Lord Of The Finca


For a while, his pride and joy were managed by Prescilla, a young French-Canadian, who also ran the finca - Spanish for ‘farm’. In the eight or nine months that she lived there, Prescilla saw Eliezar take his horses out only twice. But when the busy owner finally paid Prescilla for her hard work, he also threw in the patch of land she had had her on eye to build her own cabin.


Eliezar’s finca is simply a large organic vegetable allotment and a small field of coffee plants, tended to by anyone wanting to lend a hand, in return for a bed in a converted tin-roof barn and the use of an iron wood-stove kitchen. Home-comforts are never far away though, as Eliezar invariably invites the labouring gringos back to his house for an evening tipple. There, empty glasses are forbidden.  The refrigerated bar is never closed, and whiskey is always the flavour of the month.


At such spontaneous soirees, Eliezar, otherwise weary eyed and softly spoken, comes to life, waving his arms about and stamping his feet in jest. The Best of Frank Sinatra, a double-disc collection, spins forever in his 5-tray CD player, and he is soon dancing around with the gringo girls.


Reticent to discuss anything in detail, Eliezar prefers to make flippant but surprisingly accurate statements regarding any trivial matter, such as: “melons are 15 dollars in Japan”, and: “in life, the big fish eat the little fish.” But as much as he likes to quip and tell everyone to “take it easy, man”, he can sometimes come across as somewhat sad and lonely.


He has two dogs, which he proudly says ate his neighbour Randall’s cat. Living down the hill, the tall elderly Scotsman now has a fluffy little white pooch that he hobbles after with his cane, the animal pulling at the leash.


“Every time I see Randall walking that thing,” Eliezar says, “I shout:  ‘Hey, Randall, when you gonna get yourself a real dog? Tha’s a gay’s dog! A real dog follows, not leads.’” Eliezer laughs and adds: “He don’t like that. He tells me be quiet, but I say: ‘Your dog is gay! We could get rid of it like your cat, just like that!’”


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