyjafjallajökull, please, please, please do not fuck me over, that goes for you too Katla. I know you like to shut down Europe for a while every couple hundred years, but please relax for the upcoming weeks. Plus I am not sure what to believe, if the ash was a con or an overreaction, what I do know is that if I chose Germany, this is going to be primary point of stress for me until my flight takes off for Thailand, my entire life literally hinges on that goddamn flight.
If my flight is delayed from Germany to Thailand more than a day all of my Englishee in Asia dreams/efforts are gone/wasted. Honestly I cannot rationalize taking a risk like this. A longtime favorite quote of mine is "what is the difference between reality and fiction? - Fiction has to make sense"
I see myself going down Italy and taking a ferry to Tunisia if shit goes bad trying to get a flight out of Rome first or whoever is still operating. Or I'll go north to Moscow and look for a teaching job (without a TESOL Cert, my pay will be much less, if I am even hired without it), or Zagreb Croatia, or shit maybe that would be a good time to see what I can get to work in Turkey (as long as they aren't fighting with Israel too much).
I flipped a Colombian coin last night at around 3am while I was laying awake weighing the risks. I have the Michel Thomas German audio course now, and I am enjoying it a little more than the Spanish one. Although this time I have to start with the very basic beginner disk.. gotta start somewhere. The coin toss was between Singapore and Germany, Singapore lost. Maybe Eyjafjallajökull was just an overreaction anyways.
I feel like I should at least see someplace new on this stopover to Thailand, and since I've already been to Germany and Holland maybe I should branch out. The counter point to that is being alone in a big cold city again can be a good time, but staying with locals and having someone to hang out with that you already know in a cool place is sooo much better.
We will see what the universe wants me to do, I told the parents I am buying my one-way to Germany tomorrow if it stays at the same price (or close) as there is only one cheap flight within my window in June. I discovered it a few days ago, but I don't know how long it will last (don't you dare read this and book it before me).
Now, I'm home in a small suburban midwestern 'murican town, unemployed, rotting.
The good news is that my TESOL certification starts late July. I passed my EPIK phone interview a few weeks ago so things were going well on that end. Once they changed the application rules for Seoul (actually they made the application process much more difficult this session for all the cities, but especially Seoul) it was clear Busan was going to be everyone's new first choice.
I was one of the earlier phone interviews, and Busan was already full when my recruiter passed my info along to them. My second choice is Incheon, which (depending on which part I end up) may be indistinguishable from Seoul as the two cities have basically grown into each other (I like that). I am now waiting and waiting and waiting for some news from EPIK, hopefully that news is a mailed copy of my contract.
Recent conflicts:
North Korea being a bigger douche than normal. South Korea needs to be there when I show up. I'm not sure if I'm too stupid to figure out the link function here or maybe it doesn't like Google Chrome as a browser.. but here is an aptly named article on this topic -> http://koreanrumdiary.blogspot.com/2010/05/retarded-kid-with-gun.html
Thai civil war.
My 5 months of work with EPIK is meaningless if I do not have my TESOL cert completed before the position starts in Korea. My certification is taking place in Chiang Mai, Thailand (at least it isn't BKK), so if things get too crazy there my program may suspend or outright cancel the certification "batch" and I am fucked, last minute, again.
One way flights to CNX are about $1,400 at the moment, in March I could have gotten there for about $500. If I'm shelling out that much, I want to stop halfway and take a few days to hang out.
-A flight to Singapore and then to Bangkok (the short flight with Tiger Air) totals about $800, not bad. A few days in Singapore could be a good time too, and I've always been intrigued in this city/country so I would be satisfying a childhood dream.
-A flight to Frankfurt (FRA) and Berlin to Chang Mai will go for about $1,150 plus I get to crash at my German friend's places, which will offset the higher European prices than Singapore. I MIGHT even swing by and see Dutch for a day or two, this would be pretty cool as I didn't expect to see him again for a few years.
-Flight to IST (Istanbul) to BKK, will be about $1,000ish.
I still want to check this place out, here's my opportunity.
Other options are Amman Jordan, New Delhi or Mumbai India.
I am leaning towards Germany the most but.. ANOTHER POSSIBLE CONFLICT
Eyjafjallajökull, please, please, please do not fuck me over, that goes for you too Katla. I know you like to shut down Europe for a while every couple hundred years, but please relax for the upcoming weeks. Plus I am not sure what to believe, if the ash was a con or an overreaction, what I do know is that if I chose Germany, this is going to be primary point of stress for me until my flight takes off for Thailand, my entire life literally hinges on that goddamn flight.
