Mangos . . . the "best of" the Message Center

From: Mouse (Paul Fiori)
Date: 3/25/2001
Time: 5:11:11 PM
Ah the miracle of airplanes. While on my quest for guandu beans I found myself in a foreign store perusing the fruits and veggies from the tropics when out came the owner with a box of mangos and checking the label they were straight from Chiriqui,RP !!! So here I sit enjoying the smell and taste of a real home treat. $ 1.99 each but what the hell. Next treat will be a star apple. They had yucca also so maybe I'll boil and fry some up when the wife is gone somewhere.

From: George Waller
Date: 3/25/2001
Time: 11:50:16 PM
When I was a kid I used to love my mangos GREEN!

There was a huge mango tree in the ballpark next to my home in Amador that provided crunchy green mangos I would climb high up for. They had an apple-like texture that avoided the mess as well as the little stringy things that would get caught between your teeth.

Of course there was competition for them, once they ripened, with the poor kids from the barrio. They would sneak onto post to collect them in small groups with double-lined paper bags balanced on their heads, until the MPs escorted them out the gate. Tommorrow, however, would be another day for them.

From: Mouse (Paul Fiori)
Date: 3/26/2001
Time: 1:21:27 AM
Like I said- I paid $1.99 for one mango today in Alaska and yet you could buy 3 for a nickel from the little bitos back then. My dad had a Nissan 2000 with the cattle rig on the back and us kids would ride in back with sticks to smack the bunches of mangos as we drove to the causeway and then we'd go to Venado beach and sell them so we'd have money for seviche and fried corbina while at the beach. We used to give pony rides on venado also. You could always count on the Fiori clan being on horseback at the parades too.Alright which one of you threw those firecracker balls on the ground to scare the horses- fess up now! Those were the days dodging the shriners in their little cars huh???

From: Dave Jones
Date: 3/26/2001
Time: 10:13:02 PM
OK... now THIS is better than girls OR cars!! I guess outside of a good beach/causeway/guardia story, a good mango story is a must for any yarn-spinning Zonian. :) So here is mine...I learned to fly in a mango tree. Yes, I was only six at the time and back in those days Peter Pan was more real than Castro. And Torrijos was probably some subdivision in Chorillo. I learned my tree climbing skills from some other Curundu kid. We'd think happy thoughts and leap from one branch to another, while happily plucking mangos. One day on a distant trip to the far regions of Curundu Heights (1/2m away) I guess I ran out of Happy Thoughts. (It does happen, y'know) Well I immediately plunged to the ground, face first, with only my right wrist to break the fall. As a reminder to my mango tree skills, my nose still has a peculiar bend to the right. I still dream of flying, but gave up actually trying it from that day on. :) dave

From: Mouse (Paul Fiori)
Date: 3/27/2001
Time: 10:46:05 AM
Good one Dave. I learned to fly at x-mas tree lane off Gavilan area. There was a tree with a rope swing out over a concrete faced ditch. I missed catching the swing the first throw so decided to jump out for it. AS maxwell smart would say to the chief- missed it by that much- flew down landed on my face slid down the bank and broke my wrist on the concrete. age around 7 years old. The favorite mango trees were at the end of trapp street in curundu by the pool. Sandy toothman, the wills,trotters and steve sessions lived there also. We would climb and eat mangoes,catch guppies and crawdads in the creeks and enjoy watching Royal Blue butterflies feast under the trees. Kite flying and stink bomb wars were great curundu memories eh!

From: Joe Barkowitz
Date: 3/26/2001
Time: 5:49:47 AM
Ah...Mangos! We had a mango tree in our back yard on Las Cruces St. I wasn't very adept at climbing trees, but I had pretty good aim throwing a rock! I agree with George, the greener the better! Remember making mango salad? Green mangos, lots of vinegar, and salt & pepper. We would eat until we got a stomachache!