Fall, A time for Reflection

Aña and I have been back in the States for just over two months now. I've wanted to update this blog for awhile. Leaving it alone with a mysterious post about our return to the U.S. was certainly not my intention. It is just that we have been staying very, very busy.

We left the Yoga House in Guatemala to return to Wisconsin. We were just getting settled in again after traveling around with Aña's brother, Matt. We were starting to sell homemade food and I was teaching some more advanced Yoga classes. Things were going great, but we decided in less than a day to return home. We received the tragic and upsetting news that Aña's father, Ted, had taken his life. In one note he left he stated he was "sick of the roller coaster of life". For him it had been a bigger roller coaster than many ride. It seemed he was finally fed up with the bipolar disorder he battled with for many years. Us returning home to be with family and offer as much support as possible is the only thing that made sense. As mentioned in the previous blog we had a very crazy trip back, but returned safely.

We were back about a week before Ted's memorial service on August 14th. The service was held at a Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. It was one of the most beautiful and heart wrenching and warming memorials I've ever been to. Stories were shared, songs sung, and many tears were shed. Aña, her two younger brother's beautifully compassionate eulogies held a common chord. They resonated on the creative outlook to life their father passed on to them. It seems many knew Ted as a great story teller with an ability to make friends wherever he went. There is definitely a noticeable void in the day to day life here in Appleton.

I spent a month living with Aña and her mom. I stayed busy preforming a variety of maintenance on the house and donating or selling excess material objects. With the help of some very generous volunteers we even tore down the adjacent one and a half car garage. It had a leaky roof for several years causing the infrastructure to rot beyond repair. I'll post some pictures of that project.

Then, I had an opportunity to run my folks bar in Northern Wisconsin where I grew up. I ended up working about six days a week for the month of September. The bar tending gig culminated in one very crazy but lucrative weekend; Applefestival. A festival where the town of 500 people hosts about 60,000 visitors! I relished in the beauty of Lake Superior and some of the best fall colors ever. My folks have a 29' sailboat and I made it out on the lake with them twice. I spent a great deal of my limited free time loosing myself in the woods hunting wild mushrooms. One interesting day I was just missed by a couple of charging does. I also saw my first wolf in the area since their recent comeback. What spooky majestic creatures!

Now, I'm back in Appleton living with Aña and her mom. I'm back to work on the house. This time fixing up old windows and getting the house ready to be winterized. The nights are ominously starting to get cold. I'm sure it won't be long before snow flurries are in the air. At least winter will give us time to figure out where we want to go next. The hot springs of Oregon sure sound good. Maybe next summer will do.

Yoga Travel?

Here is an interesting link a blog reader sent to me. Very interesting ideas for Yoga Travel and basic travel tips. Enjoy!

Article on Yoga Travel

Crazy Trip!

4 Days of Driving from Guatemala to West, Texas. We had to drive in 4x4 on back roads to get around protesting workers in Guatemala blocking the highway. In Chiapas, Mexico we drove through a tropical storm. In one city a street was flooded so much that water got into our air intake. Water was two inches below the floor boards. We were pulled out and a mechanic had us back on the road in an hour for about $20. Tampico, Mexico: pulled over three different times by traffic cops soliciting us for bribes. One let us go for $16, one let us go after half an hour of me getting pissed telling him he was a liar and corrupt. He told me "I had balls" before giving me my license and truck permission back. The third one let us go when we told him we didn't have any cash. Day four took us by 15 dead mutilated bodies in the highway in the state of Tamaulipas. Getting into the U.S. was a pain and then I was stung by a wasp on the leg and in between two fingers. 70 miles from my dad's house in Ft. Worth our truck threw a rod at 2:00a.m. Today we'll scrap the truck to cover the towing bill.

All in all, a crazy four day trip. Somehow, we still have a positive outlook. We are curious as to where the universe is trying to lead us.

Change of Plans

That's a funny title. Change is always happening all around us. With an unexpected change we will be heading back to the U.S sooner than expected. I haven't been able to write, or rather focus enough to write. I've been staying busy. Busy enough to distract my mind from the ramifications of recently transpired events. Busy saying goodbye to a lifestyle that was picking up momentum. Busy saying goodbye to new friends made. Trying to prepare for the culture shock of the return. A return to excess, naivety, corporate rule, and endless highways.

I plan to leave Xela, Guatemala tomorrow (Monday, July 26) around 6:00. Travel along the West Coast to the only break in Mexico's longitudinal mountains (Salinas Cruz). Then, crossing over Mexico's narrowest East/West stretch to the Gulf of Mexico. Hopefully make it though Mexico in four days.

After a short visit with my father working in Texas, onward to Wisconsin. How long we'll be there is uncertain. Where our path will lead from there is uncertain. The only certainty, that we'll be together loving each other. Growing stronger and wiser together.

May we see many much missed chronically distant friends along the way.

Sorry for the nebulous theme of change. I'll fill you in eventually.

Back on the Road with Aña's Brother

Two days ago we drove to Guatemala city from Xela. What a drive it was! Under normal conditions the drive would be scary enough. In addition to steep winding mountains roads, there is now debris scattered on the highway from Tropical Storm Agatha. There must have been close to forty (yes that's 40) landslides that had covered the highway to various degrees. In most places only half the highway had been excavated necessitating a reduction to two lanes. Many sites were being worked on with bulldozers and backhoes. In one place half of the highway was gone. It had slide down the mountain side. Another place was still flooded with half a meter of standing water. Glad to be driving a truck.

We made it to Guatemala City after four hours of crazy driving. Unfortunately the craziness level only exponentiated. The first part of our Guatemalan City mission entailed researching a way to extend permission to keep our truck here. We became lost a couple of times on busy one way streets with chaotic drivers. Eventually we landed in a secure parqueo near two of the official buildings we needed to visit. After confused officials tried to find loopholes in confusing policies we decided to retreat. We will have to try talking with some folks in Xela when we return in a few weeks.

The second part of the mission involved finding a recommended Korean restaurant. With more driving in circles, cars cutting us off, and blind buses almost pulling out into us this didn't go much better. We decided to abandon yet another part of the mission.

Luckily the third, and most important part of the mission, was completed with style and panache. We mainly went to Guate. to pick up Aña's brother, Matt at the airport. We arrived a few hours early. We were not allowed into the airport and had no idea to check the flight status. Luckily the vagabondgoddess is on our side. The first gentlemen we asked about this conundrum had a spiffy iPhone. With this he quickly navigated to the airline's website and confirmed the arrival time for us. We spent most of the time across the street at an outdoor food stand eating barbecued chicken tacos and sipping coffee. We were eating amongst airline workers, waiting Guatemalans, and motorcycle police with Uzis and other toys. I also spent some time sleeping in the back of the truck while Aña serenaded me playing Guitar.

Matt arrived safely and on time bringing tons of goodies we'd requested. The most prized goody is a wheel of our favorite goat cheese. Aña had thought the wheels were smaller than the massive one we're now travelling with. It ended up being a $100 5lb. wheel of our Humboldt County Humboldt Fog goat cheese. Just a little more expensive than we had counted on, but it's hard to complain.

We promptly drove out of the insanity that is Guatemala City. Driving at night here isn't the best idea, but neither is staying in Guate. Our plan was to head to the Earth Lodge in the mountains north of Antigua. The drive to Antigua was mostly fine. The only scary part was running into an unmarked flooded stretch of highway. This quickly slowed the truck down from about 50mph to a near stop. At least now I have a better idea of what it must be like to drive into a lake.

We reached Antigua around 10:15pm. We had to stop and ask several times to find a small unmarked road out of town. This road took us up about 300m (1000') to a tiny village. As per instructions we had to locate the pilas (community wash area) and park there. Then a step decent down a dirt path and we had arrived at the Earth Lodge. A remote hippy hostel. We threw some stuff in small dormitory cabin and began work on the cheese wheel. Waking up we realized that the site offered one of teh most incredible views in Guatemala. Three volcanic peaks nearby with one erupting every half hour or so. We'll spend three nights here since the third night is free. Then off to exploring the rest of Guatemala.

Stay tuned for more pictures and vagabond rambling.

