guatemala

so i decided to go straight to guatemala, and it's a good thing. the trip took about 9 hours. i had a feeling that the border crossing might be a bit of a gong show, but i had no idea. i was expecting a pristine border crossing like from canada to the us, with everything clearly marked. not the case. after my 1 and a half hour bus ride to the border, in a nice bus with a slightly maniacal driver, i was dropped off. the bus driver nearly drove off with my bag still in the bus. i think he was in a hurry.
so the mexican side of the border was a few official storefront type buildings, a bus station, restaurant and a jumble of taxis. i made a good guess as to where i was supposed to go, walked into one building, did the passport stamp thing, then went to get a taxi to the other border.
the taxi driver jammed me in with 3 other locals and dropped us all of half way between borders.
great.
so i{m there in this muddy market (b-c the space between the two borders is jammed full of people selling things) with no directions or signs of anything and no other foreiners to be seen. i put on my pack, grabbed my guitar, asked someone where the immigration was, and walked the extra 2k.
once there, it was even less clear as to where i was to go, but i found the guatemalan immigration, paid the illegal "fee" to the shifty migration dude, and wandered into la mesilla, guatemala.
this is definitely a different country than mexico.
in mexico you can mostly avoid poverty and take the first class way around. in guatemala there aren't so many options. i managed to get a tuktuk (mini motorcar thing) to the "bus station" which is virtually a muddy yard full of brightly painted school busses. chicken busses.
is this really my option? yes... it seems to be.
luckily 3 other foreiners ended up on the same bus, so i didnt feel so alone.
what followed was three more chicken busses, being chased on and off each one like a pack of sheep, nearly forgetting my guitar on one of them, one bus broke down on the side of the road, me running to a random house to use the banos (they were very hospitable), driving faster than necessary in the rain through muddy avalanche sites, and finally reaching the beautiful lago de atitlan... where i am now.
and my computer time has run out.
adios
hasta luego....

heading for the border

so, a quick side note - i can't find a computer with a usb that will work with my camera, so the photos are in waiting. aslo, punctuation is different on these computers... and there is a lack of spell check. so i apologize for any errors.
ok.

anyhoo...
i spent 3 days in san cristobal de las casas. amazing mountain town "nestled in the mountains" as the guide books like to say... but it's true!
finally some amazing coffee! i was thinking of ways to stay.... teach pilates at the yoga studio.... make theatre in the mountains... take spanish lessons....
but after a couple of days i felt the need to move on. i managed to get in some yoga and some coffee and some pilates (by sneaking into the yoga studio when empty) and some churches... lots of churches... and a couple very inspiring documentaries on the zapatistas and the region and a visit with a friend from australia and some cold air. staying in my hostel was like camping in the fall - quite refreshing after living in a pool of sweat for 3 weeks.

i was planning to go see the ruins of palenque, but decided against it. it would have been 5 hrs there, 5 hrs back - and i really am feeling a pull towards guatemala.
i need to get back to the spanish.

so many of these places could be much more rewarding if i only spoke the language.
i'm starting to feel frustrated with my english and isolated. i guess i knew this would be something i'd have to work through....
i figure guatemala will be a change of pace, as i'm planning to spend minimum one week in one spot.

i enjoy traveling, but jumping from place to place becomes a bit unsettling after a while. especially when you're on your own, and don't know when you'll meet the next person you can really talk to.

so now i'm in a town about an hour from the border. i haven't decided if i'll take a day trip to a series of lakes tomorrow, or just get on with it and head to guatemala. i spent most of today trying to figure out how to get anywhere. i finally got a map from a waiter, but by that time i was feeling frustrated enough to just leave.
but i booked a hotel room.
so i'm here.

i think i'll see how i feel in the morning. but either way. i'll either sleep til 8 and just go to guatemala... or et up at 5, do a day trip to these lakes, come back, then go to guatemala.....

sometimes the freedom of traveling alone is incredibly liberating.
sometimes it would be nice to have someone else make a decision.

a womans world

so the small town i ended up stopping in for a couple nights had some suprises up its sleave.
the town of tehuantapec. in my lonely planet guide book there was some information about the women of tehuantapec taking lead roles in government and business. this sparked my interest, and i figured it would be a good place for a woman to travel alone to.

