TheExpatJournals.com

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The temperature lately has been mostly perfect. I’m sitting on my balcony because I succumbed to my addiction and started smoking again and refuse to stink up my house. For awhile there, before the bronchitis, I was smoking for about 4 days wearing a disposable plastic glove on my right hand to diminish the nasty odor…makes for a bizarre fashion statement. With cigarettes $1.35 per pack, it was just too much of a temptation. And I’ve developed a very nasty Coke habit because it’s everywhere and only 25 cents a bottle (if you bring an empty) at the Chino’s on the corner! One thing about Coke here is that it’s sweeter than in the US. I was looking at the ingredients last week and there’s no corn syrup, so it’s all sugar. Because none of these little markets have air conditioning, there’s not much of a candy counter, thank God. It was interesting to note how they sell medication, like Tylenol, etc, by single tablets. I watched a woman purchase individual tablets of about four different kinds of medication. And it doesn’t appear as though many of the locals smoke. I assume that’s because, to them, $1.35 is a lot of money. Having said that, the Chino also sells individual cigarettes, too.

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There are so many men with guns in this neighborhood. I’ve not only grown used to it, I really, really like it. In Casco Viejo, there are the Presidential Guards (Guardia Presidencial) , the Tourist Police (Policia Turismo) and the National Police (Policia Nacional). All have office headquarters in this neighborhood. The National Police and the Tourist Police have virtually identical uniforms that are similar to any US police uniform except for the color - khaki short sleeved shirt and brown pants. Both have bicycle divisions who have the same uniform except they wear shorts instead of pants. All carry guns, but only the Presidential Guards directly around the Palace carry machine guns. (more…)