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11August
2002 - Starfish Trek Episode 3:
Tormente
en Portillas
Hi all
from Portillas:
The weather
has been amazing here for the past couple days. The sky
has been full of dark thunderstorm clouds, incredible
lightning show on the other side of the reef and the constant
sound of the devil moving furniture for his wife. At the
first sign of this, day before yesterday at about 10:00AM;
I ran into the house to batten down the hatches (close
all the jalousies, doors and windows) and then back outside
to pick up any possible flying toys I had scattered everywhere.
I went back inside and disconnected the computer, sat
in the couch and watched for about an hour hoping to eventually
hear the trickling sound of the cistern filling. As the
wind blew harder, I could only hear the wind and frequent
thud of the ripe coconuts falling. At about three in the
afternoon (tarde) it was still dark, almost a green colored
light but there hadn’t been one drop of rain. It
was quite cool so I went inside to get my machete and
continue mowing while it was still windy and cool. I mowed
until I was tired, then ate a couple gigante mangos and
mowed some more. I never got a drop for two days. The
entire time I felt I was outside at night under candle
light with paparazzi everywhere. Strangest weather I’ve
ever seen.
Late yesterday
afternoon, I needed to go to Xcalak to pick up a voltage
regulator left at XTC dive center for me and stopped to
visit my Maya friend, Margarita, who now refuses to listen
to any English from me. I dropped off a load of coconuts
for her and she loaded me up with a laundry basket of
fruits, vegetables and fresh pan (bread). She then proceeded
to keep trying to fatten me up with a grey snapper lunch
that was magnificent. Slowly, I am learning the difference
between tourists and residents. My first visit to her
Fruteria, I paid $70 pesos for a pineapple, two big mangos
and a ripe avocado. Yesterday, I got a laundry basket
full of an assortment of almost everything she had, a
great lunch, and she even made me a Mayan potion of ground
papaya and honey with some sterile gauze and an ace bandage
to wrap around me. When I asked, “Quantos cuesta?”
her answer was the usual, “$70pesos.” What
a sweet lady, I had asked for some Aloe Vera but didn’t
know the Spanish word for it.
A few
days ago, while making coconut milk, I was pouring boiling
water in the little hole in the top of my food processor
while grinding up the coconut meat and suddenly the lid
flew off coating my flat belly with scalding ground coconut
that stuck and burned while I jumped up and down flailing
and yelling, “Hot, Hot, Hot, Shit, Shit, Shit”
trying to get the goop off my belly without burning my
fingers. I was lucky I learned the hard way a long time
ago to always cook with pants on or I may have been neutered
in the process too. I again repeat Mr. Gump’s favorite
saying, “Ahm nooot a smart maaaaun.” I have
worn the poultice all night and all day, changing crimson
goo every couple hours. The blackened blisters that remained
are now painlessly gone and the blood red wound about
3” X 6” now looks like new pink skin. There
is absolutely no pain anymore. It does have a sickening
sweet smell of rotting fruit though. What a small price
to pay for relief. Before I leave this place, I want to
become the first gringo Maya bruho I’ve ever seen.
The people here are simply wonderful.
As I wind
down this edition of Starfish Trek, I am attaching a picture
of the view from my balcony.
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outside my domain. Some do put spyware on your computer.
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is generally harmless but, those who are concerned should
do a scan after visiting. Search for AdAware from Lavasoft
on the internet, it is free.
Click
For Weather Underground's Satellite Weather Image Of This
Area
Click
Here To View GOES - East Visible Caribbean Satellite
Animated Loop
Click
Here To View METEOSAT 7 Satellite Loop Of The Eastern
Atlantic (Where Tropical Activity Begins)
Click
Here To Visit Stormcarib.com
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Here To Visit The National Hurricane Center's Atlantic
Information Web
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Here To Visit AccuWeather's Xcalak 15 Day Forecast
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Here To View Detailed Current Weather Conditions in
Mahahual
For
The Following Links If You Want To Use Portillas (3
miles south of Xcalak) As Your Location, My Location
Is: 18.2285 ° N By 87.84166 ° W
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Here To See How Close A Hurricane IsClick
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