So, I´m in Panama!
I didn´t expect to make it here, but we´d been running ahead of schedule most of the trip, which is pretty cool, so we decided to make it down to Panama. Our arrival here was much quicker also because Costa Rica, specifically Cahuita, was way too expensive. It was a great decision- Bocas del Toro is gorgeous.
Nicaragua continued to be a l0t of fun. We met some really cool people in the form of an Austrian couple named Kevin (mohawked former tank commander) and Marita- we swapped tips of where we´ve been so far and where each of us should go- we stayed up late talking two nights, and even went to see ¨Super Agente 86 (get smart)¨ together- hilarious even in Spanish.
We also went volcano boarding- pictures will be posted, that´s all I will say.
Afterwards, we went to Masaya, which was a pretty, small place, that had a great market. It was fun- I bought a Sandino shirt.
Then, we went to supposedly touristy Granada. It was really pretty and not as touristy as we´d expected. We were glad we went. The colonial streets and buildings are so pretty.
After Granada, we went to the Isla de Ometepe for a few days. We toured a nature reserve on one day, and the next we went volcano climbing. We went up about 1,000 meteres to the lookout point- WOW.
For another day in a row we woke up unreasonably early in order to catch the boat to the mainland, and from the mainland to the Costa Rica border. Everything went pretty smoothly, and we got to San Jose in time to catch the bus to Cahuita. We spent one night in Cahuita, and decided to high-tail it to Bocas, which we did today.
2 bus rides and a boat later, we are here. It´s so beautiful, we might go snorkeling tomorrow. It´s really quite amazing and I´m glad we made it.
That´s all for today, alas, there is no Desert Island Discs installment today. Tune in next time!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Pictures!
So I managed to get a bunch of pictures uploaded onto a photobucket account which you can view at www.photobucket.com/ayonki . Enjoy!
Nicaragua Day 2
I have come to the conclusion that the great Herculean task for all those traveling with an interest in taking pictures and posting them on various networking sites for their friends to see, is the task of actually being able to post these pictures on line. I have found, for the past near two hours, that it is impossible to get 250-plus photos onto any website in a reasonable amount of time. It is even more impossible to actually get ONE of those posted AT ALL on some sites. I am running out of space on my camera, and I really do want all of you to see the cool stuff I´ve seen, but I ask that you please be patient to see new pictures. That is all for today.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Nicaragua
Hello friends,
I am writing this blog from an internet cafe in Leon, Nicaragua. We got here early this morning after spending a night in San Miguel, a night in Perquin, and a night in Guasaule.
San Miguel was rather uneventful. There´s not a whole lot to do in the town, and we got there as the market was winding down. We left the next morning for Perquin.
Perquin was really cool. It was the headquarters of the leftist guerilla organization FMLN, and they still have a major presence there, which is cool. Former guerillas give tours of El Museo de la Revolucion Salvadoreno. That has some really cool stuff, and a lot of sad stuff about all of the human rights violations at the hands of the (US and Reagan supported) Salvadoran army and government. We bought a few Spanish books, and the Abuela who ran the store gave us a few bracelets as a gift.
The next morning we made the trek to El Mozote, site of the 1981 massacre of (depending on who you talk to) where all 757 to 1000 of its residents were executed by the Atlacatl battallion. It was very moving, and angering.
We started the walk back (no bus for another 4 hours or so), and found ourselves in the middle of an amazing view- a dirt road in the mountains of El Salvador. Then we hitched a ride on a flatbed truck- I rode on the bed...full of rocks.
Back at the hostel we decided to try our luck with getting to Nicaragua that night. We took 3 buses to get to the Honduras/Salvador border, then another shuttle for the Honduras/Nicaragua border. We got there late, and stayed in a hotel.
This morning we took the shuttle to Chinandega, Nicaragua, and from there to Leon, and we´ve been chilling out here. We might actually head out to a beach nearby at some point, but we´ll see what happens. I´ve been looking forward to Nicaragua since the beginning of the journey, so I have high hopes. It should be good.
Anyway, moving on to today´s edition of Desert Island Discs...
I haven´t thought about this in a while, namely because I haven´t really been listening to a hell of a lot of music, but here goes.
