itinerary change

New plan: go to pacaya volcano tomorrow. Then on friday, go to Semuc Champey near Coban, suppose to be a really beautiful area with lakes, underwater lakes, caves and things of that nature, spend a day or two there. After Semuc, catch a bus from Coban to Flores/Tikal to check out the mayan ruins there. After Flores, catch a bus through Honduras and go to Nicaragua. Probably won't stop anywhere in Honduras.

I am in Antigua again. It feels nice to return to a place I am familar with and really like. Not to mention the delicious banana bread they have here.

Protip

If you are locked in a room with Hitler, Stalin, a lawyer and a property manager; and you have a gun with eight bullets in it, the correct thing for you to do is to shoot the property manager eight times. RIP aguacate.

San Pedro La Laguna Recap and Preview

- Apparently, dating in small religious communities is different from the States. Once you start going out with someone, religoius and community pressures and tradition means you will probably spend the rest of your life together. There isn't much "shopping around".

- Went kayaking around the lake. Fun, but tiring. paddling against the wind and chop on the return was a horrible ordeal, sang all the songs i knew to keep my spirits up.

- made tortillas with "mom". It's super easy, gonna make them when i get home.

- Don't have much pictures because I couldn't find working batteries.

- Festival was interesting. Everyday there are tons of fireworks, they constantly shoot off huge mortars that don't even have fancy sparkles, they are just bombs that rattle my windows and shake the air. It rained a lot, which "dampened the air" of festivity. The street food was mediocre to my disappointment and the live music was too World for my tastes, I did buy a cool hat though.

- I met a Quaker who wants to work in health policy in America and under developed countries.

- Apparently, there are many israeli expat communities around the world because so many of them travel after their obligatory army service and end up staying wherever they visit. San Pedro has a pretty healthy population of Israelis.

Itinerary Preview:

Going back to Antigua tomorrow morning for a day or two. I plan on booking a tour to Pacaya Volcano from Antigua. after Pacaya, I will go up to Flores-Tikal (8 hour bus ride, ugh) and check out the Maya ruins at Tikal. After Tikal, I plan on going to Honduras and checking out the Copan ruins. After Copan, i don't know.

Protips

1. If you get the chance, proselytize buddhism in Spanish.

2. Donn't buy cameras that use double A batteries. Use lithium batteries, they will cost less.

3. Don´t buy batteries in small towns in guatemala, even if they look legitimate. I bought 10 double A's and none of them work, the only reason my camera is working right now is cuz I had one single double A from Hawaii in my bag to use with a local battery.

4. fresh watercress(?) + good tomatoes + lemon juice+ lime juice + salt + onions = delicious salad

5. Say grace before meals, it makes you a better person.

I've seen...

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. From a streetside curb, I watched a woman sweep the doorway of her ribbon shop . I've seen an old man with a bell sell ice cream from a wooden cart. All those moments will be lost in time... like soccer in the rain... Time to go.

Wanted: good home for orphaned punchline...

"and that's when I found out....she was the pastor's daughter!"

met family first time, saw cute daughter, met father later, father is evangelical pastor, lol'ed.

Friday

We went to a town across the lake called Santiago. It was pretty similar to San Pedro, but they had a Friday market we wanted to see. meh. We bought a gift for our "sisters" birthday. It was a really nice boat ride at least.

On friday, we were invited to a birthday party for the daughter of the host parents. We had tamales and delicious cake. There were lots of people there. Us, other students, friends of the family etc... afterwards went to the town center for a "festival". There is a week long festival happening now, friday night they chose the Queen, on Sunday they crown her, and onTuesday they do something else that is suppose to be really festive.

So, I am going to stick around in San Pedro until wednesday to participate in the festival. Street food, cerveza's, dancing and music... There are worse ways to pass a few days.

