best of.

It took me over a year to realize it, but the day my car stereo and many of my cds were stolen was the day the music died. I saw the Decemberists that night. I was planning to see the New Pornographers the next day, but it was canceled. That was the last show I went to. This was in 2005. I bought two cds in 2006 - Andrew Bird and the Blow. I still listen to music at home a lot, but my car remains silent.

But thank god for mp3 blogs and best of lists. I am discovering all sorts of music that I was supposed to be listening to all year! Hey, better late than never.

So...in light of all this, I am making a promise to my good old friend, Music: Things are going to change between you and me, I swear! It will be different this time! I'm going to get a fancy stereo even though my car is rusting out! I'm going to buy cds! Maybe even stay out late for a show on a school night!

p.s. My lady Khaela is getting some good press. Check out The Underrated and Pitchfork's Top 100 songs.

good things as of late

A hideously autumnesque dinner
Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup and spinach craisin salad. [Oh, and I hate Rachael Ray and the fact that I can't even buy wheat thins without seeing her face, but I read Shelterrific and I can't help it that they keep linking good looking recipies by RACHEL RAY.]

Paper Television, The Blow
So so good. Pretty soon this blog will become "Reasons why I love the Blow." Best CD I've bought this year! (Ok, there's only two on that list.)


Common Good Books
So, Garrison Keillor himself opened a new bookstore in my neighborhood. Now, I'm not a huge fan of Garrison. But I gotta say, his bookstore is damn cute. Of course it's filled to the brim with Garrison books, a Garrison director's chair, and uh...Praire Home Companion was playing while I happened to be there. But! If we can get past that, I love it. It's bright and airy even though it's in a basement, and it's small enough to actually facilitate browsing. If I go to Barnes and Noble I just become overwhelmed and flustered unless I have a specific goal in mind. But not here, oh no! I could go through the entire store and find goodies I've never heard of! So hooray for an independent bookstore that might actually stand a chance of staying afloat solely due to its connection to Garrison* himself.

*I'm disgusted that I managed to namedrop him so much.

my lunar love affair.

Every month I fall in love with the moon. At first it's a sliver that doesn't really catch my eye. I shrug my shoulders and look away. As it grows and grows I just go about my normal ways, fairly unenchanted with what's in front of me. And then when I least expect it, it hits me. I see it, full and glorious, and I gasp as if a lover has touched me in just the right spot. And I am entranced, my eyes wide, following whatever path I need to just to have it in my view, staring through my sunroof while I drive, almost wanting to drive off the road so I can gaze with my mouth agape. Sometimes I run to find a camera, to get a picture to remember it by, but it never comes out right. And so my brief tryst remains secret and mysterious, to be forgotten as quickly as the moon wanes.

adventures in atitlan

One of the places I really wanted to see in Guatemala was Lake Atitlan, which is a crater filled lake outlined by volcanoes. Very pretty, there will be pictures soon I promise. The only problem was...I didn't want to go alone, and I was having trouble finding travel companions. Eventually I found Steve from my school...he had a couple of friends coming in this weekend, and they wanted to go too. I met up with Steve around 11:30 on Saturday morning, and we sat around waiting for his friends for about an hour. We got some food, then headed to a travel agency to find a shuttle. They said they had one that left at 4, but they ended up calling about 12 places before they actually found something. Then they asked for our address so they could pick us up, and they said Steve's street did not exist. Right. Somehow Steve convinced them that it did, so we headed back to his house.

We started waiting around 4...and waiting, and waiting. We called the agency, gave better directions, and finally at 4:45 the shuttle came. Only we still had to pick up 8 more people at about 5 more stops, and our driver had only been to Antigua twice. Steve helped navigate through the heavy Saturday afternoon traffic, but we ended up driving around the cobble-stoned streets of Antigua for 45 minutes or so, which gave me a major headache. FINALLY we were on our way to Panajachel, always following cars and buses with noxious fumes.

We got to Pana around 8, and the streets were full of people. It was fun to see, since it's way different than Antigua. We found a place to stay, ate dinner, wandered around some more and then went to sleep.

The next morning we headed on a boat to San Pedro, which is across the lake from Pana (about a half hour ride). Steve and I were planning to take the 4pm shuttle back, which gave us about 4-5 hours in San Pedro. Steve and his friends were set on doing a hike, and the travel agency we stopped at said the shortest one (up to a peak called Big Nose) was 5 hours, which was cutting it close. But somehow they managed to find a kid on the street who said we could do it in 4 hours. I was skeptical but somehow willing to take a chance (oh, how trusting one becomes when they travel). We walked to the kid's dad's house, where his dad came out with a machete. No worries! He's got a machete! (A lot of the hikes around the area are considered unsafe because of robberies, etc.) So we set off. I immediately thought I wouldn't be able to make it, since I knew there wouldn't be a lunch stop and I had eaten a plaintain and half a baguette for breakfast. But we kept going and it got much better, and as we got higher and higher I really appreciated the views of the lake from above. At one point I stopped to change into my boxer shorts because I was so fricking hot and sweaty.

