Puebla, Day Four

     I seem to be acquiring more or less a routine here.  I got up decently early (at seven) and decently well-rested, I think thanks to the young guy on staff who turned the lights out in the patio making it much easier to stay asleep.  My little room faces an indoor courtyard with a makeshift roof.  Because there is a transom window over my door with only a flimsy curtain it admits light freely and waking up at three am to that kind of glare is not for the faint hearted nor for the light sleeper.  My room is dominated by a bed that sleeps three (don´t get any ideas!) covered with a zebra stripe counterpane against a purple wall.  I am not making this up!  It  suggests a man cave, circa 1980 or so.  Bring your own Iron Maiden.  The ceiling is high, probably at least fourteen feet and is brick with seven wooden beams.  There is a small fridge, microwave and sink as well as a decent size bathroom.  There is also a tv that works okay with plenty of Spanish progamming (oh yeah.  We´re in Mexico!) I actually like this room.  It is quiet and a lovely place to retreat to in the evenings despite the small size.  The staff here are also really nice.
     I did a walk this morning into one of the many poorer areas.  This is inevbitable here in Puebla and I have come to accept it as an important reality check, along with the beggars and the demonstrations for human rights and yesterday in the zocalo for women's rights.  The arquitecture is beautiful but there is a sense of squalor and borderline desperation in these neighbourhoods as the inhabitants struggle their butts off to survive.  I ended up back at the zocalo in the usual restaurant for breakfast.  It is a good deal.  Scrambled eggs with cheese, a plate of fresh fruit, French bread with honey and orange juice all for around seven dollars Canadian.  Along with two churros, which are like donuts only long, straight and kind of twisted covered with sugar and cinammon.  Very nice actually.  This breakfast usually lasts me till dinner.  The waiters here are also pleasant and like to chat which is great for my Spanish needs.  And it is my tendency when I travel to select places that will be regular hangouts so that I can get better acquainted with some of the staff.  As well as the Spanish practice I learn tonnes of information about the area and Mexican life and culture. One fellow, one of the waiters, is a rather streetwise looking guy in his late forties I would say who wears a black bandana on his head along with the black uniform has become particularly friendly.  I imagine that he was quite a party guy in his youth and probably had quite a few fathers and mothers worried about their young daughters. This morning he was telling me all about pulque, the traditional Aztec beverage and all its great health and tonic benefits. Among its other virtues, he told me, it is supposed to increase sperm content (in men I berlieve) and he told me about one notable fellow he knows who credits this legendary elixir with having fathered thirty-six children by four mothers.  The things one can hear at breakfast.
     I had one bit of unpleasantness while breakfasting from this fellow playing a small tinny sounding harp who wanted to serenade me with Mexican folk tunes, for a fee of course, whether I liked it or not.  I told him politely that I would rather enjoy my breakfast.  He didn´t get it.  Then I said I would prefer some quiet please while enjoying my breakfast.  He insisted on staying.  Then I said, please leave me in peace so I can enjoy my breakfast.  He still wouldn´t budge so I raised my voice just a little and said, ''¡Vaya!'' or get lost, and he left.  Oh the look he gave me!  On the other hand I know he needs to make a living and life here is a struggle, but you know something?  Life is also a struggle for me and being a white tourist, as I mentioned to Armando the waiter, doesn´t mean that I have money falling out of my ass.
     I wandered into a pleasant area of pedestrian malls and squares with lots of antique shops and stumbled across this wonderful cafe where I must have spent more than an hour working on a drawing.  It´s name is Cafe All Day (I an not making this up) and it has about four or five separate rooms and courtyards with comfy chairs surrounding round tables.  Where I sat there is a fountain with a buddha head and a waterfall and when the sun shines through the skylight the falling water is beautifully illuminated.  There is also a local chain of Mexican  coffee shops called the Little Italian Coffee Company which are as numerous here in Puebla as Starbucks in Vancouver.  I have been inside a couple and they are nice and I would say nicer than Starbucks.