2 Tiger Sharks and 3 Hammerheads

When I heard this announced on the radio this morning, I thought, "Okay, I've got to do a post to my blog."

I mean, seriously, it has been 6 months! Where have I been? Did I fall off the south side of the planet, or what? Did I get sucked down a toilet that swirls the opposite direction when it flushes? Maybe.

So, apparently two tiger sharks and three hammerhead sharks were spotted off the coast of Perth this morning. Three beaches have been shut down. Not the one I normally go to, but don't worry, I won't be getting in. I rarely ever get in. Maybe just up to my knees...sometimes waist deep, but not usually.

The ocean is a scary place. I'm scared of sharks and jellyfish and rips...big waves...

The jellyfish I can overlook when there are already 100 people in the water...that's a pretty good sign that there aren't any jellyfish. I'm not even sure that Perth has a jellyfish problem. In Queensland on the east coast, they have a jellyfish season. They have two kinds of jellyfish whose stings can be fatal. If you want to know more about them, go here: Marine Stingers

So on to sharks and rips. I'm sure everyone thinks sharks are scary, especially if you saw Jaws as a child. So traumatizing.

Rips. There's a public service announcement on the radio here that says, "To escape a rip, swim parallel to the beach. To escape a rip, swim parallel to the beach. To escape a rip, swim parallel to the beach."

Rips are Australia's biggest beach killer. It's a current that runs perpendicular to the beach that can wash you miles out to the ocean. Scary, huh? Watch this video from the Surf Life Saving Club of Australia. Very interesting. Or you can go www.ripcurrent.com.au if you want to learn more about rip currents.

So, sharks. Chris (my Aussie boyfriend) always tells me that "they" patrol the beaches by airplanes or helicopters to look for sharks, that it's nothing really to worry about. (Did he not see Jaws?!) Having heard the announcement on the radio today, I believe him...the part about them patrolling. But it still freaks me out.

Australia is a beautiful place. I'm sure I said it before sometime 6 months ago, but it bears repeating. Beautiful. The ocean really is clear blue and green. The sand really is white. Sunshine and blue skies. I got to go out on a jet ski in the ocean the other day...the Indian Ocean! Who would have thought?!

I guess I'll leave it at that for now. I know you might be wondering about the past 6 months. I'll get to it.

90 degrees and sunny...with sharks.

The Break Up...

Well, it didn't really work out with the Belgian guy, but the German girl and I hit off well...and it turns out neither of us could really stand Steven. We made it to Rainbow Beach together and were basically stuck together until after Fraser Island, but we were in a group of 11 people on Fraser Island so there were many diversions.

I guess he was just too immature and too clueless for me...I mean, I'll sit in the passenger seat and read a map for you, no problem...but PLEASE remember how to get back somewhere after we've been there three times! I mean, there's only one turn...how hard is it??? I should have known it wouldn't work when the first thing I had to do before we set out (super late, thanks to Steven) was clean a moldy cooler.

Anyway, Sara and I have been hanging out in Rainbow Beach for a few days looking for rides...no luck so far and after she got this text from a guy in Brisbane who is supposedly heading north, we decided to revise our plan. Here's the text. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. All she wanted to know was his name, his age and where he's from. The text came through in 4 parts.

"Hi my real name is dhaval, but my australian friend call me darren. I am 26 yr old male. I am from planet earth, at earth, on earth because I believe because there is no boundary created on earth at time of origin, still no boundaries for birds, water & breeze but we are most logical creation of god and we logically devided this world in countries. my main aim to travel around world to feel part of planet not creater of this planet. I hve been in australia since 1 & half year, staying in queensland, tell me something about you if you feel that i m not crazzy, by the way enjoy rainbow beach."

Ooookay...We thought we'd tell him we're from Venus so probably not compatible travel buddies...Yikes! Sounds like a lunatic.

Anyway, yesterday we weighed our options...waiting for a ride, buying hop on/hop off Greyhound passes, renting a camper van. We decided to go with the camper van. It's slightly more expensive than the Greyhound but at least we can get out to see the national parks and all the beauty Australia has to offer.

So, to Crystal and Patty...I will be sleeping in a "van full of curtains."

We plan to get up to Cairns by the 20th. Sara will then spend a week with a WWOOFING family, I think, before she heads back to Berlin. I'll probably bum around the Cairns area for a few days before heading back to Perth.

So...Fraser Island was amazingly beautiful. It's the largest sand island in the world. It's just off the east coast of Queensland right near Rainbow Beach. I signed up, with Steven and Sara, for this self-drive safari. Basically the company that organizes it puts 9 to 11 people together in a giant 4WD Landcruiser, gives you some fairly detailed driving instructions, what to do if you get bogged, when to drive on the beach and when not to based on the tides, tells you what to do if you come across dingoes, etc., etc. Then he leads you to the vehicle ferry and send you on your way with your new big maybe-not-so-happy family for the next 3 days.

Our group was pretty good over all. I probably would have enjoyed a slightly older crowd...we had two 19 year old girls from Scotland, two 22 year old British guys, two 26 year old British girls, 20, 21, 22 year old German girls, 25 year old Belgian guy, and me. For the record, I have always found drinking games boring. Some of us were on the same page as far as getting up early to enjoy what we came there to see (mostly the German girls and me), and there is really a lot to see, so we needed an early start. But all in all it was okay, and we did see some absolutely beautiful landscape and a shipwrecked that washed ashore in 1935.

The dingoes stole some of our food the first night. They are sneaky animals and these dingoes are really not at all afraid of humans. One dingo crept in behind us in the dark as we were preparing dinner and stole the bag of wraps we needed for lunch the next day. So we had to improvise and ration out the bread for the next two days so we could have sandwiches instead for lunch the next day.

The government is working to keep these dingoes wild and enforces fines for feeding or attracting dingoes to your campsite by leaving food or food scraps around, but I think so many people come to Fraser Island every day that the dingoes are just very used to people.

Some of us were very fortunate the second day after our late start...we were supposed to go to a nice point called Indian Head where if you get there early enough you might see sharks (swimming in the water surrounding Fraser Island is not recommend due to sharks and strong undertows), whales, dolphins, dugongs (manatees), sea turtles or manta rays. We didn't get there early enough to see much and really didn't have much time to walk to the Champagne Pools which was another beautiful area recommended to see. We didn't even really know how to get to the Champagne Pools.

So I started asking around up top of Indian Head and stumbled across this Norwegian guy who said if I waited around just a bit his Australian brother-in-law would be up there and could probably tell us. So I waited, and the Aussie showed up. He told us it would take about 30-40 minutes but it would probably be a long hot walk. We thought about and decided we really didn't have the time because we had to leave Indian Head in about an hour and 20 minutes or so because of the tides...your car really can get washed out to sea if you're not careful.

But this nice Aussie guy, Mark, asked how many of us there were and offered to give us a ride over there in 2 groups if we wanted. Yes! Please! We weren't allowed to drive our vehicle that far per the rental agreement. So we piled in, and it turns out half of the people decided not to go, so it was just one trip. He zipped us right over there, and we passed Sara and Iris along the way. They had decided to head straight over there instead of going up to Indian Head. He said he'd pick them up after he dropped us off, and he did! It was great. We only had about a half an hour there, but at least we got to see it.

On the way back, Sara flagged down another Aussie in the parking lot who gave us 4 girls (the Germans and me) a ride back to our car. We really lucked out.

So, my memory card does have a virus. I got a new one for Fraser Island going forward, but all the pics from the west coast and when Crystal and Patty were here are stuck on the "sick" card. Once I get back to Perth, I'll try to have someone fix it up for me. Unfortunately I can't post any pics of Fraser right now because the computer I'm using at the hostel says if I plug any devices into the computer I will be fed to sharks!

I guess that's it for now...tomorrow I'll be in behind the wheel on the right side of a camper van driving on the left side of the road, but today...it's off to the beach.

Heading North!

I've been in Brisbane about a week now. It has rained almost everyday, but it's a nice city with a good vibe. I could very easily live here.

Crystal and Patty left on Monday to fly back to L.A. I had a fantastic time while they were here, and it may very well have been the most fun I've had since I left Denver. I laughed so hard everyday for 7 days that my abs were sore by the time they left!

We started out in Brisbane. I met the girls at the airport. They finally came out of customs after about an hour and a half. We rented a car and drove to Byron Bay, about 1.5 to 2 hours south of Brisbane. It was a nice little town right on the beach, but the weather was crap...and Australia wasn't turning out to be too enticing to Crystal and Patty.

