Good pic of the exterior. For me the very walls of this place seem laden with nothing but good memories and friendship. For the past six months I have been living very nearby on the weekends in a small place with a big steel door to protect my parking spot and, in front, a brick wall with another steel door and glass shards on the top of the wall. No one could knock on my door to bother me. The place didn't even have a door when I moved in, and Sergio was an enormous help to me, loaning me tools and giving me advice on everything from working with the wiring to running natural gas lines safely. Like many people in Mexico, Sergio can do anything with tools.
I can mention this now because I am moving out this weekend and someone else is moving in next weekend. It wasn't a bad place for $100 a month. I had Cablemas drop in a line for high speed Internet (only $30 a month for something I pay $60 for in Las Cruces, same service) and was happy as a little lamb back here. But I've found a huge apartment with the same kind of security near the City Market for only $1700 pesos a month, bills paid. Two big bedrooms and a big kitchen living room area. It's also a fix-me-up, but look what you have when you're done --- a nice apartment for $150 something a month, with private parking?
But I started off about Marilyn. You guys should take a minute to get to know Sergio if you get the chance. He's not just some guy who runs an MP. He speaks good English and reads it perfectly with a little effort. He translated my Juarez Tour Guide (www.juarez-mexico.com) into Spanish (www.juarez-mexico-esp.com), and I've had many, many literate people here tell me he did an excellent job. That was an enormous amount of work, and I'm not sure I ever did pay him what that would have cost me with a professional translator. He believed in the mission of improving the city's image.
Sergio also has an opera sized voice and plays the guitar. You can hear him any Friday or Saturday night at his new bar, Norhuahua, on Lopez Mateos, popular music, not opera. Lots of people want to be the Renaissance Man, but Sergio has actually mastered all the many things he does. He's amazing.
Then there are the girls he has had from time to time.
Naomi was little willow tree, tall and thin and strong and beautiful. Your best bet with her was take her into your arms and just hold her, thankful God had brought your life to that moment. She responded to tenderness. Then there came a dry spell. Finally, Mariana appeared, another tall thin one, even younger and perfect in form. She was like a crockpot, for me, anyway, taking a while to heat up, but the results were just awesome, especially after we became better friends. Then Christina appeared, tall, not thin but busty and perfect from head to toe with long, beautiful, straight light brown hair. Then one day, as though incomparable things were meant to come in threes, Jovana appeared. Oh, my, what possible reason did a man have to go anywhere else for six, long happy months?
His new crew seems to have great possibilities. Already one good review. Plus, they actually seem to enjoy interacting with one another in the parlor. They kid around and laugh all the time. There was a kind of competition between Mariana, Christina, and Jovana which tended to create a more heavy atmosphere at times, with them all sitting in the parlor watching TV and not saying much to each other. I've been preoccupied with moving for two weeks, but, God willing, I don't intend for another weekend to pass without having something to report in regards to this new crew...
Tonight, though, I'm happy enough walking outside and staring at the sky from my little steel and brick compound. It's all run down and old, of course, like almost everything in Juarez, but that's just the way you want it to look here -- so no one gets to wondering who lives there or what might be inside. What you do inside is make a little palace for yourself. The stars shine just as brightly here, and the tiny half moon in the sky tonight seems to wink and say, "What's so Third World about this world?"
Nothing, I think, I never want to leave it.
I can mention this now because I am moving out this weekend and someone else is moving in next weekend. It wasn't a bad place for $100 a month. I had Cablemas drop in a line for high speed Internet (only $30 a month for something I pay $60 for in Las Cruces, same service) and was happy as a little lamb back here. But I've found a huge apartment with the same kind of security near the City Market for only $1700 pesos a month, bills paid. Two big bedrooms and a big kitchen living room area. It's also a fix-me-up, but look what you have when you're done --- a nice apartment for $150 something a month, with private parking?
But I started off about Marilyn. You guys should take a minute to get to know Sergio if you get the chance. He's not just some guy who runs an MP. He speaks good English and reads it perfectly with a little effort. He translated my Juarez Tour Guide (www.juarez-mexico.com) into Spanish (www.juarez-mexico-esp.com), and I've had many, many literate people here tell me he did an excellent job. That was an enormous amount of work, and I'm not sure I ever did pay him what that would have cost me with a professional translator. He believed in the mission of improving the city's image.
Sergio also has an opera sized voice and plays the guitar. You can hear him any Friday or Saturday night at his new bar, Norhuahua, on Lopez Mateos, popular music, not opera. Lots of people want to be the Renaissance Man, but Sergio has actually mastered all the many things he does. He's amazing.
Then there are the girls he has had from time to time.
Naomi was little willow tree, tall and thin and strong and beautiful. Your best bet with her was take her into your arms and just hold her, thankful God had brought your life to that moment. She responded to tenderness. Then there came a dry spell. Finally, Mariana appeared, another tall thin one, even younger and perfect in form. She was like a crockpot, for me, anyway, taking a while to heat up, but the results were just awesome, especially after we became better friends. Then Christina appeared, tall, not thin but busty and perfect from head to toe with long, beautiful, straight light brown hair. Then one day, as though incomparable things were meant to come in threes, Jovana appeared. Oh, my, what possible reason did a man have to go anywhere else for six, long happy months?
His new crew seems to have great possibilities. Already one good review. Plus, they actually seem to enjoy interacting with one another in the parlor. They kid around and laugh all the time. There was a kind of competition between Mariana, Christina, and Jovana which tended to create a more heavy atmosphere at times, with them all sitting in the parlor watching TV and not saying much to each other. I've been preoccupied with moving for two weeks, but, God willing, I don't intend for another weekend to pass without having something to report in regards to this new crew...
Tonight, though, I'm happy enough walking outside and staring at the sky from my little steel and brick compound. It's all run down and old, of course, like almost everything in Juarez, but that's just the way you want it to look here -- so no one gets to wondering who lives there or what might be inside. What you do inside is make a little palace for yourself. The stars shine just as brightly here, and the tiny half moon in the sky tonight seems to wink and say, "What's so Third World about this world?"
Nothing, I think, I never want to leave it.