Like a Vecino
Well tomorrow is my last day of Spanish school. ¡Muy Triste! It´s been good, although pretty fast. I am just starting to understand my family and the lessons really picked up this week. Nevertheless, I am very excited to see mi esposa and travel for two weeks.
One interesting thing of note, is that last night I got to be vigilante! As discussed in the lower blog, the father of my house is part of a vigilante group called "Los Vecinos" who stand on corners with clubs and try to keep the street clean of ladrones.
Well, last night they invited me to come! So at 9 I left the house with the father and his 4 sons and went to a corner to stand watch. I don´t want to exagerate the danger. There were kids out with their dads and the whole event seemed to be much more about socializing than fighting crime. We stood at the first corner for a 1/2 hour and then walked down the block to visit other vigilante gangs. At about 10 the whole group went to the park and hung out there for a while. My favorite part was at the end. You might wonder, "What does a vecino do after a tough night of vigilanteeism?" Well, have chicken soup of course. The night ended with us going down an alley to where some women were serving chicken noodle soup in styrofoam cups. There were about 40 vigilantes and 4 policeman there. After that, the father turned to me, shrugged, said, "Muy Tranquilo", and we went home.
Overall a very tame evening. Although I guess when they do see a crook they chase him down the street and beat him with their clubs. Glad I wasn´t there for that. I think a key to this being a positive event was that there was no beer involved. A few cigarrettes here and there, but not a vigilante was drinking. I´d hate to see what would happen with 40 drunk men of various ages with clubs...
One interesting thing of note, is that last night I got to be vigilante! As discussed in the lower blog, the father of my house is part of a vigilante group called "Los Vecinos" who stand on corners with clubs and try to keep the street clean of ladrones.
Well, last night they invited me to come! So at 9 I left the house with the father and his 4 sons and went to a corner to stand watch. I don´t want to exagerate the danger. There were kids out with their dads and the whole event seemed to be much more about socializing than fighting crime. We stood at the first corner for a 1/2 hour and then walked down the block to visit other vigilante gangs. At about 10 the whole group went to the park and hung out there for a while. My favorite part was at the end. You might wonder, "What does a vecino do after a tough night of vigilanteeism?" Well, have chicken soup of course. The night ended with us going down an alley to where some women were serving chicken noodle soup in styrofoam cups. There were about 40 vigilantes and 4 policeman there. After that, the father turned to me, shrugged, said, "Muy Tranquilo", and we went home.
Overall a very tame evening. Although I guess when they do see a crook they chase him down the street and beat him with their clubs. Glad I wasn´t there for that. I think a key to this being a positive event was that there was no beer involved. A few cigarrettes here and there, but not a vigilante was drinking. I´d hate to see what would happen with 40 drunk men of various ages with clubs...
posted by chuckdaddy2000 at 3:56 pm
1 Comments:
Nice. I was thinking of starting by guarding Stumptown. ¿Do you think they would appreciate me standing in front of the store with a mask on and carrying a club?
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