a universal thirst

9.4.09

During the day in the town, it´s very quiet. Don´t come here expecting a bustle of activity as in the cities, or even to find people sitting aroudn for hours on end gossiping in stoops or cafes. The comedor, at 5 o´clock, is empty, except for the keeper, watching an episode of Sponge Bob in the kitchen. But she has a chicken leg and potatoes and beans in a spicy stock ready to heat up as needed, and it was more than I could ask for, or say, more than I expected after eating blander quesadillas for the past 2 days. The flavor was perfect.

Anyway, if you walk through the pueblo, the infrequent times that I have, you see women doing laundry or tending a small plot near the house. Between the occasional truck of lumber clankering through, this is activity that you have to look for.

I guess it´s because here is not a marketplace (not even is there a place to buy socks! I didn´t expect it, but I did hope...). There´s no hawking or trying to attract any attention in the hopes of potential client. Maybe that´s the difference between the city and a place like this.

Just when I wonder how, peaceful as it is, anyone can live in such prolonged silence, someone turns on a radio playing countryside songs that can be heard through the whole pueblo, to remind me that the thirst for music could be universal....