Thursday

went on a horse ride. horseback riding is not easy. its easy when the horse is just walking along, but anything faster is dangerous. at a canter or trot, it feels like your getting slammed in the ass by a sledgehammer. you insides bounce around from the saddle impacts. It was fun playing cowboy with cigar in mouth for a little while, but I was over it long before my two hours was up. I paid for two hours, but finished in about one hour.

after horsey ride, it was salsa class. The salsa class was really fun, I was there with some really cool girls, and they were all better at salsa than me. One girl was amazing, she could dice an entire tomato in about two seconds. This other girl showed me a really cool trick to dice an onion and always get perfectly shaped pieces. I'm definitley going to do more salsa when I get home.

I'm a cowboy, on a steel real horse I ride.
I'm wanted, dead or aliiiiive
Wanted... dead or aliiiiiive

Untitled (work in progress)

Stalked by death,
escape by metamorphosis.
You live in a vacation,
but forgot the context.
Oh! What our lives are worth.
To be a queen, just dance in rain.

San Pedro

Part of the weird gringo "Trail" in San Pedro.

The courtyard of the house I'm staying in.

Irony

Iro·ny. Pronunciation: \'i-re-ni also 'i(-e)r-ne\. Noun. To make the mistake of referring to a night out with Israeli's as cognitive dissonance when it would be more appropriately called fun.

or

Iro·ny. Pronunciation: \'i-re-ni also 'i(-e)r-ne\. Noun. To be a Palestinian while Israelis live under a "threat" of rocket attack.

Cognitive Dissonance

cog·ni·tive dis·so·nance. Pronunciation: \'käg-ne-tiv\\'di-se-nen(t)s\ The experience of finding oneself in an Israeli hummus restaurant and karaoke bar, on the edge of a volcanic lake, in Guatemala, on a monday night, with a group of Israeli ex-soldiers singing "wonderwall", "dancing queen" and various hebrew pop songs, while eating hummus and falafels.

"you live in a vacation"

A pretty Israeli girl said something really clever after I told her I was from Hawaii. She said, "you live in a vacation". Love it.

Climbing through the mountains of Atitlan

Just kidding. This forest is actually the grounds of the spanish school i'm studying at. it's like a forest. Each teacher-student pair has a little open air hut spread out among walking paths in the garden. Very cool. literally and figuratively. I had to wear my poncho this morning because it was so chilly underneath the trees.

I took the weirdest shower a couple of days ago. It was simultaneously hot and cold and electrocuting me. The heating element in the shower head was leaking, so there was a stream of icy cold water coming down with the hot water. It felt like when you don't know whether something is burning hot or freezing cold. And since the shower head was leaking, if i put my hand close to the showerhead, it would tingle and shock my fingers.

San Pedro La Laguna, Lake Atitlan

I arrived in San Pedro yesterday evening. I woke up yesterday morning at 6am to catch my 7am shuttle that was thrity minutes late. We drove through winding mountain roads that occasionally reached into the clouds, and after a final precipitous valley descent through numerous switchbacks, we reached Chichicastenango. The main attraction at Chichi is the huge market they have on sundays and Thursdays. It was interesting for a little while, there were a lot of touristy stuff for sale among the more authentic indigenous sustenance goods. It was a good refresher course for me in bargaining. I made one stupid purchase but afterwards I was satisfied with my purchases. I bought a poncho for Q80, that I EASILY could have got for 60, probably even way less than that. I regretted the poncho at first, but then it got cold and I remembered why I bought one in the first place, I needed something warm for the highland climate (but i still regret how bulky it is, way too big to fit easily into my bag).

I ordered a lemonade that I think was made from tap water. The ice cubes were cube shaped. I drank it anyway. I'm not sick today so I guess I got lucky there. I didn't eat much yesterday, luckily I was able to survive off half a loaf of delicous banana bread I brought with me from a famous bakery in Antigua.

After Chichi, we reached Panajachel. From Pana, I caught a boat across the lake to San Pedro. It was a choppy ride, but the lake region is beautiful. The lake towns are nothing like Antigua. They lack the lovely old colonial design. In fact it is kind of ghetto. The main gringo strip is a weird dirth path road that winds through a residential area but is full of bars and restaurants and such.

