And here we... go

This will be my final post of this blog. Yes, that means that if you have any interest in what is going on with my life, you will actually have to keep in touch with me (and that my trip is over). There is no way to sum up my time spent traveling. Suffice it to say, though, that I feel I have grown by ages. At times, it has felt like i have lived an entire life in a matter of weeks. Days go by and I feel like the story never took a break. As excited as I was about my trip, I am just as excited to start my life post-hiatus. Well, maybe not OFFICALLY start it, but at least get the ball rolling. I said BALL. Anyway, whatever my motivation was for taking this trip, I can say that I have grown and have found new motivations for starting my life afterwards. Whats more, I have met people who helped me see that I enjoy living my life in the manner of a river - each drop of water passing a new place that is all too familiar, yet never been touched. Repetition is for the old, rest is for the weary, and today is for me. Ive read great books. Palanihuk. Fitzgerald. Hemingway. Pirsig. Seen amazing things. Machu Pichu. Buenos Aires. Bocas del Toro. Met amazing people. Davi from France. Delores from Tigre. Melissa (and Azed )from England. Yael from Israel. Erin from Australia. The Finnish guys. Rergardless of what happens in my life from this point forward, I will ALWAYS have something that makes me smile. As much as I love the people who have passed through and are in my life, I can honestly say without any hesistation that the friends I have made and experienced will forever shape the course of my life. Thanks, Eppie and Jona. You too, Peter. And, there are people like Spicer, who will donate his name to people from my past. People like Camillia, who saw lights i didnt know shined. Managua, Managua, Managua. Lima. Angelo and Chiba, who reminded me of what you can find under a rock if you open your eyes, Delores, who pulled back the brush to show the path. And Jyri, who, well shit, he's just Jyri. These are just names to the people who are reading them, but I promise you that they will mean the world to me for years to come, and I ask all that read this post to give them as much credit. Thanks for reading and following. I cant wait to remember some of these stories when I am drunk around the BBQ (parillia) with my friends. Thanks for taking the time.

Angelo, Gustavo and 15 to 20

Im not sure how to enter this next post without revealing too much, but here goes. A few days ago, I ran into a musician named Jose, who offered to take me out with his buddies at night, after we bought some souveniers. On the way to get the souveniers, we met a few older gentlemen (i.e. junkies) named Angelo (who lived in CA for a while) and Chiba (a small dude who looked like he had seen his share of hard times). I met up with Jose later on, and we took a cab with a friend of his to a bar, where we had a few drinks (huge ass Pisco sours) and chatted up the bouncer. When we got ready to leave, guess who was the only one who had any money. Thats right, I fell for one of the oldest tourist traps known, where a local brings you to a bar, runs up a huge tab, then all the other locals threaten to call the police unless you pay up. Being the smart guy that I am, I didnt have my credit card, ID or more than 30 bucks on me - just enough to pay my share and a cab ride home. I gave em all the money I had and got the hell out of Dodge. Although i didnt get too shafted, I was still pretty upset for being taken by my new friends. Caught a cab ride home, and wouldnt you know it, I ran into Angelo and Chiba. I told them the story, and they proceeded to buy me a few drinks and show me around Miraflores. For anyone who dosent know, having a homeless junkie buy you drinks is quite a honor not bestowed on many. The next day I met up with Angelo & Chiba again for some pool, and watched Chiba get all bent out of shape when Angelo wouldnt leave us alone to play pool. I felt safe, knowing that these guys knew each other from way back - they spent 10 years in prison together, and the rest of the guys that were playing with us spent time behind bars too. Not pouring drinks, either. Anyway, Chiba pulled me aside later that evening and told me that I helped him buy new shoes, pants, get a shave and a hair cut with the 3 dollars I gave him earlier that day, and it was his pleasure to buy a game of pool for us. Im going to leave the story there, but i was quite touched to see how much joy a person can get out of such a small gesture. Still puts a smile on my face.

I got Machu Pichu´d!!!