It may be only a short EP and not necessarily reflective of all this band can do, but I will have to give mention to Jar of Fies by Alice in Chains. Cantrell and Staley realized, I´m guessing, that their haunting harmonies would be even better served by the introduction of acoustic based songs with electric guitar flourishes. There´s none of the bludgeoning riffage of Man in the Box or Them Bones, but the strings in I Stay Away and the moody acoustic riff of Rotten Apples weigh nearly equally with those two AIC classics. It also features one of my favorite Jerry guitar solos, which is in one of my favorite vocal performances and favorite songs of all time, Nutshell. They managed to capture what it would feel like to be in a nutshell- claustrophobic, depressed, and looking for some way out.
Alice in Chains is an interesting heavy rock-metal band, in that there´s something competing with electric guitars for center stage. Cantrell and Staley´s voices mesh so well that they almost seem to be connected mentally, and that the voice of one was made to be heard with the other. Give a listen to No Excuses and I Stay Away to find out for yourself. You owe it to you to hear this record.
Once again, comment on what you feel is necessary. Thanks for reading!
I am writing this blog from an internet cafe in Leon, Nicaragua. We got here early this morning after spending a night in San Miguel, a night in Perquin, and a night in Guasaule.
San Miguel was rather uneventful. There´s not a whole lot to do in the town, and we got there as the market was winding down. We left the next morning for Perquin.
Perquin was really cool. It was the headquarters of the leftist guerilla organization FMLN, and they still have a major presence there, which is cool. Former guerillas give tours of El Museo de la Revolucion Salvadoreno. That has some really cool stuff, and a lot of sad stuff about all of the human rights violations at the hands of the (US and Reagan supported) Salvadoran army and government. We bought a few Spanish books, and the Abuela who ran the store gave us a few bracelets as a gift.
The next morning we made the trek to El Mozote, site of the 1981 massacre of (depending on who you talk to) where all 757 to 1000 of its residents were executed by the Atlacatl battallion. It was very moving, and angering.
We started the walk back (no bus for another 4 hours or so), and found ourselves in the middle of an amazing view- a dirt road in the mountains of El Salvador. Then we hitched a ride on a flatbed truck- I rode on the bed...full of rocks.
Back at the hostel we decided to try our luck with getting to Nicaragua that night. We took 3 buses to get to the Honduras/Salvador border, then another shuttle for the Honduras/Nicaragua border. We got there late, and stayed in a hotel.
This morning we took the shuttle to Chinandega, Nicaragua, and from there to Leon, and we´ve been chilling out here. We might actually head out to a beach nearby at some point, but we´ll see what happens. I´ve been looking forward to Nicaragua since the beginning of the journey, so I have high hopes. It should be good.
Anyway, moving on to today´s edition of Desert Island Discs...
I haven´t thought about this in a while, namely because I haven´t really been listening to a hell of a lot of music, but here goes.
It may be only a short EP and not necessarily reflective of all this band can do, but I will have to give mention to Jar of Fies by Alice in Chains. Cantrell and Staley realized, I´m guessing, that their haunting harmonies would be even better served by the introduction of acoustic based songs with electric guitar flourishes. There´s none of the bludgeoning riffage of Man in the Box or Them Bones, but the strings in I Stay Away and the moody acoustic riff of Rotten Apples weigh nearly equally with those two AIC classics. It also features one of my favorite Jerry guitar solos, which is in one of my favorite vocal performances and favorite songs of all time, Nutshell. They managed to capture what it would feel like to be in a nutshell- claustrophobic, depressed, and looking for some way out.
Alice in Chains is an interesting heavy rock-metal band, in that there´s something competing with electric guitars for center stage. Cantrell and Staley´s voices mesh so well that they almost seem to be connected mentally, and that the voice of one was made to be heard with the other. Give a listen to No Excuses and I Stay Away to find out for yourself. You owe it to you to hear this record.
Once again, comment on what you feel is necessary. Thanks for reading!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
El Salvador
Michelle and I got very lucky the other day. We high-tailed it out of Xela on a bus that took us all the way to Guatemala City. Crazy as things are, our cab got to the bus terminal in Guate roughly five minutes before the bus to San Salvador left. A few hours later we were in San Salvador, surrounded by American fast-food chains and bad air.
After a night sleeping on the most heinous mattress I´ve ever experienced, we checked out the city of San Salvador. Choked with traffic, it did have some very cool buildings, specifically the two churches we went into. One of them held the tomb of Monsignor Oscar Romero, the famous liberation theologist archbishop. Unfortunately, it was closed at the time. Stuff closes here from 12-2, I´m pretty sure for the lunch hour.
