Day 45. As we were looking for this evening’s fix of arroz con pollo, we heard some interesting whirring noises coming from one of the numerous copy shops. From a distance we could see a machine reminiscent of a contraption from the film Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the decent version with Gene Wilder). We entered the shop to investigate further and saw a man tending to the machine as bits of paper flew out of the back. It occurred to us that the scene was more reminiscent of the modern day Doctor Who flying his Tardis. We were told that the machine is an ancient refurbished “Multilith Offset”. Safe nodded in agreement trying not to give away that he worked in the print business and that he had no idea what a “Multilith Offset” was.
Cafe tintos are far too easy to drink and cost pennies. If you need a quick pick me up, perhaps in the morning before school, or in the evening after a heavy meal of arroz con pollo, it does the trick. The “red flask” is what we drink from. Maximum caffeine. Maximum sugar.
Tinto ... "Choose the Red Pill!"
Safe grins as he's about to drink his third tinto today
Cartagena doesn’t have too many tourists but the locals naturally try to make the most of them. Walking down the street minding your own business can be hazardous if you’re fair like Annie. The only Spanish you’re likely to learn is “Taxi? Taxi? Taxi?” as though there were a vague hope you might change your plans and decide to take a taxi if the word “Taxi?” were shouted at you enough times by enough people. Safe, on the other hand, is more of an enigma. Colombians look at him and assume for an instant that he’s Columbian then do a double take and realise that he looks odd. Then they stare …
This morning Safe was asked by someone whether he was Israeli. This afternoon, even though he said he was Egyptian, another man said, “Ah yes, but you look Israeli!” This evening, a coffee seller across the street shouted at him, “Shalom! Shalom!”
Thinking back over this trip, it has occurred to us that Safe has been mistaken for being Israeli many times. This is probably understandable as we have seen several Israeli tourists in Latin America but no Egyptian tourists.
Shalom!
Facinating printing press. Looks like a very basic (lethal) litho press. I think the only multi thing about it is the number of fingers it has consumed in its life.