When I arrived, i decided to stay at a hotel for the night and register for spanish school en la mañana. I was happy cuz I got to relax in my room and watch TV. I saw As Good As It Gets (with Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson), The Watchmen, and parts of a movie called The Reader (with Kate Winslet). I passed out asleep, but I think there were two minor earthquakes overnight. I woke up twice to the building rumbling and shaking, it was very brief though. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Atitlan is surrounded by volcanoes after all.

today, i got to meet my host family, i had a delicous lunch of spaghetti with tomato and basil and guacamole with tortillas (I'm glad I get to eat all this guacamoe while i am here). The food and accomodations here was way better than what I got in Antigua. I met a few of the other students at the house, all of them well-traveled chicas.

ask and you shall receive

If anyone reading this wants a souvenir gift when i return home, let me know in the comments page of this post. i'll get necklaces for anyone who wants one.

Random thoughts

In case you don't believe me when I say that Antigua is really beautiful...

The pic above is from the rooftop terrace of Cafe Sky. That volcano is Volcan de Agua, the church is San Fransisco church.

Another one of the ruins around Antigua. If you are into ruins, this city is for you.

Walking around Parque Central at 11pm (not the safest thing to do) trying to score some stuff with a drunk crazy french girl who would sporadically yell "fuck!" because the Celtics lost to the goddamn Lakers.

Maybe I should get Facebook...I'm burning bridges before even crossing them.
Them: "do you have facebook?"
Me: "No."
-end conversation-

I am surprised by how much spanish I picked up from just one week of lessons. I am far from fluent but the basics and base i picked up is pretty impressive for one week. maybe i'm just fucking muy intelligente.

Itinerary:
Going to go to Lake Atitlan tomorrow. Going to catch a shuttle in ANtigua and go to Chichicastenango first to check out the huge market they have on sundays, then from Chichi to Panajachel, from Panajachel catch a boat across the lake to San Pedro La Laguna and stay in a hostel and then go to my spanish school on monday.

Protip: Salina Cruz Mexico to Tapachula To Guatemala City to Antigua

From Salina Cruz, Mexico, I caught the OCC bus to Tapachula, Mexico (ticket was 294 pesos). There was only one daily bus and it was an overnight ride that left Salina Cruz at 10:55pm. It is about an 7-8 hour ride. I arrived in Tapachula, the border town, around 6:20am. Luckily the bus to Guatemala City leaves at 7am at the same station, it is a Tikal Bus. I had to buy my ticket directly from the bus driver and conductor instead of the ticket booth. It cost USD$17. They accepted both Pesos and Dollars, they take your money after crossing the Guate border. It’s a short ride to the Guatemala border from Tapachula. You get off the bus at the border, get the exit stamp from the Mexico immigration office. You might get asked to pay a 262 peso exit fee, but this may be a fake fee because I only paid the official 200 and he let me go for that. then walk down to a small office on the left that is the Guatemala Immigration office. you get your passport stamped and they usually give you a 90 day visa that is good for the four countries (guatemala, honduras, el salvador and Nicaragua, i think).

There are lots of guatemalan money changers around the border. If you wanted to you could change money with them, but be aware you are changing money with unofficial strangers on the border. You need to pay Q10 (or you can pay 20 pesos) for the guatemalan entry visa.

after the mexico visa, the guate visa and passing through the hordes of money changers, you get back on your bus a little further down the road. Enjoy the beautiful ride for the 5 or 6 hours because once you get into Guatemala City you have to be on guard. I didn’t change money at the border. I found a couple of ATMs in the gas station right across the street from the Tikal Bus station. This was on Calzada Aguilar Bartres, it is the street on the border between zona 11 and zona 12.

From the bus station, I took a cab to the chicken bus station that goes to Antigua. it was Q40 for the taxi ride. You could just try to find the route that the bus travels and jump on the chicken bus from the street, but going straight to the station you can get a good seat. The bus will get full to standing room only or three to a seat. I paid Q50 to the chicken bus for the 1.5 hour ride to Antigua.

