Date: Sat, 31 Oct 1998 16:54:24 -0800 (PST)
From: Sarah Kaye
Subject: Itinerary
04 Nov 98
Lv SeaTac American Airlines flight 654 7:34am
Arr Dallas 1:21pm
Lv Dallas American Airlines flight 7789 2:20pm
Arr Guatemala City 5:55pm (no, I'm not real psyched about that, but I
couldn't get around it and everybody I talked to said the same thing: just
take a shuttlebus to Antigua.)
03 Feb 99
Lv Panama City Ecuatoriana Airlines flight 961 6:10am
Arr Quito 8:00am
03 March 99
Lv Guayaquil Ecuatoriana Airlines flight 904 10:50am
Arr Santiago 5:30pm
01 April 99
Lv Santiago American Airlines flight 946 11:55pm
02 April 99
Arr Dallas 7:53am
Lv Dallas American Airlines flight 1239 9:19am
Arr SeaTac 11:48am
Phew! I think I'm going to take a nap now.
-S.
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 06:48:43 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Safe & happy in Antigua
Uneventful travelling, everything according to plan including finding helpful English-speaking travellers at the Guatemala City airport going exactly where I wanted to go. Antigua is wet and delightful. I'm happy and tired.
Guate international security: the nice lady stamps your passport, you pick up your bag and walk out the door. No questions, all smiles.
-S.
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 13:18:11 PST
Subject: Xela
Hi folks, hope yáll are well. I'm planted at language school in Quetzaltenango, aka Xela (old Maya name: Xelaju - it's been a city for a long time). Very different from Antigua, some of the same old colonial architecture but it's a real city, with new stuff around and over and in the old stuff. Not skyscrapers though, it's pretty low-rise. Much more businesslike, not many tourists here. A significatn community of Spanish students from all over - at ICA where I am, this week the Swiss population wins.
My brain hurts! Lots of new information, culture, sights, smells, and of course the language. Oy! Lots of room for improvement. But I got myself up here, three different busses from Antigua. Very exciting. Most busses are old school busses from the US, repainted and racketing around the streets in all directions. Very few traffic lights.
Mitch didn't hit Xela much, just a lot of rain, but outside of the city there are more effects. Lots of landslides, floods, and now drinking water/food/clothes/medecine are all lacking. The relief organizations are looking for men's and children's clothing, but not women's because even in this situation the women out in the pueblos are sticking with their traditional clothing. Rural women still dress every day the way you see them in photos. I'm living with a middle-class family, they're pretty modern but certainly Latin. But father and daughter quibbling about which radio station to listen to looks the same everywhere!
Oh yeah, this is the best address to use for me, but please be picky about what you send - personal notes yes, random humor etc. no. Internet connections are slow and flaky here. Thanks!
Hasta luego,
-S.
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 09:52:21 PST
Subject: War, floods, mudslides, earthquakes, Guatemalan driving, and Mexican TV
I've been living pretty quietly this week. There have been a couple of interesting school events: we got to talk to an ex-guerilla, a guy who spent 14 years fighting in the mountains and is now running a small corner store with some other ex-guerilla friends and learning how to fight with politics instead of guns. Very interesting...I'm not going to go into the whole history of Guatemala and current politics, but it's a pretty hairy story overall and worth looking up. The Lonely Planet guide actually has a decent summary, which seems accurate from what I've seen here. People seem very happy to have peace, but there's still a ways to go on some very basic issues.
Yesterday we visited a town named Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan which got hit pretty hard by Mitch. It was just a tropical storm by the time it got here, but it still caused floods, landslides, rivers of mud, and then there was a medium-sized earthquake. A bunch of the Xela Spanish schools got together and collected food and medecine, and we took it over and got the disaster tour of the town. Town is still beautiful, only a small percentage of buildings got totally destroyed but many more are still shaky (including the school). They fixed roads and water supply first and they're not devastated, but they're worried about disease and there's still a lot of work left. It was the first time I've seen men in traditional dress (rural women almost all wear traditional clothing) and the first time I've heard people speaking mostly a Mayan language (not sure which, there are 21 or so). I don't think it's a big tourist stop, even though we split up into small groups to walk around people were coming out to look at us.
