Cruise, Day 2

Santiago is a nice place. After a 2 hour stroll through the city center, I had a new apprecaition for uniform sidewalks, public trash cans, normal color boogers, lush parks, palm trees, manicured flower beds, huge fountains, department stores, and no one peeing in public. I had an ice cream in leiu of McDonalds or Burger King and decided to have for dinner some of the oatmeal that I´ve been hauling around (you know, to lighten the load by 3 ounces and make room for souvenirs). Watched Erin Brockovich at the hostel with some others which reminds me that I got to watch Juno on the flight down here, a couple of times, and that is a movie i had actually really wanted to see. I liked it okay but sometimes I thought it was unrealistic and too ¨acty¨. I like the guy actor and Jason Bateman the best.

Yesterday I took my time leaving for the bus station since i didn´t want to arrive to the cruise port before I could board, there were several companies running nice motorcoaches to Valparaiso (an hour trip), every 15 minutes. I picked the first one and went to find my bus and there stood Roberta, Steve, Steve´s friend Arden, and Arden´s girlfriend Sarah. They were on my same bus and I didn´t even know they were still in Santiago. We arrived, checked in and were onboard by 1. By checked in I mean ¨successfully snuck my 3 liters of wine through the Xray security machine¨. We changed our dining table assignments so we could all sit together at the late seating. Actually we were supposed to meet and do it together but I got there first and there was no line to see the Maitre D or whatever...he could see we were employees in the computer which led to Alaska chit-chat and ultimately him giving us a cool waiter (a magician supposedly) and a table by the window. And just for good measure he said ¨Are all your friends beautiful like you?¨ (Picture me unshowered with camo basecall cap courtesy of Tanner and Dakota Midland Grain) I said ¨Yeah, especially the guys¨ which I thought was a good recovery.

My room is handicap accessible which is just a fancy way of saying BIG. I could do one, maybe two cartwheels if I wanted and there is a bench in the shower allowing me to shave sitting down (it is slippery though, which you would think the handicap old people would definitely have a problem with). I have a big bed and I loved unpacking all my stuff into ALL the drawers, using ALL the hangers, and especially the joy of being able to occupy the bathroom as long as I want. Speaking of, I feel the need to mention that my gastro-intestinal tract was very cooperative with central american street food (running on about 95% of its cylinders) which I thought was pretty good since I ate whatever I saw. However, system has not transitioned as well into cruise ship gluttonous intake. Let´s just say that apparently my digestional tract wants to help me lose weight by sending everything down the Gastro-Express. Its good to have my own room.

Steve and his friends plan to spend a week in Mexico after the cruise, so maybe that will be an option.

Today we are in a dumpy Chilean town and it was cloudy this AM, getting sunnier now. My plans for the day are to buy notecards for CPA studying purposes, find hair dye and a pedicure and eat about 4000 calories for dinner. I don´t know, how many calories do you think I ate last night? Shrimp cocktail, tomato soup, salad, breadstick, part of seafood risotto and chicken something, blueberry-apple crepe (sugar free), and creme brulee. Our table of 6 ordered 15 desserts between us. I told everyone that meant we were eating 2.5 desserts per person. They are lucky to have me, otherwise no one would tell them these things.

Adding Insult to a long trip

I have unanimously decided with myself that Chile is officially my most unfavorite country in the world. As much as the people so far, in the last two hours have been helpful and friendly, it doesn´t make my whiny baby mood any better after having to pay $131 dollars to enter the country. Only payable when FLYING in, the charge is called an ¨Entry Reciprosity Fee¨ since apparently the US government charges Chileans a lot of money to visit us. Anyway, somehow I got here without knowing that and now I will have to chip away at other budget items, since nothing will make me angrier than going over my budget. I am trying to think of the extra money I have because of my free Guatemalan bus ride, or the economic stimulus money I will get in May from the government who has indirectly made me hate Chile.

