life @ 13

it would be absurd if we did not understand both angels and devils, since we invented them - steinbeck

first off, apologies for my period of silence. i honestly didn't realize it till my last update. i actually had a post done about a week ago in the middle of the big gap, but for some reason felt it unworthy. in case you haven't heard my rant, i should let you know about my love/hate relationship with writing. i feel that i'm much better at expressing my thoughts and ideas though writing although my writing rarely lives up to my expectations so i end up doing a lot of writing and a lot of deleting. sometimes, as you have probably noticed, i just say fuck it and hit the send/post button, no matter how much i like or dislike what i wrote. as long as its coming from my head and fingers it has to be worth something, although i usually don't know what or care to really find out. maybe this is just part of the beauty of our mostly one way relationship, because we all know that the words in between the lines are the clearest.
one of the great things about being at the crossroads is how you get to not only an oppertune chance to look at the function and machinery of languages but the ability to quantify their significance in how we define ourselves and our world. in the central park in antigua guatemala an older american man (with a hollywoodish aura) pointed out how speaking in another language is as close as one can get to having an alter-ego. just today, after translating 50 Cent from black american english to formal english to spanish i realized how ridiculously different the spoken english of my generation is from the relatively static (or at least somewhat antiquated) spanish spoken here. so many of the phrases and idioms we use are so purely absurd that even translating them into formal english is difficult if not futile. but even after speaking a little bit of spanish to a few people i'm starting to realize what i already knew; that not only is language a voracious part of how we define ourselves and our relationships with other people and the world but the sheer absurdity of how it works makes you doubt whether we can attain or communicate any meaningful knowledge through it.
i'm beginning to realize that part of the part of the purpose of this trip was to at least attempt to find some like-minded people here, maybe even some who were willing to try and forge some kind of dynasty, as like-minded people tend to do. but, even though all travellers share some similar ideas about the Way Things Are, so far i havent't found what i was looking for. which is ok, since i'm patient, willing to experiment and have come to expect that i'm rarely content with the given answers anyway. expect the rest of the Why I'm Here report to trickle in as time passes, and as i get the chance to use computers in people's living rooms, especially the ones i fixed.
being a little bored staying in one place and even though i like it here, my best next move is to hop on the bike and go. for me, the next goal is nicaragua, about 600 miles or so from here. having unintentionally convinced another fellow traveller of the joys of biking -- here, in particular -- i will have a companion, a student, a tanto, for a little while. being that we are like-minded americanos and share similar ideas on how to to travel (and how and why to find a latina girlfriend), the next couple of weeks should be a real kick in the pants. either that or we'll be punching each other in the face. either way, something will happen. stay tuned, i hear there are internet cafes aplenty in el salvador.

Yeah, and you thought it was rain

for the rest of this week, until early sunday the 29th, i will be staying in a real house with a real family with a real telephone. if you want to talk to me, i'm very reachable. the number here is: +011 502 9 671-2360, where 011 is to call internationally, 502 is the guatemala country code, 9 is the city code and the rest is the local number. obviously i haven't tried this, so i make no guarntees. i am always at home around 2pm and 7pm, US central time. i have no idea what it costs to call from a cell phone, but from a land line it should be in the ballpark of 0.20/minute. if your work asks why you made a 20-minuite call to guatemala it's up to you to make an excuse

greetings from the land of enough-visible-guns-such-that-the-random-and-frequent-fireworks-are-not-appreciated. besides the title, i'm enjoying this country, and in particular this city, xela. so far i've taken 4 days of spanish (got off to a late start) and am slowly becoming confident in basic communication beyond "how much does it cost." although i had some personal reservations about Paying to Learn, the pace at which i'm learning now is surely faster than it would be were i on my own. my "school", more like "rent a bilingual local for 5 hours a day", is, dare i say it, cool. for the first time in one of my excursions to a local bike shop (i now have some more merciful gear ratios) i was actually able to make decent conversaton with the people, who are constituitevly open and friendly. besides the locals, i met some good gringos as as well. recently i've been exchanging (and pulling) punches with a swiss bloke, most of which conform to the topic "your country is evil vs. is your country on the map?", although the discussion does occasionally extend to "do nationalities sill have meaning?"
It has been nice settling down in one place for a while, and not just because i am too sick to cycle. for guatemala, this city (xela) is very progressive and, though well-earned, anti-gringo sentiment is minimal, as is catering to tourism. my family is cool if a little reserved, although when the equation works out to 3 bottles liquor + 10 people things tend to loosen up. as a side note, the family also has the biggest, shaggiest, smelliest dog i've come across.
i think my trip is starting to bear some sense of purpose. now that i've been asked several times "how long is your vacation" and "are you having fun" i suppose i can try and address. in my mind, this is not a vacation in the sense that i'm taking a break from normal life and returning in a definite amount of time. although i've been a little dissapointed in the experiences so far, this is by all means a journey for me, on which i hope to experience as many different people, ways of life, and ideas as possible. in this journey, the biycle is a tool, and spanish is most definitly a tool. like life at home, it seems that fun is balanced against struggle and hardship -- this is particularly poingnant when cycling against the wind or up a poorly-graded mountain pass. now that i've been if not immersed then exposed to a culture certainly different from mine at home, my mind is slowly slipping into a more evaluation-like mode, and i'm starting to be able to look at my home life from an outsider's perspective.
right now i'm vaguely content to continue my break from cycling, do a little speed-learning of spanish, and generally hang out with the gringos here. but soon, probably this weekend, i'm going to be back on the bike, off the beaten track, and hopefully experiencing at a slightly higher level.