Tranquility in a sea of Chaos

I just want to take a moment to assure family and friends of our safety. This might be hard to do considering recent events. However, we are very well informed and in a very safe place to live. Many recent events here in Guatemala have been devastating and ominous. Two recent natural disasters struck this tiny country; the size of the state of Louisiana. An active volcano near the country's capitol erupted killing several people, causing thousands to be evacuated, and created hazardous conditions raining down ash. Right on the tail of the eruption a tropical storm hit causing intense flooding and mudslides across the country. Besides natural disasters the political system has entered a period of turmoil. Drug cartels abound, the crime chief resigned, the attorney was just dismissed over corruption allegations, and in a political stunt some severed heads turned up in Guatemala City.

All this aside, we are in a relatively safe city. Quetzaltenango, or Xela, has a genuine small town feel to it. It only gets a little sketchy at night, but it's safe when walking in small groups. Although we are near the active volcano belt in Guatemala, we are relatively distant from any threat. Our house is also located at a high point so flooding during a tropical storm is unlikely. It was a kilometer away that people were being evacuated by small boats a couple weeks ago. As far as the political situation goes, we are white. Tourism makes up the base of the Guatemalan economy. Thus, we are fairly well protected and privileged over the mass populace. We also have a bad ass 4x4 truck and could get the hell out of dodge if need be. Other than petty threats of theft we generally feel pretty safe. For these we can arm ourselves with mace, our trusted machete, or a quaint hunting knife. It also helps being about a foot taller than most men down here.

We feel safe enough here that we are considering staying until late winter/early spring. We have been busy studying Yoga and making foodstuff to sell. I've even started teaching Yoga and would love to become more experienced. I've been teaching beginner classes in the mornings. My classes are usually in Spanish, but sometimes become bilingual. Aña has also been enjoying the steady Yoga routine. We are really getting into our bodies and making steady progress. We are constantly surprising ourselves with our bodies' capabilities. Along with the practice comes a great tranquility of mind that we are cultivating. Definitely worth sticking around for awhile longer. Of course, we'll see how events transpire.

Volcanic Eruption, Tropical Storm, Landslides, and Flooding oh my!

I had thought that having a minor cold for the last four days would be my only worry. I thought wrong. While sniffling away my Thursday morning shift at the bookstore a patron shared a rather disturbing newspaper. He himself had come to buy something to read while waiting for the airport in Guatemala City to re-open. I had learned that one of Guatemala's several active volcanoes, Pacaya, had just erupted. This is a volcano Aña and I climbed up three years ago to see flowing lava. It is located 30 kilometers (19 mi) from Guatemala City. Its eruption was extremely powerful. It was reported that there were two spurts of lava launched almost 1.5 kilometers (0.93 mi) in the air. Tons of rock, dust, and ash fell on nearby villages, Guatemala City, and its international airport. This was the initial cause of the airport being closed. Almost a thousand people have been evacuated from the volcano's proximity. Luckily we are currently residing quite far from that volcano.

The Thursday edition of the Guatemalan newspaper, Prensa Libre, also contained a sideline about the weather on the coast. It casually noted there were 4.8 meter (almost 16 foot) waves and heavy rains on the coast. The coastal weather slowly grew into a tropical storm that covered most of the country. It rained for almost three days straight where we're living; here in Xela. Many streets turned into muddy rivers. Most stores didn't even open. News slowly drifted in announcing several landslides, flooded rivers and cities, and further evacuations and deaths around the country. It also mentioned that a nearby hot spring site we've enjoyed, Fuentes Georginas, was completely destroyed. It was inundated by mudslides and a dozen or so tourists were trapped there as the road was also inaccessible. Even certain areas of Xela were evacuated as water levels rose and flooded houses. Luckily, again, the house we're living in is located at a relatively high point. Until today, many of the normal food sources have been unavailable. The landslides had cut off most major highways into Xela. Many people went into a buying panic stocking up on food preparing for the storm.

The international Airport in Guatemala City will be closed for another four to five days. The heavy rains have hampered the cleanup of the volcanic ash. The rain mixing with the the ash is creating a cement-like mud clogging drainage systems. Too bad the man I met in the bookstore only bought three books to wait for the reopening.

Today marked a lull in the tropical storm. After three days of rain, Aña and I over enjoyed the sun while reading and watching jugglers in Central Park. We're a little sunburned. This evening the storm is supposed to rage on continuing until Wednesday. We can only wait and see what further destruction awaits this tiny natural disaster havocked country. To the best of my knowledge we are in a safe location and we are fortunate. Last night we piggishly enjoyed a pizza potluck party cranking out devouring five pizzas. The 100% whole-wheat sourdough crusts were a huge success! Perhaps given the frustration of the weather, most people instinctively brought wine to share as well. A fabulous night and a comforting reassuring sense of community.

Stay tuned for an update on the second half of the storm getting underway soon!

Busy Times!

Last week and weekend were extremely busy! It started Sunday night with us making dinner for the house. Continuing with our food fetishes, Aña and I jarred up four of our five gallons of kimchi for eating and selling. I made a big batch of 100% whole wheat sourdough to sell and hand cranked out eight pounds of peanut butter. Aña made some chocolate truffles; some with Chai spices, and some mixed with a blackberry reduction.

In the middle of the week we hiked up nearby Volcano Santa Maria. The peak is at an elevation of 3772 meters (12,375 feet). That means the climb to the top was a nearly 1200 meter (4000 foot) somewhat grueling adventure. We did the hike with our friends Elly (who we have the pleasure of living with), and Katie who has, sadly, just returned to the States. We left at seven in the morning, but it was not early enough. During our two and a half to three hour ascent we had spectacular views. The views were taken in frequently as we had to keep stopping to catch our breath. About two thirds of the way up we could see some clouds rolling in from a nearby valley. I rushed ahead to the top to chance a clear view. Unfortunately the clouds had already rolled in on the South flank obscuring a view of an extremely active smaller volcano. On the bright side, another friend and former house-mate was already at the top. He is a Mexican and was celebrating the birth of a son in Germany. So, naturally, he had a bottle of fine tequila with him and a fat cigar. A slight indulgence of celebrating with him helped me to warm up in the cold high altitude air. Mysteriously, there were also four to five cows up top who practically surrounded us while we ate lunch. Luckily, as we learned, they're afraid of bananas.

We made it back down from the volcano just in time to attend the 5:15 yoga class. It was great to stretch out after such an intense hike. Yoga has become very fundamental to our daily life. I've even started teaching two morning classes a week. It is a great experience and very rewarding. It also pays a little. On the downside, it's hard to sleep in past 6am.

Then to culminate events, we had to cross the border to renew our Guatemalan visas. We put out an open invitation to others and ended up going with our friends Katie and Cody. We decided it would be fun to go to one of the coastal crossings and spend a night on a Mexican beach. After four hours of crazy driving we arrived in the border city of Tecún Umán. We were harassed by half a dozen guys trying to "help" us in hopes being tipped. They were not helpful at all and very sketchy. We were distraught to learn that we could not renew the permit to have our truck in Guatemala. Apparently, we would have to keep our truck outside of Guatemala for 90 days before it could re-enter. This would have really screwed up our plans. One of the sketchy guys, who became my shadow, suggested transferring the vehicle tittle to Aña or bribing the customs official. I sneaked back in loosing my sketchy shadow and pleaded with the customs official some more. After making a phone call he told me we would have to bring the truck to the border crossing we entered at. That crossing, at La Mesilla, was a long ways from where we were.

We ended up making the most of our trip and finding a beautiful beach in Mexico near the border. At Playa Linda, we found a small family owned restaurant with a small pool, trampoline, and palapas to pitch our tents under. After playing in the waves and riding a strong side town down the beach we enjoyed a beautiful sunset. I cracked open some good "Sol" Mexican beers I had stopped to buy for the occasion. Then, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at the little outdoor beach restaurant. We dined on fresh ocean fish and the most amazing shrimp Ceviche I've ever had. The owner brought out three parrots to keep us company while we ate. It was hard to sleep in the tent as the sultry humid air had us sweating while laying down. We awoke to play in the ocean once more before heading back to our homes in Xela.

The next day Aña and I drove to the other border crossing another four hour drive away. It still took some pleading, but we were able to gain permission to keep our truck here for another three months. Suprisingly, at La Mesilla, there were not any sketchy guys and the customs worker was very genial and sympathetic. Another day with too much crazy driving. Whoever said passing school buses on blind curves was a bad idea?

This week, I've continued enjoying teaching morning Yoga classes. I've also been going to a couple other Yoga classes each day and the feared boxing class. I plan to go back up Santa Maria this Sunday in hopes of getting a better view. This time I'll be leaving with a small party at around 5am. Hopefully we'll beat the clouds.

