1995 Eivissa (Ibiza): Jesus Christ Superstar

I'm on my way to Benirràs on foot yet again. The weather is getting better and better, the storm of two days ago seems no more than a bad dream during fitful sleep. The only changes the torrential rains have wrought are three:

cold water has replaced the warm water of the coves
lots of beach sand was moved, leaving a sharp incline where before walking into the surf was a gradual affair
the revived plants have been pumping terpines into the air like mad, giving valley views a hazy quality.

The playa is more crowded today, but nowhere close to the capacity crowds that blanketed it during tourist season a few scant weeks ago. I recognize a few faces, mostly the expatriates that I've seen every day: for example, the well-tanned man with a grey beard who plays "beachball" (volleying a ball back and forth with wooden paddles) all day, every day.

I'm writing on my Newton at my spot on the sand; heretofore I've been writing while sitting at a table in the restaurante.Today I've thrown caution to the wind (er, to the sand?). Propped up on my fanny-pack, my Newton lies just above the evil grains of sand that want to do it in. (Speaking of Newton stuff, I have yet another request for those Grafitti folks: remember the window placement coordinates for the three states of the window, and don't make the assumption that the input window is never dragged "under" the fixed icon bar. And a suggestion for you Grafitti Patch folks: make the 'C' and the 'N' only indicators (since experienced Grafittiheads know the gestures to invoke those states).)

I've been reading a lot during this forced vacation. I've been picking through books travellers have left at ECO. Just today I finishedKinflicks by Lisa Alther. It's a coming-of-age story about a woman from Tennessee. It's got some local humor, some new-age parodies, and lots of down-home Americana.

Things I learned today: the ancient Persians had as a basic unit of measure the parasang, which was the amount of level ground covered in one hour by a man on foot. And a quote from René Descartes:

In our search for the direct road towards the truth we should busy ourselves with no object about which we cannot attain a certainty equal to that of the demonstrations of arithmetic and geometry.

I'm sitting at the restaurant with Perry and his wife. They're enjoying the mixed pescado grill. An expatriate, Michael, walks up to let us know that he and Andy are going to show 1995 Eivissa (Ibiza): Jesus Christ Superstar tomorrow evening on the side of a tent if they can find another person to help set up the huge outdoor exhibition venue. I volunteer, provided he can pick me up at Benirràs and return me somewhere convenient after the show.

My day ends back at Ferandito's, sharing the round "locals table" with Krystof (at right), Anand (who has brought us a bag of free food that was given to him by failed beach entrepeneurs), Thomás, Fernandito, and two beach bums whose names I can't recall. We sit and nibble, joints and beer are consumed, and discussion of the film Perry is going to screen tonight, Michaels JCS tomorrow, and the woman with ohos magicos y labias magnifico from Dresden (in the former East Germany) that one of them repeatedly fails to convince to have dinner with him. We part as the sun sets, ready to reconvene tomorrow.

Speaking of Krystof, he lives at a beautiful finca (old farmhouse) ten minutes south of Sant Joan. As you walk toward the house from the end of the bumpy, unpaved road that loads to it, you come across what I call the "Zen Shack", a meditation space (used during parties as the poop-out area):

Then you come across two paths: the one to the right leads directly to the house, the one on the left leads around a pond in front of the house. Let's take the left path and take a long view of the front of Krystof's place.

If you were to take a closer look at the pond, this it what you'd see:

And lastly, if you were to stand in the middle of all this relaxing splendor and twirled around, this is the panorama you'd enjoy:

Have you found errors nontrivial or marginal, factual, analytical and illogical, arithmetical, temporal, or even typographical? Please let me know; drop me email. Thanks!

What's New? • Search this Site • Website Map
Travel • Burning Man • San Francisco
Kilts! Kilts! Kilts! • Macintosh • Technology • CU-SeeMe