Today, I was getting over my flu. I decided: time to get out of the house, I’m finally going out tonight after being stuck in bed for four days.
But I reallllllly didn’t want to go to La Parranda. Every Wednesday, “the place to be” in Xela is La Parranda for salsa night.
First of [...]
Still sick, sick, sick as a dog with the flu that’s going around Xela. I have barely left bed in three days. Nothing much on the news front, as a result.
In class last week, my teacher taught me the proper way to invent words in Spanish.
The formula?
Take a noun, any noun. Best if [...]
As I mentioned earlier, when I travel I get the urge to “settle down,” at least temporarily, in new and strange locales.
Me, I’d be happy living in Africa one year, Latin America for the next two, maybe a short stint in Canada, then off again. When I picture my ideal life, that’s kind of [...]
Ouch. I haven’t gone this long without writing since leaving Canada a month and a half ago.
Wade from Vagabond Journey says I should write every day. I try, but sometimes life down here in Guatemala (or wherever I am) makes me forget to write. I guess that might mean that I’m not a blogger [...]
Warning:
Travel Snobbery ahead. (You know, how you get some travelers together and one will say “I’ve been here, it was incredible,” and another will reply “but I’ve been here, and it is more incredible!”) I try to avoid this as much as possible in my blog, but today I’m going to jump headfirst into a [...]
The other day, I was leaving my salsa class around 7PM (a perfectly safe time to be walking around Xela.) As I was saying goodbye to my classmates, one Guatemalan friend told me: “Cuidate.” This meant, I thought “be careful.”
Today, I was leaving Infinito, my favourite cafe in Xela, and the waiter mumbled something [...]
My plan to rent an apartment in Xela starting in September was foiled because it turns out I would have to sign a lease for longer than I am willing to commit to. I’d need to get a lawyer, too.
Sign a lease? Get a lawyer? I thought this was an incredibly unregulated country. According [...]
I get really attached to certain towns, to the point that I love the places almost as if they were people themselves. Quetzaltenango, or “Xela” – the town that I will call home for the next 8 months – is certainly on my list.
I don’t know how someone could not enjoy living here. This [...]
Fraud sucks.
At least, I’m gonna assume that what happened was fraud. In order to save on transaction fees, I take out large wads of cash when I go to the ATM. Always the maximum possible – 2000 quetzals, or just under 300 Canadian dollars.
So when I spied a 72 dollar ATM withdrawal on [...]
This is the dilemma I face when traveling, and, to be honest, in life in general.
On one hand, I’m not nearly the partier I used to be. Often, I prefer to read, write or spend time with friends at home, or watch a movie and/or guilty-pleasure television. Many times when I grab a beer, [...]