Don't belive the Pharmacist when she tells you that the Cipro is free...
after another round of bacteria and another round of cipro -- very, very cheap here -- i'm finally back on track and doing, well, something. today was my first day in spanish school, although it's more like renting a local who speaks english (and spanish, of course) for 5 hours. i'm beginning to realize that i'm not going to learn overnight, but i think with a couple weeks of solid practice i should have some decent chops. i'm staying with a family now, which is, if anything, a nice change from living in hotels.

The Mountains in my Legs
so, as expected, my 4 days in san pedro were uneventful, to say the least. but the living was cheap, and it was nice to have persistent company. i got a really nasty headcold the day i left antigua, and i'm still getting over it now, but at the moment i am enjoying a period of respite from the bacteria.
yesterday morning i woke up early, a little hung over and very dehydrated. i took the boat back to panajachel, wandered around for a bit, unsuccessful in finding the supermarket, and ended up having a breakfast of eggs, beans and tortillas. over breakfast i inspected my new topo/political/road map of guatemala for the 1000th time, except this time i noticed the fine print, which read "3670m, the highest pass on the inter-american highway" with an arrow pointing to the road i was to take.
from my descent into panajachel i knew it would be rough getting out, but i didn't know it would be _that_ rough. literally 2 minutes after starting i had to walk; the road was too steep. the first 6k took what felt like 2 hours. by the time i made it to the (inter-american) highway, only 17k into the day, i was ready to quit. the next 35k were a slow grind, but the nice grading of the highway at least allowed me to pedal instead of walk. when i started the climb to the high pass (12,000 feet, exactly) <<edit: i'm pretty sure now that the map was wrong, the elevation was probably closer to 10,500 >>, i really, really wanted to take a bus, as i was already starting to cramp and had some strange and sharp pains in my left knee/shin. however, i could not get a bus to stop on the pass, and couldn't make myself turn around, so i kept going, very slowly, one switchback at a time. but, in the end, i recieved the distinct satisfaction of climbing into the clouds and very cool air on my own power -- by the time i reached the top i had climbed over 7000 feet for the day.
the people in these guatemalan highlands are, by and large, of mayan descent. their dress, language, and way of life has remained intact for the better part of 1500 years. in other words, they have Real Culture, something which i feel i've missed out on. but that is another rant
anyway, my immediate goal is to learn some spanish. honestly, i haven't been too impressed with myself so far, possibly because i came here with the goal of getting close to the people, hoping for some sort of useful knowledge or experience to come from it. but language is the first obvious barrier, and i'm going to try and fix that
right now i'm in quetzaltenango (official name) a.k.a xela/xelaju (mayan name), which, to say the least, is my kind of city. even though there is a small mass of gringos here, their effect is nothing like antigua. this is, effectively, a typical, if somewhat large, guatemalan city, which happens to be hospitible to foreigners. it should be an excellent place to learn spanish, as very little english is spoken. a spanish course here means 5 hours of private instruction (partly grammar and vocab, partly shooting the shit in spanish), 5 days a week, and living with a local family. the cost is about $110/week, which, all things considered, is dirt cheap. i'm going to start on monday, we'll see how it goes.

But in Latin, Jehova begins with an I...
yeeeeeeeeeeeeehaw! ok, so i'm a day behind where i thought i would be. yesterday i felt very blah, and simply couldn't get myself to leave. i came very close to hopping the bus today, but after a filling breakfast and two cups of good guatemalan cafe i worked up the nerve to get back on the bike. 101 km today, lots and lots of climbing, incredible scenery, chaotic mountain towns, and much satisfaction for a ride well done. about 75k into the ride there was a very steep pass which i had to walk up most of the way (my 11th gear, the diagonal ascent, wasn't enough), but i was rewarded with an incredible view of the volcanic lake here, and a breathtaking 2,500-3000 ft descent to finish the day. i'm still getting goosebumps thinking about it. to top it all off, i just ran into some good israeli (and american) company.
i am in san pedro la laguna on lago atitlan, where everything is cheap, the atmosphere is very relaxed, and the views are top notch. i'll probably stick around until saturday, get some sun and finish anna karenin. for now, life is very good.

