Today I left my footprint in a piece of wet cement on Porfirio Diaz street. It was an accident, really. I wasn't looking at what lay before me, and suddenly the sidewalk fell away and revealed a large square of untouched wet cement with no barrier, no fence. I sent signals to my brain to stop the forward motion of my body. For a moment I hovered on the edge; I had myself almost steady. Gravity won out, however, and the top half of my right foot touched down.
A workman nearby yelled to chide me for my inattention. But what can I do? The cement marks my presence. "Aquí estoy," it says. My footprint speaks Spanish.
After a long comida with another Fulbrighter, I meandered past Santo Domingo. The blue sky and the slant of the sun against the ancient yellow bricks called me to grab a photo. But I have stolen so many pictures of this great church in the past that I felt I might injure it to snap another. I stumbled into a parade (calenda) for a local church, complete with giant puppets.
I headed east down the stone street towards Pino Suarez to catch my bus. Just as I arrived on the corner one pulled up with "San Felipe CU" scrawled on the windshield in white marker. I paid my 3 pesos and headed to the back for a seat. We passed Parque Llano, filled today with booths for a naturalista fair. "Voy a bajar" I yell as my stop approaches. I take a last quick shot of the sky. This isn't just any sky; it's the sky of Colonia Reforma, my neighborhood. So enjoy!
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