Another side-benefit of the trip for me was meeting more students from other schools, I fell in with some wilderness guides from California and hope to do some hiking with them. We're all tantalized by the beautiful countryside but concerned about wandering around by ourselves.
More about Xela: cobblestone and dirt streets way outnumber asphalt, and Guatemalteco drivers are not as attached to driving on the right side as we are. Makes being a pedestrian fun! Cars definitely have right-of-way. Some of the city streets could give Alaskan roads a run for the money but of course people get around in any old thing that moves. I dreamed last night that I was living and working here, and got a scooter for commuting. Very scary. My big problem was shifting my right foot from the clutch to the brake, so I kept drifting out into intersections. Scooters don't really have a clutch pedal, do they?
Otherwise...I've been hanging out with my host family, they're fun. They're starting to pick on me (especially the daughter Sara) so I think I'm accepted. I've been watching TV with them most evenings and have gotten hooked on a Mexican telenovela (like soaps but they end...eventually) named "Camilla." If you all are really lucky I'll write up the plot in another message.
It's beautiful out, sunny and maybe mid-70s. I think I'm going to walk around some.
Best,
-Sarah
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 13:15:03 PST
Subject: Big things
Big Party: Last Thurs. the family celebrated Sara's high school (equiv.) graduation - it was quite a bash. She's the youngest of four and the only girl, don't know how much that contributed. We spent all Weds eve moving all the house furniture (and that means all) into the tienda (family store), then setting up more rental tables and chairs than I would've thought possible. A cadre of female relatives showed up to help cook. Thurs I missed the special Mass and big ceremony cause my classes are in the morning, but I was there for the food! Lots of people, not as much food as we would generally serve but I've noticed that people eat less here (hmmm). Some rain, which was a bit iffy cause one of the tables had to be out in the courtyard...but the family stuck a bunch of us young & hardy (ie dumb) types out there and we did fine. Sara was happy and tired. A couple random things I noticed: I don't think a midday, Thursday party would fly in the US...must be a more relaxed workday. Also, noticed that although there's good, local bread here (usually small rolls or cookies, good for coffee or pushing food around), the bread for the big party was the local version of Wonderbread, square and flavorless, called (I'm not making this up) "Bimbo Pan." Later on Sara opened presents and the smaller, just-family group watched the video of the Dad's 50th birthday party last Sept. Looked pretty similar, except with a mariachi band.
Big Volcano: Last weekend a group of students climbed Tajumulco, at 4,000+ meters (12,000+ feet) the tallest volcano (or the tallest peak period?) in Central America. This was almost a big failure, because the group had communication problems from the start which impeded my realization that the 3 guys organizing the trip were really weenies, not just German guys with limited English. As a result we wound up doing much more work than was really necessary - we didn't catch the right bus, we had to walk an hour and a half DOWN the mountain to meet the guide and walk back up, and (last straw) at the end they didn't have enough money to pay the guide, so the rest of us (me, another American woman, a Canadian woman, and a German woman who also had trouble getting any information out of the guys) had to kick in extra. Have yet to see if the money comes back. The guide was definitely necessary - not only is the mountain a network of different trails cause people work there, but there's a side where you don't want to be because of poisonous snakes and leftover landmines. On the bright side, one of the German guys has bad knees so he hired a couple of horses, who wound up carrying all our bags. This was a good thing, as it was I had trouble...I was weak from the altitude, and also since we were late we didn't have time for lunch and that's a problem for me now that I'm old and feeble. Two of the guide's children came along to help with the horses, all three dressed in cotton without camping gear, food or water...so we all shared with them. Sometimes it's tough to handle cultural differences, when they're in the form of a young girl on top of a mountain wearing a light skirt, nothing on her legs and light, open plastic sandals...man, it was cold up there! They did have good blankets, but still.. well anyway, it was beautiful, rainy and cold so it felt like home :-). We got a bit of a view when we summited Sunday morning for the sunrise, then the clouds closed in again. We could see a bunch of other volcanoes, and also a bit of Mexico.
