excerpts from most recent conversation with bríjido the taco man

(upon my arrival)
b-it´s a miracle! i thought you´d gone away and left us for good!
r-no. i just went to eat elsewhere for a few days.

b-seems to me you´ve traveled to many places.
r-yeah, i guess so.
b-have you been to spain?
r-yes.
b-france?
r-yes.
b-england?
r-yes?
b-germany?
r-yes.
b-austria?
r-no.
b-portugal?
r-no, i´ve never been to portugal.
b-do you know where portugal is?
r-yes, i know where portugal is.
b-it´s just next to spain. a small country.

b-have you ever been to lebanon?
r-no.
b-saudi arabia?
r-no.
b-egypt?
r-no, i´ve never been to the middle east.
b-those are arabic countries...israel?
r-no.
b-now let´s go through the african countries!
r-but i´ve never been to africa.
b-algeria?
r-no.
b-ethiopia?
r-no.
b-the congo, angola, senegal?
r-no, i told you already. i´ve never been to africa.
b-somalia?

r-and if you could travel to one country, bríjido, which one would it be?
b-all of europe and asia.
r-no, one country.
b-just one?
r-just one.
b-denmark!!!
r-denmark? why denmark?
b-because the most beautiful women in the world come from there.
r-from denmark?
b-of course!
r-and how do you know that?
b-because they´ve come by here, they´ve eaten tacos here before. one with blue eyes, the other green. and long hair that went all the way down their backs. whooo! they were here in 2093.
r-2093? you met them in the future?
b-no, i messed up. i meant to say 1993. they came with their men, too. as tall as the fucking ceiling, i tell you.

(at this point bríjido walks away from me and quietly cuts up tortillas for a few minutes. he then groups the small tortilla bits in his old hands, walks outside, and gently drops them on the ground. he´s feeding the pigeons.)

(as i´m getting ready to leave)
b-where are your papers? you´ve got to have your papers on you!
r-i´ve got my little notebook here. just with random thoughts and notes.
b-let me see. ah, it´s in english, huh?
r-yep.
b-hmm...all i see are spiders.
r-well, here´s my driver´s liscense.
b-aha...says here that $50,000 goes to whoever turns in this young man, wanted for stealing women and eating without paying!

b-what was your name again? andrés, right?
r-no, it´s robert. like roberto, but without the o. where´s andres come from?
b-oh, that´s the name of my daughter´s boyfriend. she lives in tennessee. she studies dinosaur bones.