Burning Man 2010!

Well, I'm in panic mode as we leave for Burning Man at 2am Sunday morning. This is the latest picture from the blog post. I have been weepy for 2 days now...in a good way. I am so looking forward to being "home," but also a little nervous about the "getting there" part. I'm taking 2 students who I believe will really appreciate the trip. More when we get back...that is...IF I come back...

in Texas...I don't want to be an archivist...OK, wait

maybe I do. So for the last 4 days I have been going through moldy photos, receipts, and letters of a Tex/Mex tent show called Carpa Cubana, much like the Toby shows that I study. My Spanish is much better and I can almost read some of the letters. The cataloging (entering stuff into a data base) is very tedious, but the digging and thinking about the stuff and the making connections and assumptions is very fun. I'm not sure that this helped me necessarily, maybe it did. However, I think it will really help other scholars that have a better command of Spanish than I do. It's important stuff and now it is easier for them to find and work with, thank me very much.

My couchsurfing experiences have been great so far. I'm currently staying with a family in San Antonio that plays together in a band. They are such nice people. I'm glad to have met them. Tomorrow I'm off to Austin to see my friend, Jennifer, that I met couchsurfing last year. We are going to spend the 4th together. Big fun. Then I'll be heading back to MO. More later....

Couchsurfing is fabulous...

Last year I met such great people during my travels, through CouchSurfing.com that I plan to stay with some of them again. I just finished having big fun with a couple in Houston that I stayed with last year. This year I got to hang with them for more than 24 hours and we had a great time! Indian food, a fun drive through Houston. I didn't know Houston was so cosmopolitan. I am off to San Antonio tomorrow and will stay with another couple that I stayed with last year.

El Barba...

I had to post about this. There was a guy that was the assistant to the bus driver on the trip out there. Look at his beard...we called him, "El Barba..." I know beard is feminine. His job was to fan the door to the bus so that we could get some fresh air. We had 2 other Barba sightings during our vacation. We decided that El Barba was like Zorro. When he struck, all the surrounding body hair would be in a pattern. Jacob said that he wears 2 masks, one over his eyes and another over his beard....I guess you had to be there....

Guatemala to Texas..

Guatemala was really an adventure! I am so glad we did it, dysentery and all. I am glad Jacob got to meet new friends and see how other people that are so much less fortunate than us, live. The Guatemalan people were very friendly. Jacob told the mother of our family that the trip had changed his life...well, that was the point, so mission accomplished. The other mission was to interest him in travel. I hope he now takes a backpack and sees the world! He became really close to the family. We all cried when we left.

Guatemala City was not fun. The woman we stayed with was not nice. And we paid here twice what we paid the good family. I am going to write the school.

We got home at midnight on June 21, stayed there 36 hours (washed clothes and packed the car), then took off for Tennessee. I dropped Jacob off at the airport where he was going to fly to Florida (don't even ask me why that happened...), then I spent the night with my friend, Ginny. I got up at 5:30am and drove to Missouri yesterday for about 36 hours, in time to repack. I am sitting in the Branson airport waiting on my plane for Houston. Sheesh....

My car is FABULOUS!!! So comfortable to drive. I put my new kayak rack on my car and took my boat. It is SO nice to have an actual rack on my car. I don't have to worry about the boat falling off now. Since the Pacific took my ipod, I called XM radio because my car has a built in one, and asked them if they would do a deal for me since I had been a customer. They are doing 5 months for $20. Good deal, so I will have XM for 5 months. So, the car is really great and I LOVE it. There is so much room inside. I had 2 guitars, luggage, camping gear, all kinds of stuff in there.

My agenda in TX is Houston for 2 nights. I am staying with the couchsurfing hosts that I stayed with last year. We are ushering 2 plays so we can see some theatre. Then off to San Antonio to stay with a couple that I stayed with last year for 2 nights. Then I will move to a new couchsurfing place with a family. The mother is a high school theatre teacher and she travels with her 17 year old daughter. Should have a lot to talk about. I'll stay with them for 4 nights. Then I'm off to see my friend, Jennifer that I stayed with in Austin last year. She is having a big party for the 4th. Weeee!!!! the 4th in Austin!!! I come back to MO on the 6th. More adventures after that!

