Feb 07

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I finished my week of Spanish classes and family stay on Friday. Compared to the rest of my trip, it was relatively boring. I assumed Spanish classes would be somewhat passive: I would sit back and absorb material with little effort. In fact, my teacher was quite strict and gave me homework and made me study each night. In retrospect, I did learn a lot of Spanish, but I had forgotten how much homework sucks. The Salsa classes went pretty well and I had some mad moves to show off at the graduation party. I am still not nearly as good as most five foot tall Guatemalan guys though.

Alejandra gave birth to a beautiful baby daughter, Andrea Maria. The father Estuardo, is a professional soccer player for the Xelaju Super Chivos. Beileve me, if you wear a Guadalajara Chivas jersey in this town, the Chivos fans will give you a lot of crap for it.

I went to some hot springs, which were pretty cool, but I have no pictures. It was very nice to get into hot water in cold ass Xela. The temperature falls below freezing at nights and mornings and I was ill prepared for cold weather on this trip. It´s in places like these where lack of hot showers really sucks. At the house, there ís an electric heater in the shower head. I thought water and electricity don´t mix, but who am I to say? Anyway, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn´t. When the outside temperature is around freezing and the water temperature is similar to the ocean in Santa Cruz, it is very difficult to get into the shower. I found I had to motivate myself by saying out loud words of encouragement like: ´Come on pussy´ or ´What would Jon Klemin do?´

I left Sunday for San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico. I definitely felt a bit relieved crossing into Mexico. Guatemala, as a whole, is what we from San Diego call ´´gnarly.´´ I know I have been focusing on all the positive aspects of the country, but after staying there a couple of weeks, I definitely feel bad for most of the population. I taught English one day to a high school kid who's favorite band was Slayer. I told him about my travels and asked him if he had ever been out of the country. He had hardly ever been out of the city, let alone to another country. Many other people I talked to have similar experiences. I feel quite bad that I have so many opportunities and people here do not. It is not a far stretch to imagine yourself born in a country like Guatemala and not the US (or Canada or England.) Most kids are expected to work shining shoes or selling gum rather than going to school. If I ever have kids, I will take them on a trip to Guatemala for a couple of weeks to show them how the kids here live. It will surely give them a sense of appreciation for life in the US. I think the main difference between Mexico and Guatemala though, is that Mexico does not have burning piles of garbage on the sidewalks.

San Cristobal is a really nice town; immaculately clean and filled with outstanding churches and cobblestone streets. This morning I went on a boat tour of Cañon del Sumidero. There were some amazing views and a few crocodiles. Sorry for the lack of adventures this week. I spent a lot of time on chicken buses, which in itself is an adventure, but enough of the chicken buses. Next week should be much more exciting. Tomorrow, I am probably heading to Palenque to check out more Mayan ruins and from there, Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido to surf. If Oaxaca seems fresh in your mind, it is because there were massive political riots there a couple of months ago. I probably won´t show up on the news throwing Molotov cocktails, but no promises.

The kid on the computer next to me is playing Starcraft and he is using zergs. I think he is mounting a massive attacks with zerglings.

Almost half way through the trip,
Tom

Me with my madre Miriam. I was trying to explain to Estuardo how to use the autofocus. ("Media en el botón, espera para el beep, y despues, todo en el botón.")

Alejandra and Estuardo with 2 day old Andrea Maria

Baby or stuff? Oh wait, baby and stuff! (Photo taken in Zunil)

Ceviches anyone? A man in Zunil rides his food-poisoning cart.

These kids were carrying 30-40 pound jugs of water up a steep hill with their heads. Didn´t Bill Kazmaier win this event in 1990?

Bill Kazmaier pulling a tractor

Downtown Xela

More downtown Xela

Poor man's grave

Rich man's grave

Keeping warm by a burning pile of garbage at the Xela bus terminal. The dogs are eating breakfast.

Lea, can you explain the message this advertisement is trying to convey. I get the construction worker and the blocks, but why the Chinamen?

View of Cañon del Sumidero

Another view of Cañon del Sumidero (Chiapas state flag)

Yet another view of Cañon del Sumidero (Too many Lord of the Rings References?)