Kimchi on the market!

We're finally advertising to sell Kimchi and other cottage industry goodies. Using 12 heads of cabbage and other veggies we were able to make 5 gallons of Kimchi. This will finally be enough to meet demands greater than those of our house-mates.

My First Earthquake! A nearby 5.6!

How exciting! This morning I experienced my first earthquake. (Apparently I did sleep through a small one when Ilsa was still with us.) Aña and I were in the kitchen making a carrot-mango-papaya-banana smoothie when things started shaking and rumbling. It seemed like there was a huge truck or train right out side our house. I went to the window and there was no truck, or train for that matter, on the street. My incorrect instinct was to run outside. Although this put me in a potentially more dangerous spot I was able to watch buildings vibrate and electrical lines sway.

I guess growing up in the mid-west didn't really prepare me for earthquake safety. I now know that it's better to get under a sturdy desk or table. According to the U.S.G.S. website most injuries happen when people try to move about during the quake. Being outside in a city also puts you at risk for falling walls or windows, and I'm guessing electrical lines as well.

The rumbling lasted only a few exciting minutes. I guess Aña hadn't even left the kitchen. So, we finished our smoothie before she had to go to work. Twenty minutes later I checked out the "official report" on the handy dandy United States Geological Survey (USGS) website. I learned that it was the tremor from a 5.6 magnitude earthquake. It struck the Guatemalan coast about 40 miles from here and about 40 miles deep. Twenty two people had already reported feeling it on the website, some from Guatemala City twice as far away as we are.

A big deal for me, but not for the earth. Four earthquakes with magnitudes over 5.0 have already occured today alone. Almost fifty have occured today with magnitudes between 2.5 and 4.5. The big earthquakes that have occured this year in China, Haiti, and the Baja along with the Iceland Volcano have sparked interesting conversations. A popular theme seems to be the "Mayan Prophecy" interpreted with an apocalyptic scenario. Statistically, however, the number of earthquakes and geological events is actually lower than most years. Just coincidental consciousness hype I'm afraid, so far.....

Earthquake Details
Magnitude 5.6
Date-Time

* Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 13:30:58 UTC
* Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 07:30:58 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 14.523°N, 92.014°W
Depth 64 km (39.8 miles) set by location program
Region GUATEMALA
Distances 50 km (30 miles) SE of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico
65 km (40 miles) WSW of Quezaltenango, Guatemala
160 km (100 miles) W of GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala
930 km (580 miles) SE of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 4.7 km (2.9 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters NST=233, Nph=233, Dmin=745.9 km, Rmss=0.92 sec, Gp= 79°,
M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source

* USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID us2010vfa9

The Glory of Kimchi!

We have started making delicious Kimchi to eat and sell! We sold our last three gallon batch in individual small jars. It sold out before I had a chance to put up some advertising flyers I made!

Not only is kimchi delecious, but very healthy when consumed with some moderation. It is a very nutritious digestion supporting pro-biotic. It also contains anti-cancer and cholesterol lowering properties.

From Xela Kimchi and Yoga House

This was made from a modified recipe found at HERE!

More info found HERE!

If this interests you and you haven't checked out the book Wild Fermentation, do yourself a favour and find a copy!

Yoga, Food, Samana Santa, and Settled in Xela

Within a mere half hour from waking I was having vicious punches thrown at my face. Severely weakened and fatigued I was barely able to defend myself. It was definitely a more interesting way to leave the vestiges of the dream world than by sipping some fine local coffee. Not only are there Yoga classes at the Yoga house, our house, but boxing classes as well. I felt out of shape when after a few sets of squats, pull-ups, push-ups, crunches, and boxing drills, I could barely hold my arms up. The main Yoga teacher here also teaches the boxing classes. He pushes hard. If I would have let my guard down I would have gotten popped in the face. Soon I'll be stronger and have better stamina.

It's a fun little world that we've settled into here in Xela, Guatemala. The locals are friendly and there's always a changing eclectic mix of travellers. People come here from all over the world and all walks of life to learn Spanish and get involved with volunteer programs. We are living in a housing collective with about 15 people total. Our Yoga House house mates are from the U.S., India, Holland, Sweden, Mexico, and England. Most of the people we live with are volunteering, studying Spanish, and working part-time. Almost everyone here attends at least one of the daily Yoga or boxing classes. We have a nice big shared kitchen to cook in where I find myself spending much time.

Samana Santa is just passed by in all its grace.  It's really crazy and I find the religious displays gaudy and tacky.  An organization that helped enslave the people of the past and present is paraded passionately through the city.  Maybe I'm too cynical.  I've been reading about the catholic inquisition's eradication of the pacifist Cathers and the historical relegious role here.  Anyways, each church has they're own processions.  These consist of segregated sexes in they're finest clothes or black robes carrying huge fluorescent lit floats with plastic biblical figurines.  The floats are followed promptly by a loud diesel generator in a cart and a very out of tune band attempting to play religious music.

It's interesting to note the ethnic segregation too.  The wealthier churches (with latifundistas and Spanish descendants) have more elaborate and gaudy floats and uniformed garb.  Poorer churches can be distinguished with women in traditional mayan clothes.  Often mayan families pass by the processions with little interest and affection.

Aña and I have both been working part time here. Aña's been working at a cafe where she gets to prepare individual meals and esthetically arrange them. I've been working at a bookshop where I meet interesting travellers and have plenty of time to read. I'm also hoping to start teaching English soon. We've also been putting our culinary skills to use in our free time to generate extra revenue. I've been making fresh roasted peanut butter, whole wheat sour dough bread, and kimchi, to sell. The 3 gallons of kimchi sold out before I even had a chance to advertise it! Aña's been making sweets, like cupcakes and biscotti, to sell though the cafe. All and all, we're not working to hard and having fun. It will be easy to cover our costs of living. Since we're settled here, it's not hard to live on $5/day!

Somewhat sadly, we have made some great friends here. I say sadly, because leaving friends you love in other places in the world is perhaps one of the hardest parts of traveling. Sigh, the nomadic lifestyle. We have wonderful friends scattered from Wisconsin to Oregon, and throughout Mexico. There is only the hope of seeing them again somewhere, at some point in the future. At least reunions will be sweet and joyous with new skills and ideas to share. Also, while traveling, you eventually begin to realize there are friends everywhere.

Love, Guatemala, Yoga, The Superbowl, Sorrow, and Friendly Farewells - by Aña

I woke up this morning to Rob holding himself over me and covering my face in kisses.  I opened my eyes to find his staring deeply into mine.  He smiled and said "Good morning" and kissed me warmly.  We held each other for several long glorious minutes until he climbed out of bed to begin his morning routine of yoga and I commenced my morning routine which consists of laying in bed coming to terms with the fact that I have to get out of it.  I watched Rob plunge himself into sun salutations and I took some long moments to appreciate having been able to slow down these last few weeks and be able to truly celebrate this love we have cultivated together for four and a half years. 

Not being on the road and getting settled in Xela (Quetzaltenango) Guatemala means we have time to be lazy and also to apply ourselves fully to different practices.  Yoga has become a daily or twice daily ritual again, we take time to read to each other and snuggle up to watch an occaisional movie.  We plot out our uncertain future endeavors as best we can and have begun fermenting the first of many batches of sour kraut.  It feels so good to be settled in again. The truck is locked up in a secure parking lot, we are pretty well moved into a room in a posada (chill cheap accomodation) which we will occupy for one more week until we take up longer term residence in “La Casa de Yoga” (The Yoga House). The Yoga House is a cooperatively run house of 15-17 people in downtown Xela which apart from being a residence has several teachers (residents and non) who offer a variety of yoga classes to all ability levels for Q15 (Quetzales are Guatemalan currency) or less than $2 US. Once we move in we will be able to attend all the classes we want for free, and partake in community living again. We currently plan to spend 3-4months there dedicating ourselves to yoga, getting back into daily vipassana meditation ( www.dhamma.org ), playing guitar and making tasty food items to sell to help offset our living expenses. (Yup I'm learning guitar! Slowly)

Until then we are enjoying our second story room at the posada which aside from being dusty and thinly walled is really charming. It has two big old-timey wooden shuttered windows that overlook a sweet little courtyard loaded with geraniums. The sun pours in through these windows allowing me to sun bathe in our bed for a good hour first thing in the morning (if it's not to cloudy) The wood framing of the walls have been converted into shelves to hold some of the small items we have collected over the last few months. Small handwoven baskets made by the Ramamuri in the copper canyon, colorful prints on handmade paper from an indigenous paper making collective in San Cristobal, eucalyptus boughs I collected on a walk to a natural sauna outside of town, a bees wax candle our friend Julie gave us months before our journey that I couldn't part with and plenty of colorful postcards waiting to be sent. It is quite cozy and for the time being feels like a home.