Once in Antigua, you are safe. Don´t listen to the hawkers trying to convince you to go to their school or hotel because it “owned by real local guatemalans” instead of gringo expats.

Random advice: In Antigua, all Tuk Tuk rides within the main city area is Q10, if you ask first, they may quote you 15, just get in the tuk tuk and when you arrive, just pay Q10. If you want drugs, go to the shoe shiners in Parque Central. Best coffee in town is at El Portal right in Parque Central, or Fernando’s Kaffee around Campo Seco street on the edge of town. La Union Spanish School is great, very well organized, take the morning class cuz it has more students to mingle with and you get time for activities during the day. Staying with a local family is a subjective choice. The family you get may not feed you particularily well and the accomodations may not be the best…I guess “authentic “would be the optimistic way of describing the local family experience. I ended up spending a lot of money eating out because the food outside was better and more interesting. so, if you don’t like the family, you end up paying for a room that is marginally cheaper than a hostel, and food that may dissapoint.

Antigua is expensive, don't expect third world prices in this city.

I've noticed that the subset of people that you find traveling in places like Guatemala is much more interesting than the general population. Truth. I meet people who are volunteering in various causes like teaching underprivileged children, taking care of the sick, taking care of kids who scavege for sustenance in the huge Guate City garbage dump, shoveling homes out of the mud caused by Tropical Storm Agatha, working for NGO’s, etc…. Everyone is so idealistic, and more impressively, they are so active. They are actually doing the righteous deeds. And not surprisingly, they all tend to be incredibly well traveled.

I thought this was pretty funny. This is the drink menu from my favorite bar/restaurant in Antigua, Cafe No Se (Cafe I Don't Know). They have cheap drinks, good food for fair prices and good gringo music. And they have wit. The menu says "we don't serve fucking mojitos unless*", and then the menus lists it as "1 Fucking Mojito Q1,975*including 10% gratuity". So one mojito here costs about 2,200 Quezatlis which is about USD$275. It's funny because the bartender back in Mexico didn't like making Mojitos because it was a pain in the ass but everyone always ordered it. I like how this bar prevents this problem. according to the bartender, a few people have ordered it and it becomes a huge event in the bar. which it is. almost 300 bucks for a mojito is pretty decadent.

nevermind, it works, heres the video.

Me running and filming at the same time. gg bull, gg.

La Corrida del Torros: or Why Do I Do These Things?

Went to a “running of the bulls” on tuesday with my spanish school. It was part of a week of celebrations in the country side for some religious saint. There was a big corral made out of logs, vines and nylon twine. I took one look at the scene and knew I was going to have to get in on the action. So when they started running the bulls, I climbed into the big pen and took my place among the guatemalans. Heard lots of shouts/murmurs of “chino!”. I was the only Chinese guy there and the only one among our group of students that went in.

The first bull was kind of dull, it was too scared, i think. the second bull was much more exciting. when ever the bull ran one way, the entire crowd of guys would start swinging around in teh opposite direction in a giant swirling mass of bodies. It’s a lot like a mosh pit, but probably safer than a mosh pit. There were a couple of times when I found myself the last guy between the bull and the rest of the crowd because of ignorance, stupidity and a gimp foot, those were the best moments of course. but all in all, i don’t think it was that dangerous.

I took a lot of pics while inside the pen and shot one video of me running from the bull. It has a blair witch project style of cinematography, and I think it communicates really well the experience of running away from a raging bull. I can’t upload it to the blog right now, email me if you want it.



This big brown bull was HUGE. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with him. This is the one whose ass i slapped so it may have held a grudge against me, the chino who slapped his ass.

This was the first bull. It didn't do much so I got really close to it for the pictures.

The spectators outside the pen.

best pics of myself so far

Mint mojitos on a roof top cafe.





Solitude.

Random Thoughts and Monday

I saw an Exploited and a Gorgoroth T-shirt in Guatemala. weird.