Luckily the weather changed overnight, and the second day we had beautiful blue skies! We headed to the "Most Easterly Point of the Australia Mainland" just outside of Byron Bay. To get to it you have to walk or drive up a hill where there is a lighthouse then hike down and out east. On the way to the lighthouse we were lucky enough to spot some humpback whales heading north to warmer water to have their babies. We could see them splashing around, and although they were fairly far out, we occassionally got a glimpse of the whales...enough to identify there colors. It was awesome! I would love to go on a whale watching tour some day.

From Byron Bay we drove about six hours north to Noosa, where we got kicked out of a hotel before we checked in...may have had something to do with the booze breath that was radiating from Crystal, but I think the owner was just crotchety. I was the designated driver, or the skipper as they say here, so no booze breath for me. That was definitely a low point seeing as it was already 10.00 p.m. and all the hotel receptions were closed. Ugh. But we managed to eventually find a hostel with an open reception until 11...we barely made it. They didn't have any triple rooms, so we crammed into a room with two twin beds...the smallest twins you've ever seen. Crystal and Patty squeezed into one, and I was lucky enough to get my own. (Thanks Crystal and Patty!)

We spent one night there, then headed up to Agnes Water/Town of 1770 where we really splurged on a snorkeling trip to the Great Barrier Reef. It was pretty cool, although we all three were sea sick. Poor Patty was the only one who really had to make use of the barf bags...but Crystal and I were going downhill pretty fast once finally moved inside from the back of the boat where we were having a grand ol' time gettting soaked...I mean absolutely SOAKED...until the sun went behind the clouds never to return and we spent the next 6 hours freezing. By the time we finally made it to Lady Musgrave Island, we were really a collective wreck. But we had a great time all in all.

We spent three night in Agnes Water...met some great people there. Crystal maybe fell in love. Then we had to head back to Brisbane for one night before Crystal and Patty had to fly back. We stopped at the Australia zoo and fed kangaroos and petted koalas. Wow !

Would like to write more, but my time on the free computer is running out.

I leave tomorrow and a three week road trip with a Belgian guy and a German girl. I met the guy at my hostel and he met the girl through a community website like craigslist...she was looking for a ride north.

Two minutes to go...

Something is wrong with my camera. I can't seem to download/upload photos. It seems like I may have a virus. Is that possible?

Gotta run!

Down Under

I arrived in Australia about 5 weeks ago and have been on the go almost ever since, minus the first week when I pretty much only slept and ate and slept some more while getting over the jetlag and pure exhaustion from South America.

The first week I couldn't seem to stay awake past 7:00 p.m., and I was awake every morning before the sun came up...I heard the first bird of the day chirp...EVERYDAY. But now I seem to have my internal clock in sync with Australia time. Perth is 14 hours ahead of Denver.

It has been very nice to be in an English-speaking country. Australia is similar to the U.S. as far as standards of living goes, personal space, cleanliness, social norms, etc. So things generally make sense here. And the best part is, when things don't make sense, asking a question and getting an answer is easy because it's all in ENGLISH!

I have had to learn a bit of a new language, however:

stubby = bottle of beer
stubby holder = beer coozie
footy = Australian Rules football
cheesy = toasted cheese sandwich
pram = stroller
capsicum = bell pepper
tea = dinner
mozzies = mosquitoes
bottle shop = liquor store
sunnies = sunglasses
chewie = gum
chooks = chickens
daks = pants
dag = nerd, dork
bung = plug
ute = pick-up truck
Good on ya! = Good for you!, Well done!
sheila = a woman
lollies = sweets, candy
chips = french fries, fried potatoes
perving = checking someone out
pashing = french kissing
Rack off! = Get lost!
Wanna get on the piss? = Wanna go drinking?
rock up = show up, arrive
call in = stop by
spewin' = angry
Oz = Australia

And guess what. Fosters is NOT Australian for beer, Mate!

So what have I been up to the last few weeks?

Chris and I took a three week road trip from Perth up to Exmouth along the west coast of Australia. It was absolutely gorgeous, and we visited a lot of places that I would never have been able to see (or not so easily) without him because of the need for 4 wheel drive.

We hung out on some absolutely pristine beaches, some completely deserted and others jam-packed, but probably the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. Some of them were nice and sandy, others were rocky with amazing cliffs. We went to one beach called Shell Beach which is made up of millions of tiny shells, something like 8 feet deep.

I've seen lots of dolphins since I've been here. Besides just seeing them in the ocean from a distant or "chasing" them with a boat in the ocean, I also went to a resort called Monkey Mia where they have a feeding program for a group of dolphins that come to shore every day without fail. There was one dolphin in particular who back in the 60s was quite sociable with humans and begged for food at the back of boats. Some woman caught on to this and decided to lure the dolphin into the shore over time, and eventually this dolphin would come to shore on its own to be fed.

Today the Monkey Mia resort has a program (and tourist attraction) where they feed 5 dolphins (although about 15 or so come to shore semi-regularly) up to three times a day before lunchtime 1/3 of their daily intake. They don't want the dolphins to become too reliant on humans for their food. They won't consider feeding any dolphins younger than 13 years old, and they only feed female dolphins these days because the males sometime became too aggressive.

Occasionally, one of their females is "taken" by the male dolphins when the males are ready to mate. They males will literally bully the female, bite her, and force her to come with them. Usually the female is seen at the shore again, with injuries, within a few days but the longest one was taken for was just over a month.

It was a really amazing experience to stand in the water with dolphins swimming past my legs just a few feet away!

After making it to Exmouth we headed inland and checked out the gorges in the Karijini National Park. Gorgeous! We spent one day just sitting half in half out of one of the pools in the gorge soaking in the sun, drinking beer and watching tourists. We hardly moved for about 5 hours except to take turns hiking back to the car for more beers! It was a fantastic lazy day.

I'm back in Perth for about another week, and then I head to Brisbane to meet up with Crystal and Patty who are coming for a 7 day vacation. I'm looking forward to seeing some friends, especially girlfriends.

I'm not sure what the plan is yet from Brisbane. I've been invited to a birthday party in Sydney, so I may head south to Sydney, but it will be colder there. Or, because of my new addiction to sunshine, I'm pretty tempted to head up north where it should be nice and hot!

I'll keep you posted!

Last Thoughts on Latin America

I've been in, on, and among ancient ruins in three countries.

I've watched ocean sunsets and walked on beaches barefoot.

I've climbed an active volcano and stood next to glowing, flowing lava at dusk.

I visited a cloud forest and hiked around the rim of a gorgeous crater lake.

I ate a picnic lunch next to a green lagoon with 2 - 90 something year old sisters and the young daughter of one of their daughter's.

I rafted. I looked at tons of waterfalls.

I went to natural hot springs several different times.

I tried a steam bath...nice!

I admired countless beautiful, old churches. COUNTLESS!!

I learned to speak Spanish.

I visited the equator.

I touched giant starfish.

Looked at ancient gold artifacts.

Watched shooting stars and ate pizza at night on the beach.

Listened to the waves crash and fell asleep in the grass in the park in the warm sun...for hours.

I ate tuna sandwiches, olives and cheese and coffee for breakfast on the beach and then ate the same thing for lunch in the same spot on the beach, but switched the coffee to beer...This was a routine for a few days. I loved it.

I took a couple of little boat tours - Flores, Granada, outside of Bogota.

I met wonderful locals, especially in El Salvador, Colombia and Ecuador.

I stood under waterfalls and went horseback riding on the same day.

I saw the Panama Canal.

I have been to 10 countries.

I have felt tremors!

Australia - Give me more of the same!

Hola, Peru! Hola, Lima!

I'm in Lima, Peru...I think it has a population of 8 million or so....so it's no Denver. But what a beautiful city, built on bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean...wow!

I have 10 days left before I fly to Perth. I got a work visa for Australia, which I'm sure I mentioned already...but in any case, I have to enter the country by May 2nd or I lose the visa.

When I was granted the visa, nearly three months ago, I was in El Salvador, and I thought, "My god, how will I make it through South America fast enough?!" And the truth is, it's not possible to make it through South America fast enough. This continent is huge, and every country deserves a fair amount of attention and patience.

So, I've been to Colombia, Ecuador, and now Peru. Peru is certainly the sketchiest country in South America so far...I was scammed big time by the Peruvian taxi drivers (fuck them!), and today I was with an other America at the supermarket...he tried, unknowingly, to pay for his purchase with a 50 note (about $17), which turned out to be fake...along with another 100 soles that he got at the border...completely fake!

I was completely scammed by taxi drivers back to back on the Peruvian side of the border...which at one point, I thought this post would be titled, ¨I hate Peru¨ or ¨Thank god I eat fish¨ or ¨Get me the fuck out of South America." For the record...taxi drivers are scum...generally they screw you over in some sly method or another...don't get me started.