Getting to this point has been quite extraordinary since last I wrote. We have long since departed our favorite beach on the coast of Mexico, Mazunte seeing many familiar faces among the locals who we remember having seen the 3 and for me 4 times we have visited. The same friendly older man who sells hand made pants, skirts, and blouses made by his family. Rob bought him a beer and we sat relaxing in the shade listening to the waves and talking about life in our respective homes and life in the periphery of human existence. Renting bungalows from the same family we did 4 years ago on our first visit. Noticing how their daughters had grown enough to not find climbing into our hammock with us and getting tickled a fun pastime. After one last plunge from the hot golden sand into those cool blue waters Rob and Ilsa and I piled into our truck which had thankfully been sitting in the shade and headed in the direction of San Cristobal in the state of Chiapas.

We spent that night on a surreal and beautiful beach named Playa Azul (Blue Beach). This our final farewell to the coast was magical in a completely new way. It appeared to have in the past been quite a tourist spot but as we drove further down the beach we found several abandoned palapas and restaurants which had been eaten by pure white dunes. It really added to the mystery to set up camp near these abandoned vestiges of commerce. And the Dunes! The Dunes! Magical. Intimidating. Spectacular! It was my first white sand beach which added to my delight but these dunes dominated the beach in an alien way. We were the only ones around save some fishermen in boats off shore or walking the beach in the distance. The area we wandered was completely undisturbed and we scrambled, slid, climbed and savoured this foreign landscape moving slowly towards a tremendous rock (which looked like a cliff) rising up out of the dunes that had been pushed up against it in steep curves by wind and time. Climbing up the side of this giant rock we realized that our dramatic little beach was on a point sticking out into the ocean which explained why the sun was setting on the wrong side (over land behind us instead of over the ocean in front of us) We watched the sky fade from blazing orange and vivid blues to gentle pinks and hazy purples. From our vantage point we saw ocean on both sides and on the opposite side of the bay from us we saw lights come on welcoming the oncoming darkness in the port town of Las Salinas..

We hiked back to our camp spot and began cooking our dinner when to our dismay the happy sense of isolation we had been enjoying was broken by another truck pulling up next to ours. A couple in their early twenties climbed out each with a can of beer in hand. They asked us “Que pasa?” and sat down to join us as though we had been expecting them. The guy did most of the talking and wanted to know where we were from, what we were doing in and how we liked Mexico and slowly after learning we were from the US began shifting the conversation towards criticism of the US. This is of course one of our favorite topics but from our “guests” limited perspective of television programs from the US and having spent a year working in Houston Texas he had a very predetermined view of Americans being shallow, racist, wealthy, gas guzzling, consumerist, pricks who don't realize how good we have it and don't care about how we affect the world as a whole. (Just like most Americans think of Mexicans as being poor, uneducated, uncivilized, borderhopping job stealers that drink tequila and fall asleep under the shade of their big sombreros) Of course an entire nation of people cannot be defined by such an angry all encompassing view such as this. Both nations are made up of a wide ranging spectrum of people who are born into varying circumstances and throughout their lives are presented with different opportunities and challenges and of course we all have to try our best to make the most of what we have to work with. Some thrive, some starve, some kill, some heal, some struggle through poverty to become rich, and some squander all that they have to fall to the bottom, but we are all human and we all want to be loved and, usually, we all want something to love. This is more or less what we discussed with our new friends, us explaining that most Americans live paycheck to paycheck or are tangled in credit card debt, that colleges in the US have become a capitalist enterprise and many who go to university on loans spend the rest of their life paying it off. We talked about the falling economy and told him that in many of the places we visited in Mexico people seemed better off because they had jobs and food was locally produced and therefor cheaper. He told us more about the Mexican American War (or as it is known in Mexico “The first invasion of the US”) then we ever learned in history class, gave us more insight into the desire to work in America, told us about massive pipelines buried in Mexico's soil that carry oil from the gulf coast to the cute little port town we had admired earlier where ships carried Mexico's native wealth to Japan, Australia, and of course the United States.
After hours of insightful and illuminating conversation we had altered each others perspectives tremendously and we said goodnight to our new friends and wished luck to each of our endeavors.

The next day we drove to San Cristobal arriving in the evening to enjoy a dinner of Falafel Sandwiches which I had been waiting months to enjoy. We then called our couch surfing host Louis who lived on the outskirts of town and after passing the road we needed twice, stopping to ask directions, finding the address to be a vacant lot, calling our host again and finding out that there were six #9's on the street and he was the 2nd not the 1st we drove further up to see a smiling wild grey haired man with a neat beard holding his gate open and waving us in. We were welcomed warmly with big hugs into “tu casa” (your house) and were introduced to the 10 other couchsurfers staying there from various corners of the globe and were informed that we were the first Americans to honor his household. We spent the evening chatting with people who immediately felt like friends, swapping stories, passing the peace pipe and warmly offered cups of beer. Ilsa took a long anticipated hot shower (luke warm is the style on the beach) then turned in having been given a bed in one of the many guest rooms. Rob and I put off showering until the morning and pitched our tent in Louis' expansive yard directly beneath a huge jasmine vine bursting with fragrant moon illuminated flowers. We fell asleep to the sweet perfume of the night and awoke to find that our shoes had been stolen by one of the three dogs that lived there. (This would be a recurring theme throughout our stay as well as a big english sheep dog (think Nana from Peter Pan) squirming under our rain fly to attempt climbing through the screen of our tent only to curl up and fall asleep right outside our door)

The next day we commenced with the easter egg hunt (except for shoes) think like a dog; where in this big yard would I deem suitable for stolen shoe placement . . . . .one out in the open to mock the human . . .. ..and one over here around the corner on the steps to the Clave del Sol (the main house on the property. Louis lived in a smaller house adjacent to it both overlooking the expansive yard.)
After gloriously hot showers and a quick breakfast we headed into one of our favorite cities in Mexico.
The next few days were spent as such enjoying good company as more and more couchsurfers poured in setting a new record for our amiable host of 22 guests. Wandering the abundant colorful markets and streets of San Cristobal, feasting on such vegetarian delights that are rare to non existent in the rest of Mexico. Including Falafel in a fresh baked pita with creamy hummus, vegetable empanadas, chocolate truffles, spinach crepes, and the long sought after . . . . . . . peanut butter. This last ingredient allowing us to make Gado Gado an Indonesian dish that heaps a plate with rice covered in lightly steamed vegetables, caramelized onions, sauted mushrooms, smothered in a slightly spicy coconut peanut sauce garnished with fresh cilantro and green onions. It was a fabulous feast accompanied with plenty of wine, more story swapping (hey remember snow?? Aren't you glad we're not in it!) and lots of laughter after which we rolled our round bellies into bed.

The main event however which Louis reminded us of everyday leading up to it was the Super Bowl Barbeque on Sunday! Imagine these incredibly strange circumstances if you will. First football as Americans know it is in every other country of the world known as “American Football”. Football, Futbol or Soccer as we know it is the most fanatically followed sport for pretty much everywhere else in the world except for those few countries who love Cricket. And lets face it calling a sport football when the foot makes contact with the ball only a handfull of times and only under certain circumstances must seem pretty silly to countries where Soccer is called “football”. Second, we are the only Americans guesting with a smorgasborg of Europeans, Aussies, Canadians and Venezuelans (none of which follow, care about, or understand “football”) at the home of a Mexican (who did live in the US for a few years in Texas thus picking up a fondness for American Football) all of us about to be pitched into Super Bowl Sunday with more enthusiasm for hamburgers and deviled eggs then for the game. Weird.