Haven't been punishing my liver. I've been letting my liver get away with a stern warning and a slap on the wrist.

I regret giving my rain jacket to justin to take home for me.

On monday, my first day of spanish class, I took a school excursion to a NGO school for under privileged kids in the countryside. It was your typical cinder block bunker with tin roof and exposed wiring. very much like what you see in those "sponsor a child for a dollar a day" info-mericals. Later that day, I took a salsa class. That was fun. "mas sexy!"

My guatemalan family is pretty skint. i had nachos for dinner my first night. Nachos. I'm a grown man, eating nachos for dinner is inappropriate. I don't know if they are really poor or are trying to save money by feeding us less. The house is very "authentic". I'm not complaining because "authentic" is what I wanted. My host mom is very nice, kind of cute actually.

Every day, every hour here is like the first day of classes in college. You have they exact same conversation over and over again: "what's your name?" "where are you from?" "hows your spanish?" "how long are you here for?" "how long have you been here?" "what do you do?" "whats your major?" etc.... But you do meet really cool and interesting people. As a whole, the backpacker group is more interesting than the general population. Lots of people doing righteous volunteer work, lots of people having mid-20s/mid-30's/mid-40's life crisises (like me), lots of students from all over the world and the States.

I win, John.

John, I win. This is a pic of me slapping a bulls ass. This was a BIG bull too. It kicked at me. Thank god the wood fence was in the way of the kick...

Obligatory pìc of cat living with us. His name is Gordo.

I love how all the exteriors of buildins in Antigua look alike, but you never know what you will find once you walk through the doorway. Door number 1 might be a ghetto guatemalan home like the one I am staying in (see pic above), door number 2 might be a quaint little alleyway (see below) and who knows what is behind door number 3, the mystery door. Is it going to be a beautiful courtyard, a boutique hotel, a cafe or something else?

John, you should have come to Antigua. Apparently there is a huge party scene here. Gringo City. I heard, and this is hearsay, at a bar the bartenderess was letting people motor boat her for tips, when the tequila song played she'd walk down the bar pouring tequila into anyone who had their mouth opened, and girls dancing on teh bar all night long.

Also, I found out that the alarm clock we were using when in Mexico was set to 5 hours ahead, when the time difference was only 4 hours. I think we were living an hour ahead of the actual time the whole trip and we didn´t even notice. lol. BUT, the alarm clock seemed to be at the right time in Salina Cruz so I don´t know what the fuck happened.

Antigua Guatemala

Antigua is as beautiful town.

This is at La Caterdal ruins. trying to get artsy with my pocket digital camera.

I stumbled into a church service at the La Merced Church. Had to stand for the opening hymns. the hymns were weird, they had a guitary, pop sound to them.




Some of the cool architecture from the old ruins around town. This was La Caterdal. worth every penny of my $3.00 quetzals.





Had one of the best cups of coffee ever at Fernandos Kaffee. Cool little place with a cool little courtyard.




All the streets look exactly like this. Everything is laid out in a grid pattern. Though all the store fronts look like this, once you walk in through the door ways, you´ll find beautiful cafes and restaruants and shops. Many of these buildings are actually single units with center courtyards with fountains and gardens and such. I could walk around all day, if my foot wasn´t so sore from the 14 hour bus ride. Damn those quaint cobblestone streets!





Some of the architecture around town. This is the San Fransisco Church.

I was walking around town at night last night and it was a trip. I felt like I was in a sherlock holmes novel or something. strange town, cobblestones, drizzling rain, cool air, eerily streetlamp lit roads, strange colonial buildings anddark alleyways.

Guatemala Day One: saw a dead body.

I saw a dead body today. Whatever. No big deal. I was looking out the window of the bus when it started to slow down. I saw a shirtless male body lying face down in the muddy banks of a small river underneath a bridge. There were a couple of cops around the body and a small crowd watching from the bridge. This was about two hours into my trip. lol.