It got progressively harder along the way, and Steve needed to stop to get some air here and there. We finally made it to the top, took in the views for a few minutes, and then started to book it back down the hill. I almost fell about 7 times, but always managed to stay up. By the time we started getting back to town, it was nearing 3pm and I was starting to freak out since I wasn't keen on spending the night in San Pedro or Pana. We kept walking, and I tried to go faster, but Steve was struggling. At one point we split up so I could find a bathroom to change in (I was feeling a little ridiculous walking around town in my pajamas) and also a place to buy some water. We thought Steve would catch up but he wasn't coming. Eventually his friend showed up, saying he couldn't make it and was going to stay the night. I knew I needed to go fast if I wanted to make it home (which I did), so I got on the boat straight away. It left about a minute later at 3:30. The water was really rocky and every bump in the ride made my head pound. We got to shore a few minutes before 4. I knew we weren't near the main street where most of the travel agencies were, so I started to run but really couldn't get the energy together to do that. I walked briskly and was about the head towards the center of town when I saw it - a travel agency! With shuttles! The man immediately said, Antigua? Si. He only had one space left. At that point I was about ready to collapse, since I was so grateful to have a way home for the night. I grabbed some snacks from a bodega and got on the shuttle.

Today my muscles are very sore and my shoulders are sunburned but all is good. I haven't heard back from Steve, but I trust he's in good care with his med school friends and I should see him tomorrow. Less than 2 days left in Antigua! Ay....

a normal day in antigua

I've realized after talking to friends and family that hardly anyone has any idea what I'm actually doing in Guatemala. So, let's fix that, shall we? Here's a timeline of an average weekday.

6:30 - roll out of bed, take a shower, and get ready.
7:15ish - breakfast is served by Margarita...I eat with my housemates Jake and Beth, except now only Jake since Beth left yesterday. Breakfast is usually eggs or weird oatmeal and cornflakes. And sometimes bananas, which I take para llevar. After breakfast we go to the corner cafe, where the workers have memorized our order. It's kind of funny that the only place I've become a regular is in another country. Oh well.
8ish - We walk to school, and usually get there a little late since we're finally on Guatemalteco time.
8-12 - Spanish classes. The classes are one on one. My teacher is an old man who likes to tell jokes of varying hilarity (they're all funny to him, of course). We usually talk for a while about various subjects including his former alcoholism, movies, the news, health insurance, and drogas! ¡Hay muchas drogas en Antigua! I've been learning a lot, and I will obviously come home fluent and subsequently quit my teaching job to become a diplomat.
12-1 - This is changing now because Beth is gone, but usually Jake and I would wander around until lunch, around 1. We'd either check our email or run errands or whatever.
1ish - lunch. Sometimes good, sometimes...well, food.
Afterwards Beth and I would be free for the afternoon. Jake is taking 7 hours of classes of day because he's crazy. Some days we have excursions with school, and other days we would go to the gym, take naps, or just wander around.
7 - dinner. After dinner we usually go out so Jake can augment his dinner, and I can get my Gallo (cerveza) fix. For a while we would try to tell stories in Spanish but somehow that's fallen to the wayside. Oh well, I guess I can't be a diplomat after all.

tikal

This weekend was our trip to Tikal. I went with one of my housemates, Beth, who is only here for a few more days. Which basically means that even though our ride to the airport was coming to our house at 4am, it was absolutely imperitive that we go out on Friday. We went to a couple of dance clubs...one had a contest to see who is the most sexy. Que sexy! Luckily for us, clubs close at 1 so we got a stellar 2 and a half hours of sleep. Our ride came around 4am, and it was a very bumpy trip to Guatemala city to catch our plane. More waiting in the airport, then an extremely short flight to Flores, which was a tiny airport. The minute we stepped off the plane we felt the oppressive humidty. Then another car ride to Tikal. So, although we tried, napping opportunities did not really exist. We took a tour of the temples, but our group was huge and I have trouble paying attention to tour guides as it is, so I didn't get a ton out of it. It was still fun, though. When we got back we ate lunch and took a really long nap. The hotels only have electricity from 6-10, so we felt gross and sticky pretty much all the time. (There's running water, but it's cold when the electricity isn't on. But actually, that's not so bad.) So anyway, there's not a lot to do in Tikal once the park is closed except eat lazily, so eat we did. And then much needed showers and sleep.

