Revisiting Palermo

I expected to find da sud-island-sudest (southern) heat

but alas i was welcomed by sista rain hersef....

t'was kinda funny and sad at the same time neh!

so me land inna palermo mek it straight to da a friend's house

and he's not there, he no longer lives there

me friend Katie is not answering her fone (found out later that she relocated to padova!)

me other friend who was supposed to host me is outta town

and my other friends (couple) are jus about to hav a baby so it wud be an inconvenience to host me

I mah not feeling da palermo vybz no mo'
so cut long story short me don have nowhere to go

but i had a good mind to prepare two huge paninos/sandwiches

from Anthony B&B befo leaving dat morning

so me head to piazza garibaldi to sit under a tree

[i mah familiar with dis here piazza, we used to sleep on (top) of these trees

(they are huge) with dem mah hippies friends back in da daze]
me munch on mi sandwich clear me head and think of the immediate future

but i was too tired to think, so i ate and actually fell asleep on the park bench deh

i was woken up by rain drops!

whatta way to wake up, me look around there are trees all over

me hav no idea where am i who am i what time/day/year is it

is jus rain drops and they are getting faster and vigorious

me gather mesef up and rush under the nearest tree for cover

that sicilian rain that com in heavy loud drops (jus like dem sicilians)

my cover under the tree was limited but me hung out as long as i could

dodging drops here and there but i still managed to get wet

so eventually i came out of the hiding place and threw mesef into the city

and the rain.......

as i am heading up the road not too sure where i mah heading except forward

one bwoy on a motorino/scooter spots me and slows down and hesitate

i pull him over and ask for a lift (my street wit/cred is slowly coming back to me)

he stops and start chatting, where have yu been, long time no seen blah blah

so the guy knows me but hell i don rememba who where when

this is a common occurrence fo me in palermo

cut long short

bwoy offers me a place to stay

says he just rented a big house for his girlfriend who will only be moving in next month

and if i need a place for a short stay, well the house is free albeit with no electricity

one of those fortuitous coincidences seen

so that is how i came to spend my palermo trip in da enchanted house...

the house is empty its bare and its huge

it really looks to be a family house - once upon time

two bedrooms two bathrooms a lounge

a big kitchen a store room a lobby

it is clean, walls are clean and looks to be recently retouched

the only furniture is a mattress a wardrobe and a divano and the kitchen suite

the matrasse and the wardrobe are in the bedroom with the en-suite bathroom

the divano with springs and no cushions in the living room

the kitchen with its built-in cupboards fridge stove etc etc

and the doors of the cupboards were all always open and empty even the fridge door was open

revealing the barreness state of the house

the two other furnished rooms would be where i wud spend my days

the area is the noisiest i have seen in palermo

its a totally new zone for me, i had never even had designs on this area

and its not far from the hospital/clinic, which means the sound of the ambulance is a common feature

and young bwoys and gyals on motorinos whoozing past non stop

cut story short its a noisiest place - not loud

ca people deh ya talk a lot mo with their gestures and looks

and i notice there were a lot of butcher shops

compared to the usual bakeries/panificio, which were not missing!

'l'angolo del carne, la carneriera, carne carne carne'- meat everywhere

even the one shop specialising in horse meat only...

fo the inhabitants of that area

the whole world starts and ends there in the area

i kno all this ca that is what i wud end up doing the whole time- peeping/gazing from the window

an i was at the corner which meant my view was three dimensional

arabs africans sicilians all battling it out under the economic recession

chinese and indians line up the commercial section

and theres me who has just moved into an empty house with no lights

the consequence being i had to keep all the windows open at all times

to get light in the house, daylight from the sun

night light from the street pole light outside

i was rather conscpicous in the dark, yu kno, shadowy, dats all you cud see, a shadow

then i start wondering about this house

why hasnt the girlfriend started moving in

and why is she supposedly moving in alone not with him

i realise that this bwoy bubbles a lot talks fast and say a lot of things

he has left me there to freshen up and hed be back later

and has left with the keys

i shudder a bit but alas he rocks up and gives me the key and

the freedom to com n go as i please free reign

as i was enjoying the free reign

i notice water on the floor, i thought it was drippin from somewhere

but i cud not figure out from where

and everyday this pool of water slowly grows bigger

i try getting ahold of the guy but alas his fone is always off

and this water which i cud not tell where the f is comin from

i start shuddering again, i wait for daylight to comb thru the house to discover where the water be comin from

but nuttin a gwaan yet the pool is getting larger and larger

everytime i mop the water, it reappears....spoooky

and still the guy is not picking up his fone

i start spending a lot of time outdoors trying to relocate ol an new friends

but alas they are scattered everywhere,

and the fact that tis the rainy season does not make things easier

cos sicily is such an outdoor place, everything happens outdoors

so in a way was forced to spend a lot of time indoors, and that water (which by now i stopped mopping)

the pool is just growing and growing and still cannot detect where it com from

the house is spooky awrite, but i stay on anywhichways...

until t'was time to take leave of the place

and i did graciously...

left a note, the keys, an sms an a likkle present fo the disappeared bwoy...

and jus as i landed in rome, he calls.....[note that mah las sms was to inform him about mah depature!]

i thank him and we small talk a bit

somehow the water thingie did not com up in our small talk...

so i left it like dat....

in ya dis ya time