The border between mexico and guatemala is pretty crazy. I got caught up in a scuffle at the mexican immigration office, an old man who apparently didn´t have his credentials was being thrown out the door just as I was walking in. He got a death grip on my arm. He must have been a laborer cuz he was strong. I just sort of held onto the wall and let the security peel the guy off me.

Then, as I was getting my mexican departure stamp on my passport, I ended up having to pay 200 pesos in a "non-immigration" fee. I'm pretty sure that was a fake fee. The sign they had posted up said 262 pesos. But the guy just took my 200 and told me that was okay. This unexpected fee sort of put me in the red. I didn´t have enough pesos to pay for bus ride. But luckily, the bus conductor took $USD. Good old greenbacks, god bless America!

Had to fend off a horde of guatemalan money changers as I got my Guatemalan entry visa after leaving the mexican side of the border. Then got back on my bus. The drive through guatemala to the city was beautiful. gorgeous. verdant. lush. green. Then I saw the dead guy. Then we arrived at Guate City.

I took one look around at the sprawling chaos around me and made a tactical decision to not try for Pacaya volcano right now. I may try for it after I get two weeks of spanish school and Guate experience under my belt. I need more hair on my chest.

So, I caught a chicken bus up to Antigua as soon as I could. The chicken bus ride wasn't bad. my ass started to hurt after a while, but it wasn't terrible.

Antigua is a beautiful city. They have some amazing cafes, restaurants, art galleries and bars. the really nice ones are way out of my budget but would be a great experience if you just wanted to splurge. the weather here is perfectly cool, it was pretty rainy in the late afternoon.

What a day.

Mucho Gracias Mi Amigos...

for your encouraging words, spanish lessons and song lyrics. I feel much better this morning after a good night's sleep, a cup of coffee and reading your words of kind support. I just came back from sucessfully buying my bus ticket.

My plan for the next couple of days is as follows: catch the 10:55pm bus to Tapachula, Mexico tonight. That should take about 8 hours. Arrive in Tapachula on Saturday Morning. Try to find a bus to Guatemala City as soon as possible, that bus ride should take about 5 hours. Once in Guatemala City, depending on what time it is, I want to try to go to the town of Los Pocito and

find someone to take me up to the volcano (it is technically closed to the public, but you can get there with guides through private farm lands). Depending on timing, I may spend one night in Guatemala City, then go to Antigua (about an hour's drive) sometime on Saturday night, or

sunday. I'll Stay in a hostel in Antigua and then go to my spanish school monday morning. that is the plan. and once in Antigua, I need to find a doctor for my ear infection. It's starting to "ear-itate" me. heh.

A typical breakfast at the house, dry corn flakes with peanut butter, strawberry jam and maple syrup.

The plump, grandmotherly woman cooking homestyle mexican food for us during our stay in Salina Cruz. I love cliches, I really do.

Paying respect to the surf gods.

Us going somewhere.

I am so confused right now. One minute I'm in a strange foreign land, unable to communicate with others, the next minute I'm watching Law and Order on TV in english (with spanish subtitles). One moment, I'm in a strange kitchen scrounging for a midnight snack, the next I'm on the internet, totally connected to the world wide web. Hell, I'm listening to Tegan and Sara on Youtube as I am typing this right now. Media and communications technology is an amazing thing. I think it's time for a beer and smoke now. good night.

Is there anybody out there?

Besides Marlon and James (with his excellent advice/words of wisdom about Satan residing in my abdominal cavity), is there anybody out there?

I slept for about 12 hours last night. I googled Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala and despite the warnings in the AP articles, I want to pay 87p for a guided tour to watch the new lava flows. I think I might try to do it. Don't tell my mother. After the volcano, I plan on finding a dark beach at night and walking along it. Don't tell John.

WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING?!?!?!?!!

The other guys left me, I'm alone now. Justin, Mike and John decided to go back to Puerto Escondido to chase the swell. The guys made a quick decision to go and before I knew it, I was by myself in an empty house. It was pretty sudden so I wasn't mentally prepared for it. The shock of being alone in Mexico all of a sudden (in a town like Salina Cruz no less) is quite... discombobulating.