Getting here was a pain in my butt too, not just my pocket. I had several bouts of ADD and claustrophobia. First I left the hostel in Xela and walked to the bus terminal. The bus ride was only $7 but thats because I think the bus was used during segregation, reminded me of the bus in the football movie with Denzel Washington. There was lots of construction, in which we sat probably 4 different times for 30 minutes each without moving. That made me really impatient, plus their was no bathroom on the bus and I thought I understood that there weren´t going to be any stops...so I tried not to drink much water even though I am anal about drinking enough water every day. So that was annoying and it was dusty and bumpy, making crosswords and reading not options and my ipod battery was low. (speaking of dirtiness, the pollution and emission standards of Guatemala are nonexistent so at the end of the day my Oxy pad is very black and so are my boogers) Finally we get there in about 6 hours and get in a taxi to find another woman already in the back seat and she ends up going to the opposite end of the city, so I´m really impatient when we finally get to my B&B by the airport after 45 minutes. In the AM, the B&B gives a ride to the airport, where I efficiently used my last $3 of quetzales on a snack. Two hour flight to Miami, then I had a 6 hour layover. I have been actually studying alittle from my CPA book, so I sat at Chili´s in the airport and drank a margarita and learned some things, then paced the airport for some exercise as much as possible without looking suspicious. Plane left at 9:30, sat by one of those guys that thinks he paid for the whole middle armrest...not like i needed the space, its just the principle that made me want to karate chop his forearm. Arrived in Sao Paulo Brazil at 6:30 am and I decided not to ever visit Brazil on purpose as most of the airplane personnel couldn´t understand much English, which just makes me speak Spanish and them not understand me very well even then, and Portugese sounds disgusting anyway. There were massage chairs throughout the terminal and I was uncomfortable from trying to sleep (also, hardwood floors and seats with permanent armrests in the airport not very conducive for the sleeping I intended to do with the pillow and blanket I stole from the flight before) so I got sucked in to a 20 minute, $20 massage...I was thinking..hmm...do any of my friends coming on this cruise give good massages? It was a gamble and I didn´t know the next time I´d con someone for a free massage. Flight left at 9am, 4 hours to Santiago uneventful, good food. Arrived in Santiago, got really ticked off at the world, was rude to several annoying tour salesmen, got the bus to the subway to the stop I had written down for the hostel, asked directions a couple of times and found the place I was looking for. Their dorm beds were all booked so ended up paying about $15 for one night instead of $10, only difference is my room with 6 people in it has our own bathroom. I hope this cruise is worth the effort!

Xela 2

Yesterday I woke up to meet the minibus that picks the teachers up for the school that Michael is the principal of (next year he will be the director). He gave me a tour and a good idea of whats going on. Its 150 kids pre-k - 12 and school is taught in English, kids are either upper middle class, on scholarship or have an american parent, etc. Although you don´t have to have a teaching degree, the commitment is 10 monthes. However, Michael says they are always looking for after school tutors and SAT tutors and that i could probably make ends meet just tutoring a couple of hours a day. Maybe make 2000 quetzales (divide by 7.5) or 300 dollars a month. He said I could also substitute because they have no substitute teachers. He also plans to start a summer camp for the public school kids this fall, they have oct. to dec. for ¨summer¨vacation (not his school, just public).

In the afternoon I checked out a couple of spanish schools, including one that seems like the best option for volunteering as well. They have a daycare, medical clinics, and also build stoves for rural families (because of respiratory problems and dangerous current practices i believe). It is 35 a week to live with a host family and get 3 meals a day or michael pays 100 a month to share a really nice house. For 5 hours of spanish one on one, 5 days a week it costs 125 and the money helps fund the community projects. There are a lot of spanish schools, a lot of organizations with ads for english teachers, etc. I´m considering the following for next winter:

Leave AK end of sept.
Visit KS
Guate from Oct-Dec
KS for Xmas
Anchorage for January
Mid-Feb head to New Zealand for 2 months
I figure this keeps everyone happy, including the alaskan govt and assures that i will get christmas presents.

There is a cruise on April 12 from NZ to Hawaii, there are also 2 week cruises around NZ all the time. Also, friend Nick Johnson from AK just got a job on the Millenium ship, which will be down there, and I think he can bring guests for $10 a day.

