This morning around 10 am I was walking near my school when I ran into Don Mariano. He's a carpenter, father of one of my "back in the day" students, and also father to Catarina - whose feet I've always thought were cool:

Anyway, at 10 am this morning he was drunk and eating empanadas in front of a tienda. He immediately invited me to a baggie of my own empanadas and looked like he was in the mood for a little convo. I really like Don Mariano - he's always been one of my favorite people in Concepcion. One time a group of my Dragons students, who were staying in Concepcion at the time, told me some "drunk guy" had told them I was "half-Guatemalan." I didn't know who they were talking about until we walked by Mariano's carpentry shop and I introduced the group. As we walked away my students squealed, "That was him!!" I think he's a known bolo - a drunk - but like the lovey-crying type.

So we talked about his shop, his work, his life as a poor person, his desire to someday to go the US - to work or visit, I don't know, we didn't get that far. He cried and told me a story about how in 1981 some Evangelical American missionaries' house was burned down. He then wanted to tell me that when I left - 4 years ago - he never got a chance to say goodbye, which is true. I remember this, I went to his house to leave a banana bread and he wasn't around. This morning he told me that since he got that banana bread, and we missed saying goodbye, he's always "carried me in his heart" seño, te llevo en mi corazon siempre. Well, sure he's a little drinky at this moment, but it was a sweet moment anyway. I mean I've seen him a half a dozen times at least since then.

I had come from the school where I told this joke to the class of 9th graders: (joke came from one of my Dragons this summer)

A duck walks into a bar and says, Hey bartender got any grapes?
The bartender says, Uh no stupid - this is a bar - there are no grapes. The duck says, Ok, and leaves.
The next day the duck comes in again and says, Hey bartender - got any grapes?
The bartender gets mad and says, No there ain't no grapes! Quit asking me!
The duck leaves.
On the 3rd day the duck walks in and asks, Hey bartender - got any grapes?
The bartender, super mad now, says, If you ask me one more time about grapes I'm gonna nail your beak to the wall. The duck says, Ok, and leaves.
On the 4th day the duck walks into the bar and asks, Hey bartender - got any nails?
The bartender says, NO!
And the duck says, Ok - got any grapes?

Before that I sat with this one guy in his mechanic shop for awhile. I forget his name. But we talked about immigration - a lot of people want to talk about this subject. I met him the last time I visited. I met him for the first time, even though he is the husband of one of my favorite tienda ladies because he was in the US during those years when I was living in town in the Peace Corps. As soon as we got really good into the subject a couple of guys came up with some tire-related needs. I kept sitting there anyway, too tired to move (more on that in a sec), and met Diego, a 28-year-old guy who told me he's not married because he doesn't have time. He said to me, "Good morning" and I was in the mood to probe his English a little further. Many people in Concepcion go to the US, for years and years, and it is a rare occasion - very rare - to find one who actually picked up some English (besides "I love you" and "You are beautiful"). Diego told me he went to high school a little in the States, but I could tell he was the learning-type anyway. All in English, he told me he'd been to New York City. I was mesmerized for a minute there imagining this guy in NYC somewhere. Concepcion folk are as country as they get around here and generally migrate to rural areas, maybe suburban areas, of the US; I can't think of any who have really told me about US cities. I wonder so much about what they do in the States, what's a farm boy like him doing up there? What were his adventures like? Well, Diego said he got deported 3 months ago. No doubt those migra folks are doing their jobs, and more. So many people have been telling me that the news from the US about the immigration climate has definitely deterred people from trying to go back to el Norte.

It seems like every time I visit Concepcion I get sick. I've come down with some nasty combination of allergies and a cold. They sorta mesh into each other. I can see the mold in this house, growing on the walls from all the dampness. I'm sure the bed has some mold, too. This is Concepcion, for sure. It's hard to get/stay comfortable here. It's cold, always fogged in, muddy, moldy.


I lived on an allergy cocktail of Claritin, Benydryl and Sudafed for 2 years during Peace Corps. Ug, that sounds bad. And I think this house is worse now that 4 more years have passed.