The next morning we woke up around 4:45 to go on a sunrise tour. We got to one of the temples about a half hour before the sunrise, and even though it was too cloudy to see anything it was still very tranquil and relaxing. Then we took another, better, tour. We got to see (and hear) more wildlife. There's the spider monkeys, which look like weird lanky aliens jumping from branch to branch. Then there's the howler monkeys, who can cause quite a commotion. For a while we were right in the middle of the noise...they really sound like monsters that are going to attack you soon.

So after the tour it was about 9:30 or so...we ate breakfast, then took a cold shower, and then wondered what we could do until we left at 2. Basically, not much (since we had to check out of our hotel room). At 2 we went back to Flores, but our flight wasn't until 7, so we decided to kill time in Flores instead of at the airport. Flores is a cute, small island town with tipico shops on every street. A little boring. But oh well, we didn't have the energy to do...fun things that might require energy. We finally flew home, got another ride back to Antigua, and rested. Hurrah!

Today I am getting laundry done which is probably the most exciting thing ever. I want to go buy some chocolates.

Oh, also, I decided to start reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because that's a little easier to explain to my teacher in Spanish than the formation of the U.S. government.

more

It's hard to write an organized entry when you don't want to hang out in an internet cafe for hours. Yesterday we went on an excursion to an organic macadamia nut farm with our school. The tour was pretty short, and we learned about all the benefits of macadamia nuts. But the best part was the chocolates...so so yummy. I bought a small bag and almost ate them all yesterday.

Speaking of eating....I've been eating meat every day because I decided I don't care enough to turn down my host mother's food or go hungry. But, the meat hasn't been really good, so it doesn't really feel like I'm cheating. We'll see if this endeavor continues when I get back to the states.

I assumed that I was not going to be able to exercise at all, but my housemates and I joined a gym! So I've been using the treadmill, which is good since I won't get completely out of shape during this trip. I'm running the 10 mile race at the Twin Cities Marathon in October.

My classes have been good so far. In 3 days I think I have covered all the verb tenses that took 4 years to learn (and forget) in high school. My teacher is funny, he likes to tell me jokes that aren't always PC. It's all good though.

Okay, I think this is it for now, more later!

bienvenido

Hola,
I have decided to revive my blog from Guatemala, as a way of keeping a travel journal. My flight from Atlanta to here was over 3 hours late, but my ride from the school was still at the airport waiting for me. During the ride I was pretty quiet and tired and just took in the sights....so many mountains and trees. Some funniness...we listened to the musico tipico de Guatemala, with the exception of...¨My heart will go on.¨ Haha. I got into Antigua and met my host family and also my home for the next two weeks..and at first I wondered what I had gotten myself into since I was here alone with really bad Spanish. After I got dinner I met other people staying with my family, and today at school I met many new people who are all very friendly. Classes were good but somewhat difficult...this is good though. I am definitely starting to really understand what many of my students go through every day. Ah, tengo hambre. Adios!

sugary sweet

Yesterday I was running and two specific things made me smile. One was running by the Governor's mansion, where there were not one but TWO newspapers stuck in the fence at 6pm. It just struck me as funny that they have such an immaculate lawn and yet no one can bring in their papers from the rain when they're not home. Then I ran by a restaurant where there was a large group of adults engrossed in conversation, and one little girl who looked out the window instead. She waved at me as I ran by, and I smiled as I waved back.

I got a hula hoop and it's pretty awesome. Today I had some friends over and we made chocolate chip cookies, and then I had to show off my hula skills. It took some time, but I managed to get the hoop going while eating a cookie and drinking milk. And as I swung my hips around I said, "I am so happy right now."

Wow, after writing this all out it kind of makes me want to barf.

Live, little blog! LIVE!

I keep trying to update this but I end up losing my focus, writing entirely too much on things that only interest me and maybe 2.4 other people. So, let's do a whirlwind update of the past month:

• Almost lost my job, but things are looking pretty safe for next year.
• Got new fancy bedding for my apartment and also added some wall decorations to my bedroom. Next on the list: curtains.
• Went to Madison and had a grand old time. Came back with some furniture...the apartment is rounding itself out more and more.
• Took my first day off all year on Monday, just because I needed a break.
  
• Then I ended up taking another day off today, because I was sick. The whole year, I planned NOT to be sick. Funny how these things work.
  
• Decided I would sew my first skirt with a zipper, using this pattern. I finished the zipper part and surprisingly, it works. I'll finish the rest soon.
  

On the horizon: SUMMER. Really, that is all that matters.