If my flight is delayed from Germany to Thailand more than a day all of my Englishee in Asia dreams/efforts are gone/wasted. Honestly I cannot rationalize taking a risk like this. A longtime favorite quote of mine is "what is the difference between reality and fiction? - Fiction has to make sense"
I see myself going down Italy and taking a ferry to Tunisia if shit goes bad trying to get a flight out of Rome first or whoever is still operating. Or I'll go north to Moscow and look for a teaching job (without a TESOL Cert, my pay will be much less, if I am even hired without it), or Zagreb Croatia, or shit maybe that would be a good time to see what I can get to work in Turkey (as long as they aren't fighting with Israel too much).
I flipped a Colombian coin last night at around 3am while I was laying awake weighing the risks. I have the Michel Thomas German audio course now, and I am enjoying it a little more than the Spanish one. Although this time I have to start with the very basic beginner disk.. gotta start somewhere. The coin toss was between Singapore and Germany, Singapore lost. Maybe Eyjafjallajökull was just an overreaction anyways.
I feel like I should at least see someplace new on this stopover to Thailand, and since I've already been to Germany and Holland maybe I should branch out. The counter point to that is being alone in a big cold city again can be a good time, but staying with locals and having someone to hang out with that you already know in a cool place is sooo much better.
We will see what the universe wants me to do, I told the parents I am buying my one-way to Germany tomorrow if it stays at the same price (or close) as there is only one cheap flight within my window in June. I discovered it a few days ago, but I don't know how long it will last (don't you dare read this and book it before me).
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
A Day in the Life : El Centro Medellin
After moving into my place in Prado Centro L and Dutch took me knife (switchblade) shopping, I have never even owned a knife before. If I was ever going to use it it would probably be at night, and most of the clubs here pat you down quite rigorously as you enter.. so I would have to be careful not to get it confiscated.
While traveling along the Caribbean coast Dutch mentioned one of his friend's has an "office". The friend that owns this office is the one who just went to prison for getting caught killing someone. The only other details I had about this place was that "it will be the saddest place you have ever seen, people hanging out laying around tripping out" and that L wanted to lure some semi-homeless girl to the office so she could taser her in a 'safe'(or maybe 'controlled' is a better word) environment.
Dutch and I meet up with L at her place in El centro before we went to the knife shop they normally use. I don't know why we went to the office but it was on the way, this might have been a little 'initiation' or something.
In front of this 2 story crumbling cinder block building some of the office owner's buddies were selling coke etc. If you needed a place to dope up, you went upstairs.
L introduces me to a few of these people, one of them blurts out, "aww man, I used to live in New York City. Taxi driver, lived there for 11 years."
I barely stop myself from asking why he left NYC, shit he probably got deported. I'm thinking don't bring it up, don't bring it up.
"..So, uh, why did you leave?"
Fuck.
"aw yea I would go back. I would go back in a second, I loved it there" He replies, giving me a good view of his crack teeth. He has major yellow and brown discoloring on his shriveling front teeth, with the root starting show on one of them.
Oh phew.. I think this guy misheard me, he probably hasn't spoken English with anyone lately. -- or he didn't want to talk about his deportation.
"Shall we go in?" Dutch says, "You ready for this?".
On our walk to L's apartment he told me if anyone in the office hassles us they're dead. "Oh, so someone will fuck them up a little?" "No, they'll just kill them on the spot if they step out of line".
L has status with these people, so we're supposedly untouchable.
Someone shouts up the stairs that people are coming up and it's cool, don't freak out.
"Oh man it smells" Dutch says as he begins up the stairs, L follows, and I'm the caboose.
The first thing I notice are the walls and the ceiling covered with a wetness you get with concrete and humid rooms. At 6' 4" I'm also hunching over so I don't drag my head on the ceiling. My elbows are curled in towards my body creating a stance that looks like I'm boxing, with my fists level together out front.
As I come up the last few steps I see that there aren't any lights up here, nor furniture (excluding the wooden bucket I discover a few minutes into the future in a smaller room used for shit and vomit). The only light source in the room is sunlight streaming through the cracks and holes in the crumbling cement ceiling (I'm sure that's stable...).
My eyes adjust and I see about 50+ people laying on the floor all over in filth. We have to step over their bodies to pass through the hallway which leads to a larger room also packed with more people on the floor. This larger room was darker than the hallway, I see and hear the flick of a lighter against tinfoil in the corner.
After checking the place out someone from a corner in the dark shouted in a deep slow voice, "Norte Americanos..." L later said they thought we were looking for whores to fuck. We decided it was time to leave and made our way to the stairs, once again hopscotching over the mass of bodies covering the floors in every room and hallway, hoping no one stabs me in the leg with a knife or a needle. Once again I was the last one out, delicately walking down these dark steps trying not to touch the walls HOPING (again) no one grabs me from behind. If they had, the stairs were too narrow for me to turn around, I would have been fucked.
