Around Arequipa

hey there, troops

well I just got back from Areaquipa today on a two day excursion to see Colca Canyon and the condors that hang around these high altitudes. I am feeling much better and my cold is history. Just in time to get back on a bus and head to Cusco. This time I think Ill be a little bit more prepared and bring more than just my rain jacket.

The four hour bus ride started in Arequipa at an altitude of (2,300 m) and peaked at a place called Pata Pampas (5,000 m) which means high flatland. At the Pata Pampas were rows and rows rocks stacked on top of rocks. Our guide told us that if you created a stack of rocks then a deam of yours would come true. Pretty interesting sight to see.

Our tour had many different stops including one with a very friendly llama which I will call Ajax. Ajax was not the least bit shy and ate some Coca leaves right out of my hand. Good boy...

We arrived in Chivay (3,600 m) just in time for lunch and a hike through the mountains before heading to the thermal springs. The sign at the city claimed the hot springs were only 3km but 3k doesnt take over an hour to walk. oh well, it was worth it to soak our muscles in the warm 80 degree water for an hour. After the hot springs our group of 15 went to a restaurant to enjoy the sounds and views of some traditional Peruvian folk dancing. The music sounded very similar to the likes of my buddies band. Andres and Mariano are two guys from Argentina that played in a band called Surcos and performed traditional folk music from South America. The music sounded a little like home, i guess. But the highlight of the night (for me at least) was when one of our group members ordered cuy. Cuy is Spanish for Guinea Pig. The guy was eating my childhood pet. I am scarred for life.

ok...its getting late. im getting tired. ill try to finish this thrilling and adventurous story later.

Greetings from Arequipa, Peru!

Hey There Troops...

The past coupla days have been alright. Im recovering from my cold and have been takin things a little slower than my normal pace.

Arequipa is known as "La Ciudad Blanca" or The White City because nearly all of the buildings here are made from a white volcanic rick sillar. This rock has been used in the construction off all the major churches and colonial houses. The main square as well as the Santa Catalina Monastery are wonderful works of art that have used this stone in its construction.

The first day I was here was more of a day to recuperate from the long bus ride and orient myself. The second day was much more productive. I visited three different places and was very impressed with all three for different reasons.

Santa Catalina Monastery is a work of art. The planning that was necessary to build this splendid example of colonial architecture would have been extraordinary, especially since this city within a city is nearly 450 years old. Think about the project management necessary for a project of this size. Dr. Duffner would have been proud. For nearly 400 years the nuns within the monastery were secluded from the outside world. The nuns spent their entire lives from the age of 16 behind these walls in a 2ha town. They were permitted to speak with their family once a month through dimly lit confessional type rooms and were not allowed to have any type of vanity objects...that included mirrors, bracelets, earrings, or rings. I have always wondered what it would be like to live 200 or 300 years ago. Were the people better or worse off then they are now? Hmmmm....Deep Thoughts. I learned quite a bit from this tour and got to hang out with my tour guide later that evening. Mariela was a pretty cool cat. Another interesting item to note was the extensive painting collection the Monestary had. These paintings were the first record of the blending of mestizo and Spanish style of art. Since none of the natives could speak Spanish with the Spainards came the priests and leaders used art as a form of evangelization.

After spending two hours or so at Santa Catalina I decided to visit the Museo Santuarios Andinos. This was a very impressive museum because it is the only museum in the world that has Inca offerings to the Gods on exhibit. These artifacts, like many important cultural artifacts, were stumbled upon by accident. The main prize of the museum was an exhibition of a frozen 500 year old mummy that the Incas used as a ritual sacrifice to appease the Gods. What makes this so interesting is how well the body is preserved. All the hair on the 12 or 13 year old girl has been preserved. Her sandals, the blanket she used, even the paint on her fingernails survived all this time.