In any case, thankfully, I did not title this post that...Lima has been great...but I still believe Peru to be sketchy, and I can't wait to arrive in Perth.

However, Lima is a beautiful city, very metropolitan...beautiful skyrises, hotels, restaurants, but for me the best are the parks...along the cliffs overlooking the ocean.

Tomorrow night I head toward Cuzco, but I think I will probably make a stop 1/2 way because I'm not totally keen on a 20 hour bus ride.

So I guess that's it for now...

Ruta de las Cascadas

I had an action packed day today on four hours of sleep...and it's not over yet!

I rented a mountain bike for the day ($3.33) with two guys I met here in Baños. Paul from California and Vicente from Wales. We rode part of the Ruta de las Cascadas (Route of Waterfalls) about 10 miles (17K) fairly leisurely over the course of 5 hours with stops along the way to admire the many waterfalls and a few little side hikes to get a closer view. (Pictures soon to come.)

Oh! And how could I forget the bridge jumping ($15), which I happily observed despite the intense peer pressure. Watching was scary enough for me. Bridge jumping, I suppose, is a milder version of bungee jumping. Paul jumped. Vicente jumped. I took pictures.

At the bridge jump, we met a couple of Australians from Sydney (Simon & Jeff - ¨best mates¨) who also jumped, and who we met back up with towards the end of our ride and hiked up to the Pailon del Diablo waterfall.

The Pailon del Diablo (Pillar of the Devil) waterfall was amazing! Can't wait to post photos, but my battery is dead at the moment. It's not exactly Niagra Falls, but the water was really coming down fast and strong. You could walk right up underneath and have a bit of a ¨shower¨if you wanted...which we all did. It was a nice thrill!

Now it's off to thermal baths...which is what Baños (literally ¨baths¨) is famous for...this will be my second dip in the thermal baths. I also had a steam bath the other day, which was interesting and invigorating.

That's it for now!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a great birthday in Quito yesterday...better than I expected. I didn't have any plans really. I hadn't really met a lot of people at the hostel that I connected with or really enjoyed their company...except my two roommates which was very fortunate. My roommates were Ivan from Spain and Majken from Denmark. The three of us went to the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World or the equator) with them the day before.

As soon as I got up that morning, Ivan wished me happy birthday and gave me a hug. I was touched.

I slept in because I could, because I didn't have anywhere to be, no obligations, plans, etc...BUT I did get up just a few minutes before 10:00 a.m., before the free breakfast at the hostel was over! I ate breakfast, hung around the hostel on one of the terraces and soaked in some sunshine, took my time getting ready (like I always do!), and went to make some phone calls and do some emailing. I guess my only obligation was to call the two people who brought me into this world.

I felt more or less fine with not having any plans or doing anything special for my birthday, but after talking to my mom and my dad, I began to feel a little depressed when they asked what I was going to do to celebrate. But oh well, I felt fine and didn't want to let their questions influence my mood...but I did start to feel a little down.

I did some more emailing, and thought I would hit up a museum before it got too late...it was almost 3:30 already. Where does the time go? And the next thing I knew, there was Majken leaning into my view... ¨Happy Birthday!¨ And she had a big serving of chocolate cake for me! How did she know I was there at that internet cafe?! She told me she had asked around at the hostel and apparently someone had seen me at that internet cafe. So we headed off to the art museum together...

The museum was closed. Bummer. A $2 taxi ride for nothing. But we took the bus back to our neighborhood for $0.25. Neither of us had eaten, so we ended up at a Mediterranean restaurant watching the Ecuador vs Brazil soccer game, and I finally felt celebratory and had a beer...two big ones!

After the game was over, Majken said, ¨Hey, do you feel like just going back to the hostel and playing some pool?¨ Wow! Does this girl know how to make my day or what? Of course I feel like playing some pool! We got back to the hostel and she says, ¨Do you like wine?¨ I've been told I drink wine like water. We got a $4.50 box of wine, and the games began!

I played pretty well, made some nice bank shots, and after a while we were joined by two Israeli guys, a Colombian guy, two Argentinian guys, and an American guy who is studying at Naropa in Boulder. The Argentinians and Israelis wanted to play as well, so it was a fun night of pool with light-hearted disagreements on rules.

I popped back in my room at one point and discovered a new roommate. He told me someone had left me a piece of cake.
¨Yeah, thanks. She found me. It's my birthday.¨
¨Happy Birthday! How old are you?¨
"31."
His response: ¨Ouch!¨
Yeah, ¨ouch¨is right, especially when someone says ¨ouch!¨
But no biggie!

The night was great. Pool was fun. Majken and I drank a carton and a half of wine. I tried to stay up with her until 3:00 a.m. when she needed to leave for the airport, but I think I only made it to midnight or so. Majken really made my day...you never know how the day is going to go when you are traveling or who you are going to meet or where you are going to end up.

I'm in Latacunga now. It's just a little south of Ecuador. I'm happy to be out of Quito. I really didn't enjoy it. I'm not sure why...a mix of things I guess: the hostel, the neigborhood I was in, the daily stories of someone getting mugged right outside the hostel, and maybe I just wasn't feeling very touristy. Who knows?

I came to Latacunga today with Ivan. Tomorrow we are going to head to a village near Laguna Quilotoa, which is supposed to be beautiful. It's a crater lake. And I think day after tomorrow we will hike around the lake.

After that, I need to make my way out of Ecuador fairly quickly. I only have a month left in South America before flying to Australia.

So that's it for now!

100 Bottles of Beer in Bogota and more!

Well Crystal told me she is tired of looking at The Wheels on the Bus post...and it has been a month after all since my last post...I guess I'm not really a blogger. I think real bloggers blog every day or so.

Anyway, I'm in Bogota, Colombia. I arrived almost a month ago from Panama City. I only spent a few days in Panama but I did see the canal which was interesting. I left Rosey, my British travel companion, in Panama City and met up with Chris, my Australian travel companion, in Bogota.

In Bogota, I met up with Sebastian and Mariana - a brother and sister who were like family to me when I lived in Germany. I met Sebastian in my German classes in Hamburg and through him met his sister. It was really great to see them. I hadn't seen them for about 3 or 4 years.

Chris and I just spent a few days in Bogota before heading to Cartegena on the Caribbean coast, but we visited the Gold Museum, a cathedral outside of the city that is built inside an old salt mine, and took a cable car up a famous hill in Bogota where there is a beautiful church and a view of the city of 8 million people!

The salt mine cathedral was interesting and not all what I expected...I guess I was thinking Disney because I had picture a big beautiful white cathedral made of salt. I must have overlooked the mine part of the description which would indicate dark underground tunnels! So it wasn't Disney, but it was interesting.

We headed up to the coast to Barranquilla for Carnival, which proved to be a little bit too wild for either of us. So after one day and night of being harrassed and ¨robbed¨by street hoodlums we headed back to peaceful little Cartegena and didn't experience Carnival at all. Once we got to Cartegena I was a little bummed that we didn't stick it out in Barranquilla and experience Carnival, but at the same time it's hard to have fun when you are constantly worried about your safety or getting robbed or pickpocketed. So maybe it was for the better.

Cartagena was a nice place with a beautiful walled old town - very colonial - with some beaches nearby. We didn't really do a whole lot there. We went to two different beaches, one for lunch one afternoon and the other so I could do a little tanning. It was hard to enjoy the time on the beach because we were constantly bothered by vendors selling ceviche, sunglasses, massages, pedicures & manicures - and just one look at the set up for massages (lay yourself right on the sand) with who knows what kind of ¨oil,¨ you would never take them up on it, no matter how cheap! At least I wouldn't! Same goes for the pedicures and manicures!

From Cartagena, it was an 10 hour night bus ride or so back south to Medellin - I think the third largest city in Colombia. In Medellin we really enjoyed the restaurant options because Cartagena was a week full of ¨tipico¨: for me that meant rice, beans, fried banana, salad, and a fried egg...and it was the same meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There were some nice non-tipico restaurants in Cartagena, but they weren't for the backpackers budget. And I guess we splurged a little bit on dining in Medellin, but it was worth it!

It rained a fair amount in Medellin so we found ourselves passing the time in a couple of pool halls...which in Colombia appear to be strictly for men, but no one seemed to pay too much attention when we came strolling in, which for me was nice for a change! The problem for us was that we couldn't play pool at most of these pool halls because the tables had no pockets! This wasn't 8-ball. It was a pocketless game with three balls and the object was to use one of the balls to contact the other two. And each time you did that you got one point and another turn. I think they played 'til 50, and it was generally an hour a game. It was mostly older men who played. And there was always 10-15 men just hanging around each table watching maybe drinking some coffee, there wasn't much alcohol. We got a kick out watching them...I mean pool with no pockets!

