Expats in Rio and Bars

The rich Guatemalans at my hotel...well, they spoke only Spanish and did not seem the slightest bit interested in me. And so, even with my clean sheets and hot shower, I wanted more....wanted to talk to someone....maybe practice a little English. So off I went into town....Brunos the guide book explained, is favored by the cruisers....I am talking sailors.

After a cab ride and buying my bus ticket at the station I crossed the street and followed the signs through a trashy yard surrounded by dilapidated buildings....to the waters edge and a small marina with an outdoor palapa restaurant and a swimming pool. I bought a drink. I made eye contact and started a conversation with a couple of chaps I have met 100 times before in marinas and bars in many different places over the course of my life. They each had two full drinks in front of them....it was happy hour...a double or two drinks....your choice. But here is an overview.....

There was Steve the retired cop from Gainesville Florida who sailed south and bounces between Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize. He is a self-proclaimed right-winger who is far kinder than the assertion would imply. He guessed within 2 minutes that I was from Berkeley and within 20 minutes asked me if I was gay. He told me about getting hit by lightening, anchored in the river in front of the marina....his mast took the hit. He lost his antenna, wind vane, some electronics....his dog and he had their hair buzzed straight up, defying gravity.....and Steve conjectured that perhaps it was god getting him for flying his confederate flag....hmm, ya think? He went on to explain that he is not racist and there is more to the history of the flag than slavery and the civil war was really about states rights and blah blah blah. I told him I understood his logic.....I left out the part about disagreeing, and he was drunk (see pic...Steve right, Jim left).

Then there was Jim a sweaty, salty, old ex merchant marine who had seen the world many times over. He too had a boat and spent his time bopping around the western Caribbean...and drinking...sitting next to Steve....sipping his beer....swimming in the warmth of his hoary buzz. They were both unhealthy, unhappy, save for the liquor and the friendship of bars and the habit of boat tending.

There was Al (see pic left) who ran a whore house in a neighboring port town and treated his whores well. He got out of the business because of the stress and the violence. Now he does sailing charters and was insistent I come back emphasizing over and over again that his cruises are gay friendly and clothing optional.

There was Doc, a retired public health doctor from NYC who was trying to pick up on young Adriane from Canada (see pic right...Doc with manuscript). He was reading to her (I insinuated myself into the situation) from his surreal sailing narrative that had Columbus and Magellan and Cook in his cockpit with him as he crossed the Atlantic....and actually, his writing wasn´t that bad. And Adrianne confessed she was going to sail with him to the Bay Islands...until she saw his boat....too small. She is not a sailor and asked me my opinion. I concurred, too small and a front was headed south.

Then Jody joined us (see pic below), a sane woman from the states who used to be a stockbroker. She is living in Rio now and her daughter taught English in Argentina and just started working at a local orphanage. Affable, in her late 50s, we drank and when Steve got belligerent about US politics we scattered and Jody asked me if I wanted to join her at another bar run by a really cool Dutch couple. Sure Jody...and so we headed out through the nasty yard and passed the armed guard carrying one of those shotguns (see pic...always be nice to the guards with guns).

Sundogs is cute, tropical, small, has top shelf booze and a quieter crowd. And so we chatted with foxy Jessica from Minneapolis...she told me about going to Cuba on a French catermaran with her French lover and she didn´t spend a dime but still got a picture sent to her from the US state department asking her what the hell she was doing in Cuba...it was a pic of her in a store! Our government is so lovely...it was eventually dropped. While there she listened to Castro give a 7 hour speech in the park...with breaks...apparently this is common. Lastly, she asserted, she only sails south...never north. Been on many boats....her own and other folks. She was gorgeous and sexy....but knew it a bit too much.

And there were the owners of Sundog, Julienne...he is cute and we talked music and politics....and about his tatoo and the number 19 and the tao te ching (see pic him behind bar). And there was his beautiful wife Babbette who flitted about charming everyone and referenced jokingly something about she and Jessica being porn stars (see pic, Babette left, Jessica right).

Bars, no matter where I am I can count on them for company...I just wrote the following to a dear friend in an email...

....the meeting people in bars. It is an easy place to meet people and I fit in very well.....very well. I am skilled in bars, humble bars....sometimes sophisticated bars....but best in bars with pros and not a drop of haughtiness. I know these people.....I grew up with them...I recognize them in any town...in any town tavern in any country. And through the haze of intoxication...through the liberation of the drink...I see them and love them. Truly. And they return the favor...without condition at 4 in the morning.

I didn´t shower for days....why bother....you only sweat more...I am not sleeping with anyone...and everything is dirty, save for the sheets in my expensive hotel.