In Guatemala all of a sudden I'm two things I've never been before: tall and rich! It was mighty strange walking in to meet the guide in Toninchum, people were coming out to look at us...7 gringos with backpacks. Don't think that happens too often, even though it's a standard climb people usually start from the other side, where it's much easier. After we found the guide and were sitting outside his house, a whole truckload of kids went by yelling "Hello gringos!" But it seemed friendly, not insulting. In Xela nobody raises an eyebrow, but get one stop off the standard track and we're a novelty. The two kids actually wound up with some of my warm clothing, not entirely on purpose - the bus came all of a sudden and it was a scramble to get on, I forgot to get back the things I loaned them. Oh well, so I accidentally gave some warm clothing to some poor kids - not the worst mistake I can make!
Other smaller things: went on a school expedition to a women's prison where they do some educational projects, it was not horrible but pretty grim...lots of the women there are a) poor and b) from warmer climates (Xela is high up in the mountains) so they're very cold there. Lots of stories of police corruption, if you're poor you can't bribe them... yikes.
My Spanish gets better poco a poco. Lots of work.
Best,
-Sarah
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 12:47:56 PST
Subject: Religion
It's a funky mix here - Catholic's big of course, but the Evangelists have been making big inroads here lately, and guess who else: the Mormons! They do get around.
What's more interesting (I think) is the combination of Christianity and old Mayan religion, more in the pueblos than the city for sure. The old altars are still getting used, frequently right next to the Catholic church. People don't seem to see a conflict. Then there are mixtures of traditions like San Simon - he ain't no Catholic but he kinda looks like one. There are actually 5 in Guatemala, I've seen 2. Both have been not-quite-life-size, plastic figures. They change houses every year, rotating amongst the members of various religious brotherhoods. Whoever's taking care of him that year provides a separate hall for him, changes his clothes every day, puts him to bed and gets him up in the morning. San Simon receives supplicants asking for any kind of favor, your normal range of love/health/success etc. He accepts offerings of money, booze (he really drinks) and cigarettes (he really smokes). People burn candles, different colors for different goals - red for love, green for protection while travelling, white for health, black for the death of your enemies, purple for simple damage. The one I saw yesterday, in San Andres Xecun, was also accompanied by a couple other effigies of more accepted Catholic saints. Some people say he's the reincarnation of Judas, some say he's an ex-dictator of Guatemala. People come all over to see him, even from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador... sounds pretty silly on the surface, but obviously it represents something real to a whole lot of people. I don't really know what to think but being here I've got to take it seriously.
Anyways, hope you're all well and well-fed. Not much was going on for TDay here but the school's having a big Guatemalan dinner tonight. There just might (heh) be beer and dancing too. Merengue's close enough to swing that I can fake it, but I haven't tried Salsa.
Oh yeah, there's also a San Simona, but if she ever meets one of the San Simons the world will end. Consider yourselves warned.
-Sarah
Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 16:31:03 PST
Subject: Short update
Hi yall, I've been living pretty quiet (ok, except for the occasional merengue binge) but this is my last week of school so I'm heading out again next week. Not quite sure where to yet, there are a couple different places I'd like to visit in Guatemala then on to Honduras. Evidently all the major roads are open again so I'll be able to take the bus. Honduras is still pretty messed up though, and we don't hear as much about Nicaragua but I think it's bad too. I'll find out.