i managed to meet a couple from australia (i'm losing track of all the aussies i've met) the evening of the second night i was there. the three of us went for a drink and began discussing our travels. the two of them were talking about a town in mexico that was a matriarch, but they weren't sure where it was. i thought that would be a great place to visit. as we were talking, we noticed a 'ladyboy', as the aussies put it, standing out on the corner, then later walking down the road. this suprised us as we were in the heart of machismo mexico. i mentioned that it must be a tough gig in this culture, especially in a small town!

after our drinks we took a motocarro (three wheeled mini cart that you stand on the back of) and zipped through the town, saying hola to everyone we passed and putting ourselves on extra display.... i figure this must be where the fun is at in this place... it was a blast..... and .... we came across a fiesta! on a sunday night! in the street! with women all dressed up in traditional wear - bright floral dresses and flowers in their hair... so cool.

we edged our way to the outskirts of the fiesta and were instantly drawn in by one very friendly local who promptly sold us a case of cerveza. peering in on the party we noticed that it was mostly women dancing, with eachother, and men on the sidelines, and.... ladyboys and dragqueens/trannies! some in full womens traditional dress, and some in casual mini skirts and tops. everyone was enjoying the festivities and there was absolutely no weirdness or tension among the different sexualities. it was somewhat surreal.

a man sitting next to us, who spoke english, explained to us that we were smack dab in the middle of a matriarch.
seriously??
this explained the men quietly on the sides dealing with children. this explained the women dancing in bright colours. this explained the men-turned-women who seemed to have a more prominant role than the plain old men. (one who went around handing out soap and shampoo later in the evening... what?)

as the party continued we were offered menudo (cows stomach in a nasty soup) that we would have been rude to refuse, dripping fresh flowers for our hair, coca cola, and more cerveza.... which was only available by the case...
our welcoming friend brought out his camera, and wanted us to take photos for him, but of us... i think he wasn't so sure how his camera worked... the photo session went well into the evening... i wish i'd brought my camera... and we danced with a few strange little men who made no attempt to get fresh.

the three of us left the party around midnight, with some protest by the locals (apparently we were going to miss the fireworks).
i don't think i've felt so safe walking home at night in a different country.

and that was the end of that. back to regular old machismo mexico.
i purposely avoided the tour to the polygamous community while in chiapas.
i didn't want to be brought back down.

imaginary husband

so i´m now wearing my fake wedding band.
it´s pretty annoying that a wedding band gives you a certain amount of respect when travelling alone here. the feminist in me would rather not bother, but my practicality wins over on this one.

there are times to make political statements. while staying alone in a small mexican town is not one of them. i´ve also had about enough of disaproving responses to traveling sola.

anyhoo.... i´m liking this weird little place. many women (mostly older) wear long bright coloured skirts, which apparently is traditional to this region.

this is definitely a shift from puerto escondido! i´m happy for it though. the party place was fun to experience, but it´s not the mexico i came here for. already, in the past 24 hrs, i´ve had to speak more spanish than the whole week i was in escondido.
my ´getting around´ language is much more effective than it used to be, but i still feel like an idiot trying to have conversations most of the time.

i stay in this town for one more night, then into chiapas.
i was warned against giant cockroaches in this place right before i came here... so you can guess how much sleep i got last night....
i eventually turned the light on and covered my face so that i could sleep. weird dreams ensued.

well, i´m off to the market to get stared at some more.... wheeee!

basic update

so i'm taking off from the beach town.
it's definitely a party/surf/backpackers place.
each place i get to, i think i'll want to stay longer, but there is always a time to leave.

also, my attempts to surf have been not so great.
shark attacks in ixtapa had me avoiding it all together,
the lack of learning waves in escondido - as well as a board in the back of my skull has turned me off of it for the time being.

i suppose i'll have to wait. it's obviously not meant to be right now.

next is to the south of mexico to get in a bit more culture, ruins, jungles etc.
i won't be at the orphanage til the 9th of july.
i have heard news from them, and they are in great need of sponsors - so if anyone has any interest, check out the link on the right column of this page.

this blog is rather uninspired, but i figured i should at least throw in an update...

i love mexico

the hot sun
the big waves
the language

the surfers
the backpackers

the gecko´s
the crabs scuttling across the beach

postcard views
someone who can sell you everything from fishing excursions to heroin (yikes)

the food
hamocks

forgetting what day it is
knowing that life can be like this

slow down the pace

after a few lazy days in zihua, i´ll be heading down the coast. hopefully there will be no news of shark attacks there!
i´ve made myself a traveling buddy from sweden, so the two of us will be hopping on an overnight bus for 12 hours.... i´m really hoping the kungfu movies won´t be on this one!!

