PeruOutlaw

First off, I feel I owe all of you an apology. I have tried, all these years, to provide the most wild and enticing letters the traveling community has to offer. However, my last one, I believe, was thin on the ground. Here, I'd like to offer an explaination, if not an excuse. The "ear-ache"　I mentioned in my last email turned out to be none other than a viral infection in the depths of my right inner ear. It was only after the fluid drained from my Eustachian tube did the pain subside. It was arguably one of the most painful experiences of my life, and on I was overcoming when I last wrote. These things are a risk of traveling, and only my second time really getting sick, since that awful bought of esophogitis I ... read more

Time is moving forward, and I am moving with it, and that is where I will write from today. Specifically, from Kashgar city, China. That's right, your very own, Kyrgy Carl has returned to the Middle Kingdom, his once and former stomping grounds. This time, however, with my Chinese hiding deep in the recesses of my mind, my Kyrgyz is coming out in full force. See, the people of Kashgar are ethnically Uighur, and there language is in the same family as Kyrgyz. Imagine a Frenchman and a Spaniard trying to carry on a conversation. But I'm getting ahead of myself. See, my father and my brother and my best friend, Matt came out to Kyrgyzstan, timed just right for the parliamentary referendum at the end of June. We toured the country. I showed them the ... read more

Dear Friends, So arguably, aside from losing a traveler, the only greater casualty, especially near the end of a trip, is your digital camera. While we didn´t lose it cliff jumping, it is at the bottom of Lake Atitlan, and try as we might, we couldn´t find it. 500 pictures or so, gone to the sea. Luckily, the set of Jin and I roasting marshmallows over lava are in tact! We´ve had a wild past few days here since that long bus ride. We´re staying at a delightful hostel in San Pedro la Laguna on the banks of Lago Atitlan. The views are incredible. This mountain lake is surrounded by countless green-clad volcanoes. What is particularly amazing is that despite the huge tourist center that it is, the giant masses of wealthy tourists butt directly up ... read more

Dear Friends, Today I write from a hostel that could be the set of a movie. A multi-colored place filled with white kids from all over the world. Next to me, a Briton who said, "cheers!" when I moved my chair for him. Behind me, two Israelis using Skype. There is a table of German´s playing Risk and an American reading "The Life of Pi" in a hammock. (That American is Jin...)The place is half indoors, half outdoors, with jungle foliage growing in the garden, reaching up well past the nearby rooves. We´re listening to some sort of Reggae remix, there is a host of young Guatemalan women working in the kitchen, and a friendly boxer dog is sitting beside my feet. I sat outside the hostel at 8 o´clock this morning and watched the city ... read more

Dear Friends, Sometime you make a decision, and it implies some obligations. Along with our decision to go to Soloma came many many days of buses. Jin and I took two days of solid bus riding to get in and out of that scary town, we spent two in Xela, and now we´ve spent two getting here to the heart of the Guatemalan Jungle, Flores City, outside of the Mayan ruins of Tikal. Buses can be a wonderful thing. We sit in packed conditions, like the 27 man van in Chichi. Being that close with local Guatemalans is neat in and of itself. It is generally a very quiet experience. One day, as Jin and I headed towards the coffee capital of Guatemala, the highland city of Coban, as we drove in silence from town to ... read more

Dear Friends, Much has happened since my last hectic email. First of all, I want to thank everyone for your generous donations. We were able to raise more than I had anticipated, $120. With that, we were able to make donations to both the man in Jolocmu, as well as the Spanish School´s children´s charity program. Much thanks to all. I am honored that so many of you trust me with your donations, and flattered that we exceeded our goal. After I wrote last, Jin and I headed out to Soloma. It was described in the Lonely Planet as a friends, gregarious place, where the locals speak English, and there is suprising wealth. Many local cowboys from the area make their way to America to work on ranches, landscaping, or other manual labor type jobs - ... read more

Dear Friends, So never before have I written two letters within such a short proximity of each other. But alas, I am venturing to an area where I don't know what my next chance to write will be. Let me continue. A few weeks before I left on this trip, I read this story on the cover of the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/us/03deport.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=guatemala&st=cse&oref=slogin It tells the story of Luis Alberto Jiménez, a resident of Jolumcu, Gatemala. He was working, illegally, in Florida when he was hit by a drunk driver. After being treated, for a time, in an American hospital, he was deported, by helicopter back to Guatemala city. From there, he was soon returned to his village. The man suffers from brain damage reducing him to the mental capacity of a 4th grader. He cannot ... read more

Friends, So the past few days, Jin and I have been doing some obligatory highly touristed activities. They have been much fun, believe you me, much fun and highly unoriginal. But hopefully, we bring our own originality to the mix. First, a vignette on my travel companion. Jin, my college room mate, ever playful with language, and desperately lacking in Spanish skills, has terribly mispronounced the local currency. The Quetzale, pronounced Ke-tzal, Jin has taken to pronouncing kwetzle. This of course rhymes with pretzle. So, dinner tonight was effectively, 78 pretzles. This folks, is what I´m working with. To say we´re enjoying ourselves would be an understatement. From Antigua, we ventured to the top of the Pacaya Volcano. Rembering that we will be able to see molten lava right before our eyes, I decided to purchase ... read more

We've had snow the past couple of nights, here in beautiful Lewisburg, and one night, after it stopped, some freezing rain came in. Now this might be a pain for driving or walking, or doing anything on asphalt. But, on the other hand, it was magical for walking on snow. It reminded me of being a little child in Decatur, Illinois, during winter time on Uncle Dick's farm. You could get one foot on the snow, but then you'd punch right through. Today, punching through the snow, it felt like walking on the chocolate coating on an ice cream bar. For a moment, I was 8 years old, and I could just play.... read more