I am a little scared, I'm not going to lie. On paper, it seems easy enough. But now that I am faced with the actual task of traveling across several foreign countries by myself, with bare minimum language abilities, it seems daunting. I decided to stay here in Salina Cruz because it is closer to my destination, has nice accomodations (with AC) and free food. At least I can recuperate for the next two days (I am exhausted) and start planning. I leave on friday night on a nightliner for Tapachula, Mexico, from Tapachula to Guatemala City, and then Guatemala City to Antigua.

I feel......actually, I don't know what I feel right now. When/If I find the words to communicate how I feel , I will blog it.

WHERE THE FUCK AM I ?!?!?! holy shit.

Scorpions in Mexico

That is the scorpion I found sitting on my fin sock when I was getting ready to go in the water. It must have gotten in there from the house because there was no other place it could have come from. Luckily it was sitting on the outside of my fin sock when I pulled it out, if it had been inside, I'm sure I would have stuck my foot in there without looking.

This was the 3rd time in 7 days I realized I was in Mexico.

The Horror.

yesterday, I did the one thing I did not want to do on this trip and that was to take a squatting shit. I'm ready to call it a backpacking trip and go home now. I've done just about everything I wanted to do and some I didn't want to: party, meet people, surf, lounge around, see new places etc... At least the view was nice. I got to watch big rolling 4-5 feet sets come crashing towards me as I pooped amongst a rock boulder break wall. The waves would break about 5 feet in front and ten feet below me. Unusual to say the least. I didn't take any pictures, I didn't have the camera with me.

If you surf without rythm, the worms can't find you

I could watch sand blowing over the dunes all day long.

Justin Getting It

Justing getting a sweet little barrel at Chibo. I had a fun session this day as well. Got barrelled, would piss my pants while walking back to the peak (like a race horse), singing/screaming Papa Was a Rodeo in the water and forgetting the lyrics, have a mid-session beer, get smoked out by a couple of local kids after....good times.

Salina Cruz

This is a picture of us checking out the surfand having a beer after a session at a spot called Chivo. Long rides with plenty of barrels.

Me and Mike checking out the sand dunes at Chibo. As ghetto as Salina Cruz is, it's amazing that 30 minutes out of town you will find yourself in the middle of the desert with beautiful waves all around you.

Us chilling at the Salina Cruz house. It's a cool two story house with a bunch of rooms on the ground floor for surfers. the top floor has the kitchen and common area for eating, lounging and ping pong. the top floor is also where some of the caretakers live.

Soul to Squeeze

Where I go I just don't know,

I might end up somewhere in Mexico.

When I find my peace of mind,

I'm gonna give you some of my good time.

Look at this crazy picture!!!

I GOT SO DRUNK!!! LOOK AT THIS CRAZY PICTURE!!!!

Just kidding. I wasn't drunk at all. but it's a funny picture and that skeleton is really cool. it was carved out of driftwood by some local beach bum. the arms and legs come off. This was in Puerto, at that beach bar. I think the bar was called La Zoche De La Zicatela, "the ghost of zicatela".

Federales

On our way to Huatulco airport to meet with justin and mike and our tour guide, our bus was boarded by federales at a checkpoint, John and I had our bags "searched". It was a very casual search done by a lazy mexican soldier. It was a good thing we decided not to get a little pot from the Aussies at Puerto to bring with us to Salina Cruz. I was going to take a picture of the guy searching john{s bag, but I decided I didn{t want my head chopped off. Instead I took a picture of the armed federales outside the bus.

also, they have weird keyboards in mexico, i don{t know where the apostrophe key is, so I{m using this { instead.

Mint Mojitos and Broken Ankles

Before Mexico, I only had one mint mojito in my entire life, that was at a hotel bar at my sister´s wedding. Since Mexico, I´ve had more mint mojito´s than was good for me. Tomorrow we leave Puerto to meet Justin and Mike to go to Salina Cruz to do some serious surfing.

