Good Scout
"That's quite an outfit you've got on there. Is that your 'good scout' uniform?" The guy was sitting next to Don, who runs the BBQ Pork/Japanese Curry concession off the main square. Tan on tan and a tan hat with drawstring held tight under his chin by a colorful bead, and a bordering here and there of native motifs in black and red and yellow.
On his collar was a gold 'dove of peace' pin that I remembered from my more spiritual, if not-quite religious days past, normally the sign of a good Christian. It seemed like a good opening line. "That's a hell of a thing to say to someone you've just met," he replied. I was momentarily at a lack of words.
Don had a big shit-eating grin on his face; I can't imagine what he was reading on mine. "Is that a 'girl scout' uniform? My goodness." A quick retraction/explanation was in order.
Amigos, off the main square in Boquete, is a key meeting place for gringos to swap tales and start rumors. I missed the weekly Tuesday gringo gabfest this week as the speaker was going to be talking about the benefits of 'massage,' as his business happens to be massage. As I'm acutely aware of the benefits of massage (of various quality and legality), and the fact that according to an email off the list-serve we now have "quantum energy healing sessions' available to 'heal the planet' (guided by the previous week's speaker, Heather Rose), I figured I would be better served by ensconcing myself at a table downtown and opening my ears.
My new landlord knows all the cops. After a busy day yesterday I needed to fork over another two hundred dollars to her to cover various deposits (rent, internet, phone, electricity, etc.) and I woke up quite late from a nap. Claudete called to see if she was still at the bar, she was. We dressed and wandered over there, did our business and as I stepped out the door to dispose of a cigarette I encountered one of the local gendarmes yakking on his cell phone. I nodded a greeting and retreated back inside. A few minutes later he came into the bar, we were introduced and started yakking up a storm. Don't ask me what exactly it was that we were talking about.
The gist of it all is that we, for better or for worse, are now officially linked/associated with one of the polarizing figures in town. The part that counts is that we shouldn't have many, if any, direct problems with the police.
We'll get the keys to the new place today, do a little cleanup and prep work, and maybe start to move some of our stuff on Saturday. I found out last night that our address is on Cemetery Road, which is kind of cool, and if we're still around on Halloween we'll have a 'Cocktails With The Dead Party' with a visit to our 'not so restful' neighbors to spook things up a bit.