Hasta luego!

PS: note that I have on my "achiever" shirt on from The Big Lebowski!

Mi classe ultimo...

Last class today! This has been such an adventure. I have so many stories and so many new friends. We are leaving Xela on Sunday and they fly to SC on Monday. I will not have email or internet on the days that I am traveling. The blog will continue. I still have Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Missouri left to go. Hasta luego!!!!

The picture is of the family and Jacob in their kitchen.

Today...

Today: My teacher and I went to, ready?...Guatemalan Wal Mart, no sh*tting you...It is called something completely different, but has the Equate brand and the blue vests, etc. OH MY GOD!!! One cannot even get away from the devil in the third world!!!! Then we are feeling a little better so Jacob and I stole away to eat fried chicken and fries...it was fabulous! I could only eat 1 wing, 5 bites of a breast, and 8 french fries and I was totally full. I had not eaten anything substantial in 3 days.

Guatemalans favorite foods:

Bread, rice, bread, sweet bread (not the meat), bread, noodles and did I mention bread? If I see another piece of freaking bread when I get back to the states, I´ll die.

This is probably compounded by the fact that Jacob and I have DYSENTARY. On antibiotics and we should feel better in 3 days according to the Guatemalan Dr.

Well......

First, this is an absolutely amazing experience. The classes are very difficult, but I feel like I have learned more in this past week, than all of last year. And yes, I have teared up a couple of times because it is so frustrating. But what an opportunity for Jacob and me.

Bush made it so difficult for anyone to get into the country that only 3% of the thousands of Guatemalans that apply have a shot at getting any kind of visa. And of the 3%, maybe 5% actually get a visa. Now, let me step on my soapbox for a minute...I am horrified. Do you want to gut chickens or work picking up trash? Well 85% of those jobs in the US are taken by immigrants because EVEN WHITE TRASH WON´T DO THEM!!!!!! They are not TAKING JOBS from Americans, they are DOING THE JOBS that white and African Americans don´t WANT TO DO. I hated the Bush machine when he was in office, I loathe them now.

OK, so back to the travelogue: The weekend was challenging. We went to the black sand beach in Guatemala and a rogue wave killed my ipod, which is why I am not answering or receiving emails, or posting much. It was beautiful and the fish we had for lunch was amazing. Then Saturday, we went to the market. I bought so many textiles, customs is going to think I´m an importer. I am giving away my clothes before I leave so that I can pack more textiles. Then Sunday we went, in the rain, to a volcano. First, Sat night I got the runs. So, the teacher said the hike wasnt bad. However even a couple of the 20 somethings threw up. I had to stop half way. I though I was going to pass out. I think it was a combination of being sick, the altitude, not being in shape, and the freaking hike was just stupidly difficult. So, I sat in the rain for 4 hours while the group went hiking. I spoke with 4 Mayan children. We gave each other English/Spanish lessons. Then the mother came home and I spoke with her for a while. She asked how many children I had, I said -one. She said, How old are you? I told her. She was SHOCKED and asked me why I only had 1 child. It was easier to tell her that my husband was dead than get into the whole culture difference thing. Very funny. So because of the rain, etc. I had 103-4 fever last night. Yuck. I think I am better, but still not great. My stomach is still kind of yucky.

This week, we are going to help build stoves for the villagers on Wed., go to the largest market in Guatemala on Sat. and then leave at 4am to begin our journey home on Monday.

My Guatemalan family reminds me so much of my own. They are loud, there a zillion kids (1-19) and their friends and relatives. Eating is an event. Well, that´s all for now. I have to go visit the bano. More later...I hope.

Day 2 of class

Classes are very intense. We work solidly for 2 hours, then a 30 minute break, then another 1.5 hours, one on one. I am EXHAUSTED when class is over. I go back to my family´s house, eat lunch and take a siesta. Too many verbos!! I have trouble when I have to pull the verbs out of my head quickly.

