Rifles! Colorado! Explosive Diarrhea!

I gotta keep this quick... possibly leaving in the next 45 minutes to head out to Lago Atitlan in a Tercel with a couple of Coloradans and an Aussie...

So I'm sitting on a computer in Xela, Guatemala... listening to Semana Santa outside and massaging my bug bites. I'm staying at the Black Cat hostel at the moment, which I can highly recommend, aside from the complete lack of hot water (which you only realize AFTER sudsing your entire head). I had forgotten what staying in a hostel was like. The snoring roommates, the creaky bunks, the grimy showers. The reason I find myself on a computer at this particular moment is because some poor chap desperately needed to take a shit in our semi-public restrooms, and was busying himself putting about until I left. What a tragedy it is to get the shits when you are staying in a place with co-ed bathrooms...

Anyhow- the last few days have been somewhat uneventful. I've met a lot of really cool people, and have been adopted most of the places I've gone. The ride from Antigua to Xela yesterday was something of a mess though. The hostel (which booked my transport) had forgotten to give me a ticket... so when the shuttle arrived at 4am, I had nothing to prove that I had paid for the ride. This led to a mess of phone calls and some crazy driving into Guatemala City trying to make everyone's bus. When we got to G. City, I was the only one going to Xela, so at one point, they pointed at me, unloaded me off the shuttle with all my things, and left me on a dark Guatemalan street with all belongings at 5am. I would have been completely alone if not for the man with the rifle waiting for me.

I'm not sure what he was doing there.

He was, however, probably one of the nicest people I've met thus far. He found a giant canister for me to sit on, and turned on a swinging bulb over my head so I'd be illuminated as a rich foreigner with all my things in the middle of the night in the 5th most dangerous city in the world.

... while he stood there with his rifle.

Anyway, a bus eventually came to get me, and after a 5 hour drive through the winding countryside, I was safely in Xela.

Which is where I'll be for the next month. Schools starts for me on Monday-- so I'm going to try to get in one last adventure before I immerse myself in my studies. I'll keep you all up to date.

After 16 hours of flying, crying, and prioritizing, here I am in Antigua, Guatemala... listening to Guatemalan showtunes reminiscent of the 60s in the USA.

The flight was pretty rough- 5 hours to Miami, 3 hours to Panama, and another 2 hours (excluding the hour that the plane hung out at the gate trying to reconcile the "problemas technicales") to Guatemala City. This is after having woken at 8am Saturday morning and not sleeping at all the night of the 4th/5th. My sympathies to the poor Cuban metrosexual that was stuck sitting next to me both at the SFO airport and during the SF-Miami flight. My bitter sobs did not dissipate quickly. They did, however, play "Bolt" during my first flight (hooray!), and although I cried through the movie (much to the astonishment of my fellow fliers)- it managed to keep my mind centered on something other than how much I missed everyone.

I suppose I've done myself out though- as I'm pretty content here. I spent the last couple of hours sitting in el Parque Central, writing out postcards and absently sweeping away the flowers that fell into my lap from the overhanging trees. Antigua is really beautiful, although overrun with tourists. I've already meet 3 other Americans (with whom I traveled from Guat City to here) and have overheard countless others. I haven't met the other people staying with me in the dorm at "El Hostal", but from the things they've left behind- they look to be English-speakers.

Anyway, nothing much to update on just yet. I'm considering a hike up to Pacaya, an active volcano on the outskirts of Antigua. According to the dude I met yesterday, you can walk right up to the lava and roast s'mores.... provided you don't mind the spewing sulfur and flecks of molten lava.

OK- I seen a ice cream man. I need to run. Love you all much- I haven't taken any photos yet, but when I do, I'll update them.

Hasta Luego!

REI is fucking awesome

So, I went to REI in Concord last night to try to get a new daypack and get a new sternum strap for my big backpack... my Aries 55, which has been my companion for both Europe and S. America so far. After about half an hour or so of wandering around touching this and that, I came to the realization that #1- sternum straps aren't sold separately, and #2- nothing like my old daypack had been made since. I was starting to feel disappointed

But lo!

