Boots and Chopper

Ok ok, it´s official...we are horrible bloggers! Two weeks have gone by since we started our traveling side of our trip and I¨m going to attempt to summarize it a bit. SO...after we were both deathly ill for 2 consecutive days (see the previous entry) we took a chance, hopped on a bus and headed to Rio Dulce. This proved to be a bit of a challenge for me - won´t go into too much detail, but I did ruin a good pair of drawers... This area of the country is great. Rio Dulce and Livingston have a carrribean vibe, which is incredibly distinct from the rest of the country. Everyone speaks jive talk and it takes you a while to realize it´s English. We were incredibly relieved to be out of the rain and into ... read more

Good news... Scott and I have decided to put the past behind us and establish a new friendship. our blossoming relationship has made my arrival/departure a much more enjoyable experience, thank goodness. I guess you can call it "tough love".... read more

soo... the family we are staying with has a dog named scott. He hates me. I mean hate as in he would take a limb if we were left together in the same room for too long. Sometimes I fear for my life when we are forced to pass by him in the morning and return at night. If it weren´t for Megan, I would not be sitting here writing this email. She has become my protector/guardian/human shield while crossing the territorial boundary of Scott´s living space. I hope Scott will eventually warm up to me, but not counting on it. What kind of name is Scott for a dog anyway?? Just another obstacle in yet another crazy adventure! With love and caution, Boots ... read more

So, of course, we ditched the last hour of class on friday and decided to head to the picturesque town of Antigua for our first weekend away from our new home. This was our first experience on a "chicken bus" and probably the longest 4 hours of my life. My arms are still a little sore from the constant gripping of the seat ahead of me all while attempting to cram 4 people into a 2 person seat. Absolute chaos... it was great! The whole experience seemed a little surreal being that we were the only "gringos" who were crazy enough to take the bus. Talk about being completely out of our element. Antigua was beautiful! Cobblestone streets with charming little boutiques and cafes all over the place. There was a lot of tourism compared ... read more

Llegamos! Estamos en Xela. And we´re back to toilets that don´t flush toilet paper, electric showers, people constantly bugging you to buy something, dark alleys with a surplus of stray dogs, and hot, sweaty buses!! (And we´re somehow both enchanted by this?!) We really arrived with little to no trouble, in fact, it was almost too easy (knock on wood)! The first bit of anxiety came with knowing we had to pass through Mexico City which is the center of the swine flu AND they had had an earthquake the morning we were getting ready to leave! What next, right? But, since we´re both such intelligent girls, we stopped at Walgreens before heading to the airport and picked ourselves up a couple of medical face masks, which we found to fit in quite well in the ... read more