Central America #5

I never completed the Central America blog, so I'll write up a summery of what it took to return to California on schedule.

Nico and I partied hardy a little too late the night before our departure back to the mainland and we missed the 6:40am ferry that we needed to catch to get to the airport on time. Obviously, this was a problem.

After an hour of asking around, we found a travel center that had a charter plane service to La Ceiba, the port town we were being ferried to, and where we needed to catch our bus back to Copan. This cost me $150, but turned out to be one of the coolest experiences we had. Not only did we get to fly over Utila and see the Caribbean from the air, but the pilot let me fly the plane most of the way there! Pictures are available on facebook.

Once we got to La Ceiba, we missed the bus by 15 minutes and had to wait 4 hours in the terminal for the next one. This was awful, and marked the beginning of the worst part of the trip.

After the 12ish hour bus ride back to Copan, we caught a scooter-turned-cart/taxi to a hotel where we slept for about 6 hours, then got up to catch a van across the boarder to Guatemala. What followed, was about 16 hours of transferring between vans, traveling between the small towns that pepper the otherwise breathtakingly lush, green, mountainous terrain that is most of Guatemala. One van started with about 10 people (full), then began picking up passengers on their way. Every time they stopped, I was frozen in awe as they found a way to fit the new passengers into the cramped vehicle. This van was made for 11, but by the time we offloaded, it had exactly 28 adults, 3 children, and 2 babies on board, totaling 33 people.

33 people in a van made for 11, they were literally hanging out the windows and open sliding door to make room. It was nuts.

Anyway, after our 36-hour mad dash across 2 countries, and a 7(?) hour flight back to LAX, I was so happy to see the US again, I could have cried. Everything was huge, metal, and labeled with ridiculously large signs. Plus, I could finally pull out my iPod proudly without worrying about the unwanted attention from strangers that ipods got from folks in Central America. Compact Disk players are still pretty tech out there.

We ate at an overpriced Mac Donalds at LAX that tasted better than fast food ever had before. Then, having missed our flight back to San Francisco, we asked the Virgin Airlines guys if we could get on the next flight out, possibly at a discount. The guy gave us both free tickets for the next flight out and in the process, won Virgin 2 customers for life, and completing our journey home to what seemed like the greatest place on earth.

Photos of the trip are available on my facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Fritz_Huie/547943243

Fritz

Central America #4

From: 12/2/07

I haven't posted a blog in a couple days because the plan has deviated wildly from it's initial course, and therefor been chaotic. Saturday afternoon, Nico and I decided to head to Utila, an English speaking island off the coast of Honduras. Famous for it's reefs, it boasts some of the best and cheapest scuba diving in existence. Nico and I had every intention of diving, but Nico came down with Tonsillitis and they won't let me dive until I have my asthma tested further. That being the case, we'll stick to snorkeling in the shallow reefs around the island. It's not as good as diving, but it will be lots of fun, more relaxing, and about $450 cheaper total.

Besides is famous diving, the island of Utila is notorious for making people "miss" their planes home. Nearly everyone who works here has the same story. "I came for a 2 week vacation, it became a 2 year vacation." And I can see why. I'm going to have to drag Nico by her kicking feet to get her to leave this paradise. I can't deny that the temptation exists to get a bar tending job and stay here longer with this international fun loving crowd. Jobs are easy to get, and no one cares about Visas. It really is a community you can join anytime, hassle free. Did I mention there are no police here? That's right. The only security force I've spotted on the island is at the bank. And that's a plump, jolly private security officer with a holstered revolver. To put that into perspective, there's less security at the bank here then at corner stores in the mainland. Maybe that's because there's no where to run on this tiny island.

For you motorcycle lovers, this place would be incredible. Everyone rides a motorcycle or scooter. And I mean everyone. I realized this when I spotted a girl who could have been no older then 12 or 13, in fully fashion-conscience teenage garb, carrying her friend on the back of her scooter, tearing down a street past pedestrians. Old, young, man, woman and child all ride motorcycles or scooters. Entire families pack onto motorcycles to get around the island. The most people I've seen on a motorcycle is 5: Dad driving, mom clutching a baby and 2 kids piled on behind and between them. Now that's fuel efficiency.

The nightlife here is amazing too. Last night I met an Israeli man in his 20s with whom I discussed political philosophy over drinks at a bar that is quite literally in a tree house called Treetanic. There are so many bars, each one packed to the walls most nights. And despite food being more expensive here than elsewhere in Honduras, alcohol is the same low price. I get the feeling it's because the local government doesn't tax and fee the crap out of bars like they do in the states. The most expensive drink I purchased the whole trip was a pina colada for about $2.

