September 13, 2007 Bonus Blog
Haven't heard from my son Tomas in a while. Just got this last night from the mountains of Peru:

"So things are going pretty good here in the canyon. It's lonely as you can imagine but the people are nice enough and the scenery is beautiful. It's a distant cousin to Arizona actually. High and dry if you know what I mean. I got my room all set up. It's pretty comfy now. I have a speaker system that I hook my ipod up to and I bought another mattress for my bed. Ten bucks in C----- on market day. I also invested in an electric water boiler, a pocket knife with a spoon, fork, and bottle opener, a thermos and an extra blanket that I use as a rug.

"On the bus trip from A------ to the canyon I got sick, again. It was my second time getting echolai this month. Needless to say I puked out the bus window and seeing as how the sun had gone down it was cold out and the lady behind me said, 'close the window.' I said, 'estoy vomitando,' and she said 'oh,' and kept talking to her neighbor. The first day as I was recovering was a little overwhelming and I didn't want to nor did I leave my room much.

"Since I've gotten better I'm just trying to stay as busy as possible. Over the weekend I went and worked in the fields with my host dad. The rainy seasons coming up so everyone's planting their crops. The work was pretty rough and at 1:30 when we went to rest I was like, nice, time to eat. Oh no. They drank three glasses of Chicha, a fermented barley and corn drink, one of the glasses with ground corn mixed in and then shots of a local liquor called Caballo Viejo (probabley better named caballo muerto). Anyway, I couldn't hang and puked it all up while I was working.

"Today I went to the high school and introduced myself to the seniors and explained who I was and what Im doing here. Played some basketball and almost puked again. 11,200 feet! My chest was burning for a half an hour afterwards. Needless to say as of now Im healthy and my poops are regular.

"Could you guys forward this to Deena. Can't wait to see her in November."
-Thomas Charles Bell

Meanwhile, Kathy has ferreted out a Chicano Art Show (curated by Cheech, of Cheech and Chong fame) out in Mesa. We may go out this weekend, probably Saturday, and then land at a Mexican food joint. We haven't had much luck out there, but Kathy asked me to look in today's Arizona Republic, which featured a "Special Dining Section" on Mexico's Indepedence Day (which the writer, Howard S. claims we should celebrate as "Mexican Food Dependence Day." Clever, no?).

They listed the usual places, Barrio Cafe, Carolina's, San Carlos Bay, La Perla, all of them in the Phoenix core. But they did mention two we might visit. One is Los Dos Molinos on South Alma School, but the one that really got my attention is San Diego Bay Restaurant on 9201 Avenida del Yaqui in Guadalupe. I remember this authentic joint when we went there with Bart Bull, some two years ago. That gets my vote, "where fish tastes like it just jumped out of the water," and marlin tacos. Looking forward to that.

"I've sure gotten old! I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees, fought prostate cancer and diabetes; I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circulation; hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. Can't remember if I'm 85 or 92. Have lost all my friends but, thank God, I still have my driver's license!"
-The mayor of Sun City