Enter Sunday Morning. Louis and Fred head out on Fred's motorcycle to gather ingredients for the BBQ. They come back as we are leaving and ask us to stop at the market for ingredients they could not find. We run a few of our own errands get smoothies to drink at the market, and pick up the missing ingredients. Traffic slows our return as does the fact that we are easily side tracked and we get back to find people eating burgers, snacking on chips and salsa with guacamole, and a room completely empty save a few unoccupied chairs in front of the tv which has been muted where a silent football game unfolds to nobody. Rob and I hastily whip up veggie shishkabobs and put them on the grill where they remain uneaten until much later when enough time has passed and enough beer embibed to make everyone hungry again. The Super Bowl continues in it's silent unwatched fashion until evening presses it's chilly embrace upon us and we are all driven inside where for the sake of comfort we find ourselves sitting on chairs neatly ringing the tv which has had it's sound turned back on. We can't help ourselves, years of conditioning pull our eyes to the glowing screen and we find ourselves sucked in. At first I am completely lost and turn to ask a girl from Vera Cruz what this penalty is all about. Immediately I realize how silly that is and am about to forget about it when she starts explaining the finer points of the game and how player x violated such and such and Wait a second! How is it that a 21 year old from Mexico knows more about football than I an American with a Packer fan father!!!???
The Canadian Fred and I do our best to piece the little bits we know about the game together with the help of our friend from Vera Cruz. Before long we are following the game intensely and cheering the Saints on to Victory! I actually had fun. I jumped out of my chair and cheered, I cursed those dirty penalizing Colts. I found the whole situation of enjoying watching the superbowl in Mexico with none of my countrymen save 2 who both thought I was weird cheering with Canadians, Europeans, and Mexicans for New Orleans to kick some ass! Will wonders never cease??!!

Two days later we hugged our friends farewell and were off to Agua Azul and then Guatemala! Louis reminded us that anytime we wanted we were welcome back at “our house” The road to Agua Azul was only 100Kilometers but it felt much longer and was very hazardous, with unmarked topes (large cement speed bumps that will destroy your axles or send you air born if you don't brake completely before hitting them, crazy winding curves with scenic precipices on our right, and of course the occasional quintessential meandering cow. As we drew closer we passed a squadron of police. Literally 200 or so eating at local restaurants, swimming in the river, walking around, it was weird and a bit worrying but they weren't stopping traffic and didn't pay us any mind. We finally arrived in Agua Azul asked around to get our bearings and drove the truck up some crazy steep dirt roads to find the place we had camped at a few years ago. We were the only clients at the campground and the 2 men talking on the porch seemed surprised to see us but told us we could set up camp wherever.

Despite the sky being overcast we changed into our swim suits and went to jump in utilizing a rope swing which Rob had no trouble reaching and getting a running start, but I had to wait for him to climb back out and pick me up and pull me back while I held on to the swing until he let me go and I swung out over the water and let go. After sufficiently cooling down from the long hot drive we decided to search out some lunch. We remembered from previous visits that restaurants and little tiendas selling clothes, swimsuits, and souvenirs crowded the walk down to the main waterfall and continued like the river to the pools beyond. However as we walked down we found ourselves in a ghost town. Everything was empty, closed and blaringly vacant. We continued down further and found only one overpriced restaurant in operation, as well as two other equally baffled tourists from Argentina. We asked the restaurant owner, the tourist office worker and a handful of locals eventually piecing together that a group of people calling themselves the Zapatistas had attacked locals just outside of Agua Azul with guns and machetes killing (1 or 2) and hospitalizing (11-20) just 2 days before we arrived. By now it was late, and it was apparent that a rainstorm was headed our way. Most people we spoke to seemed to think that we would not be in danger and the prospect of rainy dangerous roads to maneuver in the dark, verses the chance of a sunny day to enjoy the water and investigate further tomorrow found us setting up our tents just in time for the rain.

The next day the rain didn't stop and we set up a little kitchen/living room beneath one of the abandoned palapas where after a morning walk in the rain we enjoyed a fabulous lunch of mole tacos (thats mole the savory chocolate sauce, not mole the fuzzy blind critter that digs up your garden) and played rummy. After a few hands a 17 year old boy came up to talk with us as well as a man who had been hired to patrol the area in the wake of the weekends sordid events. We found out that the 17 year old (whose name I forgot) owned the little restaurant we were squating but was fine with us being there and furthermore wanted to learn how to play rummy. His patroling friend stopped by throughout the afternoon to chat with us and get out of the rain. We learned more about the recent events from our new friend than anyone else so far. He told us there were several people in his village who though not hospitalized were injured severely. He told us that women and children as well as men had been hit with bullets, lost limbs or chunks of flesh from machetes, and everyone was fearful that more attacks would come or that tourists would be scared away (which was certainly the case we had seen only a handful) and they would lose their livelihood. It was strange circumstances to find ourselves in indeed. Most who we talked to agreed that this group had not been true Zapatistas and were calling them “zapatistas falsas” (false zapatistas). Noone really knew what they wanted either if they wanted the land to be returned to it's natural state or if they wanted to take it over and reap the benefits of tourism.
Whatever the reason we began to feel more and more uncomfortable especially when we were told that the place we were camping was notorious for robbing it's clients while their tents were unattended. When we went to tell our camping hosts that we were going to camp elsewhere he told us that the 17 year old we had been talking to was a thief and that he would try to rob us. By now we were pretty well sketched out and though our new friend seemed honorable to us we decided to leave. We explained to him that we just didn't feel safe with all we had heard and packed our belongings into the truck. One of the last things he said to us was “We're not bad people, don't be afraid to come back in the future” It was heartbreaking to leave a place we loved so strongly in the past, wanting desperately to support the locals through this difficult time and wanting to talk to more people to get to the heart of this gruesome tale. But fear for personal safety is quite the motivator and Rob gallantly drove Ilsa and me back to the safety of our friends in San Cristobal through rain, thick fog, and darkness on those crazy aforementioned dangerous roads we had come in on.

We arrived late in the evening at Louis' took hot showers and passed out processing the last two days in the form of frightening dreams and feelings of remorse. Early the next morning we bid our host farewell once again and headed towards the border, after a few hours of back and forth with the customs and changing our pesos into quetzales we found ourselves on a beautiful stretch of road winding through mountains alongside a river. We spent the night in Huehuetenango and continued on towards Xela in the morning. We spent the day wandering with Ilsa to investigate different spanish schools with her until we found the right one. All three of us were invited to a cooking class and dinner that night at the school. Rob and I found our posada and settled in a bit before dinner.

While Ilsa studied spanish and enjoyed living with her host family, Rob and I focused on slowing things down and going to yoga classes. At the end of the week the three of us set off on our final adventure together to San Pedro on Lago Atitlan. We spent 4 beautiful days and three nights eating exquisite affordable cuisine, hiking through orchards of avocados and bananas, through sweet little towns with friendly playful children, and up and over the volcanic mountains to spectacular views of the lake which these glorious mountains rise up out of. After these last few days of appreciating eachother and all we had shared which had strengthened our friendship we said our goodbyes and Rob and I drove back to Xela leaving Ilsa to embark on her solo journey. Through Email we learned that she met up with an old friend in Antigua which proved to be pure soul food, spent an afternoon In the markets of Chichicastenango, and finally to Flores in the north from which she joined a tour to the magnificent ruins of Tikal. She is back home safe and sound now and I miss her and am thankful for all she shared with us on our journey together.

That about catches us up. In a few days we will move into the yoga house and begin some of our enterprising ideas. Much Love to you all, Aña

Guatemala, Xela, Lago Atitlan, Yoga, Crepes, and More!

February 20th , 2010

I have eight keys on my key chain. Is this a sign that my life is overly complicated? Maybe a psycho-analysis would show I'm insecure. Five keys alone are for the truck. The truck is definitely a complexity for the travelling life. One key for the truck ignition and doors, another for the back canopy door, one for the “Club” lock, then one for the garage we're renting in Xela, and finally one to get into the garage parking area. At least behind five locks and a secret switch on the fuel injection unit I don't worry much about the truck disappearing. In Xela, Guatemala, we're renting a room at the Posada San Andres where two more of the keys come from. One for the main door and one for our room. Finally the last, and eighth key, is for a room at Hotel Peneleu on Lago Atitlan. We're visiting Lago Atitlan for a few days to get out of Xela and for one last trip with Ilsa.

Ilsa has just finished a week at a Spanish language school in Xela. Ilsa spent the week studying, going on “field trips”, and staying with a host family. Aña and I we're busy investigating volunteer work and studying Yoga. We all decided to spend our last few days together on the amazingly gorgeous Lago (lake) Atitlan which is a crazy two hour drive from Xela. After a few days here on the lake, Aña and I will go back to Xela, and Ilsa will do some solo travelling. She'll have almost a couple weeks on her own before heading back to the States.