We eventually found a couple of pool halls with a ¨normal¨ table but we could only play there (or I only felt comfortable playing) if it wasn't too busy because the only normal table they had always right by the urinals which were just up against a wall out in the open...so needless to say it wasn't an ideal set up for me.

We also visited a nice botanic garden in Medellin with beautiful orchids and banana trees...banana trees are fascinating!

From Medellin we headed by night bus back to Bogota to meet up with Mariana and Sebastian again, just in time for Chris' birthday. It was a wild night that started early that Friday afternoon in Sebastian's restaurant. We had done a little pre-celebrating the night before in the old town of Bogota which is now a university area, so by the time we showed at the restaurant, Sebastian was more or less done for the day, and friends were already there for Friday afternoon drinks. Once we had completely consumed all the beer and Aguardiente (literally hot water - a nice Colombia liquor kind of like Sambuca), we headed to a the apartment of one of Sebastian's friends. I think the night ended around 4 or 5 a.m. And I stayed in bed until about 5 p.m. the next day! The total count: 100 beers, 5 bottles of Aguardiente, 1.5 bottles of whiskey. What a party!

Sunday Mariana, Sebastian and their cousin Frederico took us on a little day trip north of the city. We saw some beautiful countryside, took a little boat trip, and had a nice lunch. We were all still recovering a bit from Friday night, so a mellow day with an early evening was in order.

Chris left for Buenos Aires earlier this week to continue his world trip, and I moved in with Mariana and Sebastian at their mom's house for the rest of my stay here. Once again, it has been such a treat to stay at someone's house and be out of the hotels and hostels. There's no place like home, even if it's not your own, I suppose.

I'm heading to Ecuador on Tuesday or Wednesday this week via night bus...ugh. It's 24 hours between here and Quito, but I'm gonna break it up and stay a night or two in Cali - a Colombian town about 1/2 way.

I applied for and was granted a work visa for Australia that requires me to enter the country before May 2nd or the visa will be revoked, so I'm on a bit of a time crunch now. I've decided to cut out Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. I've been to Chile once before, so that's okay, but I'm a little bummed about Argentina and Bolivia. I guess I'll have to take another trip down here sometime!

I'm planning to spend about two weeks in Ecuador before heading to Peru to see Machu Picchu, the Inca ruins. Then I'm hoping to fly from Lima to Sao Paulo, Brazil to visit Danielle - another friend from Germany. And then from Sao Paulo to Sydney or Melbourne or somewhere Down Under!

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round...

I'm in San Jose, Costa Rica right now emailing from my hotel which is super nice and a real step up from some of the other places I've stayed recently. It's beautiful. Hardwood floors in the room and beautiful tiled hallways, and even hot water showers! I'm sharing the room (and king size bed!) with Rosey, a girl from Britain who I met in Granada, Nicaragua. I mean 3 1/2 weeks ago we didn't even know each other and now we're sharing a king size bed...traveling can be strange.

After I left San Salvador I went to Managua (the capital of Nicaragua). It wasn't exactly beautiful but I spent one night there and left the next day by noon. I visited a park that has the ruins of buildings and tanks left from their revolution as well as a small Sandisto exhibition and a nice view of the city and Lake Managua.

The ¨biggest¨tourist attraction, where I was the only tourist, was some footprints called Huellas de Acahualinca that were discovered in 1874 by accident by some construction workers. The footprints are 6000 years old and were left behind by a group of about 10 men, women and children. One theory suggests that the people left the area to escape a volcanic erruption, but the footprints don't indicate that they were running, so who knows? The footprints were left in a layer of volcanic mud and were preserved when they were covered by a layer of volcanic ash.

So besides that, Managua is pretty much a big, hot spread out city where for safety sake it is often recommended to take a taxi during the day. Not exactly the place for me.

I headed to Granada that afternoon. Granada is pretty and nothing like Managua really. It's smallish, quaint and colonial...and a big tourist destination, which has it's advantages and disadvantages. I took another week of Spanish lessons there and did a homestay which is a cheap way to handle accommodations if you can handle staying in someone's home. It was $80 for the week which included a ¨private¨room and three meals a day. The woman's name is Chagua and when she was younger she used to run one of the most popular ¨comedors¨in Granada. She's kind of famous. A comedor is kind a local restaurant often run out of a family home where they serve typical regional dishes. So, she was a great cook.

There was another girl staying with Chagua who arrived one day before me...Rosey, from Britain, who I'm still traveling with now. She was also taking Spanish lessons and had planned to stay another week, but ended up coming with me.

I made a nice little group of friends that week through the Spanish school...Rosey, Emily from Australia, Norbert from Germany, and Corey from the U.S. It was an awkward combination of people, but we had drinks together on several occassions, did a little tour of the islands, went to a baseball game, and did a cloudless cloud forest hike. I had a great time.

I left Granada with Emily and Rosey and the three of us went to Jiquilillo which is pretty far north in Nicaragua on the Pacific Coast. It was a bit of challenge to get there by chicken bus...but that's the only way. The chicken buses, by the way, are old U.S. school buses. So you can imagine that the buses are not very comfortable for adults...but Central Americans do tend to be small. At one point the bus was so full with school children that the bus helper was placing them two deep in the aisle between the seats. So they basically had to stand sideways in the aisle facing the windows...almost spooning!

We stayed at Rancho Esperanzo, which was beautiful and a little too intimate in the end. The three of us got a bungalow for $8 each per night. And there was basically a $12 a day meal plan, and an honor system beer fridge. When you took a beer, you put a tick mark by your name. We had a nice time, but because there's not much to do but hang around with every one else who is staying there, I guess we tired of the staff and other guests fairly quickly. And 2 days before we arrived two girls were robbed by two guys with machetes just down the beach a ways at 2 in the afternoon, so staying close to the ranch seemed like a good idea. We only stayed two nights. That was a lot of twos, huh?

In Jiquilillo I did try kayaking for the first time. It was a two man kayak and was frustrating at first with Rosey in the front seat barking at me about how to steer and when to turn, but after I offered to switch with her so she could do it and she declined, I had no problems ignoring her and taking in the beautiful views. And I eventually got the hang of it, so we had a good time. We went with Emily, the two girls who were robbed and the goofy little Nicaraguan guide.

From Jiquilillo (pronounced he-key-leo) Emily and Rosey and I had a hellacious journey to San Juan del Sur...it was supposed to take 6 hours and it took 9 hours. All in all it was a 12 hour day of travel with a break for lunch and emailing. Everything went pretty well until we were duped into getting on the slow bus to Managua from Chinendega. The driver's helper told us it would take 1.5 hours. It took 3. It was the total back road bus through the villages on dirt roads and the driver insisted on driving on the side of the road most of time. And don't forget, we're on a school bus. We were absolutely pissed. Emily especially since we were making this long trek for her to meet up with her boyfriend.

When we made it to Managua three hours later, a kind lady helped us with a taxi...which we desperately needed, the help and the taxi, because the last bus from Managua to Rivas was leaving in about 45 minutes. We managed to catch that bus, and now we hoped that we would catch the last bus from Rivas to San Juan del Sur. Well I sat with one butt check on the end of a seat that was already holding two adults with someone's butt in my face no matter which way I looked for about an hour as the sun sat and that sardine-packed bus to Rivas broke down.

At first it wasn't really clear that there was a problem because the bus hadn't stopped running; they had just pulled over. But I was toward the front of the bus, and I could hear the tools clanking and see the strange objects being past forward. I called back to Emily and Rosey and told them they were making repairs...with probably like 85 people on board. Emily decided to get out to assess the situation. Apparently they some how lost the lug nuts. Dear god. After waiting around 45 minutes or so another bus to Rivas appeared and we hopped on that one, paid the fare again and were on our way...and our original bus eventually passed us. Fine with me though...who knows if they made it there with all of their wheels.

When we arrived in Rivas the last bus to San Juan del Sur had already left. We had to take a taxi...which makes me unconfortable sometimes, especially at night. I mean it's basically like hopping in a car with a strange man and well...who knows what could happen. So I interviewed him, checked his drivers license, his taxi license, checked the plates to his taxi license...we stood around a felt him out for a bit and about 20 minutes later we were off. We got into San Juan at 9:30 p.m. with no problems. We found some over priced food, if you could call it that, and then hooked up with some people Emily's boyfriend had met. And suddenly it was 4 a.m.

Rosey and I headed to Liberia, Costa Rica the next morning. The border crossing from Nicaragua to Costa Rica was uneventful, but confusing. There aren't many signs or officials telling you what to do or where to go. I mean to leave Nicaragua you wait in a line that says Entering Nicaragua. We paid our $2 exit fee to Nicaragua and almost slipped across the border to Costa Rica unnoticed. If it hadn't been for some guy hanging around who got the official's attention we would have walked right past that checkpoint without noticing it or them noticing us.

