i borrowed one of the boat bikes to go into town last night. amazing how much more ground you can cover on two wheels. sure wish i had a motorcycle, that would really be the way to get around. but the bike was nice.
i cruised down the Mercado - beachfront drive. nice wide tiled promenade the whole way along.. there were searchlights in the sky. discoverd a portion of the street blocked off, with a stage and sound system set up, lights, rows of chairs in the middle and booths along the sides. seemed to be some kind of ocean conservation event, as the boths had dead baby sharks and rays that you could handle. some artists, sculptures for sale. a band finally set up, playing some kind of "latin" music. not terribly interesting, so i pedal up into the shopping district. looking for a grocery store i was at a few days ago. there were vendor booths set up on the sidewalks, selling cloths and jewlery, but most of them were packing up already. it was just after dark. seems they don't stay out late like they do home in thailand.
i found a few shops of interest, a dolor store, a leather shop. the grocery store was closed at 6pm. havn't had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since the san diego bread went moldy a few weeks ago, and i was looking to buy bread.
there were lots of people out on the streets tho, looking in the shops and headed to the water-front. the bus station was real busy, buses going everywhere lined both sides of the street. i ended up back on the water front where i was maybe to meet the crew later. the commercial district petered out, and i biked up into the neighborhoods roused the dogs to barking all along the streets. i heard a tuba and trumpet that sounded like live music and found my way there. out in front of a house were some people on the sidewalk playing music and singing. tuba, trombone, trumpets and voices. little kids, just singing and playing out front of their house. great fun! all the live music i've been hearing so far on this trip has been bands playing oldies cover songs in english, and i'm wrung out on that sound.
back on the waterfront, i passed a bar/disco that had a real mexican band. i don't know what you call the style of music, but it's mexican, and it rocks! drums, bass, guitar, conga and accordion cost 50 peso's to get in, they kept my backpack at the door and did a pat down search on all the men that came in. the band was playing up on a balcony, where it was a bit difficult to watch. they played two songs and took a break, and they played dance/pop music very loud in the house. it was about 10 pm, and there were only a few people there, but more began to arrive. i was way underdressed in a t-shirt. most of the guys were wearing long sleeve snap-button shirts and cowboy boots. the girls were poured into tight skirts. i was the only gringo in there. but the band came back after a while, and played these amazing, long songs, with blazing accordion riffs between each phrase. they had color-changing LED house lights everywhere, large LCD screens showing rock videos the whole time. i left after a couple of hours. there were crowds of young(er) nightclubers out on the sidewalk.
halfway back to the marina, there was another group of people beside the road, playing horns and singing songs. they must be popular songs, becuase everybody knew the words. passers by like myself would stop and listen.
there is so much to see in the world. i'm realizing that places that are familiar and pre-explored, comfortable and stable as they may be, stifle my brain and being. you know how if you have a nice, familiar living space, and you get up and do your morning thing and get all cozy it feels content and warm. then you step outside and get smacked with sunlight, plants, clouds, air, breeze... wholy bovine! there's this whole other world out here.safe in the nest, there's not much movement. only the movement you create yourself. when you go out in the strange world, you are in the broad flow, the movement of nature, man and animal. not sure i'm describing this very well. one of my favorite things to do is to take something really simple, make it as complicated as possible, then occupy myself trying to make it back into something simple again.
note the bottom line here
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i need to get the fuck out of seattle.
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