On a side note, I've also become totally enamored with the Brits we've met. They're super nice, wicked smart travelers, who just love to chat it up. Nico and I did narrowly avoid something disturbing though.

The Brits who were going to follow us from San Pedro to Tela (a costal city where we stayed for a night) happen to show up at their hotel one morning to find a police officer standing near the body of the young man who worked the front counter. He had been shot several times. The officer suggested that the Brits leave for an hour or so while the police clean up. Apparently it happened right before the brits returned, a snuff job or personal vendetta, the police said. This was an important detail to those of us who fear random acts of violence in an unfamiliar country. So they got to see a dead body, we got to miss it. The worst part of the story was that the woman who worked/lived at the hotel witnessed the whole thing, and needed to mop up the blood before her hands could stop shaking. It was very heartbreaking to hear about when we met up in Utila. Woah.

Anyway, that's pretty much the gist of what's been going on, email me if you have any questions or want pictures of anything specific.

Last note: There's a lot of this one type of spider here; yellow and black, about 3 inches long, and looks deadly as hell. If someone could google those facts and let me know what it's called and if they are dangerous, I would really appreciate it.

There's a colony of them in a public garden nearby. It's this large area of plants covered in a communal spiderweb with those black and yellow horrors evenly spaced through it. Running through that would be straight out of Indiana Jones.

And with that, I'm off to take a shower. <3

Take eh eezy mon,
Fritz

*Note: Turns out, those yellow and black horrors are banana spiders, a harmless, and very common spider in Central America and the Caribbean. Thanks, dad.

Central America #3

From: 11/29/07

Last night was salsa night at Via Via.

A salsa teacher from Antigua teaches salsa and leads a salsa party every Wednesday. So we danced and danced and danced while drinking (You alcoholics will love this) <$1 cocktails. During the party, I danced with a girl named Audrey. Unlike me, she really knew what she was doing and we ended up talking for quite a while about salsa dancing. Turns out, she's a local (lives in Copan) who grew up in Nebraska then moved with her mom back to Honduras, so she spoke perfect English. I learned a lot about the history and culture of Copan and Honduras. Copan as it turns out, is not just a tourist destination, but also social hot spot for locals. It was a very fun night full of drinks, dancing, and celebration. I learned a lot about myself and Honduras. A life experience, if you will.

On a different note, today was our trip to the Copan Ruinas. Mayan ruins that date back thousands of years. Grouped with our our British friend Katie, we opted to guide ourselves through the breathtaking ruins surrounded by endless rolling green hills. I have many pictures to show everyone. Rocks piled high, crazy plants, a grasshopper with red legs and a spider that looks like it could kill you with laser eyes.

*Nerd alert* I've always known that the troll ruins in World of Warcraft were modeled from Mayan and Incan ruins, but I didn't know to what degree. They're not only modeled after the ruins physically, but culturally. The Mayans portrayed death and animal worship & metaphor in most of the carvings. They sculpted human skulls and animal representations, especially cats and monkeys, on many temples. There was an arena designed for human sacrifice and many tombs and underground networks... Oh and the ruins would make a BITCHIN' paint ball arena.

Tomorrow morning, We're leaving for San Pedro. From what Audrey and guide books told me, San Pedro is simply a financial importing hub with nearly nothing to see. It's dangerous, crowded, and (according to Audrey) devoid of culture. With this in mind, I'm very glad we stayed here in Copan an extra night and will only spend one full day in San Pedro. I'm very sad to leave this paradise, not only because this is an amazing city, but because I know we won't find anything like this again once we start dashing around taking in as many tourist destinations as possible. Leaving Copan also marks the beginning of the expensive part of our trip. We anticipate about $100 in travel expenses alone before we get back to Guatemala City to fly home.

Fritz

*Note: It's funny to reread this entry because we ended up missing a ferry and having to charter a plane for $150. My $100 estimate is hilarious to me now.

Central America #2

From: 11/27/07

So long Guatemala, hello Honduras!

We caught a shuttle at 4 am this morning and promptly left Guatemala for Honduras. On board were 11 passengers, every seat the van had room for. Nico and I met a very nice girl from Manchester and a couple from San Francisco on the van.

When we arrived in Copan, we discovered that we all had our eyes on the same hotel: ViaVia.

