I was in the hospital yesterday!

Before you get all flustered, I said I was "in" the hospital...not "admitted" to the hospital!

Yes, Ive been keeping up with the Lakers and I like what I see. They seem to be playing like an NBA team instead of a bunch of schoolboys watching Kobe play 1-on-5. Hopefully all the trade rumors are buried now and they can focus on playing ball and making a run for a top 4 seed in the west this year. Ill be back to catch a game or two after the allstar break im sure. The indian food was alright, nothing more. And i think you can get those GSE seeds in the US easier than over here man, like at TJs or Henrys.

To be honest, I had no idea that I would be backpacking. I thought, like I told all of you, that I would be volunteering with QT right off the bat and doing a little bit of traveling towards the end. But, plans changed and now I am getting ready to take off southbound as far as the wind takes me. And anSON you can take a shot of patron for me, you know.

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So, the hospital...

I was planning to leave Xela yesterday and head down with the group of American guys towards Lago Atitlan. Well, on Tuesday while I was recovering from the stomach problem/fever they decided to climb one of the dormant volcanoes nearby called Santa Maria. Its about 14,000 feet high, so about an 8000 foot altitude change from Xela (which is at roughly 6000). The hike can be done in one day, but they planned on climbing and spending the night there, coming down the next morning and heading out to the lake. On their way up, one of the guys Peter sees a snake about 2 feet long and decides to pick it up. The snake didnt appreciate the invasion of its personal space so it bit Peter in the hand. The guys thought nothing of it at first because they had a snake bite kit with them and administered the remedy. But when his hand doubled in size in a matter of 10 minutes, they knew they should turn around.

Turns out Peters bite was non-poisonous but infected and he had to be admitted to the hospital for 3-4 days. So much for leaving for the lake yesterday, or this week for that matter! I went to the hospital yesterday to go see him and his arm looks crazy! Its like he has one normal arm and one fat-mans arm! Seeing the hospital was a very interesting experience itself. Its a government run hospital so parts of the building are in disrepair, and the equipment is not great. Overall though, the conditions in the hospital are acceptable, Id say. He should be out in a couple days.

Now that I have a couple extra days in Xela, I am looking for day trips to take to entertain myself. Tomorrow I am going to go to the hot springs of Fuentes Georginas, about an hour and a half away. I spend alot of time reading now, and alot of time eating. I finished The Kite Runner yesterday; its a great book. I started on Cradle to Cradle, which I will probably finish tonight or tomorrow as well. Im ready to take off and see some other parts of Guatemala, and come back to Xela later on.

My time at the internet cafe has run out.

Keep it fresh to death.

- Neil