After sandboarding in Huacachina (cant wait to post those pictures - our dune buggy driver was INSANE, catching full air several times over blind dunes), I headed down to Cuzco where we started on the trail to Machu Pichu. One bus, three taxis and 26 hours later, and yours truly was first to the top of Machu Pichu. Once we got through the gates, I headed straight for Waynupichu, which is a second mountain that overlooks Machu Pichu. I cant begin to describe the feelings that go through your mind as you stand on top of the mountain and watch the sun break through the clouds, revealing so much beauty. It is impossible to fathom how long it took to build the site. Three hours of hiking from the bottom to the top of Waynupichu, and there are hand placed stairs all the way to the top (although some are super sketchy). SOme of the structures had stairs built coming out of the side of the walls, with absolutely nothing underneath them except a lot of fresh air. You can understand how the Incas worshipped the sun, being so close to the top of the world. Hidden caves that have been carved out, a condor made of stone that was itself a small mountain, and sneaky trails up and down the side of the mountain that have persevered for thousands of years. Seeing that site truly helps one realize how small you are. It was sort of like being in the ocean in that you have no control over yourself when faced with such a powerful presence. It really was as good as people say. Unfortunately, my knees felt like they had sandpaper in them afterwards, but thanks to the owner of the hostel I am staying at, there is a remedy that involves a medicine made of many natural herbs, includeing cocoa leaves, camphor and eucalyptus. Whatever it is, Im gonna have to get some of that stuff for my personal collection. Now, where is that San Pedro...

Its 4am. Do you know where your child is?

I decided to splurge a little bit tonight, being that I now have funds again (that is a shout out/blow below the belt, Dan). Went to an all you can eat parillia and spent 63 pesos. Bout 17 dollars. That included all the meat you could eat off the grill; chicken, ribs, steak, filet minion, vacio, and jamon, with a bottle of wine and desert - Im going to cry for you, Argentina. What a great way to end my trip, after spending the day marveling Rodins, Monets and Picassos. Spent some time at Eva Peron´s museum - she was an amazing person, and ended the night dancing at Crobar, a crazy insane club that was packed full of Argentine women. Geez. Now that I am sufficiently hammered, it is off the bus station for a transfer to the airport, from where I should arrive in Lima (cross your fingers) and head to Ica for some sandboarding and late night endeavours - then off to Machu Picchu. I am staring down the last month of my travels and am beginning to sense the impending doom of finding a job and a place to stay, not to mention that little bird in my ear named reality. I have no idea how I am going to function in the real world once I get back. Something tells me rehab and a therapist (and maybe at little mota) are in my near future. Ive gotta get back to BA, though, as this seems to be the center of the world. So glad I made the trip to Argentina. Someone please remind me to email my friends I made here when my brain gets back to a stable state.

Scurvy para uno, por favor

So, for anyone that has known me while i was drunk, you know that ive had a secret goal of acquiring scurvy. I dont know, it seems one part desire, two parts destiny. If it werent for that whole rotting your teeth out thing, it probably would have been past tense. Hence, enter Buenos Aires. If there were ever a place to consume food that was strictly protein based and avoiding all substances resembling vegetables or containing vitamin C, Buenos Aires is the capital de federal. Two days ago i consumed an entire meal that was only beef sausage, a huge vacio (rib steak) and bottle of vino (all for 12 dollars for those keeping track), with a side of bread and butter. If it werent for my choice to cook lunch for myself (bottle of white wine, chicken with rice and corn for 7dollars), i more than likely would look like one of those pirates you see with looking out of one eye and smelling like four day old manatee (you do know what pirates used to use manatees for, right?). Regardless, i find myself eating mujellas (fried sweetbread - cow joules for the uninitiated), chorizo (God only knows what is in that) and empanadas as a side dish that taste almost as good as anything ive ever put in my mouth. I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain. I love CCR. Regardless of whatever instances of TD (Travelers Depression) you go through, there is always light after the storm. No matter what situation you find yourself in, there is always someone who has been through worse. Ecpt, i havent met anyone with Vitamin C deficieny. Keep your fingers crossed. Brian, you are going to love my stories when i get back. Tara, not so much.

Home sweet home

I absolutely love Buenos Aires. The city has such a metropolitan European flavor, in the heart of South America. The city never sleeps, but lacks the overwhelming pretense of cities like NY. The steaks cost as much as a Big Mac, are served on a large wooden plank, and grilled to PERFECTION. You can also get any cut of meat you want for 8 dollars - Ive seen stuff on the menus that they wouldnt dream of serving in the states. Beef heart on a stick, anyone? Headed to an Argentine soccer match in a few days (gonna sport my light blue, baby), after which I am going to head north to the birthplace of Che Gueverra. I have met a few Argentines during my travel, and I can say that I haven´t been disappointed in the least in the reality of my expectations. The most beautiful people in the world are here. Great designers, too. Ive spent hours thumbing through local artists works, marveling at the prices and energy of their creation. Of all the places I have been, BA is definitely my favorite. I am going to give it another week, and if my enamoration hasn´t worn off, I might look for a job teaching English. But, I haven´t visted Tigre yet, which may change everything. And, of course Carnaval is right around the corner. I should have brought my BurningMan wardrobe. Guess I will have to make due with what I have...