ViaVia is pretty much what you would call paradise. Owned by a couple of Belgian adventurers, this hotel boasts a restaurant, a full service bar, and absolutely gorgeous thatch-roof architecture and ambiance. I could go on and on about how awesome ViaVia is, but I'll post pictures when I get back instead.

After hot showers, Nico and I got dinner at a fabulous restaurant across town, then read through our options again. The plan: we're going to party with our new friends tonight, then a horseback tour through the ruins will be our day tomorrow. We also decided that this place is WAY too awesome to leave tomorrow, so we're staying for 2 or 3 days instead to take advantage or all Copan has to offer.

List of interesting things I've seen or noticed since yesterday...

• Every store with something valuable inside has a man with a loaded shotgun in front of it. They run a metal detector over you before you're allowed into the bank.
• Dispite the overall low budget, everything here is clean.
• Many, many stray dogs. They're everywhere.
• I've seen so many loaded guns today it's rediculous.
  
• A police officer on a motorcycle with another officer on the back holding an m16 cowboy style. This is something I wish I could have had a picture of, but I've refrained from taking pictures of anyone in uniform for now. I don't know how they feel about it and the last thing I want to do is piss off local militia/police.
• Sidewalks are an afterthought. They exist, but are very narrow and often just disappear.
• It's hard to tell who's a security officer and who's not. Whether or not you have a gun seems to decide your status, uniforms be damned.
• Then sun is very intense here. If it's cool outside, or even overcast, the sunlight is hot to the touch. I fell asleep on one of the hammocks in the thatched roof lounge an hour ago and when I woke up, my leg was in the sun and it's now horribly sunburned.
• Most people ride motorcycles, but helmets are optional. This is very interesting to notice on the freeway.

Anyway, that's it for now and I'm out of time at the PC cafe!

Fritz

Central America #1

To complete my exodus from the horrible, hideous beast that is myspace, I'm posting my travel blog from Central America last year. May I present my once largely unavailable travel blog:

Most of my photos from central america are available on my facebook page: www.facebook.com/people/Fritz_Huie/547943243

~Post #1~

The Trip

So getting here was no picnic, but I can't complain. When we arrived at Guatemala City Airport, Nico and I were hustled into catching a taxi to Antigua instead of taking the bus as planned. It was an extra $10, but after seeing the extremely overcrowded and filthy buses that crawl through the city, we decided that the taxi was where it's at.

The Taxi ride was like a scene out of a movie. I swear this place was set up for a montage. The first thing that I thought when we pulled out and began crossing the city is "Wow, that's a lot of barbed wire." The stuff is everywhere. Pretty much every store front or business was garnished with coils of barbed wire. I wonder if it is a theft deterrent or a relic from the years of anarchy the city suffered though 10 years ago.

Also, there are no smog laws here, use your imagination. Think black clouds. Especially buses like the one we were considering spending 2 hours on before the taxi idea came about.

Other interesting things that I saw on on the way to Antigua:

A rusty pickup truck with 6 battle-ready militia sitting in the back, cruising down the highway.
A billboard painted into a dirt cliff by the road. Yes, painted on dirt.
A whole 4-person family on a motorcycle. (No helmets, of course, tearing down the road)

So 45 minutes and $20 later, Nico and I arrived, sleepless, at Antigua. A Beautiful city with cobble stone streets and crumbling buildings and churches that must date back to at least the 1700s. We lumbered around at 9 am until we found somewhere to have breakfast. After breakfast, we agreed that we couldn't hack it any longer and took a nap. 3 hours and 2 showers later, we're updating blogs and getting ready to take in Antigua again. (Oh and about the shower; I don't want to use the word "freezing", but definition of luxury is quite different here)

Anyway, I'm out of time, so I'll wrap this up for now. We leave tomorrow morning at 4 am for Copan. I'll update then! Bye

Now that I'm here, I don't know what to say.

Hello, my name is Fritz.

Living in San Francisco and having grown up in Berkeley, CA has left me with a view of the world that both disgusts and intrigues me. I can't stop watching politics and news, and I think it's time to throw my 2 cents into the over saturated world of internet blogging. Maybe someone will even read it.

I have ideas. Few people hear them, and I hope to change that, so the following topics will be covered in later entrees.

Early/Adolescent education.

Poetry.

People that make me happy to be alive.

People that make me want to commit seppuku.

Political rantings.

Pseudo-Intellectual critique of people much smarter than myself

Civil rights issues including...

Gay rights

Women's rights

Affirmative action

The chipping away of liberties in exchange for perceived safety.

I'll rant about what's wrong, give my suggestions, and ask for feedback.

Original, I know.

Fritz