February 23 2010

Sixteen days in central America!
Ten and a quarter days more!
Incredible places and people and things
Can be found when you´re out to explore!

Under the moon and the sun and the stars
Are infinite varieties of life
Making their own way on this spinning globe
Changing with each day and night

While the sun sets in the west
It rises in another´s east
Continually fuelling the plants on our earth
So we can have something to eat!

Below our feet spins hot melted ground
Providing minerals that then will be bound
In all living forms on the land and deep in the sea!
What a place we live in, how lucky are we
To wake up and live in conciousness

What an amazing continent! I went from an active volcano to a surfing beach in 2 days.

The lava at Volcan Pacaya, Guatemala, was extruding from volcanaic rock all around me.. so hot, people were running up to quickly roast a marshmallow, then running away. Standing next to it you feel like you´re on fire. Can you beleive that the entire world was once like this? Amazing!!

After Guatemala I hopped on the Tica Bus and headed for El Salvador. From the city of San Salvador, I took my huge backpack (a.k.a. rocky II) on a chicken bus to the nearby beach town of La Libertad. Taking the transit system here is an adventure in itself, I swear my tailbone will never be the same! What an amazing place La Libertad is. People surf on the beach here every day, the waves never stop crashing, and the ocean is the temperature of a lukewarm bath. Perfect for cooling down on in the hot hot sun here, in temperatures of 30 degrees C. Twice I´ve surfed here and loved it... such a sweet feeling!! The ocean is such an amazing place.

To my family, friends, and especially you, Roberto, being here even for just 11 days so far makes me realize how much I love you all, and it is so true that the people you are with is what makes a place home. I am so lucky to have you all!

Im off now to pack my bags and get on the move again, Im happy to leave the cramped up, ant filled, mosquito ridden, spider heaven I was sleeping at for 10 bucks a night! Yikes!

Adios!

February 11

Firt of all, feliz cumpleanos Roberto!!! Te amo y te extrano, guapo!!!

Six hours in an airplane can take you to places you once thought impossilbe to reach! I have been in Antigua, Guatemala for 5 days and it is absolutely beautiful. The town is bordered by mountains and volcanos.... volcan Agua to the south, Fuego to the southeast, and Pacaya to the west. Cerro do la cruz is a gorgeous park that overlooks the town from the north.

After a few days, the language overlap between the local people and myself is still small, but immediately it becomes clear that some things do not require words to be understood. The connections to be made through a smile and a kind gesture warm the soul!

Tomorrow is my last day of spanish lessons and on Saturday I am off to El Salvador to enjoy the beach! Hoorah!!

February 5 2010

What do you do when you finish university and feel like you need to unfold? Easy... pack your bags, quit your job, and head south, to Latin America!



I'm pretty sure I just spent the better part of the last 5.5 years of my life staring 1.5 feet infront of my face at books, papers, computers, the laboratory counter, and, of course, the negative balance in my bank account. Oh yeah... not to mention the zillions of power point slides in the classroom, dirty windows on the city bus, and the super long line in front of me at the coffee shop.



My eyes are in need of some variation, distance, depth, life, sun, rain, wind! My legs are craving daily walks and stretches. My senses beg to be reawankend. My mind is craving a new challenge that can't be solved using the scientific method.



So, here I go!! Guatemala city to Lima in 84 days. In 14 hours I lift off from Toronto soil and head for the sweet sun, with my backpack, a few books, a few bucks, an open mind, and all of the energy I've held in for the last 5.5 years! Hoorah and Lookout, Warrior Speed!!