Dos mas, por favor

OK. Im in trouble. Two more Argentenian ladies, two more crazy nights. I gotta stop this. These Argentine ladies travel in pairs (apparantly), and are more than a handful. Beuno suerta a la casino, malo suerta a la noche. I am going to have my head spinning when I get to BA. They have given me so many recommendations, I dont think I will have time to see everything. I was up at the casino big time, at 3am in the morning no less, when my good luck charms ran out and took all my winnings with them. Granted, I gave it up willingly, but not before I got in a few good rounds. I cant tell you how awesome the Argentine people are. Sùper friendly, very interested, and fun as shit to boot. Anybody that has such an affinity for meat cant be too bad. Been hanging around Lima for the most part (Miraflores), with a few ventures to other barrios. But, who needs to go anywhere when you are the party, no? My spanish is getting better (i think), but the looks of complete confusion when I think I am being correct tells me that it is all in my head. I dont know what I am going to do with myself when I get to BA. All I know is that I spent too much time in Costa Rica. I think I am very lucky for finding some tour guides with lots of friends to boot. Thank my lucky stars for resting my liver before my trip. Im gonna need some really good shoes in BA, as tango is the thing to do. I still have a few decisions left to make when I return to Peru in three weeks - Machu Picchu in the south, or a visit with a shamman in the North. I dont think I will be able to do both, but the shamman visit seems most appealing, given that it will be a once in a lifetime experience. But, as much as I have seen, I think one could travel the world for a living and never see enough. As long as see enough for the next year, I think I will be OK. I do know one thing though - Ive seen enough to last me a couple of months, and forgotten just enough to keep going...

Another Year Older

Well, it was my birthday a few days ago and I have aged quite a bit. NOT! Rode a chicken bus for 7 hours the other day (think elementary school bus packed with people on a durt road at 12.7km per hour), that was absolutely brutal. Got stuck in a nepotistic town in Nicaragua without any electricity for 5 days thanks to the antiquated power grid. I am now back in San Jose biding my time before I head to South America for a month. I had my totem read last night, which was shocking. I havent felt that naked in a long time (except for my shower earlier that morning). Weird when someone you barely know can see so much with such clarity, and have such wonderful things to say about it. The hardest thing about traveling is watching your friends leave to go to other places, and yet I think that is the best part about it. Ugh. I just had some Doogie Howser flashback type thing sitting here writing a journal. Out of sheer fright, I am signing off. Lets hope I make it through cutoms fine in Peru!!!!

About last night...

So, on Ometepe Island, I was eating at a little soda with my friends Peter and Erin. The owner had rescued a little white faced monkey that had been attacked by dogs and was nursing him back to health. He was a cute little bugger, so I decided to go over and pet him. Let the sexual assault begin. The little thing climbed on my arm, stuck out his penis, and proceeded to hump my arm like a, well, wild monkey. I started laughing while trying to fend him off. Apparantly that only got him more riled up, as he climbed up on the back of my head, grabbed a handfull of hair with one hand, began biting my ear, and was scratching his ass with his other hand. He had both legs firmly wrapped around my neck while his tail was flailing wildly. Luckily, Peter was there to lure him away with a sopping wet piece of bread. I got video of my wild monkey sex excursion, and am pleased to report that no animals were harmed during the filming of said video. I did walk away with my personal space violated, but my ego was strangely inflated knowing that, at least to wild white faced monkey, the back of my head was pretty fricking cute. I am headed to the Corn Islands soon, so send up a prayer that there arent any horny ears of corn running around.

