The Christmas Spirt

Cartagena, Colombia

In the afternoon I hiked out to Bocagrande, the ritzy part of town, and watched the new Star Wars movie. I thought it was pretty dumb.

I have since learned that all opinions about The Last Jedi are controversial. I started to dip my toes into the debate at one time, but then I decided - what's the point of trying to convince people to dislike a movie? If you enjoyed it, fantastic. I was disappointed.

*

That night I went into the walled city and posted up at a Mexican bar that was serving real Mexican micheladas (micheladas in Colombia are normally just beer with salt and lime). The bar was directly across the street from a massive church. The church doors stood open and I watched a packed Christmas mass.

Every year since I can remember I've either lived with my mom or visited for Christmas. For most of my life she was the choir director at a Catholic church, and I can't remember ever missing Christmas mass.

I suppose I could have wandered into the Colombian version of Christmas mass, but instead I drank micheladas and texted with an old Jewish friend who I knew was always without family on Christmas.

She had recently bought her mom's house and been doing work on it. Her dad was really proud of her, but seeing her redo the floors and walls of her childhood home had led him to voicing "what if" thoughts about what if her mom had never contracted MS.

I mentioned a family tragedy of my own and said there's no point in entertaining "what if" thoughts except to remind yourself that you're human. I then went on a tangent about the Bladerunner universe in which humans administer "empathy tests" to determine whether someone is android or human - the implication being that it is our capacity for empathy that makes us human.

I think that's not too far off from the truth.

*

After the Mexican bar I went across the street to a different bar and struck up a conversation with an overweight Iowegian named Kimberly. She was a rich girl who had lived in Hong Kong for 6 years and was currently upper management for her dad's company that manufactured chemicals used in jeans.

We had a long talk about organizational theory, since that's a field of thought that interests me and she was a manager. I was feeling altruistic - which struck me as odd. Normally when I spend Christmas with my family I don't get too wrapped up in the Christmas spirit. I couldn't decide if I was being nice to her because it was Christmas and she was alone, or if I was being nice to her because it was Christmas and I was alone.

We left the bar together and went to some other bar, but one drink there was all it took for us to run out of common interests. She took off, but I stuck around for a couple more rounds and sent a bunch of posi messages to people I hadn't spoken to in a while. Christmas spirit I guess.

*

On the way back to my hostel I stopped at Ruta 1521, a gas station with a 24-hour deli that had in a short time become a go-to for me. I had a long chat with the cashier, who was cute, but I don't remember what we talked about it. I imagine I must have been flirting. I remember her taking one of my hands in two of hers and smiling.

The scene while I ate my hot dog and drank my beer was not so inspiring. The pretty cashier was behind the counter with her arms crossed, being leered at by the rest of the all-muchacho staff. It reminded me of Aldonza from El Hombre de la Mancha.

When I left she had fled outside and was chatting with the security guard. We made smiles and I wished her a merry Christmas.

I wish I had something more dramatic to end on, but that was it. Another baby Jesus birthday in the books.