Written by Sher Trott-Bailey

Juanita and Salvano were on their way to the  Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport to pick up Salvano’s Asian guests. It was about 1 pm in the afternoon and they had just finished eating some curried goat lunches and had set out for the 1-hour drive to the airport. They had bought some gifts and refreshments for their guest from a little farmers’ market on their way.

” How many languages do you speak Salvano?” Juanita asked curiously.

“ I speak Spanish and I’m learning Korean and Japanese because of these guys,” Salvano answered.

” Wow, amazing. I speak Spanish too but that’s it. I want to learn other languages though.” Juanita said.

” It’s good to travel to these places too and live there and interact with the citizens. It’s easier to learn that way. That’s one of my desires in the near future.” Salvano said.

” You want to go live in Japan and South Korea?” Juanita asked.

“ Not just Japan and South Korea, but to see countries that are very foreign to us here in the west; countries like Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Iran, Turkmenistan, Namibia, Tunisia, Romania and so many more,” Salvano answered.

” Wow Salvano, that’s so amazing that you want to do that,” Juanita commented.

” I lived in South Korea for six months last year. It was a nice country. Could hardly find public garbage bins though. They have a very good bus system. Ate a lot of Kimchi, Kimbap and grilled pork. Saw some temples, I stayed in a place called Hongdae for a while. It was a university area so there were a lot of young people around. Some friends took me over to Jeju Island for a month. Nice place, I spent a lot of time at Jungmun Saekdal beach and Gwangigi beach in a district called Seongsan.” Salvano shared.

” Wow. So jealous right now!” Juanita said pouting.

” You will soon get your chance to travel Juanita. You would be so surprised to find out the many countries you can travel to a without visa…..I repeat…. visa-free, no need for a visa or going to an embassy, as a Belizean citizen. The very Turkey, that you keep mentioning has an e- visa system. Just go online and pay the visa fee and a few days you have an electronic visa ready in your email. It’s the same e-visa system also for countries in the United Arab Emirates(UAE), I think, countries like Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia etc.” Salvano shared.

“ Wow. Amazing.”

” Now that you are making your own money, you should really think of going to some of these countries to promote your business, see new merchandise and to generally just expand your mind. As a matter of fact, I’m thinking of taking some of the cast to these locations to shoot some scenes for Body Strike.” Salvano said.

” What!!! For real Salvano? So cool! Oh my God! Let’s do it! Yes, Yes let’s go!” Juanita said excitedly.

Chuckling, Salvano said,

‘ Yes, you would be surprised how cheap some of these countries are to travel and to stay, yet with such stunning landscapes and unique cultural identities. Plus a lot of the tourism agencies are very helpful once you reach out to them and let them know your shooting a movie that can promote their country” Salvano explained.

Juanita could feel the juices of excitement flow through her from their conversation. She thought to herself,

” Salvano is a real stand-out guy. Very different from the typical guys in Belize.”

” So what are the guys’ names, your Asian friends?” Juanita asked.

” the three Koreans are Ji-hoon 지훈, Dal 달 and Sung-ho 숭호. The two japanese are Daisuke and Hikaru ( 大輔とひかる。).” Salvano answered.

” Oh. Okay.” Juanita said nodding, her mind trying to absorb the foreign-sounding names.

“¿Cuánto tiempo se quedan? (How long are they staying?)”

” Les dije que se quedaran un mes. Todos trabajan por cuenta propia vendiendo mis productos, así que no es como si estuvieran en el reloj. Además me estoy ocupando de los gastos. (I told them to come stay for a month. They are all self employed selling my products so its not like they are on the clock. Plus I’m taking care of the expenses.” Salvano said casually.)

Juanita turned to stare at Salvano for a bit. He turned to her, feeling her stare,

He cheekily said,


“staring at my gorgeous face and not on the road is dangerous to your heart,“

Rolling her eyes, Juanita turned her attention back to the straight highway road which wasn’t very busy at all right then.

“You’re paying for all their travel tickets, food and expenses? Just wow Salvano, it’s either you’re rolling in dough or you have a big heart.” Juanita exclaimed.

” It’s just that you have a misconception, Juanita. You think travel and you immediately think expensive. But it’s not that expensive.” Salvano said.

” If you say so! As for me, I’m looking forward to the day when the Trott-Baileys take over the aviation industry and make flying free for everyone.” Juanita said.

” Yeah, but you still need to travel even before that happens. You don’t know when their airplanes will go live. Last I heard they were still constructing their airports” Salvano replied with a deadpan stare.

” Yeah,” Juanita said.

They stopped talking for a while as Salvano played some music. He took in the beautiful greenery of his country and enjoyed the breeze blowing in his face. He thought

” Juanita is driving really well. It’s been so long since I have been driven around like this.”

After a time, Salvano remembered something he had seen on social media. Soon enough, the two were once again caught up in another discussion.