After I rest, we have to go to the bank to change money. We will probably also go to the market.

Today, I bought my mother and me beautiful tapestries from a Mayan woman. The textiles here are beautiful! With everything I want, I don´t know how I´m going to get it home. I will probably give away most of my clothes...really. Then I will have more room for tapestries and rugs, and and and....

This weekend we hope to go to the beach, which supposedly has black sand. The country here is gorgeous! The living conditions are very different. I don´t mind so much, but I think most Americans would not find it to be comfortable, clean, enough.

Off to lunch. The meals have been really interesting. This morning we had fried plantains, with a black bean sauce and sour cream. Jacob is IN LOVE with the coffee here. I am allergic to coffee. I may try some on Saturday (when a bathroom will be close).

Hasta luego para ahora!!!!

Nosotros estamos aqui!

After a VERY harrowing 4 hour bus ride, we are here. First there are piles of ash and mounds of bags of ash everywhere in Guatemala City. The Mayans say it is not finished. As a matter of fact, we get to go to a Mayan religious ceremony on Sunday. They are attemping to appease the gods of weather and the volcano ...COOL!

Then, on the 4 hour bus trip, we devistation from the tropical storm was incredible. Lanes of the road were completely blocked by dried mud. And the driving was an adventure all in itself. These are curves similar to those in Arkansas. YIKES!

However, the country is BEAUTIFUL! I hope to post pictures sometime. Unbelievable scenery. At one point, Jacob looked at me and said,¨I can´t believe we´re here in this beautiful country.

The Spanish school is very tough. No English speaking here! My teacher sent me alone to get photocopies made. My brain really hurts. The family that we are staying with is a Mother, Grandmother, 5 daughters (Jacob is in heaven) and 2 male boarders. Only the mother speaks very little English. Jacob is antsy to go exploring. More later...

Hasta luego!

9:40 pm off to bed

We have to get up at 3:15am to get out of here by 4am. Flight is out of Myrtle Beach at 8am. Stayed tuned! More great adventures!

And 52 hours before we leave...

Jacob splashes hot grease all over his arm and chest because...ready...he was frying meat without a shirt on...OMG the teenage brain... Aaaahahhhhggggghhhhh...... If I don't kill him before we go...it will be a miracle. So we had to make a quick trip to the doctor. He gave him 2 Rxs - some Silvadene and antibiotics in case it gets infected. The burns are not too bad, but there are many blisters.

I have forced him to pack his bag today because tomorrow he is out doing last minute "things" with his "girlfriend." I swear, if we leave and he has no underwear, he is going commando...

A nice little elderly lady told me a couple of weeks ago, after I had given a speech about being "brave" that, "well, I think the bravest thing I heard you say you're doing is taking a 16 year-old with you to Guatemala!" She is absolutely correct!

and NOW a SINKHOLE???!!!!

YIKES!!!!!

A volcano erupts AND a hurricane???!!!!

Yikes! My mother called yesterday (she is perpetual worrier) and said, "Um, isn't Guatemala having a hurricane?" Well, Jacob and I turned off the satellite tv about a year ago to save money to go to Guatemala, so we didn't know. I got online today and yes, in fact, 16 people have died so far from the rains and hurricane, and several from the volcano. The airport has been closed due to the volcano and the hurricane is creating mudslides in Xela, where we are going.

I did receive an email from the Spanish school today, so it is still running. I sent them a reply that asked how they were and told them that we were thinking of them.

Yikes, it is such a poor country. Very sad... I will check before I go about the rains and I will call Spirit Air to make sure the airport is open in Guatemala City.

Tomorrow on my list: Call AT&T and get the "world" thing so I can make phone calls in an emergency; call the credit card companies to let them know I am going out of the country; call my car insurance people to make sure the new car is set; call the bank that I financed the car through to make sure the first payment gets made; get more cat food; send a research grant report in; work on an NEH grant; and return a pair of shoes that I bought the wrong nephew (I got birthdays mixed up). Busy day!