So you are probably getting the picture here...the last few days have been virtually one long bus ride after another. Yesterday was a 6 hour ride, today was 4, tomorrow Rosey and I are going to David, Panama - 9 hours. Guess what's on the agenda for Saturday? Another 9 hour bus ride to Panama City...BUT...once I'm there I'll get to rest up for a few days before flying to Bogota, Colombia. But once I'm in Bogota, I meeting back up with Chris the Australian for a TWENTY HOUR bus ride to Cartegena. Have a I lost my mind???

Goodbye El Salvador!

It has been exactly three months since I left Denver, and tomorrow I'll be leaving San Salvador for Managua (Nicaragua). It's a 12 hour bus ride - oh goody! But I was given 3 English-language Cosmos to read and a couple of Newsweek and Time magazines, so I am plenty weighted down with reading material.

So three months in and 3 of my, what? - 10 articles of clothing, have holes in them. I ditched The Lonely Planet before leaving Antigua but have since acquired a thinner, "revised" version. I gave my stainless steel water bottle to my Salvadoran mom. I left the over-the-counter anti-diarrhea drugs in Copan Ruinas (Honduras), along with my pop-up hairbrush/mirror which was stolen from my room by the cleaning lady. (She said it was very rare for something like that to happen.) I broke my sunglasses, which Guillermo fixed with super-glue, and which I broke again a few days later. I finished and gave away one of the two novels I brought and acquired one more. I gave away my awful Spanish/English dictionary that never had a single word I needed in it. I gave away my Spanish phrasebook and dictionary, because, well let's be real, how often do I need to say, "My room has not been made up." or "Is there a certificate of authenticity?"

After leaving Antigua I spent a week in Monterrico, Christmas and New Years in San Pedro, La Laguna, then headed for Tikal, which was amazing. From there it was Placencia (Belize)...a decision that was influenced by a need to renew my visa but mostly from a tiny little photograph of a beautiful beach that was pasted to a hand-painted, almost cartoon-like map on the wall inside of a travel agency in Flores. And the beach was just as beautiful in real life. From Placencia a trek to Roatan Island (Honduras) for nearly a week of rainy afternoons and lots of mosquito bites, but it was nice nonetheless. Roatan to San Pedro Sula (Honduras), the AIDS capital of Central America, where I had one of my worst experiences so far - I thought I was getting robbed by 5 or so men dressed in black with guns drawn who turned out to be police, at which point I thought I was still going to be robbed. Super-scary, but in the end nothing happened. From Central America's AIDS capital to Copan Ruinas to El Salvador/San Salvador.

I've been in El Salvador about 10 days and have experienced amazing hospitality from the locals as well as the mother (and her husband) of a co-worker of my friend Jenny's husband. I spent three days traveling around El Salvador with a family that I got acquainted with on the bus from Honduras. They really made me feel like part of their family and insisted that I join them for a few days. I got to travel in El Salvador like a middle-, maybe lower-middle class local taking the local buses everywhere, eating pupusas from street vendors, drinking coconut water and getting to have all my questions about El Salvador answered. I was well looked after and taken care of. And I was also humbled by how caring and giving this family was to those truly in need.


After traveling with Guillermo & Norma and their mother, Doris, I was delivered safely to Margaret and Don who have been amazing hosts and really invited me to feel at home in their beautiful home in San Salvador. I have been spoiled for nearly a week with my own comfortable and super-clean bedroom & bathroom (with a hot-water shower!), with an incredibly comfortable bed that is almost impossible to get out of, with delicious meals, wine, internet access, phone calls home...all of the amenities of home and then some! They have both spent many years working around the world for the U.S. Embassy and have collected gorgeous rugs, wood carvings, dishes, masks, etc. during their travels.

Margaret & Don in Suchitoto





One of Margaret's employee's daughter, Marcella, was kind enough to be my tour guide for the past three days (picking me up at 7:30 a.m. the last two days!) and has shown me lots of El Salvador...amazing ruins, beautiful countryside, lakes, and views. She was great company, a wonderful guide and we really had a lot of fun together. I even got to meet her 83 year old grandma and her 88 year old great aunt who still runs a plant nursery out of her home! And it was Marcella who loaded me up on Cosmos and Newsweeks for my trip tomorrow.
(Marcella & me with Lake Coatepeque in the background.)

I am having an amazing time, better than I could have ever imagined!

Merry Christmas! (again!)

Christmas was great here in San Pedro. It was a two day extravaganza involving big meals, relaxing, laughing, fireworks by the water and in the streets, and a cup that runneth over...

Andrea, Chris and I did stockings. If you look under Andrea's Christmas tree, you can see our three stockings on the right. In my stocking I got a package of gum, a mandarine orange, cough drops, used lipbalm, some ¨rubbish¨, a few starbursts, and a key chain. Not bad, huh?

I gave candybars, worrydolls, antibacterial wipes, little drink mixes, a few Sudoku puzzles, and I think that's it.

The three of us had a mimosa brunch at Alegre Pub with about 15 other people...many who we had already met. It was a great time, the food was good, the company was good.

After brunch I went for a siesta, and then Christmas dinner started back at Alegre at about 6:00. It was an enormous plate of food which I could hardly put a dent in, but the wine went down easy.

After dinner, we shot off fireworks. There was probably a crowd of 10 or 15. We went down by the lake and took turns shooting off little ones and ¨big¨ones. It was a good time.

Most of us headed back to Alegre for a couple more, and I ended up calling it an early night.

Today has been very, VERY, lazy...but it is the day after Christmas after all!

Merry Christmas!

I'm in San Pedro La Laguna again at Lake Atitlan and will be here for Christmas. The shuttle I was in was nearly hit by a chicken bus yesterday, so that was a little exciting and mostly scary!

I've made a few traveler-friends while I've been in Guatemala. Most of us have been traveling in and around Guatemala for the past few weeks, and it looks like we are all going to meet in San Pedro for Christmas...a place that everyone, including me, really seems to enjoy. Nick-the-Brit will be here and Andrea from Golden, Chris-the-Australian.

Anyway, I finally made it to Monterrico which was my original planned destination. I spent about a week there with an Australian travler, and we met up with two American guys in there mid-20s traveling that we shared a bungalow with on the beach.

There was a little living area and kitchenette and a fridge that we mostly used for coconuts and beer. And we had a little pool right outside the bungalow. There was a nice bar beachside that served food, and from there you could watch beach soccer (yep, in the sand!) and volleyball. I even saw a couple of whales way out in the ocean blow up water and flip their tales!

We got to know a couple of "amigas" who were ten and twelve - Erica and Selena. They were best friends and basically knew each other since birth. Their families owned restaurants, and they were always trying to usher us in to their restaurant. We ate at their restaurant several times, and my Spanish is at a level where I could chit-chat with them a little bit.

They were fascinated by Chris the Australian, who is blonde haired and blue eyed and who also has quite a bit of blonde forearm hair. Several times the girls sneaked a quick tug at his arm hair or neck hair and shyed away and laughed. They told me secrets "that were just for women." It was pretty amusing.

We set off fireworks with them one night as well. It attracted a crowd of kids, and we all had a great time. At Christmastime apparently, everyone here sets off fireworks...including us!

After the American guys moved on, we moved over to another hotel with an awesome pool, and I basically spent 4 or 5 days just relaxing by the pool, drinking beers, having a dip in the pool, another beer... There was also a tree pruned like a chicken. How bout that?!

There were some nice people staying there and one not so nice German lady that we liked to call Inga-bitch. Her name was Ingaborg. She was probably in her late 50s, early 60s and had definitely spent too much time in the sun. She seemed to hate us everyone and everything- music, conversation, smiling, laughing. What the hell is she doing on vacation?!

There was also Jon, a Brit, who was something like 6'4" and had a nice round hairy belly that he seemed quite comfortable with. He was always in his bright yellow swim shorts with this colorful cotton scarf around his neck, that served as his towel. He was a riot and loved to talk shit under his breath about people under the assumption that they couldn't understand English well or at all or at least not his heavily British-accented English.

Jon introduced us to a group of Canadians who had driven a caravan all the way down from Canada with a stop at Burning Man. They were probabaly in their early 50s. They were a lot of fun.

A group of about 10 of us went to the local cirus, which was fairly bizarre, but entertaining. 2 scrawny little monkeys had been chained up outside of the circus tent for a couple of days as advertisement for the circus. They were cute, but of course I felt sorry for them.

