Utila Island, Honduras

A few years ago I met a traveller and had the usual conversation, where are you from, what do you do, how long have you been travelling? etc. He had said he was a diver. A little puzzled as to how that could be a profession, I asked him if it was for the Olympics? Does he do all those crazy flips and everything? The jackknife? How many meters? Isn't it dangerous? I don't think English was his first language, and his answers continued to puzzle me and I gave up on the conversation. Years later now I realize he was a SCUBA diver, not a high-board swimming-pool diver like I had imagined! Doh!

So guess what? I have been studying and working hard this last week, and am now a certified Open Water Diver! YIPPEEEE!!!-- I am loving it so much that this week I will take courses in deep water diving (to 40 meters/120 ft), wreck diving, navigational diving, underwater naturalism (learning all the fishies' names), and night diving, and will have Advanced Diver certification by the end of next week! I think I've finally found my adventure sport!---and no, I still can't do the jackknife.

I planned on staying here in Utila for a week, but I'll be here until Easter, a little more than two weeks. It's a relaxed, friendly and beautiful place, I have my own room for $5 a night (but one week free with the diving courses), and am soooo happy to give a break to the trusty ol' backpack.

(L) Setting up (R) Scuba group

Two girls in my diving group were from Slovenia. They asked if I knew any Slovenian, and when I told them my "bad words" they laughed and laughed, they said that only old people use those words, totally outdated! So they taught me some modern bad words to make up for it. Both girls are heavy smokers and insisted on their morning coffees before doing anything else---sound like anyone we know?

Belize

Hi from Belize! I'm on the island of Caye Caulker, a famous snorkeling and diving destination. People speak English here, mon, as well as Spanish, and it's a cool crazy mix of all races of people. They use their own English here, a road sign I saw, for example, read, "STOP SPITE WI RUN, DI HEAD TAX MONEY." Any guesses as to what that means? Everything costs a whopping lot of money here, man alive. (Mon alive?) Parental note: it is safe and full of tourists.

Getting back to things, on Monday I crossed the border into Guatemala from Mexico on a 4 person-capacity wooden boat across a silty and eddying river, then boarded a rickety school bus and got jolted around on a dirt road for 4 hours to Flores (this all from a travel agency!). It was hilarious. I stayed 2 nights, just enough time to check out the jungle-enshrouded ruins at Tikal and leave. I will be back to Guatemala during Easter weekend, yippee!

The second biggest coral reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia) is here near Belize and Honduras. Today I casually booked a snorkeling excursion without really knowing what I'd see, and ended up swimming with sharks!!! Parental note: of course, harmless ones. The boat people then threw a bit of fish meat into the water and within seconds I was surrounded by about 15 meter-long stingrays!! (15 of them---they weren't fifteen meters long). I took lots of pics with my nifty underwater camera (Thanks Dad!).

Saturday I'm off to the island of Utila in Honduras for about a week. More beaches, tourists and coral reef, but cheaper. Hopefully they'll have internet.

By the way, the people of Belize have asked me to tell you, the people of America and other countries, to come to Belize. Tourism has dropped lately, probably due to global warming and people staying home, who knows. It's a beautiful country, so I will spread the word, mon.

2 months in Mexico!

Today is my 2 month anniversary since arriving in Mexico. I celebrated with Burger King for lunch (I was quite embarassed, but noone will ever see me again here anyway) and will have pizza tonight, can't wait!! And tomorrow at around 10am I will be crossing the border into Guatemala to the lake-island town of Flores.

But catching up to things...from the Oaxaca coast I took a night bus to the indigineous mountain town of San Cristobal de las Casas. This is where the whole Zapatistas movement started in the 1990's when they took over the city. After visiting some nearby indigineous villages and watching a movie about the Zapatistas, they are now my official heroes, and this without doubt was my favorite place on my trip to Mexico. (brainwashed? perhaps) Each village has its own culture and even its own outfit. Imagine having to wear the "Mandan" outfit since you are from Mandan, North Dakota (I would imagine something with cowboy boots), and if you are a woman and married a man from Bismarck (like my sister), you would have to change to the Bismarck outfit (maybe something with feathered hair and your sweater tucked into your jeans). Most villages believe in an adapted form of christianity, but one village ousted the official priest and practices their own religion using colored candles, pine needles and the sacrifice of chickens (and roosters, hurrah!) in the church in front of altars for each saint.

Today I visited the ancient ruins of Palenque. Imagine 1,500 year-old pyramids in the jungle, it was soo cool. I rented a cabaña in a hippie jungle enclave near the ruins. My cabaña looks more like a permanent picnic tent with only screens and with a bed in it, and a "porch" that overlooks a nearby stream. I can see lizards while lying in bed, I love it.

This was going to be a short entry to let you all know that today is my last day in Mexico. Hope you aren't going to miss it too much (you could always go for yourselves...hee hee). I'll put pics up as soon as I can!