Crocodile in Cañon del Sumidero

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I don´t know if I mentioned this before, but everything in this country is intimately related to the chicken. Their beer and buses are named after it and you can find them running around in the streets and waking you up 1:00am. (It is a myth that roosters crow at sunrise. It is actually all night long.) Also, in this country it is possible to fit 27 people in a minivan and about 140 in a retired US school bus.

So after Antigua, I headed to Lake Atitlan with Ben and a German girl named Isabelle who we met in Antigua. (No, we did not hang out with a German guy named Benny) This is a place where stoners from all over the world go and decide to never leave. I thought it was a bit over hyped. We did find some good curry and cheap liters of Gallo, but the smell of weed and hippy became quite overwhelming after a few days. Also, everyone I talked to only wanted to talk about farmaculture and why they hate George Bush. This gets very tiresome. For now on, every time someone brings up what they hate about America, I am going to talk about why I think whatever country they are from are a bunch of pussies.

The last day at the lake, Ben had to take off back to England, which was very sad. He was about the best travel companion I could have hoped for. I´ll try to get him to come to the US one of these days to impress the ladies with his accent.

After the lake I went, via chicken bus, to the city of Quezaltenango (Xela in Mayan) where I am now. Over the weekend, I met up with Isabelle and a German guy named Marc to hike up the highest peak in Central America, Volcano Tajumulco (14000 ft). Marc is a pretty hardcore mountain climber, decked out in the best German and Swiss outdoor gear, and climbing up the mountain, he was no joke. He beat Isabelle and I by about an hour on the way up. I always watch shows about mountain climbers losing toes and ears and what not, and think to myself ´´I could do that´´. Well, I climbed a mountain, and now that I can say I did it, I probably won´t make a living of it. Toward the top of the mountain, I felt many of the physiological effects of altitude sickness. My hands swelled from decreased air pressure and I had a headache and was slightly dizzy (these effects from a slightly swollen brain.) Also, after every ten steps or so, I had to stop to rest for several seconds. I conclude that humans were never meant to be at these altitudes and it cannot be healthy to go much higher than this. I have to say it was well worth it though, because I have some amazing pictures from Marc´s Nikon D200 camera.

This week I have been taking Spanish and Salsa dance classes in Xela and living with a family. They are very nice and my Madre cooks really good food. About an hour ago, the 15 year old daughter at the house gave birth to a baby girl. Congratulations Alejandra! The family is calling me ´´Tio Tom´´ because I happen to be staying there when the baby was born. At least I am not ´´Papa Tom´´. Pictures of the baby in the next update.

After this week, I think I am heading to San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, home of the Zapatista guerrillas. Hopefully I can get some pictures with them. After that, I will bus my way through Central and Western Mexico all the way back to Tijuana. I will get back around April 10 and I will probably have a return party at the Taco Beel in Tijuana, so anyone who wants to join, let me know.

My next trip is shaping up as follows. 4 to 6 weeks in Australia and New Zealand and 3 or 4 weeks in Vietnam. All of this with Erin before she goes to Medical School. Then a few more months exploring Asia. If I still have any money left, I want to do a few months in South America before retiring my backpack and boots.

Next time from Mexico probably,
Tom

p.s. Dusty says I need to ´´take better pictures´´, so here is an attempt

You could see the volcano from Antigua if the clouds were absent

Here is an artsy photo of Antigua from the cross on the hill

Chicken Bus in Antigua

Creepy Cannibalistic Cow

At San Pedro Technical Institute, these women are learning the valuable skill of type-writing

Ever drink coffee from Guatemala? Chances are it is grown and laid out to dry here in San Pedro.

I was always told that electricity and water don't mix, but who am I to say?

Celebrating Ben's departure with liters of Gallo in San Pedro

View of a volcano from the lake. In case of a pyroclastic flow, we are fucked.

I told you this lake was dangerous

These avacados cost me about 4 Quetzales (50 cents)

It is hard to tell from this picture, but there are definitely 27 people in this van

Church in Downtown Xela

Trees and clouds from Tajumulco

Rocks and clouds from the top of Tajumulco

Rock hopping at 14000 feet

Ever heard of mass deforestation?

We chatted with these field workers at the base of the mountain