Traveling is tiring

So I think im coming back a bit earlier than I expected, probably mid january. I realized that I have some unfinished business with law school apps that needs to get taken care of before the february 1st deadline.

I am speaking more spanish, but im not fluent yet. I wanted to stay down here until I became fluent but that will take longer than I have time for.

The water in the lake was so clear that you could see the rocks in the water. So we picked a spot where we could jump past the rocks and it was fine! Yeah, that map was wiggity wiggity wack! But it was fun nonetheless.

I miss those days man. I spend alot of time thinking about the past couple years and I wish I had more time in college. Now that I have a little less than a month left Im starting to think about what Im gonna do when I come back and I keep coming up with blanks...Is summer 2008 going down for real?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everywhere that I go I end up saying that I dont want to leave. So I decided that I didnt want to take formal spanish lessons because the schools focus alot on grammar and verbs which I already know. Of course it wouldnt hurt to go over those things again but I didnt want to waste vacation time in a school. There was bound to be a better way to learn spanish, right? I asked around at different local coffee shops and bars who I could meet with to do more of a language exchange where I would learn some spanish and he/she would pick up some english. At the coffee shop that I went to often the guy that works there said he would be interested in conversing with me in spanish and learning some english as well. He said to come back in the afternoon when he would have more time, and that either he or his niece would be there. Of course when I went back he wasnt there but his niece was, and so she became my spanish buddy. So for the rest of the week while Brandon was in for real spanish school, I went to the coffee shop and talked to Maria and Luis about whatever, learning spanish the entire time. It was a lot of fun getting to know them and we even went to a block party on wednesday night.

On Saturday morning I left for Antigua en route to El Salvador. Antigua is the largest tourist destination in Guatemala, and for good reason. Its a beautifully preserved colonial town with ruined churches at nearly every street corner and street lamps lining the main streets. I couldnt help feeling like a hopeless romantic imagining what it would be like to have a girlfriend to hold hands with walking through the parque central or into one of many boutique shops selling guatemalan jewelry and clohing. Well, I didnt have a girlfriend to walk around with, I had Brandon (aka Samwise Gamgee). Not the same... We spent Saturday walking around and went out to a club at night. There are several places to go out at night, but I wanted to check out the local scene so we went to Club Monolocos. It was reggaeton heaven with a little salsa and packed! Probably one the best nights of the trip, though. I me alot of locals and alot of girls, and actually alot of local girls ;) Also, I realized reggaeton isnt that bad when youre dancing to it. Plus I got a chance to work on my "Hey girl! How you doin?" spanish!

On Sunday I took a walk up to a nearby hill that affords a spectacular view of Antigua and the three volcanoes that tower over the city. Its called Cerro de la Cruz, and its about a 30 minute walk from the hostel. After that, we signed up for a volcano hike in the afternoon. Volcan Pacaya is an active volcano that you can hike up and see real lava flowing down the side of the mountain. People even told us that we could take up marshmallows and make smores when we get to the top. After hearing that, of course we take it a step further and straight up get a full course dinner to take up with us. We got sausage, cheese, sun dried tomatoes and crackers to feast on when we reached the lava. It was unreal! We were literally within arms length of the lava. Our feast of fire was delicious, to say the least.

Finally on Monday morning we left Guatemala for El Salvador. It took almost the entire day to get here. Yesterday we hit the beach, which is one of the best beaches Ive been on. The water is literally warm and the surf is perfect for surfing or boogieboarding. We were walking about with out packs and a guy in a pickup stopped and asked us if we were looking for a place to stay. We werent really, we were just waiting for a bus, but we heard him out and decided to take him up on his offer to stay at his hotel. Its at a very secluded part of the beach not known by tourists which makes for a perfect getaway. Today is my last day here as I head for Honduras tomorrow. Its gonna be another long day of catching 4 different buses over 8 hours of traveling. Hopefully Ill make it in one piece, with all my stuff still intact as well.

Keep it fresh...like tropicana

- Neil