Universal Truth Part Duh

So, it appears I have to amend my previous statement RE: Universal Truths. As it turns out, there is only one response to the question "Would you like to spend the day on the beach with us" when posed by two Argentenian ladies, which is also, Universally, YES. Wow. What wonderful sweethearts. Heaven is apparantly somewhere twenty minutes north of Beunos Aires. As they say, one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor. After some volunteer work on Ometepe Island, I headed back south to Costa Rica and picked up my friend JB for a little fun in the sun in Tamarindo. That is where I ran into Vicky and Dolores, and to my amazement had wonderful conversations that seemed to last for hours, be over way too soon, and never dull. It is strange sometimes how you can know someone for years and never trust them, then meet someone and immediately know they are worthy of knowing the best things about you, and your most guarded treasures. Now that my new friends have gone home, I have a Dolores hangover, and think i will work it off in Nicaragua. I almost felt bad the last time i was there because of how cheap things are. I felt like a dirty dog walking away from a couple of places knowing how much i just paid for what i got. Ten dollars will never be the same to me again.

Jungle Boogy

My friend Peter and I decided to hit Nicaragua for El Castillo, to celebrate his birthday. After a rather uneventful 4 hour water taxi ride to El Castillo, we ren into a couple of Canadians who had met a local willing to take them into the jungle if they found a couple of partners. Enter Alonzo and Peter. I wasn't nervous until our guide Miguel brought out the gallon sized Ziploc bag full of emergency shots and medications. 24 hours later we found ourselves kayaking down the Rio San Juan. After navigating the rapids from the outset, the next two days saw us: kayak 55 k down river, illegal border crossings, tucans, macaws, ospreys, crocodiles, caymans, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, 3 toed sloth, iguanas, wild chickens, bats, fresh tapir, jaguar and boar tracks, spent one night in the jungle, river shrimp the size of my forearm, fresh fish (that i caught out of the river), played in a waterfall, swam in crocodile infested rivers and Mayan ruins, mud up to my knees, Nicaraguan machette guides, an abandoned shipwreck, and last but not least, Miguels best friend who is a squatter running from druglords because he stole a couple of boats. Learned a few interesting things about Manatees and sailors, too. Miguel offered me a job if I want to help him run operations. That sounds a little better than sitting behind a computer screen for 9 hours a day, no? I might head back there with JB when he gets here, or I might have him meet me in the Cone Islands here in Nicaragua. So many choices. Any suggestions?

Finnish Him

All parties concerned about my liver (or physical well being in general) will be glad to know that the FInnish guys have left for home. Now might be a good time to tell you just a bit about them, now that they are safely out of reach. Jyri is a 27 year old manic depressive bipolar masochistic carpenter. Juska, Jyri's younger brother, was the typical younger brother who was always trying to keep Jyri out of trouble. Good luck with that. Joona is the 24 year old Finnish wrestling champion who sounded like he was announcing something to anyone who was listening when he spoke. And finally there was Eppie, a 26 year old raging alcoholic that looked straight Megadeths fan club, who couldnt stop talking about heavy metal and Steven Segal. It has taken a few days to get my bearings, now that they are left. The most touching moment the Finnish guys shared with me was the night that the police robbed me. They stood there, all four staggering from the nights worth of drinking, and emptied their pockets of all the change they had so that i could pay for my hostel the next day. I was still 10 dollars short, but it was pretty funny nonetheless. Well, its off to Nicaragua! Until next time...

Feliz Anos!!!

Its been a few days since my last post, and i am at a loss of where to begin. Lets start with a series of short sentences, for my peeps with limited attention span. Hmmm. Finished The Sun Also Rises. Love Hemingway. Spent three nights on the back of a truck in a garage in Santa Teresa because EVERYTHING was booked up. But, i was with the Brazillians, so it was OK. Acid. Ran into the Finnish guys at 4am at the NYE party. Best described as BurningMan on the beach. Ditched the Brazillians after one of them (maybe both) wet the bed. It wasnt even our bed. Needless to say, they have bad choices in friends. Woke up on the beach (with all my money, and my anus) in tact. Tracers. Surfing with the Finnish guys for the past couple of days. Hearing their stories, it is now a given that I have to go to Cambodia and Laos. In the process now of deciding whether I head to Bogata to meet a friend for a couple of weeks, or heading to Nicaragua to snorkle for a couple of weeks. Melanoma. OK, thats all my brain can handle for now. I have had a blast telling my friends here stories about my friends there. The more people i meet, the larger my world gets, and the smaller the world seems. I am SOOOO glad not to be at work right now. Or tomorrow, for that fact. Buenos!!!