Mariposa

Festiva:

Eskimo drums and r4

By MARNIE HEYN
THE EXPERIENCE of Mariposa begins in
a lot of diverse places. For some it starts
when they clear the boarding area and
climb on a big airplane. Others stand by
the highway in the sun and wind, packs on
backs and instruments in hand, with their
right thumbs extended at awkward angles,
trying to look respectable.
We began our festival by tucking the five
of us and our gear into a Hornet hatchback,
ready to crowd our way through Detroit and
Windsor, hoping to stay awake on the crow-
runway called the McDonald-Cartier High-
way, 401 to Toronto.
Mandatory first stop was at the duty-free
shop at the entrance to the Ambassador
Bridge. Non-smokers and anonymous alco-
holics were buying their legal limit of cheap
tobacco and booze. We were approached by
a beery-eyed gentleman with ethanol breath
who asked if we would carry a couple of
bottles across for him because he had had
"a lot of hard-drinking friends in Canada."
It was his own liver. We agreed to ferry
the stuff, and set up a rendezvous at the
McDonald's on the Windsor end of the
bridge. He drove up in his gold-tone
Chrysler Imperial, we tossed the gin and
scotch in the front seat, he took off. Hoo
hah: an international smuggling cartel!
We gulped down our Big Mac's and fish
sandwiches at this outpost of cultural im-
perialism, this first way station of the
international cuisine of Ontario, folded our-
selves back into the car, and haggled all
the way to Toronto over who got to sit in

the front seat and WI
radio.
OUR TROUBLES
we arrived at our
turned out that wh
reservation had writ
name, the wrong d
number of people. Bp
would put us up som
After we rode up a
tor and pounded OD
"somewhere else" tI
concrete floor of the
basement. So much f
On the way to din
surplus store and bc
mattresses.
If you're ever in TI
Nam Inn.
(Pd. P
The front page o
Mail bragged about a
and promised more :
hearts and ponchos o
for the ferry.
We encountered ea
on the ferry's loadh
people in all sizes, sh
in the cold and dare
what has become th
tival in North Amed
Newport. Crossing To
Sam McBride or th
the fog, we left ci
watched Centre Isla
coustical music, emer

Kyle Creed