A few random things: don't know if it's hit the news up there, a new guerilla group just popped up (Guatemala's in its 2nd year of peace after a 35-year civil war) but everybody here thinks they're just some punks with a mimeo machine, all they've done so far is leaflet a few towns. The peace process is frustratingly slow and people don't trust the gov't, but nobody wants to go back to fighting. People are paying lots of attention to the Pinochet controversy because there are several ex-dictators down here who have at least as many nasty deeds on their record...people are also paying attention to the Lewinsky scandal cause if Clinton's toast and we get more Republicans in, that'll directly affect US policy here. Reagan and Bush are not ... umm... liked here. I'm considering going Canadian.
More later if I have time, if not I'll be leaving the city early next week (I think) so I probably won't have internet access very often.
-S.
Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 10:32:06 PST
Subject: Adios Xela
This is it, leaving Xela tomorrow. I'm almost positive that I'm going north to Coban, in the tropical lowlands. I'll see how I handle the heat! I haven't been challenged so far, Xela is pretty Seattleish for climate.
Had a great weekend, did a bike trip with the school on Saturday. We got off the main road pretty quick and spent the day bumping around on narrow dirt roads and footpaths between small pueblos that are really clusters of a few houses and small farms. It was really beautiful. It was also a multisport outing: we got to walk for a while after one of the rental bikes blew a tire! But bikes are a very common way to get around here (makes sense), so we found a Taller de Bicicletas fairly soon. I'd love to spend some time around here with a real mountain bike instead of the beater rental (ouchie ouchie ouchie) but it was very very neat anyway.
Sunday a bunch of us (students) hauled ourselves out of bed at 5am to climb the local volcano, Santa Maria. Not as tough as you'd think for a 3800m peak! (Volcano update: Tajumulco was actually 4220, and is the highest anything in Central America.) One couple on the trip wasn't handling the altitude very well, so they kept the group to a nice comfortable pace. Steady but not punishing climb through fields and then pine forest to a treeless but grassy peak, with an awesome panoramic view. Xela and the ridges surrounding it, Tajumulco and that other one whose name I forget, Fuego and Agua volcanoes by Antigua, and the Pacific shoreline. Also we got to look down at Santiaguito and watch it erupt. Just ash, no lava, but pretty impressive anyway. We hired a guide, sounds wimpy but it was worth it. Very easy (and dangerous) to get lost around here, and you can't just go to REI and buy a topo map.
Xela's been like home to me for a month, I've been really enjoying the feeling of improving my Spanish and also socializing with some neat people. All the teachers are intelligent and interesting to talk to, most of them really have other professions but it's hard to find work - teaching children, psychologist, economist, and a couple people studying to be lawyers. Also the other students tend to be interesting people. But here's a goofy Guatemala fact: the illiteracy rate here is through the roof and public education is inadequate, but the country is full of qualified teachers working as bus drivers, waiters, clerks, etc. There just isn't money to hire them. Aaaa.
Onwards, I'll write when I can. Thanks for writing everybody, it's neat to get notes even when I don't reply.
-S.
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 13:48:45 PST
Subject: Flores, Peten
So I havenīt quite made it to Coban yet... spent a couple days staring at Lake Atitlan, itīs worth it. (But you gotta get yourself out of the tourist town and cross the lake to one of the smaller towns, really this is important.) Then I came straight up to Tikal and spent a couple days staring at Mayan ruins in deep jungle. Now my eyes are tired!
Next, um, Poptun? Maybe Coban? Itīs hard to say.
Happy December - hey, itīs my antibirthday!
-Sarah
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 15:23:14 PST
Subject: Well ok, so I lied
I wound up skipping Coban entirely and came straight down to Copan...really, it's different! Got to see some more ruins (also Mayan, but different style and scale), got to see a lot of territory from bus windows. Next I'm heading up towards the Honduran coast, aiming for scuba diving on Utila. Anybody want to meet me for Christmas? Some other divers at Lake Atitlan recommended Alton's Dive Shop, so you can just look me up there. Internet will probably be too pricey on the island so it could be a while till the next msg.