for the rest of today, i think i´ll hit the beach one more time.... maybe do some pilates... i´m finally starting to master the art of relaxation.... almost...

quickie

so i´m uploading photos to flickr - there´s a link to the right.
due to 3 shark attacks in the last month, i won´t be doing any surfing in this location... probably will be heading down the coast soon.
i´m looking forward to hosteling my way through the south of mexico and central america... seems to be the way to meet people.

one year older as of yesterday, hopefully wiser!
that´s all for now.

bus headache, beach mishap and rain rain rain!

i´m finally, after a semi tedious two day trek, in zihautanejo. i love love love this place. was greeted by their first rainfall in six months, and it is pouring! none the less, i feel like i´ve finally arrived home.


guadalajara was nice, but we didn´t connect quite the way i had hoped. i did find a favorite spot, in front of the library (in the pic) and coffee shop (one of the few that doesnt serve instant!) so all was not lost, and perhaps it has potential for a second, cooler visit.

my sunday afternoon and night was spent at a little town about 20 mins from the beach. my hotel room resembled something of a cell, but it had a fan, cable, and i have to say was a step up from my ´harry potter-cinderella´stye digs in guadalajara (reference to cupboard under the stairs).

i jumped at my first chance to go to the beach. yay beach! and a surfer beach too. i envisioned buff surfer dudes strolling around in board shorts as i ever-so-cooly sipped a cervesa under a palm tree. of course this wasn´t so much the case.

instead, i arrived at a decent beach. definitely not swim-able with the monster waves - and the occasional surfer dude sitting under a shelter near one of two budget surf hotels on the beach.

after a little stroll up and down the beach, i decided to park myself in front of the one hotel and do some writing (of course secretly hoping a surf dude might wander by and ask me where i was from... i guess everything is secretly since i´m goin solo... unless i just wandered around making random announcements... anyhoo). so i´m feeling somewhat cool and indy-traveller like, when i feel something wet at my feet... then WOOSH.... the tide. in. with mud. all over me and my stuff. right in front of three surf dudes, about 6m away, watching from their shelter.

i´m so very cool. so i not-so-cooly hoist up all my things and run up the beach, put my stuff down, try to shake out my muddy wrap, only to have it happen AGAIN.

so cool. so extremely cool.

i ended up having to wander into the little hotel and ask a lady who worked there if i could use a shower, she nicely pointed out a giant bucket and a hose just a table over from the three surf dudes. awesome. now, in the after-school special version of this story, one of the surf dudes would have fallen for my clutzy charm, helped me clean off my stuff and spent the next week of my vacation teaching me how to surf.

but no.

instead, i had to hose myself off and dunk out my stuff like an old washerwoman while one surf dude asks me what the time difference is in california(presumably to call his girlfriend), the other says "got taken by suprise, eh?" and the other wandered off with a beer in hand to pass out in a nearby hamock.

i think i´m cured of any surf-guy fantasies i may have had....

so

today...

the bus ride today could

only be described as unneccessarily uncomfortable and long. 9 hours. second class bus (only available). initially seemed ok. cushy seats that recline reeeaaally far, a/c... but my first and only visit to the toilet gave me a nice big clue as to what i was in for. beyond nasty. so i figure - no more toilet visits. okay. then i realize my seat is tilted toward the floor, so i have to prop my feet on the seat legs in front of me to avoid wedgy-ing myself as i slide towards the floor. then, half way through the trip (or what i had hoped was half way) we stopped for lunch.

lovely authentic mexican stop overlooking the ocean. however, me being the only non mexican, i have no idea what is going on, or how long we are stopping for. i go off to the bathroom and return to see all the bus passengers (about 10) seated at random tables. i sit, stand, walk up the road a bit to find a sloth (i think it was a sloth) in a cage, just randomly outside someone´s home... not cool...

i return to the "restaurant" to find people magically eating wonderful but strange looking mexican food. i´m not sure when or how they ordered (as there are no menus anywhere or servers taking orders), so i sit down in hopes that someone will come to my rescue and eventually a server came and asked me what i wanted. not having a menu, i used what spanish i knew to try to order food that i didn´t know the names of. as a response, the server grabbed me a well hidden menu and lunch happened. not without losing some dignity, i might add... i think this whole trip is going to be a big exersise in humility.