I have been preoccupied with the NEW CAR...

Today, however, Jacob and I read a lot of information about Xela. We looked at available trekking trips. We decided on about 8. I don't know if we'll get that many in, but for all 8 it will cost about $250 for 2 people for all 8 trips. This is one of the reasons that I love central America, because I can afford it.

We hope to: bask in the Fuentes Georginas hot springs for an afternoon, shop at one of two large artisan markets for a day, bask (again) on one of the black sand beaches near Xela for a day (and maybe spend the night), explore Takalik Abaj Mayan ruins for a day, and then do one of 3 volcano hikes. Unfortunately, I am suffering from Plantar Fascitis (where the tendon on my foot is very painful) so I'm a little wary of doing a too difficult hike, so it will be a day trip probably. We will be going with the Monte Verde tour company. Go to xelapages.com and check them out.

I also got Jacob to begin laying out his gear. THAT took an act of the gods...slowly but surely... More later.

Drugs...

OK, so Jacob got 2 shots yesterday. It is a good thing he remembered that he had had a tetnus in the last 10 years. So his shots, 2 malaria Rx, 2 dysentery Rx later and I'm $270 poorer. I guess that is better than last year. We are going to begin the acidophilus regimen next week. I read in several travel publications that the way to condition your stomach for weird food is to begin taking acidophilus pills 2 weeks before you go and a week into the trip. It worked for me last summer - no problems. Get the acidophilus pearls (they don't have to be refrigerated). Malaria meds (which tend to make me ishy) begin a week before the trip, continue throughout, and 4 weeks after. oh weeee.

I think I have done everything I'm supposed to do except pack and get travel insurance. That's on the list for tomorrow. Oh yeah, and I have to buy a car this summer....but that's a later story.

Time to get down to business...

I am back from a wonderful couple of days in the mountains with some of my favorite students. So, now it is time to concentrate on Guatemala, as this will be my only destination out of the country this summer.

We plan to study at the Pop Wuj school in Xela, Guatemala. Their website is: www.pop-wuj.org. I absolutely am relying on the testimony of a woman I met in Belize last year. She went to this school and really enjoyed it. We get 5 hours of private Spanish a day, and then our afternoons to do whatever we want. There is also a volunteer program in which we can participate.

I have been reading up on Guatemala and what other activities that we'll be able to do. It looks like a hikers' paradise. For about $50 us per person, we can hike for 2 days near Santiaguito, the most active volcano in Guatemala. I'm thinking this might be fabulous. We have our weekends free.

We have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday for Jacob to get his vaccinations. He'll have to get the 3 that I did last year: typhoid, tetnus, and Hep A. We both will have to get malaria meds and probably dysentary meds. I will also get us the digestion aids that I got for me last year because I never got sick in Mexico or Belize. I will get us Acidophilus to begin taking 2 weeks before we go, ginger pills for the motion sickness and altitude sickness, etc. We will have to replenish the first aid kit. I will refer back to my own post last year about the medicine chest I carried.

I also just ordered a Spanish guide from 30Words.com. It is a passport sized language guide. Maybe I won't need it after the summer.

I am a little nervous, I have to admit. When it is just me, it's just me. However, now that Jacob is going, more responsibility... I guess. More very soon!

damn damn damn

So one of my most favorite items to travel/camp with is a Sea to Summit Lite Line clothesline and I CAN'T FIND IT!!!! It's tiny (and that's probably why I can't find it) and it is so handy. Google it and you will see. So I went to the outdoor store here in Flotown and they don't have any more and can't get any more right now. If I order it online, I will pay as much for shipping as the item. dammit! I know I can use other things, but I WANT THAT ONE!

On a brighter note, my friend, Jeff loaned me his backpack so that Jacob won't have to use his Vietnam War issue pack that his uncle gave him. Thank you, Jeff!

We are now creating piles of things to pack....it's all underway!