Anyway, I think we all checked out the circus for lack of any thing else to do. There were a couple of contortionists, a few skits with a lot of sexual undertones, a couple of dancers dressed in bikinis with beads draped around their waists, and there was an acrobat bar and rope that was never used, and the monkeys sat on the bleachers at watched the whole performance. Well, what do you expect for $3?

There are tons of guns in Guatemala and lots of problems with alcoholism. Everyday in Monterrico, you could spot several men carrying a guns in holsters on their hips and it was never uncommon to see a man passed out along the sidewalk with his buddies just sitting around him.

At one bar we liked to frequent, one night the bartender/owner's nephew was walking around with a laptop back slung across his chest all night. He was mixing drinks and serving beers and changing the music on his laptop which was blaring full blast. Finally, I asked him what was with the bag. He keeps his gun in there. Interesting. He hadn't carried a gun around the last few times we were in there. He explained that he didn't have any staff there that night, that he was alone, and that it was just a safety precaution...as if it were perfectly normal.

--The gun-wielding bartender.

I really had a great time in Monterrico...got eaten alive by mosquitoes, but I managed to decrease my whiteness a bit so I'm not quite so blinding.

I'm looking forward to relaxing in San Pedro for several days with my friends and then I will be heading to Tikal.

I'll try to send more pictures soon.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving!

I don't know where the time goes. I thought I would have tons of time on my hands once I FINALLY left on my trip, that it would no longer be go-go-go for Mo, that I would be tanning (or burning) on a beach somewhere... but I guess I'm a person that goes-goes-goes and somehow I struggle to find time for Spanish homework, emailing, posting to my blog, etc. Maybe on this trip, I can learn to slow down, to do less and relax more. Hard to say. Too early to tell.

Today I'm feeling a little lonely, I'll be honest.

Several people I've met while I've been here and around Guatemala have asked me what it's like to travel alone, if I'm ever afraid, if I get lonely, etc.

What I usually say is that I haven't really been afraid and sometimes I get lonely, but not very often and sometimes it's okay to feel lonely anyway, but that usually I'm good at meeting people so it's not so, so often that I find myself alone.

On this trip when I'm feeling lonely or depressed, I really try to nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand. I think, "Why I am feeling like this? What can I do to change how I'm feeling?" or "It's okay that I'm feeling like this, and it'll pass." Sometimes writing in my journal helps. Sometimes calling home to friends or family helps, but sometimes I can't because I don't feel like talking about how I'm feeling. And sometimes an extra dose of fish oil is all I need!

Today I took the fish oil, called my Grandma, and now this post is kind of like writing in my journal, but I'll spare you the real journal entry for today! What I thought I'd do is respond to some questions about my Thanksgiving and share with you an excerpt from my journal on Thanksgiving. (I'm feeling better already.)

Thanksgiving day, I had my usual Spanish lesson in the morning. Oliver and Becky stopped by in the early afternoon to retrieve some stuff they had left with me. We lounged around my room for a while chit-chatting, which I really enjoyed. Doug popped by quickly. Nancy popped in and out a few times. It was lazy and casual and felt like Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving dinner may have been the least traditional one I've ever had. I ate in a little Guatemalan restaurant in the back of a "tienda" (a little convenience store, but not like 7-11. Think way smaller, dingy-ier, no slurpees, etc.). I dragged Oli and Becky (who were recovering from food poisioning, bad water, who knows?) along with me to meet Nancy (my Canadian "mom") at the tienda restaurant with no sign or any indication of a restaurant. Nancy was there with an 80 year old gentlemen named David.

David has been living in Guatemala for the past 19 years or so working with the indiginous poor here in a village somewhere outside of Antigua. He was fascinating, hard of hearing, and thoroughly enjoyed his boxed red wine. I think he's married, but he's wife doesn't want to live in Guatemala with him.

There was no menu at this place, so when I was tried in my best Spanish to politely order something that didn't contain meat (or chicken for that matter!), David suggested I order the "caldron" or something like that. It was basically a vegetable soup - made with a chicken broth, I'm sure - but I ate all the rice, potatoes, and other vegetables out of it and pretended that one bite I had with something weird and rubbery in it wasn't a little piece of chicken, and I left most of the broth in the bowl for fear my stomach may not receive it lovingly.

It was a mellow Thanksgiving. Turns out David didn't know it was Thanksgiving until this week. Nancy is Canadian, so her Thanksgiving was in October. Oliver is German, so no Thanksgiving and recovering. And Becky, who is American, was recovering as well. So those two weren't all that jovial, and even so, Oli was kind enough to go back to the hostel twice to retrieve the boxed wine I had left. First to look for it outside of their room door where I told him I left it, and a second time to get it from the kitchen where I actually left it, which I remembered once he returned the first time and told me it wasn't there.

So although the evening and the food weren't exactly exciting, the company was great and in any case, I was thankful. From my journal:

"...in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I think I need to list and explain some things and people for which/whom I am thankful..it's really more people than things.

1. Doug - my first friend in Antigua who is sort of like my Simmel of Antigua.
2. Nancy - my "mother" who feeds me regularly, checks in with me daily...and likes to talk about men, Guatemala, yoga and the magic of Antigua, etc.
3. Victor - my Spanish teacher who is fascinating, knowlegeable on a very wide variety of subjects, and most importantly a firm believer in God and the miracles he has experienced. I could write a whole book on Victor's experiences with miracles.
4. Becky & Oliver - who have really been my best friends here. I care for them greatly and they for me. They have been a constant source of companionship & entertainment, and I will really miss then when we finally have to part ways. They have become like family to me.
5. I'm thankful for Nick-the-Brit and Nick-the-American who both individually and separately gave me insight on life and love and travel and relationships, from two very different perspectives...and very different than my own.
6. I'm thankful for my nice room (with the occasional big spider or cockroach) and the hot shower, which could never compare to the U.S., but I'm thankful nonetheless.
7. I'm thankful for the safe & uneventful travel I've experienced.
8. And last, but not at all least, I am thankful for my family and my friends who support what I'm doing, for those who check on me regularly as well as those who think of me often.

I am so very, very blessed."

So, although my shirt was on backwards most of the day today, at least I don't have my undies on inside out! I succeeded at feeling better and am looking forward to meeting up with Andrea from Golden, CO in a couple of hours!

As always, thank you so much for your emails and comments!

An Earthquake and an Active Volcano

A week ago yesterday there was a tremor in Guatemala. It originated by the west coast and the magnitude was 4.9. For those of us who don't know anything about earthquakes and tremors, anything with a magnitude less that 6 is considered a tremor.

It was about 9 a.m. I was an hour into my Spanish lesson. It was the strangest sensation and hardly anyone seemed to notice. I thought maybe a HUGE truck was rattling over the cobblestone streets outside...but I've never really seen a semi (as we know them) in Antigua. My teacher kept talking. Finally, I had to interrupt. What the hell is going on?! (Okay, I don't know how to say that in Spanish, but that's what I wanted to say!)

It was a tremor. He said he thought he was feeling dizzy. I was too...that's because the earth beneath us was swaying back and forth! The building rattled a little bit. The light bulbs in my room have been a little temperamental ever since. And apparently the reason so many people didn't notice (again, for those of us who know nothing about earthquakes) is that if it's a little tremor and you're up walking around, you can't really feel it.

The last major earthquake in Antigua was in 1976, and people here lived in tents at the market for about two months following the earthquake because the houses were too unstable. Victor, my teacher, says that Antiguans appreciate small tremors because, he says, when there are long periods without a tremor people begin to worry that there will be another major earthquake.

Last weekend I was surprised and fortunate to have a visitor from Colorado. Chris's girlfriend's brother, Marcus (who I'd never met) was in Guatemala and he met up with me in Antigua after visiting Tikal. It was great to have a traveling companion, if only for a weekend, and we had a fantastic time together. We hiked one of the active volcanoes here with Becky and Oliver. I think all four of us probably thought from time to time, ¨Is this a good idea to climb an active volcano??¨

Well...there were a 100 other tourists doing it...and it was a guided tour...but if everyone else jumped into the fiery lava, would I?

Anyway, the volcano is called Pacaya. It's about an hour and half outside of Antigua via bumpy shuttle bus that seems to only have one speed - WAY TOO FAST - and moves quickly and recklessly through the windy and narrow roads that lead to the volcano. If you're proned to motion sickness (or recovering from a hangover), this will not be your ideal trip.