Yesterday I also did my laundry and some other errands. I bought a 4 dollar ticket to go to some hot springs for this morning and was planning to get a massage for 12 dollars an hour but the Dutch guy told me last night that he and some others were planning to go visit the indigenous village where the peace corps volunteer (with curly long blonde hair and bandana), Cody, works. So I switched plans only to find out we might not even see Cody, as he was working away from the village. Well, we didn´t really have a plan or know the exact buses to take but we ended up making it there in about 2-3 hours. The village was bigger than we expected and like many places in Guate., not much was going on. We walked around a little, got something to eat, the guys tried to find a strip club (ha ha), we then happened to run into Cody (not quite as tall as he could have been), then we had to hop a bus back so that Dutch guy and English guy could make it rugby practice. Although this town has 100K people, 4 of the 5 people I was with today know Michael either from rugby or from his roommate.

In summary, the excursion today was a pretty uneventful experience. Kinda wished I would have stuck with my plan, but going to hot springs by myself would have meant being a little bored and not having anyone to watch my stuff get stolen while i soaked. And I couldn´t get anyone to answer at the massage place. Cody is coming to town for the weekend because the rugby team has a game against Guate. City but I am leaving tomorrow, probably hop a luxury motorcoach for the 4-5 hour ride to the city. Spend the night by the airport and fly out Fri. AM.

another small world

Just had dinner and spent 4 hours catching up with Michael McNabb, a friend from SNU who is the director of an Interamerican school year, has lived here 3 years. Good times. In conversation he mentioned that he played in the first rugby game ever in Guatemala...I said that was funny because the Dutch guy at the hostel was saying something about playing rugby in Xela (he was here before a couple of months ago) and Michael says ¨Oh you mean Loures, he´s been managing a coffee farm in Pana for a few months?¨ Yep, same guy.

Going to catch the shuttle to Michael´s school in the morning and take a tour. Trying to decide if Guate. is my next adventure. I really want to become fluent before I die.

Then maybe hot springs in the afternoon but there were a lot of Guatemalans at the hot springs last weekend since it was a holiday and it has been suggested that I wait a few days to let the springs replace (cleanse) the content of the pools before going.

This town, Xela, is at 8,500 feet and I´ve been feeling it a little so I´m not sure my virgin sea level lungs are too excited about Wednesday´s planned hike to 12,500 feet. I might wimp out.

Sometimes the water gets turned off for the whole city and after a couple of hours the deposits that people have made into the toilet begin to mature and it smells really gross and you have to go on what other people went, the end.

Xela

Michelle, Charlie, me, Damian, Mia
Processiones
carpet-making
St.Patty´s in Utila (to my left is Owen, my roommate)
Toga party in Utila with the French guys
Volcan Pacaya



I hiked to Pacaya, stood on (cooled and hardened) lava, cut my finger on lava, took pictures of hot orange lava, been there, done that. Then went sweaty and dusty to meet up with Damian and his sister and friend at a really nice restuarante where I snuck a quick shower in the restaurante´s bathroom. We listened to some live Cuban music, then met up with Charlie and his friends. Sunday morning I got up and headed to Xela via chicken bus....thats the name for the retired school buses that make a new life for themselves as overcrowded public transport in central america...sometimes hauling chickens on top...in this case it hauled my backpack on top and half my right cheek on the edge of a seat for 3 hours. Actually had to take one chicken bus for 25 cents to connect with the 3 hour chicken ride for 4.50...as I was crossing the street I noticed 3 other backpackers, then a bus screetching to a stop with a man yelling ¨Xela Xela!¨ and the backpackers running towards it, the man heaving their backpacks on the rack on top, so I ran up, threw my backpack on and jumped on with the other backpackers (including a long blonde curly haired bandana-wearing Peace Corps volunteer from Michigan, a Dutch guy and a NYer). Got to Xela and the Dutch and NY guy were headed to same hostel I was, so followed them there. Hostel is 7 a night which includes breakfast, anything off the hostel restaurant´s menu, which is a 4-5 dollar value. Free internet, good atmosphere for meeting other backpackers...in fact, I actually ended up hanging out last night with a girl for once...21 year old Delaware student studying abroad in Mexico. She left today though. Today I´m going to call the guy I know who is a director of a school here and hopefully meet up with him and pick his brain about teaching English or basically just how he ended up here in Xela.

I am now looking for travel ideas, suggestions, and partners for April 13-30 as ex-bff doug has decided he has too many other things to do and won´t have time to take a caribbean vacation. What I´m saying is I need someone to take me on their cruise.

