i am sitting in the computer lab at the school, which is pitch black and silent as a grave. it is weird how empty this place becomes at night. i know there are other students staying here, but hardly see them after class ends. the heat lightninig keeps lighting up the sky and illuminating the volcano in a way that seems otherworldly. seeing this, ( Read more... )

i can hardly believe it but today finishes my first week of spanish classes. so weird...it has flown by so quickly. yesterday was frustrating. my professor is good, but he is sort of the teacher you had in high school who you learned the most from but did not especially like. very strict and at times, harsh. today has been much better, and i can ( Read more... )

one of the reasons i wanted to visit guatemala all those years back is because i studied guatemala for my senior thesis in grad school. i focused mainly on mayan villages in the western highlands of guatemala, and the impact that leapfrog technology was making on the lives of the villagers, particularly the women. it has been a long time since i ( Read more... )

finishing up my second full day in antigua. class #2 was very intense and exhausting, good but frustrating since i now have a sense of what it would take for me to really master spanish. my professor really understands the craft of teaching a second language, and i am learning from talking to others here that this is not the case with every ( Read more... )

well, it took me 6 years to get here, and now i might not ever leave. antigua is enchanting. i am using the computer lab at my school, which overlooks one of the three volacanoes that surround antigua. i just saw a dim flash of lightning in the clouds. i am really happy with my choice of schools, not just because of the birdseye view of the volcano ( Read more... )

so, on top of my guatemala trip in august, i just booked a brief trip to barcelona at the end of october. my parents are taking a cruise that leaves from barcelona, so they are flying over a few days earlier to explore the city and i decided to meet them there. i've never been to spain, found a reasonable direct flight there, and even a 4-day stay ( Read more... )

in 2003 while pursuing my international affairs masters degree i focused a lot of on guatemalan history, culture, and (then) current economic development. i moved guatemala to the top of my list of places i wanted to travel to, and then realized that my goal of doing a spanish immersion program would be ideal in guatemala, where there is an ( Read more... )

i was smiling when i learned earlier this week that mark kozelek, in his sun kil moon iteration, has a new album called "april" out. i was smiling as i downloaded it today while working from home. i found myself smiling even before i pushed "play" on the first track. i'm listening to it and i'm still smiling. i've been varying in my musical tastes ( Read more... )

 it seems i only use livejournal to discuss traveling or to solicit opinions on  technology ( Read more... )

my travel restlessness has kicked into high gear. recent trips to new orleans and orlando helped to abate my winter blues, and now i'm moving forward with more 2008 escape plans. i just booked my peru trip for june, with my friend who i travel with every year. i'll be going to santa fe, new mexico for work at the end of the month and will be in los ( Read more... )