Trasnad

Tino Sunday, July 24, 2011 So I’m stuck in the brewery and hotel with a broken down motorcycle. Again, not the worst place to be stuck, but I will want to leave. The brewery really is in the middle of nowhere. But the little dirt road that leads to the brewery passes a little shack of a house. Outside the house always sits a man smoking cigarettes. On the other side of the road from his house he has a small junkyard of motorcycles which sit in front of a backdrop of green mountains adorned with clouds. In one glace I can see that he doesn’t have the parts I need for my motorcycle, but if he is a mechanic and is quite cleaver, maybe he can fabricate what I need. At 7:30 am Sunday morning, ... read more

I didn't know exactly where the brewery was. My Lonely Planet book said that it was on the west side of Lake Yojoa near Peña Blanca. A lot of good that discription was, Peña Blanca wasn't even on my map. I pulled off the highway at what looked like the small road that went around the lake and proceeded to look for a sign that said D & D Brewery and Hotel. What a stupid name for a place in Honduras, I thought. How will I even ask directions to this place? Eventually, as the road seemed to be going away from the lake, I pulled off at a gas station to ask directions. I envisioned myself sitting on a deck overlooking the lake drinking micro-brews while seeing the mountains of the cloud forest in the ... read more

It’s okay, I have an airbag, a gun, and a 40 cent benediction from the Black Christ January 8-10 2010 When I was young, my mom always wanted me to wear a red flashing light when I was bicycling at night. I thought this was dumb, and I told my mother that the cars have head lights to see me with. It wasn’t until I was older and started driving that I realized that objects could blend in at night and were hard to see. I guess this is a wisdom that comes with age and experience. Through our experiences we become cognizant of the dangers and act more prudently. Well I’m 30 now; that should make me old enough to be somewhat wise but young enough to still do dumb things. But these guys… they ... read more

Other People’s Stories #1 Written Saturday November 7, 2009 Before I left for Guatemala, one of the ideas I had was to everyday write down the tale of someone I met that day. It wasn’t important whether the person was Guatemalan, a traveler, or a person I met in some other way. All that was important was that they had an interesting life story. Well, I had forgotten about this idea for a long while—until now. About a month ago I made a friend at my school, Jason. We had a mutual interest in motorcycles and dreams of riding down the Central American isthmus. Today was my friend’s last day in Xela, and before putting him, his suitcase, and large backpack on the back of a small 125cc motorcycle (basically a mountain bike with a small ... read more

The Death of Lake Atitlan I recently watched the new Star Trek movie; in this movie, a young Dr. Spock watches as his planet is completely destroyed. But this theme of planets being completely destroyed is not new to Star Trek (or Star Wars); no, this is a reoccurring theme in many of the series’ episodes. One species of beings decides that it wants to completely destroy the planet and home of another species. As a kid, I enjoyed watching Star Trek and felt challenged by its themes. In one episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” Capitan Picard discovers the one weakness of an almost all-powerful race of beings whose only objective and mission is to destroy through assimilation all other beings in the universe. Through his knowledge of this one weakness, Picard has to ... read more

I Wish I Had another Plastic Chair I wish I had another plastic chair. Eight people live in my house, and our house has a total of four chairs and I think four stools. If you do the math that means that we have enough seating for everyone in our house. But here is the problem: I don’t like sitting on the stools; they are just not comfortable. And…those chairs and stools are spread out all over the house. One of the chairs is mine—I am sitting in it right now, it is my desk chair in my room. Another chair is in Andrea’s room; she sits in it when she works at her computer. That leaves two chairs to be divided between the kitchen/dining room and the patio (and of course the four stools, but ... read more

My New Best Friend; or The Sexuality of Loneliness; or Mom & Dad; or Sarita; or Salsa Rosa; or Adventures in San Pedro; or Volcán Santa María and the Mirador So, I have seven ideas for blogs; above are the titles. Some of them, such as “Adventures in San Pedro” “Salsa Rosa” or “Volcán Santa María and the Mirador” would mostly recount activities and events. “The Sexuality of Loneliness,” which will probably never get written, would mostly recount they ways in which I see intercultural relationships manifesting themselves and the consequences of them. “Sarita” would reflect on how United States’ culture has sadly permeated the world, but how this also sometimes brings me comfort and joy. “My New Best Friend” would address the ways in which friendships are formed in the transient life of world travelers. ... read more