Antigua

I´m headed to hike Volcan Pacaya today, then plan to catch a bus to Xela in the morning for the last segment of the trip. I´ve enjoyed Semana Santa. I should have lowered my expectations for the processions but they were cool in their own way. Lots of time and effort is put into these by tons of people, they carry ¨floats¨on their shoulders (like 25 to 50 people per float). (Some women carrying the float with high heels on the cobblestone streets...what are you thinking) Each float is a scene from the Easter story. They walk really slow and there is a band playing somber music. They also burn incense as they go so it is smoky and smells interesting. The people also spend hours making alfombras or carpets on the cobblestone streets that the procession will march over. Everything is symbolic, although i´m sure I´m only catching half of it. The carpets are meant to represent the carpets people would lay down when Jesus came to their town. The pictures I took will give a better idea but they dye sawdust and use fruit and flowers to make all sorts of designs. The processions went on throughout the day and in between the hoards of people just sit and hang out in the plazas and parks. I have been staying with Charlie, on a cement floor with just a comforter and pillow, but its been remarkably comfy. I take sleeping pills. I´ve been able to sleep a lot here which I was hoping for because it seemed like I was getting up early for some reason or another for the first part of the trip, whether to catch a bus or go diving. In La Ceiba when I met that guy in the internet cafe, we went to the music festival across from where I was staying and the band started at 10. I was tired and only made it through a few songs before heading to bed (because I am old and don´t like Honduran beer anyway)...had to be up at 4 to catch the bus. That music festival I actually couldn´t hear from my bed, because there was another one behind my room that had much louder music that drowned the other out, like it was a competition or something. It was so loud but I was tired enough to sleep through it for the most part. The music finally ended when I was in the shower at 4 am. Lovely. So my cement floor is okay, its really chilly though because Charlie lives up on the hillside outside of Antigua. Also staying with us are two Belgians who speak French and Spanish but no English so the whole day´s conversation is in Spanish. It wears me out trying to keep the translation wires connected in my head. At night we have been going out for dinner and to several bars with some of Charlie´s friends. I even stayed out until 530am which, for me, is hardly ever worth it. However, I actually stayed awake the whole time, partly because Latino guys really like to salsa dance and appear to not be picky with their dance partners, since I danced like a rock star with Leonardo, Willie, Charlie, etc. for hours. (My favorite was Leonardo but thats probably because I found out he is married, figures) So I´ve actually enjoyed the bar scene because its not just sitting and falling asleep.

Although I´ve had small world encounters before, I just had another that probably takes the cake for the ¨smallest¨. I was standing in line for the one bathroom stall during a break from my salsa-fest, talking to the girl behind me, when a guy came up to her who looked familiar. Usually I would think first, but I placed him automatically in Costa Rica and just blurted out ¨Were you in Costa Rica a few years ago?¨ and luckily his job dropped and he remembered me too. With my amazingly horrible memory, somehow I remembered that we had hung out for a couple of days on the beach. However lacking in the boyfriend department my life may be, it never lacks in the temporary crush department. His name is Damian and his family is Guatemalan, so he is here visiting. It took me awhile but I remembered he lived in Chicago and works in the clothing industry. He even remembered that I had just left Chicago for Alaska. Anyway, it was totally bizarro. I´m about to call him and make plans to hang out tonight. Makes me feel like I´m at the right place at the right time. Freaked us both out. People are cool.

Semana Santa in Antigua

Made it safely here. Staying with a guy from couchsurfing named Charlie who left out that he doesn't have a couch, just a cement floor. But he is a good tour guide. We will be going back to his house to sleep until 9pm, then we will stay out all night watching people set up the carpets and stuff for the processions tomorrow. Tomorrow is the big day of celebrations. Bus ride was LONG yesterday.

Utila and beyond

I just saw that Lance Mackey won the Iditarod. I hope everyone finds this as happy as I do. He´s such an ugly, Alaskan stud. I think he is hot.

Friendly Central Americans keep talking to me. As a result I haven´t hardly read any of my books and still have two magazines. Haven´t done a crossword puzzle. The guy to the left of me at the internet cafe wants to talk about Alaska. Duh.