“Listen to this fucked up reasoning Juanita,
An American woman says that we should be teaching teens about foreplay in schools. So rather than just the two ‘extremes,’ as she calls it, of either abstinence or wearing rubbers before having sex she thinks foreplay should be discussed as well. according to her, This is meant as an effort to reduce teenage pregnancy and early sexual intercourse. What do you think?” Salvano asked.

” First of all, it should have never been the school’s job to teach your kids about sex in the first place. So it’s parents that need to shape up about talking with their kid about all things sex-not schools!” Juanita answered.

“ Not only that, these kinds of solutions are just going down an endless rabbit hole. I mean where does it stop? How many different forms of foreplay will you show these kids? Will you be updating the school’s curriculum on all the new, trending, weird new forms of foreplay? The idea is just fucking crazy.” Salvano added.

“Let’s zoom out even more Salvano and look at the big picture too. It’s the sexualized society that’s created around kids and teens that’s causing this sprint to start fucking young. When you have 24/7 sexualization coming at you from an early age and from different angles: music videos, media, video images, jokes, sexual innuendos, popularity and manliness being attributed to having sex, older brothers or sisters encouraging you to have sex, father’s setting up their sons with prostitutes, the generational attitude of teenage sex, etc, then how is innocence suppose to thrive?” Juanita asked.

“What about the sexual feelings and hormones that suddenly come on in teenage years though?” Salvano asked.

“Yes you have hormones and feelings but it’s magnified tenfold by movies, music and social media, and society. Kids are being exposed to sexual scenes from a very young age these days. I mean for the most part you were innocently holding hands at thirteen until you kept seeing movies where two teenagers were fucking on screen. Then those seeds get planted in your mind, that ok instead of holding hands we can have sex.” Juanita explained.

” There are so many approaches you can take to dissuade kids from indulging in sex before they are ready. If a teen’s life is all about going to a fucked up schooling system in order to be prepared for eternal hours of working at a job, and their enjoyments keep getting slashed the older you get, then that only leaves sex and relationships.” Juanita explained.

” What do you mean exactly?” Salvano questioned wanting to be clear about what she meant.

” I mean as a girl, the older you get the more you’re encouraged to stop playing games, playing football, netball, tennis, swimming, etc. and to start becoming sexually mature. You are encouraged to start looking around for boyfriends and relationships. Same for teenage boys. They are encouraged to start looking around for girls. Especially here in the West.” Juanita explained.

” I get you. I also think that a parent should talk with their kids in a pragmatic manner. Explain sex, but also all the consequences of it. Tell your son straight up the possibility of impregnating the girl, the regrets and it not being all that it’s hyped up to be etc.” Salvano added.

‘”There is no longer any dynamics to life as you get older. It’s just work and relationships. Neither parents nor school is teaching children about having original ideas, aspirations, hobbies that they enjoy, etc. to divert their minds. Our parents aren’t talking to us and telling us about any upsides to getting older. All media  tells you is that now your able to now fuck around.” Juanita explained.

“Your parents don’t help to keep your mind expanded into thinking about traveling, seeing different cultures, learning languages or new skills. No, the only excitement is to see what all the fuss is about having sex. We are not taught how to handle our sexual urges or where to direct them. We also are not encouraged to get married young but we are encouraged to fuck and potentially bring a baby.” Juanita said shaking her head.

“School is a fucking sewage dump… where if you want to brainwash impressionable kids, you can just implement bullshit curriculums paid for by the United Nations, especially here in so-called ‘developing nations’. Our government will sell out its people for a cheap IMF loan or UN aid.” Salvano commented.

Sighing a deep sigh Juanita responded,

“Ahhh Salvano my friend, it’s an endless conversation. Frankly, there will always be differing views on this. Because to some extent, I do see where if a girl is dressed in a sexually provocative way…  that can encourage her to be viewed as a sexual object more easily than a girl whose breasts and legs are more covered up. So even just proper dressing at school can help. Excepting the few overly sexual men who could still be sexually stimulated even if you are wrapped like a mummy. Overall though this American woman’s idea is silly.” Juanita said.

” I also don’t think young boys need to be in young girls’ company too much. Redirect that energy to some form of disciplinary training like cadets or sports or combat training or farming skills etc. Let boys learn to become true men before wanting to fuck like men.  And have a banner that says

‘ if you want to fuck her, you should be able to provide for her and father any potential kids.” Salvano interjected.

Salvano

si quieres follártela, deberías poder mantenerla a ella y a los posibles niños ”, intervino Salvano.

Salvano

” I agree wholeheartedly with that idea Salvano,” Juanita said chuckling.

” For the girls, all we would need to do is to give them one month of taking care of a toddler all by themselves so they can see the amount of work it will be if they end up as a single mother.” Juanita added.

They were at a stoplight and Juanita turned on the right turning signal as they waited. She watched as window cleaners tried to clean people’s windows, even without their permission. Thankfully she was fifth in line so they hadn’t reached to her as yet. The light changed and Juanita began driving again.