Aña and I have decided to spend three to four months living in Xela. Although it is the bustling second largest city in Guatemala with some foul air in certain parts, it does have it's appeal. There are interesting volunteer opportunities, there is cottage industry income potential, many intriguing destinations are within a days hike or drive, and finally there's the Yoga House. The Yoga House is actually the main reason for us wanting to temporarily live in a city again. It is a large cooperatively run house with about 15 international residents, several outstanding Yoga teachers, and four Yoga classes a day. One of the best and most intense Yoga teachers we've come across, Kevin, we met three years ago when we last passed through Xela. Much to our surprise and delight he's still living at the house and defending his reputation for intense classes. Weekly class rates are about U.S. $4.40, but will be free once we move in to the house on the 8th of March. Then we can also attend some Mai Thai kick-boxing classes!

In Xela we've been investigating volunteer opportunities, but haven't found anything solid yet. We we're interested in one, but we're dissuaded by rumors of financial corruption and the 12hr/day - 7day a week work schedule. To their credit, we we're told you get one afternoon off a week. I guess lack of financial transparency is a trend among non-governmental organizations (NGO's) in Guatemala. PhD dissertations of U.S. scholars have been dedicated to this very subject. We also spent a day helping out an “environmental engineer” starting a reforestation nursery. Unfortunately he didn't seem to have a well thought out plan. He is set on growing a species of cypress solely because he likes its shade of green. Other problems with finding earnest volunteer work are numerous. There's a matter of being able to see a difference, funding issues, involving locals, volunteer scams, sustainability, privatization, etc.

We've only been in Guatemala a week and have been staying busy. We've hiked up mountains to geo-thermal saunas with an older Mayan woman (Alejandra), up to high altitude lava rock precipices, explored mercados, studied Yoga, looked for work, made traditional dinners with a family in Xela, and now we're at Lago Atitlan. Here it's kind of a vacation within a vacation. We're currently in San Pedro; one of the several villages on the lake. Our hotel is U.S. $5/night with a private bathroom, parking for the truck, and an unbeatable view. It is a huge lake surrounded by mountains and volcanoes with peaks over 9,000'.

San Pedro, the town we're staying in, specifically, is quite bizarre. Along the lake is an area referred to as the vortex. There, restaurants, bars, hotels, and spas have been opened by people from all over the world. People that have been trapped in “The Vortex”. Up the rather steep hill takes you into the town of the local Mayan people; the Tz'utujil. Here the local language dominates along with invasive Catholicism and it's surplus of churches and religious graffiti. It's as if the “sins” of drug and night life scene along the lake are offset by the worship of the locals on the hill. The only drug I've been enjoying here is caffeine.

This is a region of Guatemala that grows some of the best and most potent coffee in the world. Here in San Pedro we were happy to find a growing cafe that we stumbled upon three years ago. The owner, Luis, roasts and grinds his own beans everyday. He has expanded his cafe with a bigger roaster, computers for internet, and is about to start serving breakfast. I currently find myself extremely caffeinated from some powerful Americanos. He gave me a huge discount when he found out Aña and I have cooking experience. We're going to teach him how to make crepes tomorrow morning. He also wants to come to Xela for some more cooking lessons. He is a great guy and he's got some great connections. We'll also make him teach us some Tz'utujil.

Who knows? Maybe after studying Yoga in Xela we'll succumb to the vortex for awhile. The local people here are some of the friendliest I've encountered. Additionally, the local Mayan girls are some of the most beautiful in the world. Too bad their religious upbringing makes them unlikely to engage in any “scandalous” activities. Furthermore, the surplus of restaurants and hotels creates a highly competitive environment with very low prices; even by Guatemalan standards. Finally, there is a plethora of outdoor activities. On the lake you can go kayaking, and scuba diving and get PADI certified for U.S. $250. There is lush jungle to hike through and there are volcanoes to climb.

As a bonus, the villages around the lake are very culturally diverse. There are four Mayan languages spoken by people, mainly women, that wear clothing made by hand as it has been for thousands of years. The cultural integrity is quite amazing when considering what it has been up against. The Spanish conquistadors of the 1500's plundered, raped, and enslaved the locals. They sent the church to conquer areas where their military failed. Right before the Spanish arrived, Toltecs, migrating south from the Yucatan had also started battling with the Maya. More recently in the 1960's and 70's, government sponsored military euthanasia exterminated over 400 indigenous villages. The government only began to stabilize in the late 1990's, but oppression, segregation, and discrimination remain rampant. All of this in an area smaller than the state of Louisiana. Despite all this, the Mayan culture perseveres with it's beautiful languages and clothing. The people on the lake are friendly, upbeat, and optimistic.

Photos of Central to Southern Mexico

Monarch Menagerie in the Mountins, Hippy Beach, Land of the Maya

We have continued our whorl-wind tour towards Southern Mexico. We only made one more stop in the state of Michoacán before some long days on the road. We went up into the mountains to about 10,000' to a Monarch Butterfly reserve. We stayed the night nearby in the beautiful and chilly mountain town of Angangeo. The next day with frost on the ground we began our hike into the reserve past some mildly irritating tourism businesses. Hanging out in the pine forests the magic began to happen as the day warmed up. Swarms of Monarchs took to the air and ground from their fir tree roosts. They were everywhere! The forest was transformed into a surreal mixture of greens, blue sky, and vibrant fluttering orange. This is one of the stops in the bizarre Monarch migration between the Grate Lakes region and Mexico.

We didn't spend much time in Oaxaca City. Although it is a beautiful city with scenic colonial architecture, droves of museums, and cosmopolitan cuisine, it is still a big city. It was very noisy and extremely congested due to many streets being torn up in construction. The price of staying in a hostal has also more than doubled from my last visit three years ago. Unfortunately we didn't arrange a “couchsurfing” stay with enough time in advance. The most enjoyment the city brought to me was from one of the best licquado and juice stands in all of Mexico. In one of the oldest markets in the city, Mercado del Carmen, you can find “Super Jugos de Angelita” (Super Juices of the little Angle Girl). There you can choose a smoothie from over 30 recipes. They utilize around 20 local fruits, vegetables, cacti, herbs, grains, granola, eggs, eggnog, and spices to make their healthy concoctions.

We spent most of our time in Oaxaca in two amazing and rejuvenating places; Sierra Norte and the beach of Mazunte. In the Sierra Norte mountians, north of Oaxaca city, we camped under pines at around 9000'. We camped outside of a town of 150 people that is part of a small, but successful eco-tourism network. The eco-tourism here helps small communities make a living without carrying out extensive logging operations. We went on a hike that afforded us beautiful views of valleys from cliff edges at 10,000' in elevation. After a couple nights in the cold alpine mountains we made for the sultry tropic coast. The drive to the coast is the second craziest and scariest road in Mexico I've ever seen. This time I got to drive it! Luckily we decided to break up the trip with one more stay in the mountain village of San Jose del Pacifico. We learned that it is a town known for hallucinogenic mushroom distribution in the summer months.

The heat and humidity of the coast was a welcome shock after cold nights in the mountains. We camped at a small family run palapa business on our favorite beach, Mazunte. It is a small and beautiful beach that has never been over developed. Rocky cliffs frame each end of the beach. Pelicans, Frigates, sea turtles, whales, and speedy crabs (Mazuntes), make frequent appearances. We enjoyed three days here resting and meeting other young low-budget travellers from around the world. The first night there I was conversing in Spanish with a couple girls from Italy and France, and a guy from Germany. We also met people from Holland, England, Argentina, Chile, and other Mexican states.

Now we're in the state of Chiapas. It is the southernmost and poorest state in Mexico with a large indigenous population; mainly Mayan in decent. We are couchsurfing on the edge of San Cristobal de las Casas. We're camping in the yard of a mega couchsurfing house here. This weekend there will be at least 25 couch surfers staying here! So far there are people cohuchsurfing here from Venezuela, France, Canada, Argentina, Holland, and other places in Mexico. There's going to be a party here tomorrow under the auspice of a Super Bowl party. Should be interesting.

After exploring this magically beautiful city and a few natural attractions nearby we'll be headed to Guatemala. Our first main destination is the town of Xela or Quetzaltenango. Aña and I are going to check out a volunteer organization that could captivate us for at least three months. The organization is Quetzaltrekkers and would have us volunteering as hiking guides for 1-6 day hikes. They raise money to support a street kids dormitory and school. Ilsa plans to attend a language school for a week before doing some traveling on her own. She'll explore Guatemala some before heading back to the States on March 4th.

