I havent had coffee in about four days so I’m super sensitive  to … every thing like spidey sense  is like restless leg syndrome compare to my ability to feel the thread count  of the  blanket  on my bed for lack  of caffeine,  so I’m listening to  Bob  Dylan, {if you see her say hello} and  wandering around town ,   and I woke up around  five thirty  this morning and wandered down to the  baths , ” aquas  puras del  virgen” which are  more like thermal baths , hot and cold,  word to the wise … don’t go on the weekend  many people consider the water blessed and especially holy,  but at the same time its a  public bath  so  kind of imagine what and how  people  wash …. ok so there you go {pressing on} so  while I’m there I was visiting with a sister from the local hall  who  was patient enough to teach me  a little bit of  kichewa, such as  pagi ( pa- gee)  or thanks,  alli punje (ag-gee pun -je)  good morning and well you get the idea,  so I was grateful  and  not to bad  according to  some girls who came down for some water  of the virgin,  those girls have style,  green felt hats, fedora,   matching shawls , form-fitting grey skirts and  black shoes,  they look good and  because its cultural  and ethnic , never out of style {ring of fire featuring johnny cash} so  all happy   with my new linguistic skills,  I walked back into town  with an invite  to tea from some  new friends , the Krapos, a Finnish couple {no more auction block for me} who were  fantastic ,  and as  i found out as we walked up the flights ,to their very tasteful  apt, they were: a germaphobe  and a  and artist ,  shoes are not worn  in the home but sandals are provided  and the  colorful  acrylic based paintings {idiot wind}  focused on  some kind of  frog on LSD  attacking  german clowns and  hairy  rhinos ,

so as  we started to talk,  after I was offered coffee but opted for tea,  the krapos begin to talk  with the  crew about   different countries , politics  and  in general the  perception   of  americans in foreign countries and  visa versa , and   Mrs. k  tells me  about a finnish movie where some americans are  on the tube and  one older latter  looks  at another and asks “why do they talk so loud ? is something  wrong with their  hearing?”….. I’m not loud  I say , why would they   say that, then my pho sense  flash back kicks in and I remember being seated next to some  already  drunk american turist with east coast accents   screaming for a  “cor-un-uh” I could throw  my shoe at them {lord protect my child} so  I ask after a  minute  are we the loudest ?  …. “no , finally she says , germans  are about the same , and russians”   but  finland is right next to  russia [right?]  why  doesn’t  any one parody  russians ? they have really , really good bread, not as good as  finland  but  good , at this Point I have a mouth full of croissant , and I cant argue  with the logic ,{dignity},

So the day finishes up , kinda, and  every where i go i see faded flyers  of  festivals from days passed , for the pilgrimage of the virgin of  agua santa , in the street next to  my hostel , la chimenea,  there is a huge red heart  made of lemon size balls of red  paper, it’s started  to  tear from the rain and the wind it looks  like  its bleeding , the whole time I’ve been  in Ecuador its been on  the heels of some virgin or another {she belongs to me} in malacatos the  party lasts the whole month of august to receive  cisne,  santa anna  is said to  look after  Cuenca ,here  almost every  thermal bath is  looked at as being blessed by the holy  water of the mountain, but now they’re all gone school  will star soon, and I’ve heard no talk of  virgins , holy  or  otherwise, so i asked around , although i worry sometimes about how my questions come across since spanish is not my first language , but hey its a tourist town  I’m  sure it’s not the weirdest question that’s  every been asked , I asks  one older lady who  told me simply  that she was put away  until her time comes again,  how sad, I guess like anything else though the festivities  serve  the purpose of tradition  and give comfort  where it is asked  for. hopefully though in some way  the  tracts I left with the kitchewa  family , in kitchewa,  gave some sustainable  food for thought  and  comfort .

but  the day has come to a close  its been good but a  tad exhausting   I’ll keep looking for the missing virgin tomorrow  , and maybe its the  Dylan [don't think twice :the soundtrack to my personal life] but I don’t really feel bad about being a little left of center  here, cause I’m not to loud  and it’s not like I  the weirdest person here  … right ?

{ I’ll keep  it with mine }—pj