” I really like your point when you say we should zoom out Juanita and try to see the bigger picture,” Salvano commented.

” Yeah Salvano, cause if you really zoom all the way out you will see that the school system needs to be abolished and corporate work as we know it needs to disappear too,” Juanita replied.

” You think so?” Salvano asked.

” Yep,” Juanita answered.

” You know there are so many people nowadays complaining about being unable to afford retirement but having to still take care of their parents when they get old. ” Salvano commented offhandedly.

” Everything is backward and going in the wrong direction,  no wonder people are broke and can’t take care of themselves much less their older parents,” Juanita replied.

” What do you mean by everything is backward Juanita?”

” I mean, first of all, it is parents that should have enough to leave an inheritance to their children so that their kids and grandkids don’t have to struggle. This way you can build generational wealth.” Juanita said.

” So where did people go wrong, to where it’s now kids that have to be taking care of parents?” Salvano asked.

” It’s a poverty mentality that people started embracing. For nations or races that went through slavery, that ordeal knocked us back a bit, for nations that went through traumatic events like war, famine, genocide etc that also shifted their mentality from abundance to just survival. However, it’s more than enough time now to recover from all those setbacks and get back to abundance thinking.” Juanita said.

” Well, what’s abundance thinking?” Salvano asked, his tone genuine.

” I can tell you what it isn’t. It isn’t renting or owning shitty apartments in cities. It’s not having to go to a supermarket for every shred of food. It’s not working a job that is paycheck to paycheck. It’s not the noise and bustle and stressful living of the city.” Juanita replied.

” So how are YOU going to live an abundant life and provide an abundant life for your generations,” Salvano questioned.

” Well for one, I’m going to be an active old woman living on her acres of land and regularly harvesting her food. I won’t be a burden to my kids. My children will also have land where they can build their own homes. I will teach them the importance of having their own land and the importance of planting their own food.” Juanita answered.

” None of this brainwashing or glamorizing city living for your kids huh?” Salvano said with raised eyebrows.

” You got that right. My kids will be well-rounded, well-traveled human beings but they will always remember that having land and space is a wonderful thing. Planting and reaping is a wonderful thing. Plants and animals can always multiply.” Juanita said.

” As someone who got some form of inheritance from his father, I can say it’s greatly appreciated,” Salvano said.

” We are so fucking cursed, especially black people, Caribbean people, the Asians and the Indians too…so trained to work and accept shit thrown in our faces, not only to accept the shit but to eat it and continue working and to be tough. We are so proud of being overworked mules. No one has a clue how to relax and enjoy life.” Juanita said

” You know the people most excited about birthdays and holidays. The ones who hold grudges if you forget their birthdays? It’s the fucking overworked slaves at their jobs. More bitter than them you can’t find if you forget to call them. Yet if you give them three months of freedom they don’t know what to do with themselves. That’s how deeply ingrained this mentality of working to death has seeped into their bones. I for one reject it.” Juanita continued speaking passionately.

“ I mean you’re even expected to question yourself at the end of a work day whether you did enough or not. Whether you deserve to rest or not. It’s layers of subtle teachings about being hardworking and working harder and never giving a fuck about yourself or your health that is pushed on us from media, school and our parents. It’s fucking sick!” Juanita would not let up.

” Now people need pills to sleep, boosters to get through the day, pills to shit, pills for anxiety, pills to relax….fucking crazy. I Juanita Cortarzar reject such a life and such a future.” Juanita said vehemently.

” You go to work to become a little child all over again. The boss can deal with you any way they want, they decide when you get your days off, they nitpick at you, ignore common sense explanations or suggestions on how to improve work conditions, decide when you get to go to the bathroom….fucking disgusting.” Juanita continued.

Pausing to take another left turn at a crossway, Juanita watched the road. When it was clear she began again,

“From childhood, our parents begin training us to work, then they hand us off to school to teach us to become the perfect working robot. You are never good enough… it’s always working harder, be tougher, be stronger. Take more shit, don’t talk back.


“To what end? To live a miserable life where now people can’t even afford to retire? Can you imagine after years of this so called noble endeavour of being hardworking and having a job, you can’t even rest when your old. Fucking evil, fucking disgusting. I Juanita Cortazar reject living this way.” Juanita said firmly.

” I hear you Juanita, you are clearly passionate about this particular thing,” Salvano said.

Turning to quickly look at Salvano, Juanita replied

“I guess I am.”

They had finally arrived at the airport and this brought an end to their conversation for a time. They checked the arrival board to see where their Asian guests would arrive. It took thirty minutes to see the Korean guys exiting. The Japanese guys came after another half an hour. Everyone greeted each other as best as they could. Salvano took over the driving from Juanita as they headed back to Salvano’s home to give the guys rest from jet lag.