The best decisions are made in a Guatemalan McDonalds, after a grande numero uno
after passing several uneventful days in antigua i decided today was the day to finally leave. yesterday, after my condition not improving, i walked over to the friendly neighborhood farmacia and swiftly, easily and perscription-free-ly picked up some antibacterials. my destination today was rabinal, on the road to coban, where i would check out some cool caves and waterfalls, etc, etc.
now that i think about it, this is a gross oversimplification of what happened the past week, but i'm sore and tired and only have 5 minutes. anyway, i left this morning without a guidebook (lost along the way), map, or complex-direction-grade spanish. i knew the beginning of the route, but upon arrival in the center of guatemala city (not part of the plan, but apparently part of the route) i sought sanctuary in a certain well-known american resturant establishment. i'm not sure whether it was the big mac in my stomach, the lack of low gears on my bicycle, the spaguetti confusion of guatemala city or my ambiguity towards my chosen route; i decided to take a 180 and spend one more night in antigua, where i am right now.
the revised plan is:
tonight -- 2 dinners, 4 beers, 8 hours sleep
tomorrow -- 1 bicycle, 1 me, a hilly 80km road to panajachel, and the last boat to san pedro la laguna
after -- onward to quetzeltenago, some spanish lessons, a 2-day trek up a 13,000 ft volcano, several dinners, several beers, etc, etc
sorry for the shoddy update. i make no apologies. i'm alive, pharmacologically cleansed, and late for dinner.

Dios Guia Me Camoine (god guides my truck, hopefully not off a cliff)
yes, as you may have heard, guatemalan drivers are typically, literally crazy. no margin is too small, no speed to fast, no blind corner blind enough to stop them from attempting a pass. theoretically i am done with the busses, unless i happen to find one on top of my back tire.
antigua is not guatemala. the weather is too nice, the people are too friendly, and there is far, far too much money and affluence, by their standards. the only hints of guatemala are the endimic mayans and shotguns. of course it is easy for me to enjoy this -- not the shotgun part -- but i think i'm going to pass it up for now. no self-respecting travelling cyclist (circus?) can allow themselves to take two weeks off after only two weeks cycling. I'm meeting a couple of brits for dinner in a bit, and maybe going to climb a nearby volcano tomorow. after that, it's back on the road. i'm a little weak, but itching to get back.
i've been here for almost four weeks now, and i think i've been sick for about three of them. maybe not, like, really sick, but certainly intestinally dysfunctional. last night/today was easily the worst i've felt, a clear reminder that travelling is not all highs. not by a long shot. but i have discovered that i enjoy being on the road.

today i find myself in antigua guatemala, the former capital and a very plesant colonial town, chock full of gringos, most of them here for good gringo company and/or the 100 or so language schools here.
yesterday i broke down and took a bus from poptun to guatemala city with someone i met in finca ixobel, the previously mentioned ex-hippie work/sleep/etc. farm just south of poptun. the farm was more like a chill-out/hang-out spot where the locals work on the farm and the tourists stay in comfortable beds and eat expensive ($6) buffet dinners. nothing special, but it was a good place to relax and meet some fellow travellers, nurse a sore achilles, and play some excellent ping-pong.
my primary reason for taking a bus was to avoid the commercial traffic from guatemala's sliver of atlantic coast to the capital, and judging from what i saw out the window, this turned out to be a good idea.
guatemala city is known as one of the dirtiest, seediest, smoggiest, and chaotic cities on the world, and i was not dissapointed.
(disclaimer: family may wish to skip the following paragraph)
jeff, who i was travelling with, suggested we check out the red light district, hoping to check out the guatemalan mamacitas. all we could find were a rather large cluster of brothels which were, save for the bathrooms, surprisingly clean and friendly. our interaction with the guatemalan prostitutes was limited to sharing a beer and some conversation; this was a surprisingly worthwhile and interesting experience.
(resume)
i was planning on spending today looking for a good bike shop in guatemala city, but it being sunday none were open. although i had a vague desire to wallow in the disgusting but interesting city, my weak american lungs preferred to head for the clean air of antigua.
on the bus to antigua i was hounded by the owner of a language school (of course he was, um, dropping off his daughter to, um, visit her grandmother, um, yeah, whatever) who dragged the typically agreeable me to his school when the bus stopped. i'll take this oppertunity to mention that this was my first ride on the so-called guatemalan "chicken bus," the bus system that the locals use to get around. the name is rooted in a history of humans and chickens sharing seats on the busses, which are all old american school busses, dispelled from our rule-obsessed nation.
upon arrival at the school, i was offered 1-on-1 lessons 5 hours a day, five days a week, and 6 days stay with a family, room and board inclusive, for $125/week. which, when you work it out, is about 6.3 minutes of lecture at the UW. upon refusing this offer, i was immediatly kicked out of the building, and told not to come back without being given the chance to explain that i haven't decided to study spanish or stay in antigua. i'm thinking this over as i type. although i haven't done too good a job so far, one of my supposed goals for this trip was to get away from the tourist trail, and antigua is the base camp for said trail. i'm gonna hang out for a day or two, read some tolstoy, and see what happens. i'm anxious to get back on the bicycle, the roads around here look excellent and the scenery is spectacular.
besides all that, back to watching the superbowl. i'll get back to your emails and maybe put up another post tomorrow.