my first expulsion

at the diner i saw some protests with some dudes in cool masks on the tv. i had no idea what it was about, but obviously people were getting rowdy over something. i dug it of course, not knowing what it was about but the underdog is always right (well almost always), and promptly forgot about it. after a long time no one was picking me up and i had no idea why, central america is the easiest place to get a ride and panama didn´t seem to change that rule. after hours of walking in the heat i this one hospital administrator, marvin, stopped me on the side of the road and ushered me into his car. he warned me that we could only go so far, that the indians were blocking the roads. good for them i say, and he gives me a worried look. we don´t talk about it again for a while, but i start to get confused. aren´t all these people indians?

night falls and we keep driving up to a huge line of cars. apparently it´s 20km on both sides. i see a way for marvin to keep driving forward.

"marvin, you must keep driving. i want to meet the indians. i want to tell them that i think they rule"
"what are you talking about?"
"i want to give them a high five. shake their hands"
"but why? look at this line!"


marvin looks at me and i don´t think he understands why this looney white boy he just picked up has any opinion on this sort of situation. he tells me to get out of his car and walk to them if i wanted to see them that badly. okay!

i walk maybe two kilometers and give up. there is a beautifully intense lightning storm in the distance and i set up my mat and watch it. the whole thing seemed so poetic...thousands of stranded cars, some dudes putting up a fight for their homes and maybe even winning, at least for a couple of days, amazing lightning, great weather, amazing view of the stars...wasn´t this the most perfect, romantic night ever? i contemplate dropping the guatemalan acid i have had in my pocket for weeks but then think better, realizing i was totally high on life. oh god, did i seriously just write that? but yeah. it was awesome.

later (not sure when) traffic started moving again and i felt a tinge of sadness, got a ride with some lunatic shirtless trucker, and woke up in santiago.


well. i guess you just had to be there.
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