We did, however, manage to make it out to the Universidad Centroamerica to visit el Centro Monseñor Romero, which was really cool and really kind of messed up, just finding out the history of what happened. The building was in the former quarters of six Jesuit priests, their cook and her daughter, who were all slaughtered by Salvadoran forces during the civil war.
The next day we walked to the Museo de la Palabra y Imagen, or museum of the word and image. It had lots of realy cool exhibits, most of which referred to Latin American civil wars. They even had a whole exhibit dedicated to the FMLN´s radio station that broadcast during the war, which was really cool.
Yesterday we took a bus from San Salvador to Suchitoto, which is a really pretty city. It´s nice and small, and our hostel has a view of the lake. ¡Que´ bonito! The hostel also has food, so we´ve eaten pretty well here, including some of the best pasta I´ve ever had. Not to mention the jugo de tamarindo. Doesn´t look to appetizing, but sooo delicious.
Anyway, we have concluded that tomorrow we´re going to head to San Miguel, then from San Miguel to Perquin and El Mozote, to visit some important sites from the civil war. Including, a little less happy and more sobering, the village of El Mozote. El Mozote is a village where, in 1981 (very early in the war), the US-trained Atlacatl Battallion executed all but one of its nearly 800 residents. They found 143 bodies, and 131 of those were children. I found out about this event and this village while at the School of the Americas protest back in November.
I think that El Salvador, as a place, may be my favorite place so far, just for all of the history involved with it. It doesn´t hurt that it has some of the most beautiful country I´ve seen so far.
It´s also hotter than a bloody oven here.
I think it´s time for another installment of Desert Island Discs with Yonki!
Today, we shall discuss a recent acquisition that has immediately skyrocketed to my top 5 of all time slot. I am talking about the Copper Blue album by Sugar.
Although I am a huge fan of Bob Mould´s work in Husker Du, I think this album represents his best work. While it doesn´t have the raw hardcore urgency of albums like Zen Arcade or New Day Rising, it has some of the best pop melodies I have ever heard. On top of all of this, and some very good lyric-writing, is some of the catchiest guitar work, and some of Bob´s finest electric-guitar ripping. It has another one of my favorite songs of all time, and that being ¨Helpless,¨an extraordinarily catchy one. I recommend this album without giving any warnings of need-to-get used to vocals, or market it as an acquired taste. It´s amazing, and I demand all fans of melodic rock music to buy it right now.
After a night sleeping on the most heinous mattress I´ve ever experienced, we checked out the city of San Salvador. Choked with traffic, it did have some very cool buildings, specifically the two churches we went into. One of them held the tomb of Monsignor Oscar Romero, the famous liberation theologist archbishop. Unfortunately, it was closed at the time. Stuff closes here from 12-2, I´m pretty sure for the lunch hour.
We did, however, manage to make it out to the Universidad Centroamerica to visit el Centro Monseñor Romero, which was really cool and really kind of messed up, just finding out the history of what happened. The building was in the former quarters of six Jesuit priests, their cook and her daughter, who were all slaughtered by Salvadoran forces during the civil war.
The next day we walked to the Museo de la Palabra y Imagen, or museum of the word and image. It had lots of realy cool exhibits, most of which referred to Latin American civil wars. They even had a whole exhibit dedicated to the FMLN´s radio station that broadcast during the war, which was really cool.
Yesterday we took a bus from San Salvador to Suchitoto, which is a really pretty city. It´s nice and small, and our hostel has a view of the lake. ¡Que´ bonito! The hostel also has food, so we´ve eaten pretty well here, including some of the best pasta I´ve ever had. Not to mention the jugo de tamarindo. Doesn´t look to appetizing, but sooo delicious.
Anyway, we have concluded that tomorrow we´re going to head to San Miguel, then from San Miguel to Perquin and El Mozote, to visit some important sites from the civil war. Including, a little less happy and more sobering, the village of El Mozote. El Mozote is a village where, in 1981 (very early in the war), the US-trained Atlacatl Battallion executed all but one of its nearly 800 residents. They found 143 bodies, and 131 of those were children. I found out about this event and this village while at the School of the Americas protest back in November.