the remainder of the bus trip was seasoned with a lovely selection of kung-fu movies, dubbed in spanish and played at full blast. i fashioned earplugs out of napkins, which didn´t work, and arrived at my destination grumpy, annoyed and with a splitting headache.

lesson learned... research your bus company...

politically correct en español

today´s my last full day in guadalajara... actually, i´m heading to tequila (yes, there´s a place called tequila where tequila is actually from - go figure) with some fellow classmates. this means no more home-stay.... which i have to say i´m looking forward to as the food i´m being fed could easily take ten years off my life if i ate like this on a regular basis.
i´ve never had so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on wonderbread in my life.
however, bad cooking aside, the family i´ve been staying with has been very nice. at least i think they have been... from the spanish i can actually understand!

yesterday evening i was woken up from my siesta (the heat here really drains you) by my host mom - speaking to me through my door en español. we had a conversation of sorts - me responding yes or no as i saw fit, and eventually i concluded that i was going with the family somewhere... now.
i hop in the car, where the family has been waiting (for who knows how long) and i lean over to their oldest son and ask where we are going.
to grandma´s place. this is a friday night ritual.
excellent.
i don´t know why, but i found this extremely funny. good thing i trust these people.

the evening wasn´t so bad - we drank some tequila, ate some popcorn and talked (i mostly listened). my opinion was occassionally called upon when it came to the subjects of public education and abortion - these subjects weren´t covered in my classes this week. i want my money back!!. try making a decent argument for pro-choice with a bunch of catholics who don´t speak english. good times. sometimes one has to set one´s opinions aside....
oh, and i was also asked if i would marry the brother of my host mom (whom i met on sunday evening and concluded that he very likely isn´t so into the ladies...). i politely declined.

i should probably go meet up with the tequila tour.
i´ll try to upload some photos soon.

reality

i've been receiving a number of group emails from workers at and associated to the orphanage where i'm headed. all the emails are discussing issues of sexual abuse. apparently sexual abuse of children is a huge problem in honduras, and is the norm rather than the exception. they are currently looking for ways to educate the children at the orphanage about appropriate sexual behaviour and boundaries, which i will likely be a large part of once i arrive because of my background in theatre and puppetry (both are methods to safely address difficult topics).

as i sit in the computer lab at the spanish school in guadalajara, and i read the letters upon letters discussing the problem and potential ways to help, i feel a heaviness that i didn't expect to be feeling my first week away. this task that i've chosen to take on now seems like a mountain that i don't know how to climb. i know once i'm there i will figure things out, and find out what my role is, but right now it seems like this daunting thing (that i'm hardly qualified to deal with) looming ahead of me.

and this organization is only working with a small, small percentage of the population... it's overwhelming to think of 50% of an entire population of children being subject to abuse that goes unnoticed and unpunished.

for now, i'll try not to preoccupy myself with all of this, and just try to learn the language.
one step at a time.
challenges ahead:
today - buy aaa batteries in spanish
july - get in over my head at an orphanage full of children who need far more help than i'll be able to give them.

no problem.
if any of you are pray-ers, i could probably use some - and so could those kids.

first entry away

so i'm alive! i made it here with no problems... aside from being limited in my spanish, and 90% of the people i've encountered are limited in english, or have no english. i have a feeling that i'm embarking on my longest game of charades ever. maybe i should notify the guiness book of world records...
anyhoo.
i'm here. have completed 2 days of spanish classes where we are required to speak only in spanish. when i spend time with the other english speaking students i can't seem to talk enough - as if it's my last chance... all of us desperately babbling on about anything interesting or uninteresting as we know that when we return to class, or to our host families it will all be in spanish. ie: "i slept for six hours yesterday, then woke up, then brushed my teeth, then i went back to bed. i inhaled a bunch of times and exhaled, as per usual....it was really hot in my room... blah blah blah"
it's a bit of a shock to be woken up out of a dead sleep by a spanish speaker and have to figure out what they are saying and respond appropriately, let alone speak in a classroom situation. all i have to say is i had better be able to understand what's going on around me by the time i hit guatamala...
as for the rest, the weather is very hot, the people are friendly, the centre of the city is very historical and beautiful (i'll try to take and upload some photo's by the end of this week) and i feel quite safe here.
i'll stop writing now for attention-span reasons....
more to come