-S.
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1998 12:57:01 PST
Subject: Christmas on Utila
Internet is pricey here so I'll keep it short. Just did my first real dive today and it was dammn
damn
damn
fine. Honduras is pretty much back together, not nearly as bad as it sounded from the outside. Utila is lovely and diving, well... damn.
Love yaz,
-S.
Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 13:26:36 PST
Subject: Tegus
Finally got back to the mainland - my stay on Utila got a bit stretched out due to holidays and cancelled boats and laziness. Oh yeah, and I decided I had to take the Advanced Diver course too. It was a fine time but now itīs back to the real world. I canīt walk around at 2am any more! Iīm in Tegucigalpa, which is about as different as you can get and still be in Honduras. Iīm probably the only person in my hotel who isnīt a Peace Corps volunteer. Not quite sure what happens next, either a bit of volunteering or a run up to one of the national parks that wasnīt roughed up by Mitch, and then down through Nicaragua to Costa Rica.
-S.
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 15:39:45 PST
Subject: Whoa, things look different again
Just spent a week and a half doing some relief work with the Catholic Church - you all know Iīm not Catholic but theyīre the organization here with the people and resources to respond to Mitch and they can absorb random individual volunteers like me. Aside from a slightly disarming tendency to burst into catchy little ditties about Jesus from time to time theyīre fine people, and the work has been...well..interestingīs not the word.
You could coast through Honduras right now as a tourist and not realize half of what`s going on, the tourist infrastructure is fine, busses run, all that. I probably donīt know half of what`s going on either but I know a lot more about Tegus than I did. There are families here who have been living in schoolrooms for over 2 months, school starts up again soon and it`s not totally clear to me what`s going to happen. Work happens really really slowly here. A lot of people lost everything, people lost their lives trying to save their TVs, lots of wacky stuff happened. It`s also been long enough since the initial disaster that normal politics, corruption and greed are starting to set in as well. Some of the effects are only going to show up in the long run: kids who can`t go to school, families who slipped a few rungs on the ladder, etc.
I`ve been doing a lot of different things: playing with kids in shelters, sorting clothes, toting food and medecine around, translating labels on medecine bottles (I`m the only English-speaker around), etc etc. Having a tough time following normal-speed Spanish so I don`t pick up on everything that goes on around me, but when people slow down and talk to me I can usually get it. My head is still spinning.
I`ve been staying with a church family and they`re really great. I like Tegus more than I expected to - itīs not huge like Guatemala City or industrial like San Pedro Sula. Itīs surrounded by some very nice hills and lots of different parts of the city have a grand view. I really like all the people I`ve been working with. Time to boogie though - points south!
Yes, I`m totally behind schedule by now. Oh well.
-S.
Date: Sun, 17 Jan 1999 13:15:39 PST
Subject: Party down with Catholic youth
There`s a dance here called Punta, it`s the hottest thing I`ve seen in a while. Why all those nice Catholic girls aren`t pregnant just from being on that dance floor I`ll never know. My butt doesn`t do that but I think I`m starting to figure out salsa.
I visited some other kids today, a friend from Spanish school is down here working in an orphanage with handicapped kids. They range from pretty complete vegetables to a couple sisters with functional brains but almost completely useless bodies, to a couple of "just normal" retarded kids. I got there just at lunchtime and got to feed Marcos, a cute kid who`s starting to zip around in his wheelchair. He`s got a great smile, he yells "Attica!" a lot (nobody knows why), and that`s about it.
-S.
Date: Tue, 02 Feb 1999 07:47:37 PST
Subject: Guess I haven't written in a while
Did I leave you folks all the way back in Tegus? Sorry bout that... I moved through Nicaragua pretty briskly for me, liked the hilly north, wasn't too taken by the flat hot lowlands. Spent some time surfing with a friend out on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, now I'm doing a bit of rafting in the central highlands. The most famous rivers are too low for fun but there's some more rivers up here in the hills, actually I'm hoping the good stuff gets low enough to run before I have to leave.
