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Broken window
Two men check out the damage and large broken window at a business in my barrio, not too far from where I live. I watched the kids throwing rocks at it to break it, then spray painting slogans on the walls. I photographed them from the bridge where I was taking photos of the march. I thought about going down and photographing in the crowd up close, but wasn’t sure if I’d be hassled, taking photos. I decided not to since I wasn’t working for a newspaper, but just photographing for fun.
This evening, I was going to go to a movie with a friend. She wanted to see one at one theater and I wanted to see another at a different theater. To go to the theater of her choice, I would have had to walk a ways in the rain. To go to mine, I could ride the bus and not have to walk much. I read a few reviews of the movie she wanted to see and I didn’t have any interest in seeing it. I think it was a violent, science fiction type movie. I wanted to see Desperate Secrets. I think that’s the name in English. It’s about a policewoman who is working in Bosnia and sees a lot of mistreatment of women by UN and military personnel. It’s based on real facts. So we ended up not going. She’s 23 and I’m a little older. I think we have different tastes in movies. I went to the mall alone to see mine, but there was a huge line (since it was a holiday) and I gave up on seeing it. I got a cup of Juan Valdez coffee instead and then left. Outside, there was a group of kids with signs, saying “free hugs.” I got about 4 or 5 free hugs on the way to the bus station. That was nice. When I got to my barrio, I went to get an ice cream at my usual spot. I got into a discussion with the owners about the building with the broken glass, the kids that did it and, then, general talk about the problems in Colombia and what can be done about it. I wish I could have understood more. The man and his wife were quite knowledgeable and articulate about everything. They know me and had seen me on the bridge photographing. That’s how we got into the conversation. All in all, another interesting day.