So I made it back to the mainland, La Ceiba, Honduras and will catch a 5 am bus to Antigua, Guatemala arrive at 8 pm. I´m travelling by myself again but not really. Met 2 guys, Pav and Rob from the UK at the ferry today and now we are sharing a room right by the beach. Good news is there is a musical festival right across the street. Bad news is I woke up at 6 am to go diving and I was planning to sleep a little before getting up at 4am.

And the guy next to me just offered to walk me back to the hotel, stopping for milkshakes along the way. He is a friendly Honduran and at least speaks English slightly. Anyway...

So Utila was interesting. I did get SCUBA open water certified which means i can SCUBA with a friend to 30 feet or so I think. I don´t love it. In fact, I think I am underwhelmed by it. I suppose that it could be cool, but it was kinda like snorkeling except a lot more work and preparation. Whale sharks are supposed to be around soon(not dangerous) so I guess that would be cool. Utila is basically just a diving place. You don´t travel there unless you want to dive. The diving world is made up of beautiful, tan people. Very friendly people, but diving can be slightly egotistical as far as what training and how skilled of a diver you are. Utila itself was not beautiful. Its a small island made up of mostly swamp and mangroves. Houses are on stilts and there is one main strip of a few blocks, one lane wide, where everyone walks and tries not to get hit by cars, 4wheelers, golf carts, bikes, motorcycles, etc. The most people on a moped I saw was 4, the most on a 4wheeler was 5. There are not beautiful white sandy beaches. There are two beaches, one costs money and I went to neither. Thats because I was DIVING. Today our boat broken down and its been really windy for a couple of days. Windy is good because it cools the place off. Then you don´t have to spend your whole day wiping sweaty sunscreen out of your burning eyes and trying to drink more than you sweat out. But windy is bad when you are on a boat and you have no engine and you are prone to seasickness. So I threw up in front of 20 people. Not ON anyone though. Then I was fine for the second dive. I caught the 2pm ferry and I took one of the motion sickness pills the ferry office offered. Last time I took a motion pill over the counter in a foreign country, I slept for 6 hours in the middle of the day. I hoped this dosage would have the same effect. It did. I don´t want to sound like I´m trying to make a dramatic story up just for the blog, so I´ll just say that the ferry ride was ¨side to side¨ and the screams were like ¨disneyland 3D simulation¨ and outside it looked like a ¨car wash¨ and inside it felt like ¨Tim Cutts trying to throw me off the back of a jetski.¨ I woke up an hour later and we had made it. It was almost a bigger thrill to me than diving but not so because I thought what an inconvenience it would be to replace everything I have with me if we flipped. But we didn´t flip and I´m sure we weren´t even close to flipping so no one needs to worry. But I have digressed into storytelling.

One of the new experiences my compadres and I shared on Utila was watching our toilet offerings be deposited directly from us into the ocean, do not pass go, do not believe in sanitation. This was just at the places along the water. The place I stayed at was aways back from the water but on a swamp, so the whole place was built up on a deck. The accommodations were quaint and sufficient and free because of the diving, so I´m not complaining. Sometimes the boards on the deck would break and people would fall through. (almost funny but a little unsettling as well) Sometimes dog would poop on the deck. Owen and I shared a small room that had a shower. The shower drained straight to the open air and water and land below our room. I haven´t gotten sunburnt yet really, which I´m really proud of. Have some small gross bug bites, apparently from sand flies, on my pasty gross legs that I haven´t shaven (because it makes the bug bites bleed).

