This weekend we will travel to Washington, D.C. to visit Tori's family and procure visas. We've figured out our route across the country and are trying to meet up with friends and family when possible and camp out for the rest of the nights. Right now we're looking at the last month of work before we quit our jobs, move out of our apartment, and hit the trail. Expect more updates in the future, particularly once we actually leave. EDIT: Please use http://stewandtorisexcellentadventure.blogspot.com/ for future posts. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Guatemala: We ported in Puerto Quetzal, but the town sucked and so did San Jose which is the nearest “city,” so we immediately headed to Antigua, which was gorgeous. Our van driver stopped and picked up his wife along the way, apparently to have a vacation in Antigua or go to a bigger market or something. Lots of cab drivers picked up family members, which I thought was kind of interesting. Anyway, Antigua is an old city with colonial architecture and cobblestone streets. We tried to get a flight from nearby Guatemala City to the Mayan ruins of Tikal (In Star [View Full Entry]

---

---

Nicaragua: Ok, it’s been a really long time since I’ve updated my blog because we only had one day in between each country for the last three, which has given me no free time and lots of exhaustion. Anyway, here is Nicaragua: The first day we went to the small city of Leon which is the stronghold of Daniel Ortega because it is very poor and has been ravaged by war and natural disasters, never fully recovering. We stayed at Big Foot Hostel on the recommendation of Seth’s sister who spent last semester in Nicaragua working at a women’s health clinic. [View Full Entry]

---

---

This entry was written weeks ago but I haven't had time to update and the site was down. Anyway, here you go. I'm posting Nicaragua and Guatemala at the same time. We left Costa Rica last night and will be in Nicaragua tomorrow. Unlike every other country, we only had 4 days in Costa Rica, which was a bummer because of how sweet it is there. After 5 countries of running around like chickens with our heads cut off, we decided to take it a little bit easier and finally relax. Seth’s girlfriend on the ship, Kristen, had some friends who [View Full Entry]

---

---

The first day in Chile I went on a wine tour at Veramonte and Casablanca Vineyards, both of which were amazing. All of the wine was very inexpensive and delicious, living up to their reputation. We had lunch at this tiny horse ranch where they served us pisco sours and a spectacular feast. That night we went to a salsa club with some Chilean students where I failed to learn how to dance, once again. I guess I’m stuck with the moves my dad taught me…it seems to be enough. The next day Seth woke me up very early to go [View Full Entry]

---

---

The first day in Chile I went on a wine tour at Veramonte and Casablanca Vineyards, both of which were amazing. All of the wine was very inexpensive and delicious, living up to their reputation. We had lunch at this tiny horse ranch where they served us pisco sours and a spectacular feast. That night we went to a salsa club with some Chilean students where I failed to learn how to dance, once again. I guess I’m stuck with the moves my dad taught me…it seems to be enough. The next day Seth woke me up very early to go [View Full Entry]

---

---

Ecuador is the greatest country in the world. I had an amazing time in Guayaquil (the port where we anchored) and in the Galapagos (a two hour flight away). The first day in Guayaquil we pretty much just wandered around the city based on the advice of the assistant dean with who we’ve become friends. We went to an artisan’s market where I bought a bunch of paintings and some other presents for you all (Shannon and Dad: I got you fucking amazing birthday presents, so get stoked). I also got this sweet Ecuadorian style linen shirt that is super light [View Full Entry]

---

---

Quick update: today was Neptune Day which means we passed the Equator and are now in the Southern Hemisphere. There is a ceremony for the holiday with a bunch of people painted and dressed up running around playing drums and chanting music. Dean David made a bunch of jokes and read some ceremonial speech and then all of the “pollywags” became initiated as sea-worthy by dumping this gross liquid (made from all the rotten food from the last 2 weeks) on our heads and then we got thrown in the pool, had to kiss a dead fish, and got our heads [View Full Entry]

---

---

Panama City: The first day in Panama City was Seth’s roommate’s birthday, and I guess this is an appropriate time for me to point out that Seth and I are not in fact roommates. Anyway, it’s Joe’s 23rd birthday. The way the port works in Panama City is that you anchor off the coast and have to take life boats in whenever you want to get off the ship. When we were trying to get off, the waves were huge and it was incredibly difficult to get to shore, so we had to wait 5 or 6 hours, which sucked. Once [View Full Entry]

---

---

Alright I wrote that in a rush and realized that I forgot a lot of important stuff and just wrote skin deep about the experience and some about bars. My bad, its just that the nightlife is the most famous part of Acapulco. Here are a couple of good stories. We watched the US mexico football (soccer to all yall back in the states) at a bar (there arent really restuarnts, just bars) on sunday which was lot of fun. When mexico scored the first goal, confetti blew up all over the place and everyone went wild. fog horns blew and [View Full Entry]

---

---