Hey Folks, I'm more excited today than I've been in a while. I hate to admit it, but I've been frusterated lately. I'm trying to make the transition from traveler to student, but its tough. As a traveler, I laugh and make mistakes and its all okay, because I'm a traveler. As a student, I felt like I needed to be serious, and make things work. Thats where I went wrong. I was taking things here far too seriously, and consequently, not getting much done. Including ordering meals. And as many of you know, a hungry Carl is not a happy [View Full Entry]

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Wow! I don't even know where to begin. This is by far my most adventurous go at this whole traveling thing yet. My journey started with as many bumps in the road as this unseasoned traveler could ask for. Without the help of some especially magnificent friends, folks, I honestly don't know where I'd be. My flight from Chicago was delayed five hours. Four of those due to radar troubles, troubles the airline only learned of once we were already on the plane. Consequently we sat, couped up in our plane, sitting on the tarmack for four hours. That means [View Full Entry]

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Hello my dear Friends, Family, First cousins and Firebrands, I'm as excited as can be. For those of you who don't already know, I'll be leaving in the next few days for that land that politically incorrect scholars and poets have called the rising sun. No, not Japan. I'm headed for the orient. From the latin oriens meaning the direction of the sun rising. Folks, China is my destination. This trip looks to be my longest yet. I'll leave the great windy city this thursday and not return until the fifteenth of June. Almost five months away, as I said, I'm [View Full Entry]

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Hello Everyone! I´m back in Quetzaltenango again. Lizzie and I are spending our last few days here with her homestay family. If you remember, four long weeks ago we arrived in Guatemala and stayed with these wonderful people, and now our trip has come full circle. The last few days we have been in Monterrico, a small island town on the Pacific coast. The dominant sound in the town was the constant crashing of the waves. We were there during the low tide, they say during high tide the waves almost hit the beachfront hotels. I loved playing in the [View Full Entry]

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Dear Friends, First off, the apostrophe on these spanish keyboards is replaced by this symbol { . So, I know my words will look a little funny, but I{m far too lazy to correct the way my fingers work. Anyway! We returned from Honduras today. There are some ruins there that display some of the best carvings in the Mayan worlds. Everybody at the border crossing knows that people leave Guatemala for just a little while and come back, so the formalities are pretty straightforward. The ruins were fabulous. The site was filled with snadstone reliefs and heiroglyphics. We even [View Full Entry]

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Hello Friends, Its been some time since my last letter. But that time has been intense. After my free coffee letter I learned what coffee is really like. We went to a coffee plantation in Coban. We recieved a tour of the facility, learned all about coffee picking a production, and in the end were given more free coffee, and the option to buy. Our guide even said, ´´if you want some unground coffee, just tell the boys, and they won´t grind your before they put it in a bag.´´ It was a fully functioning production plant of some of [View Full Entry]

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Hello everyone! I´m sitting in an internet cafe connected to my hotel that offers free coffee, though they charge for donuts. We´re in the coffee capital of Guatemala, Coban. I hope to pickup a pound of first class coffee for three dollars tomorrow, come over for a brew! We´ve had ups and downs again while we have been traveling these few days. We left the little town of Panajachel for one that was supposedly less touristy. There we were followed around by a ¨greeter¨ who helped us ¨find¨ a hotel (for which he was paid a commission, thus raising our [View Full Entry]

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"Don't tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big GOD is." - A plaque on our Chicken Bus to Pana Jachel Dear Friends, First let me say, I have just read through countless responses from you all and they warm my heart. I feel priveledged to have so many people who care about me. That being said, I just had a skeptical lunch and might soon need someone to care for me. Hours after my last letter, which I must admit, must surely have been as borig as could be, adventure hit me "en rapido." We [View Full Entry]

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Dear Friends, I´ve arrived in Guatemala safe and sound. I´m living with Lizzie (my traveling companion)´s homestay family from the last time she was here. Our trip has just begun, and it has so far been uneventful. We arrived in Quetzaltenango (Xela) after 8 hours of air and bus travel. Our stay in Guatemala City was short, as we caught the 8:30 bus to Xela, despite being ripped of by the cab driver onthe way to the station. However, without a real point of reference for prices here, this is to be expected. After arriving, we met the family, and spent [View Full Entry]

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Dear Friends and Family, I'm on the road again. First let me preface: if you are receiving this in error or simply do not want my traveling spam, please tell me. I'm more than happy to remove you from my list. That being said... Hello my loyal friends and family! I'm on the road again. Some of you recieving this letter may not have heard from me since I arrived home from the far east a year and a half ago. Perhaps those among you are surprised I would ever think to leave the soil of my dear homeland again. Some [View Full Entry]

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