I spent an hour at the Museo Santuarios Andinos before heading about the Plaza de Armas. Plaza de Armas is just another name for the area of town that has the cathedral...its kinda like the main square where there is a fountain, pigeons, and park benches. Near Plaza de Armas was La Compañìa de Jesùs. The church and its coisters have very significant cultural and architectonic value. This picture shows the arches that were developed in the 17th century. The carvings into the sillar stone in the picture you see represent the cycle of life. The bottom of the pillar shows life beginning in the womb and ending at the top of the pillar. Pretty amazing how something created so long ago can still have significance today.

ok...tomorrow is a big day. Im heading to Cola Canyon, which is 3400 meters deep and is surrounded by Andean plains and snow-capped peaks. Im excited at the chance to see South American Condor. More adventures. After that I am heading to Cusco and gonna do the Inca Trail. Ohhhh Boy!

laters...jp

If I were Superman then buses would be my kryptonite

i am sick today.

Touring the Nasca lines yesterday kinda set me up for sickness that would follow later in the evening. The small plane that we used to tour the lines had just enough room for six people and was pretty agile. So agile in fact that all the steep turns to view the Nasca lines made me sweat bullets and made me sick to my stomach.

To make matters worse I decided to head from Nasca to Arequipa that night in a freezer. Just a quick eight hour bus ride. Make that a 10 hour bus ride through the winding canyons. The extra time was due to the fact that sand dunes were blowing across the highway near the ocean and the sharp switchbacks in the canyons made going very slow.

What made me sick was all the time in the cold bus with nothing but a light rain jacket, two shirts and my pants to keep me warm. Next time im bringing my sleeping bag.

Today to recuperate from the plane ride and the refrigerated bus ride. I slept and slept.

Tomorrow I hope to be a little more adventurous...

catch ya all on the flip side

jp

Nasca Lines, Islas Ballestas, and a Desert Adventure

The Mysterious Nasca Lines
Today I took a tour of the mysterious Nasca lines. The flight over the lines was at 9am and I am still having a Nasca lines hangover from the very small airplane and very tight turns that we did during the 30 minute flight.




Desert Adventures
My buddy Pierre introduced my to his buddy named Pepe. Pepe is also an archaeologist and he took me on a 4x4 adventure through the Peruvian desert. The first thing we looked at was a old pre Inca settlement that was buried into the side of a hill. You could see different levels of the pueblo based on their location and the thatch roofs that were sticking out of the soft soil. I have a really funny story...well, its funny after the fact, but you will hafta email me for it cause I dont want my Mom to get worried.


Climbing a sand dune in Huacachina.
Huacachina is a small city outside of Ica, Peru and is surrounded by sand dunes. And Im not talking about a little sandcastle or a pile of sand used by construction workers. This thing is HUGE! The dune was approximately 800 feet tall. Actually, I dont know how tall it really is...All i know is that it was a struggle getting up it. After climbing one of these sand dunes I have come to realize that to me sand dunes are kinda like the ocean: more fun to look at than to actually be in. You have no reference point when climbing up a sand dune and I thought I could climb this thing in ten minutes. Sorry, Charlie...About half an hour later I finally reached the top. What a great view from the top, everything looked incredibly small and the only thing you could hear was the wind whipping over the top of the dune and yourself panting from the hard climb. The climb was a mixture of frustration, exertion and elation. I should of brought some sand shoes to distribute my weight a little bit better. My Keen sandals only collected the sand. Once you step in the soft sand you sink down into it. Sand dunes are kinda like the Paula Abdul song "Two steps forward, one step back" sinking in the sand while climbing up this thing was not my idea of a great time but it was worth it when I finally reached the top. I raised the roof when I got up there, caught my breath, took some pics, and then went back down.