It has been a whirlwind of travelling since we left the Pacific coast of Mexico two weeks ago. We have been moving fast through much of Mexico. We are feeling the stress of being on the road and not being able to spend too much time in one location. There is usually not enough time to read a decent amount, play guitar, practice yoga, meditate, go fishing, or really even kick back and relax. More importantly it has been hard to find time for ourselves. Time where the three of us aren't side by side exploring or crammed in the tiny Toyota truck. Travelling in the fast lane is also creating friction in our relationships; my relationship with Aña, and our friendship with Ilsa. We are expediting our venture through Mexico so Ilsa can be with us in Guatemala. She has to return to Oregon in the beginning of March to secure her job at Breitenbush Hot Springs. Travelling with a deadline is definitely not an easy way to travel, especially through Mexico.

Mexico is a vast country with amazing things to see and do throughout. It is one of the most biologically diverse countries attributed to equally diverse ecosystems. Within a short drive you can travel from a lush tropical micro-climate on the coast, through a dessert, an then up a mountain through oak and pine forests. There are huge rivers, canyons, caves, volcanoes, and snow capped mountains reaching up almost 20,000'. Equally as diverse as the country's ecology are it's people. There are close to a hundred remaining indigenous groups with 62 “recognized” languages. In rural areas there are people who wear clothing that has been fashioned the same way for thousands of years. Conversely, in cities there are people sporting the latest European and U.S. styles. There are people who want to return to ancestral traditions practicing ancient ceremonies and attending sweat-lodges. At the same time there are more more modern folks constantly plugged into the T.V., a cell phone, or an ipod, and chugging cocacola.

If we had more time I think we would be starting to work on organic farms or find volunteer work. Such opportunities have already surfaced, but we chose to forgo. There seemed ample volunteer or work opportunities in one small coastal town Aña and I really liked. The town has two names, San Pancho and San Francisco, and is located on the coast just North of Puerto Vallarta. We had an amazing time there staying with a mutual friend, Caroline and her husband Ben. We also had the pleasure of hanging out with their two wonderful kids and their lovely au' pér, Eileen. Caroline we had known from Breitenbush as a visiting massage therapist and healer. Ben, who we came to know well, is a surgeon with a great knowledge of nutrition and ancient healing techniques. They were very kind and hospitable to us. The shared an apartment they're renting with us and made us feel like part of the family. We went out dancing with Caroline and Eileen, and I was pummeled in massive waves with Ben. The beach in San Pancho had some of the biggest waves I've dared to swim in.

After leaving the coast we headed inland to Autlán where I studied as an exchange student three years ago. Even though most of the friends I made had graduated from the University there were still a few in town. One friend, David, has recently opened up an excellent restaurant. We stayed with him and enjoyed a couple of dinners at his restaurant. From Autlán we headed inland further to the large city of Guadalajara. Guadalajara is a crazy huge city. Luckily my well grounded friend, Fernando, hosted us an kept us sane. He took us to a traditional sweat lodge (temezcal) that was hosted by a visiting Navajo chief. He also took us into a beautiful nearby reserve and to a native dance ceremony.

After leaving Guadalajara we were able to visit one more friend who I lived with while studying in Autlán. We found Manuel in Zamora, Michoacán, where he studying rural sociology. He took us to a village of indigenous Purepecha where we camped on a friend's land. The village is quite an oddity. Most people speak their native language and not Spanish. Throughout the day advertisements, in Purepecha, for hamburgers and other food are broadcast over the city via loud speaker. These start before 7:00a.m. and continue well past 10:00p.m. There were also small firework explosions, roosters, dogs, a lost stampeding horse colt, and a small brass band all making noise near where we were camped. Nevertheless, we had an amazing all day hike from here. We left the city at 8:00a.m. hiking through a frost laden forest to a barren lava field. We spent over three hours traversing the massive lava field to reach the base of volcán Paricutín. It is the youngest volcano in the world forming in 1943. We summited the cinder cone of the volcano in about half an hour. The top offered incredible views of nearby mountains, the inside of the volcano, and of steaming fumaroles around volcano's crest. We ate lunch on top and used a small fumarole to heat up some tortillas! Returning back to the village around 6:00p.m. we were all tired and sunburned, but very content.

To be continued with future internet access......
P.S. It's Aña's birthday today. We're in Oaxaca city and headed for the mountains today. We'll be doing some more camping and hiking up around 9000'.

Pictures - Copper Canyon to San Blas

From Aña - Snowed in in Mexico (seriously!!)

I guess time has finally caught up with us, as we have been trying to cheat it by extending all you can get done in a day to crazy extremes. It all started our last day in the Baja. Actually let me rewind and set the stage a little bit
The 2 and a half weeks leading up to xmas eve were spent traveling the Baja region of Mexico with Rob´s parents. We spent many beautiful days and nights camping on beaches awaking to a sky stained orange and yellow by the approaching dawn. Rob and I would lay in our open tent savouring the love between us and watching a few dozen hungry pelicans serve up breakfast. This in itself is pure beauty. Pelicans, despite their clumsy appearance are some of the most graceful and precise fliers out there. They will soar effortlessly over the water dropping down to just inches above the surface and continue to glide as long as they please until they choose a good spot to land in the waves. It is when they eat however that truly inspires awe. We would watch flocks of them soaring above the water anywhere from 5 to 50 feet above the water, and then suddenly as though nature´s musical symphony had changed to a suspenceful note cueing them in unison 12 of them would stop mid air turn themselves beak downard take careful aim and dive pulling thir wings in at the last second to resemble little feathered fighting jets and dissapear into the water surfacing a moment later tossing their heads and baggy bsaks back to swallow the fish they had caught. (Can you tell I loved every second of this performance) The morning would dawn as such, Ilsa would awaken and the three of us would make breakfast, and spend the day walking the beaches, swimming, creating shell alters to Venus, kayaking and laughing.

Robs parents who knew many wonderful spots took us on beautiful and terrifying rides through rugged mountainous terrain, quiet isolated beaches and pleasant little towns. We spent one such afternoon snorkeling near Cabo Pulmo with huge schools of fish in rainbow hues that schooled cautiously nearby as though they were just as curios of us as we were of them.
After all this natural splendor we headed to La Paz for our very last night in the Baja.

We found yet another warm welcoming host on couchsurfing.com named Brian and passed a most remarkable night at his condo overlooking the marina and ocean. We worked together on an internationally flared dinner him making pasta marinara with chicken and us making Indian dall soup. It actually went together really well. In addition to the three of us Brian also had his friend Jennifer and her 10 year old son Derrick join us for dinner. They had just arrived on their 47 foot sailboat which Jennifer had sailed singlehandedly from Mazatlan on the Mainland. Brian is a pilot who is mostly retired but would be flying Jennifer her son himself and two other pilot friends (who were also at dinner) to the copper canyon in a few days on his small plane. Needless to say there were many an exciting tale swapped which I do not have time to retell here. After dinner and all departed Rob and Ilsa (still highly caffeinated from espresso that morning) and I just lively from the evenings festivities stayed up till midnight wrapping presents to be exchanged on the fairy ride the next day (xmas eve)

Now that we are all caught up we will enter the next chapter in which we spend the most whirlwind time banditing christmas ever!

The morning started with packing up our things and making oatmeal for ourselves and our host, which we ate overlooking the marina on his porch. Then with only 15 minutes to spare we spent 23 minutes going down to the docks to say farewell to Jessica and Derrick and get a tour of their amazing sailboat "ecotopia". Then we drove to the ferry dock, boarded the ferry, waited an hour and then were under way fast forward to 7 hours later we get off the ferry and attemp to drive to El Fuerte in the dark and thus begin a long scary night time drive on a mexican highway with malfunctioning head lights, got tired around midnight and ended up setting up camp to barking dogs and grunting pigs near someone´s farm on the side of the highway. The next morning we exchanged a few more gifts (it was christmas afterall) and continued on to El fuerte taking a couple days to recoup before the train ride to the copper canyon. Which leads to us being snowed in in Mexico.