I don't think any of us realized how far away the volcano was, so we were relieved when we saw signs leading to Pacaya. The running joke when there was any confusion or delay was, ¨And now we get robbed.¨

There was a brief delay when we entered the national park. ¨And now we get robbed.¨

We made it through the entrance in our shuttle to the trailhead where we were met by a hoard of children selling sticks. They insisted these sticks were necessary. (Are they weapons or hiking aids?) In any case, we passed. ¨Es necesario! Es necesario!¨

Our guide was named Samuel, and he reminded me a little of Carlos from the Rover, both in appearance and demeanor. He was great. Cheerful, patient...he spoke Spanish clearly and slowly and would repeat himself if need be so that we understood. He showed us different plants along the way and told us about the volcano. I think the last erruption was in 1996. I can't remember for sure.

Anyway, it was quite an experience. We took the afternoon trip, so we arrived near the top right at sunset. There was one stream of lava flowing that begun flowing about two months ago. It was absolutely amazing. You could walk right up to it. It was awesome to seeing it glowing...and flowing and glowing. It was mesmerizing. AND VERY VERY HOT. I smelled burning rubber. I checked my shoes. Mine were fine, but I suspect someone returned with melted soles.

As I approached the molten lava, it seems like I crossed some kind of threshold into the heat. I cautiously felt the lava rocks beneath me. They really weren't that hot, but I guess the heat was radiating from below. I imagine closer to the molten lava the rocks were hot to the touch, but I didn't check. I have some awesome pictures to post whenever I get that figured out.

The other really cool part about the hike before reaching the top, we had to hike down an ENORMOUS incline that was basically a huge pile of lava dirt or teeny tiny lava rocks. It was so steep, you could only go fast. There was no going slowly and cautiously. Basically you had to run down it and dig in with your heels as you go, go, go! I can't express how fun it was. I felt like a little kid. Sheer joy just bubbled up and out from inside me and all I could do was laugh all the way down. It was so dirty because with every step you stirred up a giant dust cloud and I don't think my shoes will ever be the same, but it was so much fun!!

Oliver made the point that we crossed the barrier of trying to stay clean because now we were so dirty it didn't matter any more.

It was dark for our hike back. (And now we get robbed.) But we had the moonlight and a flashlight for every two of us, and we managed to make it back down without too many stumbles and only one major freak out over a gigantic spider that turned out to be a shadow.

For me it was a hard climb up. Hiking on loose volcanic rock isn't exactly easy. I huffed and puffed and struggled quite a bit with my asthma on the way up. Marcus and Oliver took turns hanging back with me (so I didn't robbed), and I really appreciated them doing that. It's a drag to be the slow one, but I'm so glad to have experienced hiking an active volcano and seeing molten lava in the dark and the belly laughter on the downhill run. It was definitely an experience like none other for me.

By the way, we didn't get robbed.

Welcome to Antigua!

If you haven't stumbled and fallen in the streets of Antigua, my teacher says, then you don't know Antigua.

In that case, I was introduced to Antigua yesterday evening. There I was walking along, trying to take in the sights of a new street, and SPLAT! There I was lying on the sidewalk. Oliver helped me up, and he and Becky and I assessed my wounds in the dark...I would live.

For the record, I only had one beer and the streets and sidewalks of Antigua are hazardous. And my I really did make a SPLAT as my forearm hit the pavement.

The sidewalks are really narrow. It's awkward for two people to walk side by side. Many of the windows are like giant bay windows and hang over the sidewalk. Depending on how tall you are, the windows will either hit you in the head or your shoulder. Here, it seems to be more gentlemanly to take the inside and let your lady walk on the outside so she doesn't have to dodge the windows every few feet. The sidewalks are a mix of concrete and cobblestones, with no rhyme or reason to the mix, and they will suddenly drop of 2, 4, 6, 8 inches to give way to a driveway of sorts...I think that's what got me...or maybe it was a missing cobblestone or a missing utility access cover or a big hole. Who knows?

The worst part is that I tore a hole in my jeans (one of two pairs of pants I have here). Just ask Ryan O how I feel about tearing a hole in my jeans!

Okay on to more exciting things...

I'm taking 4 hours of Spanish a day (okay, I guess that's not more exciting). I switched teachers so now my teacher is Victor, and I will be here for almost another month learning Spanish. Victor is really fun and a great teacher. The time goes by quickly.

Some brief facts & figures (courtesy of Victor at my request) about Guatemala and Antigua, and then I promise to move on to something more exciting:

There are 13 million people in Guatemala. 5% of the population is considered rich, which translates into 80 families.

Of the remaining 95%, 20% are middle class, 25% are poor and 50% are living in extreme poverty.

56% of Guatemala's entire population is indigenous. 23 different groups make up the indigenous population.
5% of the entire population are Criollos (of Spanish descent). This is the same group as the 5% of the population that's rich.
The rest are ladino/mestizos, which means they have a mix of Mayan and Spanish blood.
And there is a small population of blacks that come mostly from the Carribbean.

Now about Antigua... There are 70,000 inhabitants in Antigua and the surrounding villages. Anitgua proper has about 22,000. During the high season (July - Sept), there could be approximately 5000 Spanish language students here.

Antigua proper covers 1 square km, so it is very easy to walk from one side of town to the other several times a day, if neccessary.

Now some fun stuff...

Yesterday afternoon, I tagged along for a field trip with Becky and Oliver and their teachers (Martin ¨Marteen¨ and Elvira ¨Elveera¨). They took us to a village outside of Antigua called San Andres Itzapa to show us a type of Pagan rituals performed by mixed descendents of the Maya.

We went by chicken bus which was an adventure all by itself. When I first arrived in Antigua, I asked a local about traveling by chicken bus to another location and he advised against it saying, ¨Well, it depends how much you like your life.¨ So, they can be dangerous not just because of the risk of robberies, but because tons of people cram into them, the drivers may sometimes be drunk, etc., etc. (Not to worry Mom & Dad...)

To give you an idea of how overcrowded they can be, on a bus where the maximum capacity is 48, you might have 65 people. For a maximum capacity of 54, expect 75. For 64, expect 90. I guess that's why I've been advised several times since I've been here to ¨pray a lot.¨

Okay, back to the Pagan ritual. There are basically 3 common saints here that the Catholic church doesn't recognize. The most famous being Maximon, who you can often see as a little statue (or maybe more like a voodoo doll) on display in bars and restaurants smoking a cigar. We went to see San Simon who I can only assume is related to Maximon. San Simon is kind of the Pagan saint of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. According to my teacher, he is the saint for homosexuals, prostitutes, criminals and for people who wish bad things on other people. But he also heals health problems.

We watched about 6 or 7 women (young and old) come to be blessed by the shaman (Victor says he's not a shaman, but a witch!). I'm sure men could and are blessed too, but here's what happens: The women come with bouquets of greenery and little bottles of holy water. The shaman takes the greenery and basically beats the women over the head with the greenery, beats it on her back, her chest, her stomach, her bottom, down her legs while saying some kind of blessing. (It's not at all sexual, by the way.) He then drinks a little from the bottle, and then SPRAYS her head and face with a fine spray of the water from his mouth. (Yes, he's basically spitting on her.) He does this twice, then he tears the greenery in half and tosses half of it aside, beats or rubs her some more with the greenery while blessing. Drinks a little more water and spits it towards San Simon, and I think that's about it.

The holy water, it turns out, is Guatemalan rum.

After watching this ceremony, we stood outside of the ¨church¨ and witnessed a continuation of the ceremony where the shaman smokes a cigar as big as a cucumber (called puro) and directs the smoke towards parts of the body that are ailing the recipient of the blessing.

Wow.

If I understand correctly, these saints and rituals developed after the Maya were freed from Spanish rule. During the Spanish rule, the Maya were forced into Catholicism. Once they were free to choose their own religion, they developed saints and ceremonies that were nothing like what Catholicism would approve of.

If anyone knows more about this, please feel free to correct me or add to my post by posting your comment. I can't always get all the facts straight!

Well it's almost 5 o'clock somewhere, so I'm going for a beer.

More to come on the active volcano I climbed and the earthquake, which was actually only a tremor.

Thank you all for your emails and for posting your comments!

Mi Casa

Today was my second day of Spanish lessons. For those of you who know Spanish, yesterday was spent learning "ser, estar y hay." Today we focused on regular verbs ending in "-ar."

My teacher's name is Sheny...short for something like Eugencia. She's a sweet woman in her mid-50s who lives just outside of Antigua on a small farm (from what I can gather in Spanish!). The lessons are one-on-one which is the standard here in Antigua, and I have lessons Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to noon.

The Spanish school also offers accommodations, and I rented a room there for a week. If I like it, I'll probably stay there for the next month. My room is huge with two beds (if you want to come visit me), a desk, a bookshelf, a little wardrobe, and a bathroom (toilet paper and towels not included). There's a communual kitchen and dining area available too.

