This Doesn't Look Like Kansas, Toto!
The Parentals have observed of late:
- 18" long iguanas - not even Africa with the 3" brilliant green geckos prepared us for these puppies - one never knows when they're going to dart out of a hedge.
- chicken a la KFC (Dad's answered prayer) that comes wiht tomatillo and hot sauce on the side
- bus entrances customized by their drivers (i.e. whole lotta Blessed Virgin Mary stickers goin on!!!)
- itsey-bitsey transparent blue jellfish on the beach - LOOK, DON'T TOUCH and for heaven's sake don't even THINK of eating.
- coconut juice - served in it's coconut that's just had it's top 1/3 whacked off with a machete moments before - add a straw and Voila!
- Pulmonias a.k.a. Golf carts on steroids, the people mover of choice in this city. (They drive mucho faster than golf carts - Buckle Those Seatbelts! oops, too bad there aren't any!!!) And why are they called "pulmonias"? The only connection with the heart that I've noticed is when mine has throttled into hyperdrive when we cut in front of one of the big B.V.M. buses...
- The Sun - what can I say? I think clouds have to get special permissionn from God to appear ...
Question of the Day - What have you seen in your travels, near and far, that was so NOT Valparaiso, IN? (Rick: read La Porte, IN)
Wishing you all could experience Balon & Friends with all the instructions in Spanish - but it's just Mummer's special treat, I guess...pray I can post this...
posted by mummers at
2:42 PM
18 Comments:
For some reason, I drew a blank the first couple of times i read this post. Old-brain-syndrome.
OK:
3-story bicycle-only parking garages in Amsterdam.
Also in Amsterdam - floating brothels. At least, none in La Porte were floating.
Bruges, Belgium - chocolate breasts. Dark, milk and white. And just like in nature, all sizes.
Tiajuana - kids hollering "chicle!" and chucking mini-packets of Chiclets two stories up onto our veranda dining table. Sidebar - up close, all of these kids had teeth like a mouthful of chiclets, but with gaps.
More to come, I suppose, as the fog parts.
i've never had more friends that lacked teeth than I do here in the inner city (that is, since 2nd grade)
seeing kids break glass bottles on the sidewalk across the street for fun
A sign in the laundromat in Cody:
"Please empty all ammunition out of pockets before drying."
LOL!!!!
if that doesn't tell a a story!!!
l.
faith, that tops all
Lately, I have seen quite a bit of funky things. The other day I say a guy cutting his grass with scissors. It was a small, skinny strip, but it just seemed weird!
A bombed out bus station with a bunch of blown out windows. So, who is coming to visit me? :)
Taking public transportation and being so crowded in a bus that it feels like people are touching you in places that only your wife should.
zach
1. Nuns. There are nuns everywhere in Europe. I was always thrilled to see a group of them riding thier bikes to the market or wherever. It's like straight out of sound of music.
2. The people in Marissa's village are so obsessed with tidiness, that they rutinely sweep the street by hand in front of their houses.
3. Nakedness. In Germany (and the south of France) any public green space will be occupied by people with little to no clothing on. Sometimes playing sports.
4. While on Honeymoon in St. John, some of the islanders had covered their front lawns with white sheets in order to imitate snow. In 90 degree weather.
5. In Europe in gerneral, it's possible to see a variety of people on bikes who HAVEN'T been charged with a DUI.
Saturday night, here in Portland, we had 800 naked, and nearly naked, people on a long bike ride through the city. Most had not been charged with DUI.
Definitely one of the more European cities in the US. Oh, and it was part of a global protest against the reliance on oil.
Also, "obsessed w/tidiness?" Why just last week I swept my own curbside. The city can't guarantee a schedule for street sweeping, so you never know when to move your car. Damn, I feel so freakin' continental!
It's possible that there are many others like you carbjunkle, all across the USA, it's just that there's NONE in Valpo; microcosm of utter normalacy.
How can you possibly ride a bike naked??
The chafing, oh the chafing.....
I've always wondered at beach volleyball myself.
And so the connection with reliance on global oil was .... ???Shunning polyester???
all you have to do is smell your bike seat to learn that you should at least wear some speedos when biking
chaddo-
I think you killed this post with that comment. GROSS!!!!!!!
tell that to the germans (MARISSA).
dont shoot the messenger
and dont forget to tell it to those crazy bike riding liberals in oregon
There is no way to end this gracefully
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