Later,
-S.
Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 10:06:29 PST
Subject: Tegus postscript
I know several of you have felt a vague urge to do something helpful for the people that got wiped out by Mitch, here's the address of the church I was working for:
Parroquia Cristo Rey
Colonia 21 de Octubre
Sector 4
Tegucigalpa M.D.C.
Honduras, Central America
I know some of you aren't huge fans of the Catholic church but they're the people there doing the work, and this is the one group that I can vouch for personally - I helped them count individual bottles of aspirin to make sure that shipments were full, and I saw them checking IDs and checking names off lists to make sure that aid was going to the people that really needed it. It's been a while since the hurricane but people still need help, and Honduras is starting to slide back to politics-as-usual. They can use food (nonperishable, no complicated instructions in English), clothing (don't bother with winter-weight or extra-large), and medicine.
Working with these people really changed how I saw Honduras. You could travel through the country right now and not realize half of what's going on in the areas that got hit. Measuring rice into 4-pound bags is BORING, it shouldn't attract a crowd of fascinated children.
Feel free to forward - end of message.
-S.
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 16:16:46 -0500
Subject: Up creek, no paddle
Which can describe several things I've done lately, like being foolish enough to get on big water class 3 in a kayak ("Jatunyacu" means "Big River" in Quechua, actually it was pretty fun but I did swim a lot), or it could describe following friends of friends out into the jungle where we encountered a heck of a lot of mud and some beautiful scenery along with a couple of sketchy river crossings and the threat of midnight puma attacks, or it could describe watching an upside-down raft vanish around the bend of a class 4+ river with all the customers clinging to various bits of rock somewhere above a mandatory-portage waterfall (it was ok, the safety kayakers got the raft in an eddy above the waterfall and there was only a little bit of really scary rock-climbing to reach it).
Ecuador is cool.
All the boaters out there should drop whatever you're doing, grab a boat and go to Tena. The place is lousy with kayakers, the taxi drivers all drive pickups and know where the river access points are, there are more good rivers in the area than you can shake a stick at, and you don't want to know how cheap it all is. The only down side? You have to drink a lot of Pilsener to get drunk. Maybe that's not a down side.
Anyway I'm in Baños now hoping to do some hiking or maybe some more boating. Internet is wicked pricey out in the boonies so I won't be reading my personal mail for a while. Don't respond to this account cause I probably won't get it.
-S.
Date: Sun, 07 Mar 1999 09:07:37 PST
Subject: Little bit of culture shock
Chile is Latin American all right but it is NOT 3d world... my brain is still adjusting a bit. Sure is pretty but unfortunately as soon as I got out to where the good stuff starts I lost the perfect weather I had in Santiago. Iīm in Pucon now and itīs just pouring down rain. Iīve heard a rumor that itīs sunny further south so I might blitz down there now and give the Lakes District another try on the way back north. Itīs officially fall now, and the weather is changing.
I agonized for a while and gave Peru a miss (Mark, please apologize to Jerry for me:). I hate to do it but I only have a little bit of time left and when I made the choice it was pouring down rain in Peru (still is) and sunny all over Chile. The rain in Peru is nothing like the rain here though, itīs serious La Niņa up there and there are a whole bunch of roads out and dead people and unpleasant things like that. So...another time.
Gonna go hunt down some hot coffee and a baked good.
Caio,
-S.