A few years earlier L saw the husband of the school administrator her roommate works at fucking two hookers up here. In the ass. Without a condom.
He also has 2 young children, if it matters.
As we walk into the bright sunlight and along the sidewalk L and Dutch shoot me inquisitive glances. "..So.. how was that?"
When I first met L I didn't think she liked me very much, I probably looked like the hundredth gringo trying to fuck her roommate. But after this day she was much, much warmer towards me. When Dutch took the Brits up there they looked nervous as hell, she even had to pat one on the back to make him chill out. My facial expression for the entire thing was the exact same; nothing, and I guess she likes that. L's daughter, S (4.5 years old), has expressionless eyes, and L has been heard saying that's how she wants them, expressionless and cold.
While traveling along the Caribbean coast Dutch mentioned one of his friend's has an "office". The friend that owns this office is the one who just went to prison for getting caught killing someone. The only other details I had about this place was that "it will be the saddest place you have ever seen, people hanging out laying around tripping out" and that L wanted to lure some semi-homeless girl to the office so she could taser her in a 'safe'(or maybe 'controlled' is a better word) environment.
Dutch and I meet up with L at her place in El centro before we went to the knife shop they normally use. I don't know why we went to the office but it was on the way, this might have been a little 'initiation' or something.
In front of this 2 story crumbling cinder block building some of the office owner's buddies were selling coke etc. If you needed a place to dope up, you went upstairs.
L introduces me to a few of these people, one of them blurts out, "aww man, I used to live in New York City. Taxi driver, lived there for 11 years."
I barely stop myself from asking why he left NYC, shit he probably got deported. I'm thinking don't bring it up, don't bring it up.
"..So, uh, why did you leave?"
Fuck.
"aw yea I would go back. I would go back in a second, I loved it there" He replies, giving me a good view of his crack teeth. He has major yellow and brown discoloring on his shriveling front teeth, with the root starting show on one of them.
Oh phew.. I think this guy misheard me, he probably hasn't spoken English with anyone lately. -- or he didn't want to talk about his deportation.
"Shall we go in?" Dutch says, "You ready for this?".
On our walk to L's apartment he told me if anyone in the office hassles us they're dead. "Oh, so someone will fuck them up a little?" "No, they'll just kill them on the spot if they step out of line".
L has status with these people, so we're supposedly untouchable.
Someone shouts up the stairs that people are coming up and it's cool, don't freak out.
"Oh man it smells" Dutch says as he begins up the stairs, L follows, and I'm the caboose.
The first thing I notice are the walls and the ceiling covered with a wetness you get with concrete and humid rooms. At 6' 4" I'm also hunching over so I don't drag my head on the ceiling. My elbows are curled in towards my body creating a stance that looks like I'm boxing, with my fists level together out front.
As I come up the last few steps I see that there aren't any lights up here, nor furniture (excluding the wooden bucket I discover a few minutes into the future in a smaller room used for shit and vomit). The only light source in the room is sunlight streaming through the cracks and holes in the crumbling cement ceiling (I'm sure that's stable...).
My eyes adjust and I see about 50+ people laying on the floor all over in filth. We have to step over their bodies to pass through the hallway which leads to a larger room also packed with more people on the floor. This larger room was darker than the hallway, I see and hear the flick of a lighter against tinfoil in the corner.
After checking the place out someone from a corner in the dark shouted in a deep slow voice, "Norte Americanos..." L later said they thought we were looking for whores to fuck. We decided it was time to leave and made our way to the stairs, once again hopscotching over the mass of bodies covering the floors in every room and hallway, hoping no one stabs me in the leg with a knife or a needle. Once again I was the last one out, delicately walking down these dark steps trying not to touch the walls HOPING (again) no one grabs me from behind. If they had, the stairs were too narrow for me to turn around, I would have been fucked.
A few years earlier L saw the husband of the school administrator her roommate works at fucking two hookers up here. In the ass. Without a condom.
He also has 2 young children, if it matters.
As we walk into the bright sunlight and along the sidewalk L and Dutch shoot me inquisitive glances. "..So.. how was that?"
When I first met L I didn't think she liked me very much, I probably looked like the hundredth gringo trying to fuck her roommate. But after this day she was much, much warmer towards me. When Dutch took the Brits up there they looked nervous as hell, she even had to pat one on the back to make him chill out. My facial expression for the entire thing was the exact same; nothing, and I guess she likes that. L's daughter, S (4.5 years old), has expressionless eyes, and L has been heard saying that's how she wants them, expressionless and cold.
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