The bad news is, I jumped off a wall while trying to make a trick basketball shot and kind of fucked up my foot. It´s not broken, but it might as well be. I´m hobbling pretty bad right now. Fuck. I´m stupid.

Update: I took this pic on saturday night, a day after I hurt my foot. Today is Monday. It is actually healing way better than I could have hoped for. I willed my body to heal. I kept telling my body/mind, "heal, heal, heal. You're only 26, heal!" and it seems to have worked. I thought i was going to be useless the whole week, but i think at this rate, i should be walking normal by wednesday, hopefully.

A typical day in Puerto

if I am not hungover, too tired, or still drinking at the bar, we start off with a morning session in the water. then we come back and have lunch at Cafecito. They make some delicious omelettes. They make delicious everything, including fresh fruit juices and cheese and spinach pastries.

Then we sit around all day in the hammock and do nothing. we have lazy desultory conversations, maybe take a nap. Maybe we´ll chat with the Aussies, or the Irish girls. I´ve developed a pretty mean 1,000 yard stare from my time zoning out in the hammock. I just stare off into deep space, looking towards the ocean.

then, if the winds are right, we will go out for an evening session. Then back to the cabana, then out to dinner for hamburgers on the beach, or burritos or tacos or other delicous foodstuff.

then (if it´s going to be one of those nights) out for one drink that turns into 9 or 10.

Another Mezcal Sunrise Part 3: The Morning After

This dog followed us from ALL THE WAY from La Punta back to the hotel after I gave it half a croissant, and john had sex with it. it chilled in our room for most of the afternoon then would wander in and out of our hotel. It was a cool dog, we named him Dingo.

I think you´re doing it wrong.

John was super hungover all day, just like after Monday night. I did a lot better because I didn´t get as drunk this time.

Another Mezcal Sunrise Part 2: Do Not Be Misled by the Picture

Question: What does Ivan and a 7-11 have in common?

Answer: They never close. lol.

This girl´s name was Malu. She´s a 20 year old tech-house(?) DJ. She travels around Mexico playing gigs. Pretty amazing, I think. She speaks as much english as I do Spanish, I don´t know how we communicated that night.

Another Mezcal Sunrise Part 1: The Evening

Tuesday night, slept about 2-3 broken hours, woke up wednesday and surfed the zicatela waves you saw in the posts below. Hung out all day Wednesday, was really tired at night and wanted to sleep but couldn´t because of jet lag. I got out of bed around 10:30pm and decided to see what John and the four Irish girls were doing. Had a beer with them, then went to the bar across the street. Chilled there and drank till closing, then the bartenders brought us to a Salsa bar up in the town area, called Congo. It was pretty interesting. Drinking and dancing there till they closed around 3 or 4, went back to the beach bar, opened up the bar and had more drinks till sunrise. Oh lawdy! it was a fucking meat market all night long.

Everyone just hanging out at our favorite beach bar at the beginning of the night.

The salsa bar.

Two of the Irish girls in the dawn light. Aileen on left, Nicki on right

John, Matus the bartender , me and our crotches.

John and I decided it would be a good idea to walk down to La Punta from the bar to catch the morning session there (still drunk of course). The girls were still up (they are Irish after all) but didn´t walk down the beach with us (good decision on their part). So we walked down to La Punta (thought I was going to pass out at the end of the walk) and it was nice, while Zicatela was totally washed out, La Punta was going off at perfect fun 3-4 feet. I caught the best wave of my trip there, best waves in terms of barrel ride, not size. Then I went home and slept around 10:30am, but only for three hours. I dont know what has happened to my mind and body but...I don´t like it, I wish I could sleep. I decided to write off surfing and drinking for the rest of the stay in Puerto. I didn´t get nearly as drunk as I did on Monday nite, but still...5 hours of sleep in past 48 and surfing double overhead puerto and drinking and...something has to give soon.