Things I got mYself

Hello, Self:
Here's what you got yourself. You went a little crazy but that's not so bad. On the way back from the mountain, as suggested by another, more foreward thinking person, you picked up a tiny chunk of volcanic rock. Years from now you will not remember much about this rock or why it's gathering dust on your shelf, or resting in the attic in a bowl of such rocks, but for now, along with a small vial of volcanic sand, it's a pretty fantastic reminder. Just in case you forget, though at the time you could barely marvel at it, you were pretty fricking close to lava! I got the seed beads in Nicaragua and I like them for just being basic and awesome. The multi-colored wood/bead combo I got for probably the outrageous but cheap sum of $8 cash. It was the most unique wood beading necklace I saw through all of my travels. And its purchase was unforeseen as I made my way back to my hotel one night in La Fortuna, and wandered into a wood sculpture studio. If I had had more cash I would've bought more. I actually had to tell myself no.

This I got from Nicaragua though there were others like it in Guatemala. It was a great last minute but perfect purchase! Though I was initially hesistant to the textiles of Central America, they came to win me over.

I was suspect about the ravings of Flor de Cana Rum but I got this bottle for $4 and it's a very smoothe rich tasting Rum- and I had the best Mojito I've ever had in Roatan, and I can only hope it was made with this stuff.

Hi butterfly. I got you for $10. Though I could've easily picked a more ubiquitous butterfly, a flashy blue one for instance I was drawn in by your subtle charm. Though cathy insists its like having a mounted head on the wall, all I can do is marvel at your natural beauty... and mostly hope you died of natural causes. I got you in Costa Rica.

Hello Conch shell earrings. I got these beauties in Granada, Nicaragua. They're shiny and I like them.
The hammock... not pictured.

One day hammock. I'll get you strung and you're going to be glorious. Don't doubt it.
And you my fair beauty I also got in Nica. Though I regret not getting more in Guatemala, I knew by the time I hit Granada what I liked and didn't, what was common and what was a find... I think this is a pretty good summation of my trip in all its tiny parts- the beauty of nature in all its forms: cotton, wood, rock, butterfly, volcanic, shell and sugarcane... who knew! I see a theme!!! Awesome.

Sweet Things

And this is why it's good to come home sometimes...

What I got my Mom

The Red and Blue/Purple runner, shawl type thing I found in a shop in Antigua Guatemala. And it is the most spectacular color and the blue pattern is all threading. And it is the only thing like it I saw. I am very proud to have rescued it from a shop where it was rumpled on a bottom shelf. I hope it's of good quality and can only wonder why no one else had bought it. It comes from the Nahuala region of Guatemala. And the other is from some of the local indians, in Antigua proper, and is more traditional of what I saw. Theresa, the woman who sold it to me said it took her mother 3wks to make. Regardless... i was like ok, I'll take it and only later became captivated by its pretty awesomeness. You'll be happy to know mom also got coffee and some extremely tasty sugarcane.

Here's some facts for you know, informationals sake:

The name Nahualá / Nahuala / Nawala' / Niwala'
Local residents translate the name Nahualá roughly as “enchanted waters,” “water of the spirits,” and “water of the shamans,” and they often object to the common Spanish translation of the name as “agua de los brujos” (or “water of the witches”). Scholars have typically argued that the name Nahualá derives from a compound of the Nahuatl term nagual or nahual (pronounced NA-wal), meaning “magician” (and related to terms for clear or powerful speech) and the K’ichee’ root ja’, meaning “water.” However, the loanword nawal, which entered the Mayan languages about a thousand years ago, came to denote “spirit[s]” or “divine co-essence[s],” as well as “shaman[s]” in K'ichee'. Some Maya linguists have argued apocryphally that the “true” name should be Nawalja’ or Nawal-ja’, disregarding that the word ja’ is regularly apocopated at the ends of words --especially toponyms-- not only in K’ichee’, but related Mayan languages. Those who promote the neologisms Nawalja’ and Nawal-ja’ also ignore that the pronunciation of the neologisms is inconsistent with the pronunciation in sixteenth-century K’ichee’- and Kaqchikel-Mayan recorded in several early colonial manuscripts written in Latin orthography by members of the native nobility.

