El Purio: The Welcome Part II

Guillermo brought me this gallo all the way from Sagua!

The indoor activities finished and I thought my time had come. The next stop would be a shower and a bed. I was wasted. But the best part was yet to come. The promotora from Sagua takes my arm and leads me to the center of the park.

“Just one more thing,” she says almost apologetically. A stage overlooked a flat cement area; a dance floor or a good space for an audience. In the middle of the area is a lone folding metal chair. She walked me to the chair. I look at her, “no jodas,” I says. You are shitting me.

“For favor,” she says, eyes pleading, “They have prepared so much.”

In a daze, I sit and immediately, as if my ass touching the metal flipped a switch, a voice booms from the loudspeaker welcoming el caminante Guillermo Grenier doing the Camino del Cimarron.

Two youngish comedians take control of the cement stage, their banter stereotypes the Cuban güajiros and their problems. I become a character in their narrative. The heavy set güajiro, wearing a straw hat and red plaid shirt accuses the other of stealing his rooster. The accused objects strongly.

“Guillermo brought me this rooster all the way from Sagua,” he says. They went on like this for a bit. I didn’t find it hard to laugh. The guys are funny. And…