I think that El Salvador, as a place, may be my favorite place so far, just for all of the history involved with it. It doesn´t hurt that it has some of the most beautiful country I´ve seen so far.
It´s also hotter than a bloody oven here.
I think it´s time for another installment of Desert Island Discs with Yonki!
Today, we shall discuss a recent acquisition that has immediately skyrocketed to my top 5 of all time slot. I am talking about the Copper Blue album by Sugar.
Although I am a huge fan of Bob Mould´s work in Husker Du, I think this album represents his best work. While it doesn´t have the raw hardcore urgency of albums like Zen Arcade or New Day Rising, it has some of the best pop melodies I have ever heard. On top of all of this, and some very good lyric-writing, is some of the catchiest guitar work, and some of Bob´s finest electric-guitar ripping. It has another one of my favorite songs of all time, and that being ¨Helpless,¨an extraordinarily catchy one. I recommend this album without giving any warnings of need-to-get used to vocals, or market it as an acquired taste. It´s amazing, and I demand all fans of melodic rock music to buy it right now.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Out of our Xela...
Well, today is our last full day in Xela. We´re finishing up our Spanish lessons, and will be saying goodbye to our homestay mother early tomorrow morning. She was very nice, and cooked us really good vegetarian meals.
Spanish lessons went very well- the subjunctive still sucks though.
Our probable next step is Guatemala City, which should only be a jumpoff for El Salvador.
Now, to continue with what I started before I left and the desert island discs...
First of all, I must mention that I was talked into buying the London Calling album on Christmas Day 1999, by my Uncle Pat, when I was a mere 14 years old. I had just gotten my first pair of Doc Martens, as then I was only a budding young punk, whose sole knowledge of the style was that it was fast and loud. London Calling changed that, all for the better. Thanks Uncle Pat. I eventually repaid him by getting him a London Calling t-shirt...from London.
Anyway, onto today´s entry.
I know a lot of Fear Factory fans, and a vast majority of them tell me that their favorite FF album is Demanufacture. With all due respect, that´s a great album, but I would have to go with Obsolete.
My reason is this. Concept albums are typically hard to follow and often border on cheesiness more intense than a birthday party in middle school. The boys in FF managed to avoid this by creating a science fiction futuristic hell where it kind of resembles Terminator. Musically, they managed to forge the perfect alloy of cold industrial machinery with organic melodicism, ambience and emotion.
Burton C. Bell´s vocals are at their best in both respects- brutal shouts that give way to a world weary howl, Dino´s guitar work is atmospheric yet punishing, the synth effects are always well placed, and the rhythm section of Christian and Ray will kick the ass of any drum machine. I dare any programmer or hotshot drummer to come up with anything that sounds as cool as the drum salvos in ¨Shock.¨
This album also contains one of my favorite songs of all time. The second-to-last track of the storyline, Resurrection features the most dramatic shift from such a minimalist arrangement during the verses (lone synth pad, Burton´s lonely, isolated, almost imprisoned vocals) to absolute brutality- Burton goes from a sing to a scream in the same word. Yes.
Anyway, this album still stands the test of time for me- it sounds nothing like the nu metal that it was lumped in with. It also represents, to me, the perfect fusion of mechanical and human in music and lyrics.
Spanish lessons went very well- the subjunctive still sucks though.
Our probable next step is Guatemala City, which should only be a jumpoff for El Salvador.
Now, to continue with what I started before I left and the desert island discs...
First of all, I must mention that I was talked into buying the London Calling album on Christmas Day 1999, by my Uncle Pat, when I was a mere 14 years old. I had just gotten my first pair of Doc Martens, as then I was only a budding young punk, whose sole knowledge of the style was that it was fast and loud. London Calling changed that, all for the better. Thanks Uncle Pat. I eventually repaid him by getting him a London Calling t-shirt...from London.
Anyway, onto today´s entry.
I know a lot of Fear Factory fans, and a vast majority of them tell me that their favorite FF album is Demanufacture. With all due respect, that´s a great album, but I would have to go with Obsolete.
My reason is this. Concept albums are typically hard to follow and often border on cheesiness more intense than a birthday party in middle school. The boys in FF managed to avoid this by creating a science fiction futuristic hell where it kind of resembles Terminator. Musically, they managed to forge the perfect alloy of cold industrial machinery with organic melodicism, ambience and emotion.