P.S. Most people voted for money for Christmas instead of lovely Chihuahua boots, so money it is (and not much of it, I'll assure you now). Though I was very impressed that the purple ostrich with silver buckled boots were quite popular, as well as the two kinds of snake boots. The latest poll is about eating worm, get your vote in now!

Oaxaca...shhh don't tell anyone...

Don't tell anyone, but I've found a secret piece of paradise. Americans don't come here because they think it's "dangerous" (it's not now, but don't tell them). I'm in Puerto Escondido (meaning Hidden Port in Spanish) on the Oaxacan coastline, and it is gorgeous. The waves are so high and the undertow so deadly you can't really swim here, but you could spend hours just watching the waves, watching how they glow blue at that certain moment when the sun hits before they crash, and wondering what tsunamis must feel like (ok, maybe that's just me and my paranoid daydreams).

I spent the previous couple days at a smaller beach called Mazunte. It's got what the Lonely Planet calls an "old time hippie vibe". I agree, most the men on the beach looked like Jesus reincarnate with their tanned skin, long beards and hair, and ragged swimsuits (a.k.a. loincloths, you could say). I'd met a girl in the Oaxaca bus station and we shared a $25/night room high up on the sea cliff with an awesome view of the ocean. We were lucky to be there the weekend of the Spring Equinox Festival to see live bands and dancers in the plaza. And we became friends with Manuel, a sweet lisping grocery store owner who once lived in Miami.

Mazunte is home to a lot of giant sea turtles, and today I took a boat tour (5 people in a speedboat) to watch them swim around. These things are HUGE, just the foot of one is the size of 2 Bucko and Pigs combined. For those of you who are not "with it" on the family pet history, Bucko and Pig were our pet turtles when I was in high school.

I took the above picture at 6:30 am in Mazunte. I must admit there was one slight hinderance to the whole paradise concept---the roosters. I usually enjoy sleeping to the "sounds of nature", but you would think the roosters were in bed with you if you didn't remember closing the door real tight the night before. They started at 4.30 every morning, and it never failed, there was always one next to your room.

In Oaxaca city I drank my first shot of Mezcal. Mezcal is like tequila, but better (?) or using a different plant (?)---Ok, I know, I should really do my research before composing these blog entries. The waiter asked what flavor I wanted. The choices were (I kid you not) scorpion, worm, some other disgusting creepy-crawly that I can't remember, peach, apricot, and some other fruit I can't remember. Hmmmmmm.....I chose apricot. The waiter brought my shot and told me to do it with lime and a pinch of some powder in a little dish. I asked what the powder was, and he replied, "Chili con gusano."

I confirmed, "Chili con qué??" (chili with huh?)
He confirmed, chili with worm.

Attempting to be a good sport, I also ate my first worm powder that night. I know, what a wuss, I ask for your pity just for a little worm powder. But hey, I'm a vegetarian.

New Oaxaca pictures are up!

Aguascalientes, Taxco

The friends I met in Guanajuato at the callejoneada (remember? men in old Spanish leotards) invited me to their home this weekend, 6 hours north of Mexico City by bus to a town called Aguascalientes. Aguascalientes in Spanish means "hot water", and the town is famous for its thermal springs. My friends tell me that many homes still use natural hot water for their shower---cool! My friends Tanya and Erika are cousins whose families have lived in both the States and Mexico, and they are both English teachers at a university in town. They took me around to the sites, taught me about all the yummy junk food native to Mexico (corn with cream in a cup, egg nog flavored ice cream water, cafe de olla--cinnamon flavored sugared-up coffee, but I couldn't appreciate the chili flavored sweet tamarind jelly beans though, ew) and took me to see their friends' rock band play on Sat. night. It was a blast! The best thing was learning about Mexican culture and seeing how close the family is, and hearing first hand reports about the cool things to do and see in the area. Thanks so much, Tanya and Erika!!!!

For some reason, I was very popular with the insect population of Aguascalientes city. One night I had to pull a grasshopper out of my shirt, and another night I got stung by a bee inside a restaurant! The little demon stung my left hand ring finger, and it swelled so much I've had sumo-wrestler-hand for the last few days. I think they like the Bath and Body lavender soap and body lotion I've been using, hmmm, might have to change soaps.

Taxco is a World Heritage designated colonial maze of steep streets that all go uphill. (How do they do that?) The streets are so narrow that they only use Volkswagen Beetles for taxis with the front passenger seat pulled out, customer sits in back. Buses are old Volkswagen Vans with the side door pulled off. I saw a 4WD truck try to navigate the streets with his side view mirror scraping against all the buildings. There are no sidewalks, you have to duck into shops sometimes to avoid getting hit. Not getting run over in this town is an artform.

I put up new pictures! From Guanajuato-Uruapan-Mexico City and from Aguascalientes-Taxco, check 'em out!