Anchorage to Honduras

Arrive in Fort Lauderdale after sleeping most of the red eye. James picked me up and we went to a Mexican place on the beach and waited til his brother´s flight arrived...then went to his place in Miami Beach and went to a couple of clubs on the strip there. Slept in til 1 pm, James had made breakfast, then went to the airport for my 4 pm flight to Guate. TACA Airlines is my new favorite because they served warm food on a 2.5 hour flight and gave us candy. Arrived in Guate fine and got a taxi to the bus terminal where I needed to book my ticket to Honduras for the next morning. I had two options, 5am and 9am, arriving in La Ceiba at 5pm or 9pm. La Ceiba is the town where the ferry to the island leaves from. Of course even the earliest bus misses the ferry so you have to spend the night in La Ceiba and take the ferry in the morning. I picked the early departure so I could arrive in La Ceiba in daylight when its safer and have more time to look around. From the bus terminal I used their phone to call a guy named Enrique Iglesias (not his real name). I read Enriques profile on Couchsurfing.com and he had said I could crash at his place until my bus left. Seemed like a normal guy, fluent English speaker, but thats all I could remember. So I called him, and he offered to send his taxi driver to pick me up and drive me up to his place in the mountains. At this point even I think the scenario is sketchy, but I like to think I´m a pretty good reader of people. So the taxi arrived, really nice guy...my spanish at this point was also sketchy at best but everyone wants to talk. We drove out into the suburbs and up the side of a mountain before finally arriving at a gated community. Showed up and met Enrique, who insisted on paying my cab fare. Went inside and had a beer, both agreeing we were a little crazy for trusting strangers and both agreeing not kill each other. Enrique is from Mexico but lived 11 years in the states, lived in Europe etc. so his English is perfect. He recently moved to Guate. because he works for a company owned by the 2nd richest man in the world (from Mexico, can´t remember name). Enrique got promoted from supervising Mexico to supervising all of Central America. He has a degree in electrical engineering and does something involving hydrogen cells and solar energy. He is 26. His girl friend Karol showed up to take us to the restaurant district and we got pizza and a few drinks, which weren´t as cheap as you´d expect because you know if you see an Applebees, you aren´t in the typical Guatemalan neighborhood. So Enrique insisted on paying and when I resisted, he said ¨Save your money, let the 2nd richest man in the world pay for it.¨ I gave in because thats a pretty good excuse. Enrique and Karol were both as awesome as it gets. I think I fell in love a little bit when Enrique said ¨What do you think I need to add to my house? I think I really need a chimney so I can have hot chocolate on cold nights¨) Got to bed at 1, Enrique had arranged for the driver to come pick me up at 330 am, got to the bus terminal, and our ¨motorcoach¨ left on time only to break down 3 hours into the 12 hour journey. I think we busted a belt, which I don´t know if I could change, since the bus was a Mercedes and I haven´t had a mechanical day in 2 years so I didn´t offer (plus I don´t have any Spanish vocab for engines). There were lots of men working on it while the rest of us waited by the side of the road for 2 hours. Lots of armed guards everywhere cuz of crime and at first I didn´t notice but when we were pulled over, apparently 2 of them had been traveling with us because they were standing guard in front and behind the bus with their big shotguns or whatever. None of the passengers complained and finally 2 minibuses came to pick us up and take us to the next station where we still had to change buses 2 more times and now would arrive at 9pm in La Ceiba. During the day the bus company handled it really well, feeding us pop and snacks all day and apologizing. The first snack I was offered was a Burger King sandwich (happy me). The bus attendant serving the snacks then sat down in the seat next to me and wanted to talk, which was easier at first, then he got to asking about how much snow different states get and what products come from what states. Then he wanted to know how come I didn´t have a boyfriend even though I have blue eyes? Eventually I had to tell him I was tired, since my 2 hours of sleep were not adequate for forming sentences on these topics in Spanish.
One of the bus company managers had said something about a discount on a return ticket and sure enough they let us book a ticket to whereever we needed to return to and didn´t charge us. I booked a ticket from La Ceiba to Antigua, Guate. for the 19th...a 15 hour ride and $70 value..free! Did someone say free? During the marathon bus ride day I met the two Danish girls, one who had dislocated her knee dancing in Antigua and was on crutches. (Dear God, Please remember that I am uninsured!) They were headed to La Ceiba as well and then on to the island of Utila to dive. We agreed to find a place together that night. Then I met Chantelle who was traveling alone but had already met the two Frenchies. They were going to Utila as well. I thought, why am I going to Roatan instead of Utila to dive? They had learned Utila was the backpacker´s choice, less expensive. I hadn´t learned this because I planned last minute and didn´t have a guidebook. So I decided to go with my new 5 friends to Utila. Most are staying here at least a week. We 6 found a hostel in La Ceiba, shared cabs to the ferry, took the hour ferry to Utila where we met up with Chantelle´s friend Erica who has been living here. ON the ferry we also met randomly a guy from Chantelle´s town of 3000 in BC...Owen traveling to Utila by himself is an Andy Nye impersonator (think Australia, ¨sick!¨ and says things like ¨fat guy in a little hammock!¨). 7 friends! When we got here, there are so many dive shops to choose from, most offer free lodging when you sign up. THe Frenchies picked one, the Danish girls other, Chantelle is staying with Erica which left Owen and myself. We picked CrossCreek and here we are. We got a room for 2, which contains a bunk bed, a shower and a fan. Livable, no air con, no hot water, like most places around here. Every other person I´ve mentioned has does their first SCUBA class already, I am the only beginner. I start this afternoon and finish the day I leave on the ferry. Last night the group of us plus other friends of Ericas, Thomas from Norway, Jacob from Denmark, Ennis and Beth from Australia, etc, went to a bbq place for fish, rice, salad, and potato for $5. I had king fish, got a huge piece and it was good. So that was the first food I bought in the 5 days I´ve been gone. Thanks to good friends, the 2nd richest man in the world, the bus company and my plan to subsist (insert Winter Wonder quote here) on the granola, oatmeal and Airborne pills I brought with. I popped a bad of popcorn I had brought the other night, the Frenchies had never seen microwave popcorn (¨Does it just explode all over the inside of the microwave?¨ Out of the group of 6 or 7 of us who met up, I speak the best Spanish so they need me and they had malaria pills so I needed them. Except all the bugs I´ve heard about I just haven´t seen...not one mosquito so far. The island town is very small, we all run into each other throughout the day. Well, thats pretty much it all right now, gotta get off the computer. SCUBA starts at 2, I hope I´m not clautrophobic.