Burton C. Bell´s vocals are at their best in both respects- brutal shouts that give way to a world weary howl, Dino´s guitar work is atmospheric yet punishing, the synth effects are always well placed, and the rhythm section of Christian and Ray will kick the ass of any drum machine. I dare any programmer or hotshot drummer to come up with anything that sounds as cool as the drum salvos in ¨Shock.¨
This album also contains one of my favorite songs of all time. The second-to-last track of the storyline, Resurrection features the most dramatic shift from such a minimalist arrangement during the verses (lone synth pad, Burton´s lonely, isolated, almost imprisoned vocals) to absolute brutality- Burton goes from a sing to a scream in the same word. Yes.
Anyway, this album still stands the test of time for me- it sounds nothing like the nu metal that it was lumped in with. It also represents, to me, the perfect fusion of mechanical and human in music and lyrics.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Xela-Shocked
So, Antigua kind of sucked. Our hostel was nice, but it was expensive, and the presence of so many English-speaking tourists pissed us off, so we decided to head to the highlands, specifically El Lago de Atitlan.
Despite the torrential rain and hellish bus ride (ok, so it wasn´t that bad), it was obviously a beautiful place. We arrived at Panajachel, and decided that it would be a good idea to head to San Pedro La Laguna, with the promise of cheap rooms.
It was true, rooms were pretty cheap. We discovered this after a 25 minute boat ride across the lake in torrential downpour, but it was a lot of fun. We hung out for the day, walking around, taking things in. We decided to catch the happy hour at the local bar, which was also showing The Bucket List. It was funny. We then had another drink, and went back to our small room for the night.
We woke up the next morning, freezing, and went to another hotel with even cheaper rates. It was a really cool looking place. I felt kind of nasty so I slept for a few more hours. I woke up to meet an Italian backpacker and a local Guatemalan man. We hung out with them for a while, then planned our next move (to Xela- pronounced SHE-la). We were then joined by a second Guatemalan man, and I wound up talking almost solely in Spanish for the rest of the day. It was actually realy good practice. I had a conversation with the one guy about Megadeth (IN SPANISH!) and tried to explain the use of the word ¨groove¨. It was really funny.
Today we took an early shuttle from San Pedro to Xela. When we got here, we decided it would be a good idea to stick around for a little while and take a few Spanish lessons. We got a really good rate on 20 hours of lessons and a home-stay, and even have opportunities to do some volunteer work. Plus, Xela seems to have a really good live music scene, so I´m really looking forward to spending some time here. The weather is a lot nicer- there´s not nearly as much rain, and I even saw blue skies today.
We even ran into our Irish friends from the Copan Ruinas- I think Xela may turn out to be a lot of fun.
Until Next Time,
¡Adios!
Despite the torrential rain and hellish bus ride (ok, so it wasn´t that bad), it was obviously a beautiful place. We arrived at Panajachel, and decided that it would be a good idea to head to San Pedro La Laguna, with the promise of cheap rooms.
It was true, rooms were pretty cheap. We discovered this after a 25 minute boat ride across the lake in torrential downpour, but it was a lot of fun. We hung out for the day, walking around, taking things in. We decided to catch the happy hour at the local bar, which was also showing The Bucket List. It was funny. We then had another drink, and went back to our small room for the night.
We woke up the next morning, freezing, and went to another hotel with even cheaper rates. It was a really cool looking place. I felt kind of nasty so I slept for a few more hours. I woke up to meet an Italian backpacker and a local Guatemalan man. We hung out with them for a while, then planned our next move (to Xela- pronounced SHE-la). We were then joined by a second Guatemalan man, and I wound up talking almost solely in Spanish for the rest of the day. It was actually realy good practice. I had a conversation with the one guy about Megadeth (IN SPANISH!) and tried to explain the use of the word ¨groove¨. It was really funny.
Today we took an early shuttle from San Pedro to Xela. When we got here, we decided it would be a good idea to stick around for a little while and take a few Spanish lessons. We got a really good rate on 20 hours of lessons and a home-stay, and even have opportunities to do some volunteer work. Plus, Xela seems to have a really good live music scene, so I´m really looking forward to spending some time here. The weather is a lot nicer- there´s not nearly as much rain, and I even saw blue skies today.
We even ran into our Irish friends from the Copan Ruinas- I think Xela may turn out to be a lot of fun.
Until Next Time,
¡Adios!
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