Decade birthdays can be unsettling. This first occurred on my 30th birthday, and I found my 40th, 50th, 60th & 70th to also be perplexing. Each new decade was like leaving my country and emigrating to another land, a land I knew nothing about. But then at 31, 41, 51, 61 & 71, it was […]
On the road in the Middle East, traveling with friends Jim and Paul, we stopped one afternoon in the town of Dera’a, Syria. We were all hungry and found a street vendor who made felafel sandwiches. The grizzled old fellow who sold us the food spoke perfect English. He told us of his youth in […]
“Mas por me! Mas por me Pancho!” Ben heard these screeching words as he walked up a narrow cobblestone street through a peaceful neighborhood. “Mas por me Pancho!” He looked all around him until he observed a parrot on a perch on a second story terrace. The bird kept chortling, “Mas por me Pancho!” (“More […]
Diane Sloane arrived at the Café Mitla in the early morning. Sitting quietly by herself she ordered a Café Americano. Luis took her order. “Are you waiting for Mr. Ben?” he asked. “No,” said Diane. “I don’t know… have you seen him? “Not since that day he was here with you. He may have left […]
The sun was setting when Ben walked into the cavernous Terminal de Autobuses de Oaxaca. Gentry had been told that Mexican night-buses usually traveled at half capacity. This meant passengers could generally expect to have an empty seat next to them. The seats were similar to standard airline seats but with more leg room. With […]
The next morning Ben brought his luggage into the hotel lobby and saw that Jose was still on duty. “Buenos Dias Jose,” said Ben. “Buenos Dias Señor Gentry.” “I’m surprised to see you still at work.” “The morning clerk called in sick.” “When will you be relieved?” “Soon.” “I hope the owner is paying you […]
Ben awoke at dawn, surprised he still had on his clothes. As he sat up he felt something under his left leg. It was the binder he’d been reading when he fell asleep. He put the binder back into a weathered satchel and placed the satchel under the bed. He showered and put on fresh […]
The Villafrontu District lies in the northern hills overlooking Oaxaca. It is a neighborhood of gracious Quintas, large estates enclosed within high adobe walls. These compounds generally contain a great house on expansive grounds with other smaller dwellings and well tended gardens. For five generations the Olguin family had lived within the Quinta on their […]
Many years before… English mixed with German among the crush of voices Ben could hear in the great room of the Munich beer hall. Two tables away a group of American soldiers were having a ‘short-timers’ party for their friend, a G.I. who was about to receive his military discharge. Through the din the exuberant […]
Ben spent the morning on a walkabout. He stopped from time to time to stand and watch people going about their daily lives. Passing countless concession stands in the open air street markets he would engage in conversations with various artisans and merchants. He also liked to observe construction sites. For a time in his […]