For example, the sixteenth-century Título de Totonicapán mentions a Late Post-classic Period site called “navala,” (not “navalha”). Although scholars have argued that the site of the título corresponds to the modern community of Nahualá, it may actually correspond to a pre-colonial Nahua-, K’ichee’- and Tz’utujiil-speaking community located some 20 kilometers to the south: San Juan Nahualá or San Juan Nagualapan (later annexed as a ward of the departmental capital of San Antonio Suchitepéquez). The earliest mention of Nahualá occurs in one of the sixteenth-century Kaqchikel-language Xpantzay Títulos, which mentions a site called, “chohohche niguala” which almost certainly corresponds to a modern canton of the cabecera of Nahualá, Chojojche’ (Cho Joj Chee' = "Before [the] Crow Tree"). Several other sixteenth or early seventeenth-century titles in Spanish and K’ichee’ mention Nahualá either directly (as “Navala”) or obliquely, in terms of the landmarks of the community, including Siija (a Late Post-Classic fortress settlement located atop a hill of the same name, 12 kilometers west of Nahualá), Pa Raxk'im ("in the green bunchgrass/thatch," the name of the mountain chain that envelops most of the township's highland territory, as well as a Nahualeño village of the same name), Chi Q'al[i]b'al ("at the throne" a site located near Siija, mentioned in the Xajil chronicle popularly known as the Anales de los Cakchiqueles), Chwi' Raxon or Pa Raxon ("above the cotinga/verdure/green feathers/wealth," the mountain in the center of the township's head town), Poop Ab'aj ("Petate-Stone," a site located northeast of the town, along the precolonial road that became part of El Camino Real during the Spanish period), Xajil Juyub', Pa Tz'itee', Chwi' Patan, and others).

[edit] History
Despite early references to the community, foreign scholars and many Mayas themselves have ironically tended to claim that the community was only founded in the second half of the nineteenth century, promoting particularly apocryphal interpretations of local legends.

Nahualá was settled at least as early as the Pre-Classic Period. Archaeologist John Fox, who conducted archaeological surveys in the area during the 1970s, identified structures from the Pre-Classic, Classic, and Post-Classic Periods. Grinding stones dated to as early as 500 BCE found in archaeological sites around Quetzaltenango were likely manufactured near the cabecera of Nahualá, where residents still mine volcanic basalt and carve grinding stones that are sold throughout Guatemala’s western highlands.

[edit] Population
Nearly the entire population of the municipality is made up of K’ichee’-Mayas who speak the K'iche' language. The population of the township is estimated to be between 50,000-85,000 individuals, about 10% of whom live in the township’s head-town or cabecera. Statistics vary widely because much of the township’s territory and several large villages are also claimed by Nahualá’ sister township, Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán.

Schu Came Through!

So my postcard from Costa Rica finally came! It was postmarked on the 3rd of January and arrived on the 12th. Not to shabby, I guess. : ) And Schu also delighted and surprised me with a lovely necklace from Guatemala and a vial of volcanic ash. I am a happy camper. Thanks Schu!!!

CHECKLIST revisited For Danica, by SCHU

Haven been given a charge and challenge to the 32lbs my pack constituted I thought of it like a harassing gnat through my entire travels... and it did not go unnoticed that I lost 5lbs but my pack gained 14... having at check out weighed in at 46lbs. Purely for the exercise and its true, future backpacktrekking travels I will just for the fanatical list makers among us, indicate what was useful and what I neglected to bring... etc.etc.

PACKED:

