vladimir

i went to the market from yesterday and said goodbye to my new friends. i bought fruit for the long bus ride ahead and wandered around. i stumbled upon - and actually walked by - a juice and sandwhich place that had the coca cola symbol with a big fat slash going through it. i decided a 25 hour bus ride warrented a nice sandwhich. a man greeted me from the street and asked me to sit down inside. he asked where i was from. we talked about the twin towers and argued over how many people died. who was this guy? he asked what i thought about obama - i asked what he thought about michelle, his president. we both answered the same - politics are politics, more of the same. i said, well, it´s better than pinochet, right? yes, he said. i told him how i was a community organizer back in new york - how i believe in changing the world through changing my community. he understood. you know, he said, i was political under pinochet. against the government? i asked. yes, and he headed towards the kitcken - but before he left the room he looked at me, straight into me, and told me they tortured him. for eight days, he said. i cried while he was in the kitchen. he came back and we talked about coca cola, the US supported dictatorships around the world, the war in iraq, politics, family. i told him i was greek. what are you studying? he asked. political science, i say. then he starts laughing and won´t stop! a greek studying political science. we had such a long conversation. he asked me what i thought about Chavez. I told him he was good, but that I had some issues. we talked. you know he´s my friend, he told me. what? i said, not understanding. he tells me about hugo. what a nice, fun guy he is. then he tells me his name. vladimir. i am on the lists of those tortured, he says. i give him my bracelet with matis. he gives me a small truck filled with rocks from chile. and a poem by jorge borges. yesterday, at the market, i gave away a book of poetry to carlos - one of the friends i made - and half of the poems were by jorge borges. what goes around comes around. always, huh? i left, and vladimir wished me well travels in latin america, and to return to the united states and change my country.