One interesting aspect of the shower...the water pressure affects the temperature. So you can either have lots of pressure & a cold shower OR a little pressure & a hot shower (which is also kind of cold because you aren't getting a nice strong stream of hot water on you). My teacher told me this is a problem throughout Guatemala. It's not unique to my shower. I guess your neighbor could turn on their water and the water flowing out of your shower head will stop or trickle off for a 30 seconds or a minute and then continue...happened to me today.

My room looks out onto a nice courtyard where many of the Spanish lessons are held. My lessons are on the terrace right outside my door.

I will post pictures soon, I promise!

There are a lot of interesting people staying there...some have been there off and on for years...like 8 years!

Nancy is one of those people. She's from Canada, probably in her 50s, and from what I understand basically lives in Antigua now teaching yoga and giving massages. Her boyfriend, Doug (American), has a sailboat in a nearby river/bay (not exactly the right term) that empties into the Caribbean, I think. In the summer, he spends most of his time on his boat.

Fred (probably also in his 50s) is my next door neighbor, an American who is involved in multiple volunteer projects here. In fact, if my Spanish improves quickly enough, in two weeks I might be able to volunteer reading Spanish books to kids in a nearby village. Many kids here aren't interested in reading because their parents don't read to them, their parents don't know how to read, their teachers haven't been educated on how to make reading fun, etc. On Sunday, the program director (I think) is coming to our guesthouse to meet with some of the other volunteers, and I've been invited to join them.

Some younger people I've hung out with are Becky (American) and her German boyfriend, Oliver. They are a fun couple, and it's nice to hear some German again. And there's Ana from Paris, who (if I understood correctly) has an Italian dad and French mom...something like that. She speaks French, Italian, some German and English and is now learning Spanish. She's moving to another guesthouse of sorts in Antigua, but we are planning to keep in contact to meet up for coffee and practice Spanish, etc.

These three invited me out with them on Tuesday night to watch the election results. Since all four of us don't have a common native language (or even a common language that we can speak semi-fluently), you might be able to imagine what our conversations sound like: a little English, un poco Español, ein bisschen Deutsch. At times the conversation moves slow and it can be exhausting to listen and communicate. But it's always entertaining!

What else...? How does drying off from your shower with a bandana sound?

I took my laundry to a "lavandería" yesterday with the impression that I would use their internet and wait for my laundry. Nope! It wouldn't be ready until today. Of course, I didn't realize until I was on my way back home that I wouldn't have any pjs, a hoodie, or a bath towel. I survived the cool night, and after my shower this morning, I patted somewhat dry with a bandana and dried my hair (somewhat) with my shorts!

I wonder what tomorrow has in store...?

Go Obama!

It's Election Day...even in Antigua! There is an "election results party" tonight at an American-owned bar here called Monoloco (crazy monkey).

I'm in Antigua, not the Antigua in the Caribbean but rather the one that is just southwest of Guatemala City.

My guidebook says, "In all the long, boring conversations about where the real Guatemala is, you can be certain that Antigua never came up."

But it's real enough for me, for now. Antigua has an international draw for people wanting to learn Spanish. There are literally hundreds of Spanish schools in Antigua and even more Spanish teachers since nearly all the schools provide one-on-one instruction.

Today, I'm visiting schools and hope to find one I like and get settled in here a little bit. I will probably stay about a month here in Antigua learning Spanish is the morning and doing some volunteer work a few afternoons a week.

I've been told that Antigua is a great jumping off point for other things to see and do in Guatemala.

So far, I haven't seen or done much since I've been in Guatemala (6 whole days!), but hell, I have a year, so what's the hurry?

I've been slowed down a couple of mornings thanks to nausea caused by my malaria pills. They are supposed to be taken on an empty stomach. The drug instructions say that some manufacturers state the pills may be taken with food if nausea occurs, but this may hinder absorption. I have a suspicion that puking up my stomach bile after ingestion in my private-down-the-hall bathroom might also hinder absorption. So I finally have that worked out. MUST TAKE WITH FOOD!

Aren't you glad I'm sharing all the details with you?

Hola from Guatemala City!

Well here I am...in Guatemala City in an internet cafe.

This city is OVERWHELMING! It's scary just to cross the street. There is tons of traffic, people, vendors, smog...I've probably already developed black lung in the one day I've been here.

You may be thinking, "Wait a minute! I thought she was going to be relaxing on the beach first."

So did I.

I discovered en route to Chicago where I changed planes for Guatemala that good ol' Lonely Planet was not entirely clear on how to get to Monterrico. There were several vague options to choose from and not many details on how to get there from the airport, for example which bus terminal to go to to find the bus company that goes there. At at 2:00 a.m. in Chicago O'Hare, I decided a change of plans was in order. Suddenly, a 3 or 4 hour bus ride (depending on which page of Lonely Planet I was looking at), and a ferry ride after being up for a full 24 hours no longer sounded so appealing.

So I took a taxi to a hotel in Guatemala City's Zona 1.

The hotel is okay...probably not the best deal for the money ($20 for a private room with bath and cable TV).

For my friends at James C. Karo Associates, there was also an "infestation" of roaches or beetles (2 bugs to be exact). I did not closely examine them to determine if they were cockroaches or beetles. To me, a "bug" is better than a "cockroach." I did consider sleeping with the lights on so they wouldn't come out at night and crawl in bed with me. We'll see what tonight has to offer. I am changing hotels, by the way. I scoped out a new one today, but I have a feeling the bugs may be unavoidable. But as my friends at James C. Karo Associates know, bugs I can handle. And just for the record, I am not fond of bugs in my room.

Last night for dinner I decided to eat at the hotel's cafe since I had slept most of the day and it was already dark. I ordered two chile rellenos. They were not crispy like the rellenos I've had in Colorado...probably because they were microwaved. The breading was soggy. This may have been a commerically made and frozen relleno, who knows. But much to my dismay, when I cut into it cheese did not come oozing out of it like I had expected. Oh no. It was some kind of meat. Major bummer. So I disected the small little chile from the meat and put in a tortilla with a tiny bit of salsa. I had two small corn tortillas with my chile creation and two with liquified black beans - maybe they were instant? And that was my first meal in Guatemala.

Today I sought out a vegetarian restaurant for lunch.

Tonight it's dinner again at the hotel, but I think I'll try the eggs and beans.

I've stayed pretty close to my hotel so far, but tomorrow maybe there will be more in store for me. There is a Day of the Dead celebration that I'd like to go to if I can find out more about it, like where it is exactly.

I think I'll be here one more day, then head to Antigua, then to Monterrico (my original destination).

It's nice to just take it easy, rest, people watch, watch CNN election stuff - go Obama! I figure I have plenty of time to see it all, so I'm letting myself relax at the hotel while I acclimate to this fast pace. The scene just outside my hotel makes Colfax and Marion seem like a nice suburban neighborhood.

I am happy to be here, and while it takes some self-coaxing and nerve to just jump out there alone into the chaos of "Guate," I know this is just the beginning and my confidence should grow the longer I am here.

Gotta get back to the hotel before dark now for eggs and beans for dinner!

B U T T E R F L I E S

It's Saturday. I leave on Wednesday.

I'm trying to get my apartment packed up today...every last morsel. I picking up a UHaul truck shortly to deliver my oh-too-many possessions to my sister tomorrow.

My family is having a little send off lunch tomorrow for me.

Monday, my mom and I are making a quick trip to Idaho Springs for a short get away.

Tuesday - anxiety.

Wednesday - adios!

The nervousness has begun. I think it started to set in last night or today for sure. Almost everything is in boxes or in my little backpack.

On Friday I got a dose of Guatemalan Spanish and oh how I failed! I tried to make a hotel reservation for my first couple of nights in Guatemala. Just getting a good phone connection was a challenge. Then the call didn't go through. Then the person who answered hung up on me. I didn't know if I had reached the hotel or a private residence.

When I finally got through, and was informed that I would have to speak Spanish, I gave it my best - un person, cuanto cuesta?, por favor, un dormitorio...and although I think this Guatemalan understood me, I could not understand him.

I couldn't understand the price. I didn't know how to say "October." And I knew I was unsuccessfull at making the reservation when the gentlemen never took my name...even though I asked if he needed it.

And when I hung up - reservation-less - I knew I was in deep shit. I am so screwed. And that's probably when the butterflies set in.

In any case, my boyfriend called the next and made the reservation for me. He struggled with it a little, but the gentlemen did ask for a name.

So needless to say, it's gonna be tricky.

Thank you again to all of you for your constant support and encouragement as I worked to pull this off. Thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers, ideas, contacts.

I will do my best to stay in touch and update my blog regularly.

"The trick is not to rid your stomach of butterflies, but to make them fly in formation."

Pacific Crest Outward Bound School, Book of Readings