Tony, the supervisor dude for the floor, came over and asked me if he could help out. With his assistance, I not only found a killer daypack which will easily fit inside my bigger bag, but he helped me return my dirty 55 liter and get a more modest 50 liter (5 liters, it makes a difference, I'm tellin ya!). I also got 2 different types of mosquito repellent, a mosquito net, and my daypack for only 40 bucks, after getting my full refund from my old pack. Huzzah!

I'm so psyched about my new gear-, I can't help but run upstairs to zip and unzip, fold and unfold, and buckle and unbuckle it all up every few minutes.

First Monday of Freedom

Hello there, non-existent fans of this journal!

I'm starting in on my first Monday of freedom from a full-time job since I was 22. I finally quit my day job last Friday, and am using this last month to rush around in a blind panic trying to get everything done. Waiting for my landlord to come by and do my walk-through at the moment... eating microwaved broccoli in an attempt to get my fridge clean before moving day (Sunday), and eyeballing my bookcase for any last minute additions to my give-away pile.

27 days left.

The Premise

OK- now that I've ascertained that this thing works, I suppose I need to explain why I put it up in the first place... and stole all these catchy URL and site names (observe^). I am going on my round-the-world trip. Hence, the round-the-world blog. It's so cliche it almost makes me want to punch myself, but in lieu of trying to write out individual e-mails every week, I thought I'd make it simple for everyone. Of course, I'll still be sending out postcards and specific notes to people, but in the general "is Sam still alive?" category-- I think I've got it covered by signing on for my very first "Blog".

Except that I have to go now. I'll post more later. My last day of work is on March 6th- my schedule should clear then.

This is a test- I repeat, this is just a test

Testing, testing...

Indonesia Photos

I don't feel like I'm being quite fair by calling this "Indonesia Photos" since I only saw Bali and the Gilis.... but then again, I don't care. My blog, my titles.

Indonesia was a bit of a surprise. Like I said before, I know I've not

seen much of the country in total... but from what I DID see, it's

chock full of natural beauty. Look at this shit! Unlike

other countries (Burma, in particular)... the people left something to be desired, but what they lacked in hospitality and charisma- the landscape more than made up for. You can also see the disgruntled Peruvian that I met on the shores of Uluwatu who was pissed that you couldn't exchange nuevos soles for rupiah on this side of the world. Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia.

So, for the first time since Europe, I travelled WITH another person. Corn Nut. Yes, I've had people visit, and maybe I've visited others (Marcelo, Nico-- I miss your warm houses!), but travelling WITH someone... I haven't done that since I was 21! It was an experience, and really a good way to learn how to compromise after 14 months of living only for myself. It was also a good reminder that sticking to a budget can be downright stupid sometimes. Taking a whole day to cross

an island by thumb when you can do it in an hour by reasonably-priced private car? A little dumb. Here we are on Gili Trewangan, Indonesia.

This photo doesn't have much to do with anything. Krisha took it

while we were waiting for a (sorry to say this Mark, but) shitty fire dance thing to start. It was WAY TOO LONG. Normally, I don't believe in globalization, but if the Indonesians would just learn a thing or two from Hollywood about the average human attention span... this would have been half the time, and included a lot more exploding shit. Watching a lady frown and rotate her wrists for 2 hours? Not so fun! Another thing that makes this photo interesting is that it's the only one I have of Mike where he's not pretending like he's about to sneeze. -sighs- South Africans are gorgeous. Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia.

I'm not sure why this picture came out so fuzzy... but here's Corn Nut being measured for a suit. One of about 3 she bought in Indo. One thing I really regret about my time in Asia is that I didn't buy enough stuff. I'm about to go home, and I've almost no clothing to bring with me! Crummy. Now I'm in Latin America again, and I'm hard pressed to find anything that isn't either covered in rhinestones or lace. -shudder- Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.