Why become a hitchhiker? For one thing, if you're bored, it is a good replacement for TV. Also, it's probably easier and less disruptive to become a hitchhiker on purpose, like Ford Prefect, than to become one accidently, like Arthur Dent. And with the current state of the world, it's more than likely that something like having one's home demolished to make room for an expressway could happen when one is not prepared for it. As this planet seems to entering one of its more-than-harmless periods, hitchhiking can be a good way to prepare oneself mentally for abrupt or forced changes of scenery.

That being said, there are always some shocks when one arrives at a new destination. As I mentioned before, I've never been anywhere in my life where people honk their horns so much. They do it 24/7 and seemingly without any reason, so we're definitely looking for a quieter place to live. Here's an MP3 file (470K) if you'd like to get a taste of life on the third floor in El Cangrejo. I used Audacity to extract highlights from a 20-minute period. Enjoy!

Yesterday we had lunch near the bay with a US expatriate who has been here for almost twenty years. We noticed a smell of sewage, and asked him what it was. He said it was the bay, and that this smell happens during the dry season, and that if you live near the bay it's a good idea to live above the seventh floor so you don't catch the aroma during this time. I asked him if that killed the marine life, and he said no, on the contrary, some of the fish grow to an enormous size because of all the available food.

Haven't seen turd-fed Corvina on the restaurant menus; I guess it's one of those little pieces of folklore that you just pretend you don't know about.