Volkswagon bus

Taxco taxis

Mexico City

Honestly don't know the guy in the white mask

Mexico City has been so much fun! I got a group together to see a Lucha Libre match and we all ended up buying masks--hey, it could come in handy when you're on the road. It was all a bunch of fake wrestling by costumed luchadores with names like Blue Panther or Shokercito. Hiroka and Mim Shimoda were Japanese wrestler-ettes who came out in kimonos (???), and there was a gay team who did kinky moves to their opponents that I probably shouldn't mention if my parents are reading this (or anyone else, for that matter) At last the most famous luchador of modern Mexico came out, El Rey Mistico, HURRAH! The crowd went nuts!!!! In the first round he got his white-masked ass kicked along with his team members, then went on to gloriously and, oh no, definately not practicedly or in the least bit planned way, whoop the opposing Perros Campeones (Champion Dogs) and send them whimpering out of the ring.

Then I met up with Michiyo-san, a girl I used to work with by e-mail but had never met. I thought she was probably a very interesting person being Japanese and living in Mexico for so long, and right I was. We had a such great time together! Ate some yummy Japanese food, went out on the town, and finally got to catch up on my Japanese blog. Thanks Michiyo for everything!!!

She told me about a hostel I should try, a Nihon Yado, or Japanese-only hostel. Apparently this place is only known by Japanese backpackers, and even the entry is unmarked except for a Japanese flag and a few letters in hiragana saying "ring the bell". Peaked by the curiosity about whether they would let me in or not, I went up to the unmarked door and rang the bell. The man who answered said he would let me stay since I speak Japanese, but they put me in a room with the only other non-Japanese person in the hotel, ha ha. Go figure. She says she usually gets the room to herself!

Today I went to the great pyramids of Teotihuacan (eek, probably butchered the spelling). It was hot. And I walked a lot. (lovely writing, huh? I should write travel guides with this material) And the vendor/stalkers were pissing me off. Then I went back into town and gorged on a buffet at the "best vegetarian restaurant in town" according to reputable sources (Michiyo's friend). It was the most heavenly eating experience I've had in months. ahhh

The latest, Guanajuato and around Uruapan

Feb. 16, Guanajuato

It was Fri. night in Guanajuato, an old silver mining town tucked away in a mountain valley full of students. People were in the street drinking, chatting, laughing, blaring their music from stereos, and I wanted to be out there with them. But hark, once again the youth hostel was void of travellers. Sat. night rolled around and I anxiously awaited the arrival of anyone, anyone that would want to go out and enjoy the weekend, but noone again. I mustered my courage and decided to go out into the night alone and see what might come about.

Guanajuato is famous for it's callejoneadas where professional musicians dressed in old Spanish leotards gather a group in the plaza, pour drinks, and take the group around the windy cobblestone streets singing and dancing. I followed the group and started chatting with people, and before you know it I had a whole new group of friends! I met two Mexican-American cousins/artists from Aguas Calientes who love rock music, and we went to a "rock" bar after. They invited me to their home and want to take me out, so I might be backtracking north in a week or so. What a great night, it sure says something about putting yourself out there!


Feb.19, Paracho

The small indigineous town of Paracho (50km from Uruapan) is famous for its guitars. I met a Japanese guy in the hostel who was here just to buy one with a budget of about $300, and I came along for the entertainment. We went from studio to studio where they make beautiful handmade guitars with nothing more than a saw, sanders, some funky tools, and some wood. I was tempted to buy a violin (for about $35!) but resisted, then resisted even buying some claves (you know, those wooden clinkers they had in the percussion section of band class). Sure, $2 for a pair of beautiful hand-made claves, but what am I going to do carrying a wooden pair of sticks across Central America??? I suspect I'll regret this decision later in life.


Feb. 20, Angahuan

Being the volcano freak that I am, I've been looking forward to visiting Angahuan for awhile now. It's the nearest town to the Paricutín volcano which emerged out of a field in 1943 and destroyed a couple of towns. The only remaining structure today is the top of a church and it's steeple that withstood the 2-story-high lava flow. I splurged and hired a guide Jesus who took me on horseback (Chicutín, in case you want to know my horsey's name) to the site. For lack of words, I will tell you that it was awesome. Unfortunately no volcanic steam since it hasn't rained in a while.

Me and Chicutín

Church remains in lava

A little more about Real de Catorce, and Pictures!

Yesterday I hiked with my friends to El Quemado, a sacred mountain shaped kind of like an elephant. The Huichol indian shamans make a pilgrimage here to eat peyote (hallucinogenic cactus) and worship their numerous gods. By sheer chance, when we got to the top the shamans were there and invited us to sit down and watch. It was amazing. They are real jokesters and were laughing and playing around at the same time they were serious about their rituals.

The altitude here in Real de Catorce is 2,756m (about 8,000 feet). You cannot walk up the smallest hill without totally losing your breath, and I wake up in the night sometimes panting.

I put up pictures! New shots of Copper Canyon and Zacatecas/Real de Catorce!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who voted in my polls! I was shocked to find out that the majority of my sweet friends and relatives are sick heartless spider killers! I will also make sure to get a BIG apartment in Hawaii for all to visit! I'll put up new polls as soon as I think of something interesting to poll about. Until then!