The trainride was amazing with incredible views. The Copper Canyon, for those of you who don´t know, is 4 times bigger than the Grand Canyon and is actually a continuous network of 6 canyons. We have spent the last 2 nights in Creel and will spend hopefully just one more provided we don´t get snowed in again with all roads closed until afternoon and then with busses we planned to take not showing up because of who knows what? If I was feeling any nostalgia for winter insufficient warm gear ahs crushed it out of me. (Honestly why would I bring a winter coat to Mexico, not to mention the 6 store search for longunderwear)
We are a little sad to realize that the long hiking trips to the base of the canyon are dangerous and expensive this time of year and we will have to leave the Barranca del Cobre without fulfilling that dream (that said we did meet an awesome guy from Berkeley who spent the last to weeks hiking through the canyons with two friends without a guide and not able to find a path in to the canyon just repelled in, he arrived in Creel without his friends due to ankle injury, he will meet his friends in the next town as they are still down there hiking to the rendezvous)

People and life are crazy and beautiful
I love it all and you very much
Aña

Enormous Canyon, Drunken Cowboys, Hiking, and Marijuana

The Copper Canyon is incredible! Although we were only able to explore a tiny section in a week, we were able to gain appreciation for its size and beauty. The “Copper Canyon” is a network of six main canyons with parts larger and deeper than the Grand Canyon of the U.S. We took the clase economic, or second class train, from El Fuerte to Creel. The train ride afforded fantastic views and a shorter route where no roads go. Some guide books allude to the second class train being terribly slow, late, and overly crowded with people and their livestock. Thus, I was surprised when passengers seemed to be of upper-middle class, the train was on time, there was ample space, and there was no sign of chickens or other animals. We later found out that the train company has been driving prices up in order to cater more to the wealthy tourists and less to the inhabitants of the region. The only spot we were able to get off the train for a short brake was at a vantage point known as El Divisadero. We stopped for 15 minutes and dropped our jaws at the view of the confluence of a few of the larger canyons. It was also a great spot to grab some cheap potato gorditas before getting back on the train.

After the five hour train ride we arrived in Creel. It was dark and cold when we arrived. At almost 8,000’ this is a cold alpine town. The station was crowded with train passengers and people soliciting for hotels and tours. We pushed through the crowd to find a hostel we read about. We grabbed the last available bed and Ilsa volunteered to sleep on a sleeping mat on the floor. It was a good deal because the rate included breakfast and dinner. The meals weren’t great for eating, but great for socializing with others from around the world. While eating and being serenaded by a two man mariachi band we made plans to do one of the tours around Creel. The next day we went on a tour with a few people from Chihuahua, a guy from Malaysia, and a guy from France. The tour went by a water fall, some old churches, and some peculiar rock formations. The tour was less than impressive, but at least we had a bottle of tequila to share.

We had originally planned on leaving from Creel to Batopilas down in the canyon. Unexpectedly, however, we were snowed in. The highways were closed! So, we moved from the cold drafty hostel to a guest house with a wood stove to make new plans. We ended up deciding to backtrack and go down into the canyon to the small town of Urique. This ended up being a great decision. While waiting for a bus that drove by without stopping we met another traveler, Jacob, from Berkely, CA. He had just spent a couple of weeks hiking through the canyon with two friends for a couple of weeks. It was a trek that definitely required great intention and preparation. The stories he recounted involved repelling, boulder hopping, sleeping in caves, and fording ice cold rivers. Due to injured ankles he hiked out before his friends who were still in the canyon. He ended up giving us a ride to get us closer to Urique.
Before we could leave to Urique we had to spend a night in another canyon rim town, Bahuichivo. We took a room that ended up being next to a huge party lasting most of the night. There was a quinceañera, a girl’s 15th birthday party. In Mexico this is a big deal. In Bahuichivo it meant drunken cowboy music and dancing for most of the night. After falling asleep with the music blasting I was awakened by the cries and screams of a small girl. I got dressed and went to investigate. I talked to the three year old girl through another hotel room door. I found out she was just alone and scared. I helped her put some warmer clothes on and took her to find her parents at the packed quinceañera party. With a happy kid and parents, I went back to sleep. The next day we had time for a nice hike before catching the bus to Urique.

The ride down into Urique was the craziest bus ride I’ve ever been on. This says a lot since I’ve bussed through much of Mexico and Guatemala. The road consisted of narrow switchbacks on a dirt road. Each turn offered a view into thousands of feet of abysmal doom. This would have been a very sobering experience had a vaquero, cowboy, not insisted I drink some beer on the bus with him. The beer seemed to help me accept whatever fate awaited us. We were able to watch the sun set and the moon rise all in the same descent. We did, surprisingly, make it to the bottom safe and sound. We took a room at a very nice and economical hotel with a talkative and inebriated owner, don Rafael. Many people in the town had been imbibing beer, sprits, and free tesquino as it was New Year’s Eve. There was a celebration in the center with more drunken cowboy music and dancing. We went to bed early, I guess, as the music didn’t stop until 5:30a.m. The next day we started a hike and people were still partying from the night before. Very friendly though! At the beginning or our hike we found a hostel we relocated to.

The hostel was started by three couples, and thus named Entre Amigos, or Between Friends. One owner was from Oregon and the rest from Chihuahua, Mex. It is located in a beautiful spot isolated from the town. It had several fruit trees and large organic gardens. At first it seemed like it would be expensive just to camp. Then we found out that the price included use of the gardens and a kitchen. We enjoyed being able to fuel some hiking with large salads, fresh greens, and ripe citrus fruit. We made a friend who was also camping there from Monterrey, Mex. named Obed. We invited him to hike with us to the nearby village of Guadalupe and we’re glad we did. He had been in this part of the canyon several times and shared with us many stories and local traditions. We got to know each other pretty well on the nine mile hike. He spoke perfect English much to Ilsa’s delight. Unfortunately he left early one morning before we could exchange contact info. I think he was scared off from shyness after making a pass at Ilsa. Ilsa was also sad he left unexpectedly.

Another long and hot hike took us to a magical arroyo. An arroyo is an intermittent river which ebbs and flows with precipitation. On another nine or so mile hike we went south of Urique to another small town called Guapalina. By the stares we received it was easy to deduce not many white people make it here. Luckily we were able to converse with locals and figure out how to navigate up the arroyo. At this point it was the middle of the day, hot, and we had run out of water. Eventually we made it past the houses to find an extensive aqueduct. There we drank and bathed in refreshingly cold mountain water. The aqueduct seems mainly used to irrigate many of the nearby cannabis gardens. Hiking further up the arroyo brought us to a massive isolated plateau at the edge of the canyon. At the base of the cliffs were some shallow caves adding to the majestic ambiance.

Hiking back from the arroyo we hitched a ride. This allowed us to get back in time to prepare food for a mini potluck. We organized a potluck with three of the hostel owners and another delightful couple from New Mexico we became acquainted with. It was quite a spread with marinated broiled chicken, salad and green beans from the garden, guacamole, sweet potato fries, and gingerbread with banana custard for dessert! While waiting for the bus out of El Fuerte I struck up a conversation with a local Rarámuri man. He shared some of his crop and invited us back to stay on his land in the magical arroyo we had found.

Urique was a great place to visit! We made many friends; locals and other travellers. We learned of the crazy 40-50 mile races traditional of the local Rarámuri indians. Races of extreme indurance the Rarámuri are genetically fit for. They invlove running non-stop, running through the night, bare foot running, and coordinated ball kicking all hot weather. The few conversations we had with Rarármuri men were very beautiful. The few we talked to had limited spanish, but enough to sense their respect for the beauty of nature and the pride of their endurance.

It took a whole day to bus and train back to El Fuerte where we left our truck. We were weary but had still intended on camping. At the train depot, however, we were met by a convincing hotel owner. He was trying to sell us on a five star room for $130 U.S.! I guess he liked us and was desperate for business because he ended up lowering the price to $27. For the three of us that was more agreeable with our budget. Los Torres was an amazing hotel to stay at and the elusive hot shower was definitely appreciated.

A couple of long days back in our truck have landed us in San Blas. We camped one night across from the large port city of Mazatlan. We watched the Baja Ferry and a cruise ship enter the harbor narrowly missing the sailboats at anchor. Now, we’re camped on a beach in the quiet surf town of San Blas. It’s not a main tourist season, so we’re pretty much alone on the beach with the hungry sand flies; known locally as Jejenes. If the tiny flies don’t devour us completely, we’ll be headed to Jalisco to visit friends. One friend is a mutual acquaintance of ours through Breitenbush. Jalisco is also the state I lived in for six months as an exchange student. I’m looking forward to catching up with some great folks there.