• Memory cards: 3 4g, 2 2g: Used 4/5 cards. Shot: Raw. Felt extravegent. Need: Vital.
• Vaccination Cert: Completely unnecessary (this time)
• Itinerary: good to have.
• $300 LP & Money: Brought $250 additional. Should have packed more?
• ID,STNT ID, AAA: good to have, USED.
• MP3 Player: Lost, completely bummed. Thorn in side.
• Journal: Gasp. Not necessary. Used RARELY. Sadness.
• CAMERA: Should have had a small case for it. Really.!
• Charger: Used 3x.
• Water: felt bad for using so many plastic bottles after a while. Was torn. Somehow treating the water and not buying plastic would ultimately have been more sustainable tourism.
• Alarm Clock: VITAL
• Sunglasses: Used Occasionally
• Tweezers/Mirror: Used when bored but I liked to have.
• Eucerin: glad I had it. Didn't use it much. Used deodarant on my thighs which cut down chaffing and other unpleasantness!
• Amphibian Walk/Water: great comfortable shoes. Though were not good for silty, sandy, or volcanic surfaces.
• Flipflops: Yup, good arch support, could have fitted better, and well the tan line... sigh.
• Day Pack: Vital
• Pancho: Used once in downpour in LaFortuna. Glad I had it. Was fun. But I suppose unnecessary, still would not, not pack it.
• Small Towel/Microfiber: I used it but it developed a smell...hmm. Had towels throughout from the hotels...
• Jacket (fleece/wind): Used a couple of times. Glad I had it.
• Sunflower Seeds: should have brought 1 more pack.
• Jerky: absolutely glad I brought it.
• Gum: a pack or 2 short but I could've bought in CenAm, favs: orange, mint.
• Cliff Bars: lifesaving. Brought 12. Used 10. Gave 1 away.
• Apple slices dried: such a nice variety to have when I couldn't get fruit. Loved it!
• 7 Microfiber Underwear: happy with the # and loved the type. Cleaned/dried super easily,
• 3 Undersocks: used once, wore flipflops or got wet more often then not but 1-2 is ok
• 6 Socks: I hate washing socks. Mental note this. They get really dirty and its hard.
• Mysterious feminine products: took too many pads but then is that bad...?
• White Skirt: Loved it! So so glad I brought it. Slept in it, went dancing in it, good for the beach... though it did show some wear at the end there.
• Red/Red Skirt: uh, not dye fast. Yikes. Turned my nice new pair of white pants totally pink! But a good last resort skirt, and beach blanket, but was afraid I'd turn red if I laid on it while wet... must rethink.
• Swimsuit: oddly too heavy duty and functional. Needed more just 2 pieces, quick drying and thinner-- less sinching fabric...
• 4 Bras: still could've had lighter thinner bras but what to do?
• 6 Tops(teal:a little semi-casz/blu(basic but with details)/gren(fun, but scratchy elements! horror!)/blck: button up, excellent/yllw: trashycomfy/light green:long and loose): good mix of fabrics, color, type. Was pretty happy with my selection. Could've splurged with one more like a tank top. Should have brought.
• 1 LS-T Shirt OldNavy (light/cotton): good for warmth and when it was really humid. Found it cooling. Excellent.
• Northface LS-T: Really good for airplane, volcano climbing, cooler nights.
• Sleep Shorts: Good for sleep and beach.
• Water Shorts: Used a couple times, could have used more but didn't.
• 1 Stretch Pants: awesome for the plane and volcano climbing.
• 2 Cargo Pants: were too loose but quick drying and pretty comfortable. Was unsure if I really needed both but...
• Stretch Capri: excellent for the more active things we did.
• Cards: didn't offer up for drinking games but used when stuck on an island whose beach was under water. Don't regret it.
• Insect Repellent: Glad to have both heavy duty and not.
• Emergency Kit• Potable Aqua• Emg Blanket• Malariapills• Leviquin 4 TD• Ice pack• Thermometers• Bandaids• Anti-Inflammation patches (USED)• Other… USED antibiotic ointment and several bandaids along with one of the disposable thermometers!
• Toilettries• Tissues• Deodorant• Shaving Gel• Face/Body Wipes• 4 disposable razors• Liquid Soap/scrub• Floss• Paste• Toothbrush• Shampoo/Conditioner• Brush• Sewing Kit: Yep. Didn't foresee my conditioner and shampoo getting gross and seperating but yah. Used it all.
• Emergency Dramamine: did not bring enough. Excellent in conjunction with gingerpills.
• Detergent: did not bring enough! 3 liquid packs hardly! Bah!
• Blister kit: didn't use but no way would i leave it at home.
• Advil: Yep. Not enough.
• Hand Sanitizer: Didn't use. Um...
• Sun hat: Used often!
• Ginger pills: Did NOT bring enough!!
• Flashlight: Yep!
• 1 black formfit tanktop: could have brought another. Wore it almost every long travel day!
• Compressed water spray: Loved it! Bring it everytime!
• Money Belt: used once or twice, devil may care!
• Pens: brought 3. 2 died! 1 nearly. Did not bring enough! Could not believe it.
• Little kit of things: 1 Underwear, 1 pair socks, 1 longsleeve top, Gum, Burts Bee’s, Mirror, PlaneTix, Passport, Insurance proof, Bandana, Business cards, Toilet Paper, 4 TourGuide Docs (unnec apparenty) Gloss, (only needed one) Soft EarPlugs, , Binoculars + Survival Guide.