Errands, errands, errands

Schools out for sum-mer.....(thank you Alice Cooper) and I'm beginning my neverending list of errands. I took a lovely bike ride this morning before it gets so hot. Yes, we're already in upper 80s and 90s. So today: I have to go....ready?...wash the engine of the car (are you kidding me?) so that my mechanic (who was just in Guys and Dolls here in Flo, by the way...I know weird) can find the oil leak before we go away; then to get new glasses for driving and night vision because I lost mine after a particularly fun party (I think there was something not quite right about them anyway); then to the grocery to get food for Jacob (THAT is never ending); I was going to go to Barnes & Noble to get a new Mexico City guidebook, but found the one from last year. I am really glad about that too. It is Eyewitness Travel's Top 10 Mexico City. It is a great book and much used. Good maps of the city and subway. Later, I hope to talk with my friend, Gene, who is hopefully going to Mexico with me later in the summer. We have to firm up some plans so that I know what to tell people.

Summer adventure news: I will be spending the 4th holiday in Austin with my couchsurfing friend, Jennifer! I am so excited. THAT should be another very fun party.

Hola Amigas y Amigos...

Leg 1

Once again, I am beginning a big summer adventure. At this point, I know that Jacob and I are going to Guatemala to study Spanish for 2 weeks because I booked it today. We are leaving June 6 and returning the 21st. We will fly into Guatemala City, take a 4 hour bus ride to Xela, Guatemala. Last summer on my Mexico/Belize adventure, I met a young woman on Tobacco Caye from the US, but living in Berlin. She told me about Xela (it's official name is Quetzaltenango) and that there were numerous Spanish schools for English speakers there. So, we are going to stay with a Guatemalan family and study Spanish for 5 hours a day...all for $175/week at a school called Pop Wuj. Crazy, huh? However, getting there has proved to be challenging.

I read several travel blogs that said that Chicago had the best rates to Guatemala City. However, a friend told me to check Spirit air out of, are you ready?...Myrtle Beach. And yes, it is as cheap to fly out of Myrtle Beach that it is to fly out of Chicago. But Spirit, or course, charges for EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING. My cheap tickets after they added taxes, fees, baggage fees...and ready for this???!!!!....seat charges ($8 each if you want to sit together) ended up being just a little cheaper than the Chicago flight on American - about $700 for both. Sigh..oh well, it is still a little less challenging than trying to get to Missouri, then Chicago, then Guatemala.

Leg 2

I was asked/I asked the Witte Museum in San Antonio, TX to archive their carpa collection. It will help me with my research and give me experience in archiving, which I'm interested in. I got a research grant to do that from FMU. It is also a great excuse to see some of my couchsurfing buddies that I met last year.

Future legs... Stay tuned. There may be other fabulous legs to our adventure...maybe Mexico, maybe Tahlequah...who knows....

Just a little professora ranting...

So we cast The Vagina Monologues last week with 35, that's right, thirty-five, women. One woman, who has been in the show before twice, as well as had very large roles, emailed me because her role for this year "concerns her." The deal is, she got a smaller role this year because last year: 1. she did not take direction well; 2. she showed up at 7:20p for a 7:30p curtain (that was the big one); 3. she was late to the cast party where she had agreed to perform, thus missing her performance. The moral is: don't piss off the director. And then to have to gall to email me complaining about the role she got....????!!!! She says she's going to grad school. Uh huh...good luck with that, getting out of grad school without pissing off your professors - THAT is the trick....

I need a vacation...

Summer 2010 Adventure

Howdy kids - I'm planning my summer adventure. So far, I think Jacob and I are going to go to Xela, Guatemala for 2 weeks to study Spanish. Then, after Jacob leaves to go stay with his dad, I would like to spend a week in Mexico, at this point either in Puerto Angel or Zipolite Beach. Both are little hippie tourist towns south of Oaxaca. Then, I'm off to San Antonio to archive the carpa collection at the Witte Museum.

Would anyone I know be brave enough to visit Puerto Angel with me? huh huh huh? come on, I triple dog dare you....

Burn Baby Burn....

Burning Man tickets go on sale tomorrow 1pm our time!!!! Weeeeeee!!!!!