Honduras

Spent 16 hours in transit today from Guate City but made it to La Ceiba, Honduras an hour ago. Tomorrow will take ferry to an island called Utila where I will stay for 5 days. Traveling with other backpackers...Tibo and Mark from the south of france, Leena and Kate from Denmark and Chantelle from Canada. Nice hostel, $8 a person. Got some good stories, not enough time tonight to write. Haven´t paid for any food since leaving Alaska..which is part of the stories...oh and already have a broken down bus story, so my central american odyssey could be complete.

Confirmed

Got confirmed for the cruise. Amazing what happens if you tell them you are leaving the country. My room is inside, right by the elevators and right under the gym (8 floors) so thats a bonus. Prices went up...used to be $312 ish now they have added a fuel supplement and now total cost including taxes, fees, fuel, and gratuities is $499.49 for 15 nights. $33 a day isn't bad, but not as great as $20 a day no matter if you have an accounting degree or not. Speaking of, I'm going to be hauling a 27 lb (exaggerated) review book for the CPA in my backpack. If I don't vomit when I open it or accidently throw it in a bonfire, I might read it.

The joys of planning last minute. I booked a ticket with an airline that doesn't do electronic tickets and my paper ticket was scheduled to arrive in Anchorage tomorrow but I leave tonight, a slight obstacle. But paying extra, they stopped the shipment and rerouted it overnight to Miami so I can get it when I get to James and Liz's place tomorrow. Hopefully. Its the ticket for the 28th so I have a couple of weeks to figure it out if it doesn't show up tomorrow. Other than that, taxes done, PFD app. turned in, bills paid, oil changed, sheets washed, camera charged, memory card empty, ipod loaded, wine rack hung, documents printed, food eaten, carpets vaccuumed, laundry laundered, gym membership cancelled, bags packed.

Spring Break Agenda

March 10 - Anchorage to Miami
March 11 - Miami to Guatemala
March 12 - Guatemala to Honduras (tentative)
March 14-18 SCUBA course (tentative)
March 19 - Honduras to Antigua (tentative)
March 20-22 Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Antigua
March 23-27 Xela, Guatemala (visit college friend?)
March 28 - Guatemala to Miami, Miami to Santiago, Chile
March 29 - Arrive Santiago
March 30 - Board Celebrity Infinity 15 night cruise thru Panama Canal to Miami (assuming confirmation)
April 13 - Arrive Miami
April 14-29 To Be Announced.
April 30 - Miami to Anchorage
May 1 - Start work for the summer.