Gabriel García Márquez was once asked how he got his ideas for his highly creative writing, and he said I dont need to make anything up. I live in Latin America. And in that spirit of hilarity and absurdity, incredulity and reality, all wrapped up in one, here is my story of what happened one year on Good Friday in Caguas, Puerto Rico: Every year when I was growing up, wed go to my mothers hometown on Good Friday to watch the procession, where the whole town lined the streets from the edge of town to the cathedral in the town square, watching as men carried a huge statue of Jesus while the crowd prayed along with the priest. One year, the town drunk, nicknamed Pedrito Zafacón (literally Peter Garbage Can) because he was always scavenging in the trash cans, decided he was going to stop drinking and help carry that enormous and heavy Jesus statue. Everyone was impressed. Pedrito Zafacón was finally cleaning up his act, they said. But not my mother. He was born drunk. For as long as Ive known him he was like this. But lets give him the benefit of the doubt and see what happens, people said. And of course we were curious to see it. So the year that Pedrito Zafacón was helping to carry the Jesus statue, we got there extra early to make sure we got a good spot. And sure enough, there he was, helping to carry that statue over the cobblestones in the old part of town, struggling with the weight. And right when he got to us, he slipped, and everyone gasped. OMG Jesus is going to fall on the ground! My mother yelled ¡Ay Pedrito lo sabía, borrachón para siempre! (I knew it! Youll always be a drunk!) And Pedrito Zafacón, drenched in sweat, turned to my mother and yelled right there in front of Jesus and the multitude and the priests and archbishop, Cágate en tu madre Mercedita! (F**k you Mercedes!) And he wiped his brow and kept on going down the street to the cathedral...LOL TRUE STORY!!! So yes, there is no need to make stuff up when you live in Latin America. RIP Gabo...
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 15:26:24 +0000
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