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 11:14:46 PST
Subject: Patagonia the hard way
Well it sounded sensible at the time... "Go to Bariloche" they said, "from Bariloche there are busses to just *everywhere*!" Well, they were wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
So hereīs what I did: Puerto Montt - Bariloche - Comodoro Rivadavia - Rio Gallegos - Rio Turbio - Puerto Natales. Astute map-readers (ie, Mom) will immediately notice that this route goes from a Chilean Pacific port to a Chilean Pacific port via...the Argentinean Atlantic coast. Whee! Some nifty scenery along the way - I got to cruise through the Andes in the front seat of a 2-story rolling behemoth, 12 feet above the highway with nothing in front of me but window glass down to knee height - and I got to spend 19 hours in Comodoro Rivadavia - ainīt much going on in Rivadavia but there are some atmospheric shipwrecks just sitting there on the beach. Down the coast and inland to Rio Turbio is flat, flat, flat: more nothing in one place than eastern Washington. But if you snooze you miss the emus (? something like emus, or rheas, or whatever the local ostrich is), or the pink flamingoes, or the solitary fox, or the gaucho herding horses at a gallop... Also Argentina is the home of silly cars! All those little ancient cars that look like they were made in a toy factory out of stamped tin, Fiats and Renaults and Citroens. More 2CVs than you can shake a stick at! Thereīs an insanely silly Citroen truck, it looks like someone got really drunk in their backyard one day and decided to take a welding torch and some leftover sheetmetal and turn the family 2CV into a camper. I want one!!
So I wouldnīt do it again (I wouldīve gotten here faster waiting a day in PM and taking the directo to Punta Arenas) but I canīt say it was totally wasted time. Now Iīm in Puerto Natales, damn lucky that there were enough stores open on a Sunday to get gear and food together so I can get into Torres del Paine Natīl Park tomorrow. Itīs sunny and beautiful which means that it will downpour torrentially as soon as I get out of town. Iīm staying in a hostel run by hiking-outdoorsy people that was recommended by the hospedaje with the dancing poodles in Puerto Montt. Hereīs another cultural difference from further north: Chileans and Argentineans go out hiking, itīs not just the gringo crowd. I like that.
Happy fall! Between the weather and finally being somewhere I want to be, Iīm in a better mood than I have been all of Chile. I like fall.
Ciao yīall,
-S.
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 11:42:43 PST
Subject: Pues Si
Well, well, well, damn...Torres del Paine is a damn fine place. Especially when the sunīs out. When itīs raining and itīs the end of the hike and your feet hurt and your boots are falling apart and mice have nibbled holes in your raincoat and youīre waiting for a 4+ hour bus ride with no heat, well... itīs still a fine place to be. When you hobble off the bus after the long cold wet ride and the friendly people in the hospedaje have hot coffee, hot shower and dry clothes to lend, well thatīs mighty fine as well. That actually perked me up enough to go to the disco!
Next? Um, not really sure...Chiloe? Cohaique? Tierra del Fuego? Anything could happen. Still figuring on Seattle in early April - not long!
Caio
-S.
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 06:35:12 PST
Subject: Coming home
American Airlines flight 1239 from Dallas/Ft Worth (no LA, sorry Roxy)
Arr Seattle 2 April 99 11:48am
Anybody wanna pick me up? Itīs the middle of a work day so donīt anybody stress about it, I'll look around the baggage claim and then head for Metro. Also I donīt need 2 competing rides and you donīt all know each other, so if youīre going to come you might want to sing out to the list - just reply-all to get everybody, me included īcause Iīm not on the list. I probably wonīt log in again though so donīt wait for a reply.
My connection in Dallas looks a bit tight to me but they swear everything is going to be ok. Originating flight if it helps is American 986 02 April 1:00am from Santiago.
Ian, if you have the hot tub working and heated up for me, Iīll give you a big olīsmooch and a 6pack of Full Sail.
See yáll
-S.
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 10:30:54 PDT
Subject: Well, home, wow
Yep, things are different here. Just for starters, it's not blackberry season.
It's good to be home! I'm slowly putting the pieces back together, anybody got a job for me?
Thanks for listening everybody, I had fun writing stories. Don't worry, I've got a bunch more that didn't make the list...like What Not To Do On A Date, or Hospedaje Telenovela, or ... yeah there's a bunch. Boston folks, I'm hoping to visit round the end of the month.
See you,
-S.