Didn't bring at the last minute:

• SPF 15 max: didn't bring, should have I think. But didn't use all of any of them so maybe smaller each this next time? Loved spray!
• SwissArmyKnife: Didn't bring. Stupid. Don't ever do that again. Sure you may not use the knife or the screwdriver, but the canopener uh, hullllooo. Yes. Was addicted to canned peaches and not every one had pulltops.
• Knee braces: Left at home. Was that a good idea? 50/50.
• Calculator: Forgot to bring. Should have brought. I'm slow at math but on the + side I got better. Ear plugs: did not use.
• Black travel Pillow: not necessary. Didn't bring. Could use top but wouldn't mind if I had it.
• Zip-tie Locks: Left at home.
• Travel Connect 4: we were way too busy sleeping and using our ipods to use this. good to leave at home.

So Sad I Didn't Have:

• Exfoliant for my face: travel grime, working out grime, smog grime, oily face grime. My face wipes could only do so much.
• Dress: something light and easy wear with maybe a scarf or something. We went out to nice places enough where I felt like dressing up like a girl would have been lovely. Read other peoples commentary saying the same and ignored... silly Schu.
• Oxy: for that oily sad face that was breaking out all the time on the chin.
• Liquid Bandaid: good for mosquito bites and has antibiotic in it. When these little hard bites I got in monteverde started oozing I was sad not to have this. Next time for SURE!

Picked up: hammock, 2 bottles of rum, book, small volcanic rock, pack oh'souvenirs...

GOOD TIMES!

The Food...

After going thru 4 memory cards and taking some 1280 photos I went thru while I was deleting and sorting to pull out some memorable food photos- only to find that there weren't that many... enough I guess... but somehow completely uninclusive and dissatisfying. I suppose though it's a good enough mix and I can only conclude that since I was alone at breakfast the most or with Cath I took pics and if i was with the group I barely ever thought of it, and also, traveling with a backpack everywhere you go gets OLD... From what I remember the food in Antigua I found the least satisfying and just a bit off except for some excellent soup and that chicken plate... and ok it wasn't all bad... Copan Hondurus was good and so was Roatan. Nicaragua was a 50/50 negotiation of lackluster to decent, except on the island of Ometepe I did get the best roast chicken and shish kabobs ever... but no photo documentation!? Horror! And I did also have the best breakfast there also... dammit, again no photos... After that Costa Rica in comparison was so expensive that even the best meals lost points due to their American gringo prices.. so i guess over all the best food I had there aren't pictures of. . . but looking back it wasn't all bad. And some of it pretty good. I think without a doubt Cen Am knows how to make good huevos, some pretty tasty rice/beans, and i do love fried plantains, and natural juice drinks like blended pineapple in a glass- pretty fantastic. Next time I vow to document the food better. Next up, definitive packing list per Danicas request and maybe some of the travel folk... I've got all the time in the world now... and I might just blog about an upcoming visit to Penelope land. That would be pretty fantastic too.

Last Photos before the Peeps

The End Days

(wow i went totally spy code there but here's the corrected version...
Found a computer that types both the "O" and "L" but messes up everything else and thought I'd chat you. Yesterday i got up early around 6... didn't even tell you that I woke up at 3 the other night and stepped in a big puddle of water, thought it could be something leaking, like the fridge defrosting, but sloshed through the lake to turn off the roaring load a/c and then went back to bed. Who knew the water would keep running until it flooded half the room! But I digress.

With time on my hands I journeyed by myself to Quepos on the immortal search for a hammock. Leaving Cath curled up in bed, shaking her head at my admittedly ridiculous quest. But travel like this, I decided, Is full of such self-directed assigning. Which either leads to feelings of success and heady intrepidness, or slumped over on a curb, and mumbling at yourself while clutching a map and your last Quetzal. And after peering through many closed shops and finding breakfast, sitting by the bay, circling the town like a shark and eventually checking my email; and almost sweating to death..., the kind of heat where you feel the sweat pooling and trickling down your back, to find some cold refreshing bubbly water, a few more breaks, was thwarted at everyshop I hoped was "thee" shop, and finally finally finally found a hammock to buy, buy asking, do you have any more? yes? Glorious! (insert chorus of angels). Sure now I have to figure out how to hang it, but whatever. It's beautifully colored and hopefully perfect.

So I poured myself back onto a bus that took me up up up into the hills, and then I mustered the strength to climb the vertical hill and the 10flights of stairs to the romm, where cath and isaac had returned from a swim (jealous), readying themselves for departure.

We were after lunch at the "Anaconda" again thrown into confusion at the incomprehension of being put on seperate simultaneously arriving shuttles. And as per my recent luck it took 5 1/2 hours toping my previous record of 5 to get to San Jose... As we waited for someone to not show up, picked up two really enthusiastic English people who kept tittering and using the words, oh my, dearie and, rightright. and a talker, who talked, talked talked. We then brokedown by the side of the road 10min outside of the town we just left, and waited to switch vehicles. At this point I laughed outright, refused to be dismayed, and kept a ready supply of protein at my side and offered everyone rum if we were there for much longer. I was proud of myself . Though when cath came out to hug me there was some eyerolling and mumbling.

Todays departure didn't quite hit me, that I was actually leaving somewhere going somewhere completely different until we were in the air, and I thought, this is it huh, this is over? Cath left me a lovely note and I took my taxi, wearing the new ring she gave me to replace the one I lost because she's fabulous like that. and off I went, easy as pie. I fished my phone out of my pack as we had to recheck it once we through customs, confronting the officer who said, what is "no. ho", and I refusing to explain that it was an abbreviationm. And I find, generally I get drilled by these guys and am ultimately confused by their questioning. What do you study? me:what?Well you said you did research. me: Oh! I research for a show. Then he says, What?! And its like 20 questions.

I was partly dismayed to only have 3 missed calls. Though convinient. One hangup, another misdial, and an ominous message from my boss. And true to my gut the minute I left work on that random Tuesday, I somehow knew that whatever it was, was over. But still you don't really quite believe, you think you're exaggerating and being paranoid. But I became in one quick blow, a victim of budget cuts, downsizing, and ultimately efficiency, of people getting rid of my redundant ass. And it totally sucks and it was no fun for the boss boss to tell me as I sat in the Dallas airport going, wow, it really happened and it totally still sucks. I had grown to love them and he said it was nothing I did but they couldn't afford me. And bonus I get a couple weeks severence...

And even as I wandered around the Dallas airport for the next 3 hours, looking for salsa and a cowboy hat to buy I kept telling myself, you knew this one was coming, as I'd even saved $ for my bills through January. I guess its weird to have spent a month journeying, thinking then that I was coming back to a life that I'd grown to like, a routine I guess, a settled happy feeling, only to find myself thrust out into a malliable space again. As if whatever road I was on just opened up and changed course. Like oh you thought THIS adventure, this newly flexed intrepidness was over?! Oh contraire! Let's see how much you learned!

Ready?

Liquid Stuff

I'm watching liquid stuff pour from that blue thing up there. It's coming down pretty fast and there's a bird outside our window that keeps singing. Earlier there was an Iguana named Taco that was staring at us while we were swimming today and I'm killing time before dinner as we decided not to go into town today.

This is probably my last post until I reach, hopefully freerer, a less schiester like place, hopefully tomorrow night... it's like yes stick me in the middle of nowhere and trap me here and make me pay foreverythinginexpensive slightly exaggerated ways. It's a prison of my own making but whatever. And i really hate hills right now and it's a workout of like 8-10 flights up just to make it back to our room everytime i want a meal or whatever... But anyway, we made it to Manuel Antonio... But we got stuck on different shuttles. I kept trying to think if it were worth it for $40 to be alone and have it take 5 hours to get here instead of 4...which it did. I'm still out on that one as it seemed to be my most cranky travel day yet, the dreaded motion ills aside of previous posts. I guess my patience is finally at an end? My calm and carefree travel demeanour. We did cleanse our pallet with a trip to the Butterfly farm which was small, and really... come on, a better giftshop is in order but I liked learning about them and their export business and then we saw some rodent creature, crocodiles, camins and some spider monkeys jumping around in a bamboo grove on the way back to the hotel.

It is beautiful on the mountain with pools and pretty good food. And we three do operate at a mellow ease of what we want to do and when to do it. This morning we walked down to the park entrance and saw 4 or so sloths, one with babe, and the more i watch them the more i think they are incredibly cool. Along with the howler monkeys who just stared at us lazily. And a sparkly large blue butterfly coming at us down the path. We made it to an alcove, bay... and could not resist going in. I with out a swimsuit waded into the warm tourquoise waters anyway but was remorseful after the sand would not leave me, exfoliant though it might be... the racoons were entertaining if not perilously assertive... and we trudged back and found a cool haven of a taxi to take us to this bar, restaurant that has an actual plane from the iran/contra affair sitting there. Thats as far as history extends into CostaRica. or at least on this side of paradise. Otherwise really it's all about the beaches and the jungle and nothing else.

Tomorrow night more (possibly) reflections on resort living and I will eventually when you, the 3 or 4 of you reading this, have lost complete interest I will blog about my travel companions. And upload more pictures.

Adios mi amigos.

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

Schu gets back in 4 - FOUR - days! Hooray! I miss her.

A Quick Taste of Jade

San Jose in Brief