The Ballestas Islands
I really have never seen a sea lion, a penguin, or lots of other animals in their natural habitat. Now I had the chance. Very nice. Ill write more on this later



Paracas National Reserve
The Paracas National Reserve is a section on the coast of Pisco, Peru. Once I arrived in Paracas I reserved a spot to see this strange land. Paracas in the Pre-Inca language means sandstorm. This place in Jan, Feb, and March has are terrible sandstorms that can last days.

On the Road Again

Today I am traveling to Paracas, Peru and then on to Ica for a little sandboard and maybe a trip to the desert.

let the fun begin!

jp

Adventures in Peru

Today was a pretty cool day...

What did I do? Well, let's see.

I went to the downtown and saw the Lima Royal Guard change posts outside the Governor's Palace. Very interesting and similar to the Royal Guard in England.

I took a tour of the catacombs of the San Francisco Church and saw the tomb of 25 thousand people. Kinda spooky to see all the bones layed out methodically. There were special places for only femurs, tibias, hip bones and skulls. The catacombs were very elaborate and extensive. The catacombs were also designed for people under six feet tall.

Today was the last day that Peruvians were celebrating the celebrating El Senor de los Milagros. A parade with four or five thousand people following a 1.5 ton object holding a painting of El Senor is quite a site. Very powerful to see that many people with such devotion.

I also met up with a friend of a friend of a friend who took me to eat some delicious street meat and gave me a tour of Miraflores and his house. Pierre is one of those guys who does not have a TV and is teeming with creativity and great anecdotes. Pierre is a real life Indiana Jones. No joke. Actually, he makes Indiana Jones look like a Cub Scout. Pierre is an archaeologist who is a learner and loves to do everything with his hands. I asked him why he likes to do everything by hand and he said "I like to think 'if someone can do it, maybe I can do it better.'" There should be more guys like Pierre. I would like to thank Natalie for introducing me to such a great guy. Thanks Natalie!
The foto you see here is when we went to a part of Miraflores where the competition for business is fierce. I have never felt so much attention and pressure to go to restaurants. We settled into a place that had a litre of beer for three bucks. But it wasn't the beer that made up our minds, it was the inspiration of the bar that drew us. And by inspiration I mean...well, you can figure that one out.

im tired. nite nite

james

Greetings from Lima!

Well I made it here in one piece and used today to get my energy back.

Customs was a mess in the Lima International Airport. Seven planes all landed within the same hour so we all got to spend an hour and a half waiting in line to get our passport stamped. Didnt get a warm fuzzy from that.

I arrived at the hostel at around 2am and went to bed. Woke up at 12pm and had a little breakfast and the hostel owner gave me a map of the city and some ideas about where to go and what to avoid. After that he invited the other hostel guest and I to eat lunch with his family. Frances is the hostel owner and he is a very nice guy.

Im tired, again...

drop me a comment and have a great day!

james

Its a small world after all...part 2

Yesterday was a very long day. Two days with about six hours of sleep here and there makes James one tired guy.

however...before i head off to bed again I have a little experience I thought I would share.

Working as the clubbie at Rosenblatt Stadium gave me the chance to meet even more people. Every series my buddy T.O. and I worked gave us a chance to meet around 30 new fellas, hear some pretty funny stories, and watch a little baseball in the process. It's a great job if you like baseball.

Yesterday was one of those days where I met one of those fellas, again.

I was sitting down in the Panama City airport and writing in my journal. I was feeling the effects of not sleeping too much when I saw this guy, I took a double take and then looked again. I waited a little bit and just walked over to where he was at and said "You play baseball, right?" and he was like "Yea, I thought you looked familiar?" Yamid Hadd was a catcher for the Fresno Grizzlies and I met him back in June. Now I met him again...in an airport in Panama City.

This trip just keeps on getting weirder and weirder.

jp

More Exciting News from Mexico City

today was a great day!

I love museums...so much to see and so much to learn. Today I took a short seven hour tour of the National Museum of Anthropology. This museum showed in amazing detail the evolution of man in Mexico. It showed everything from the importance of family, food, commerce and trade, to ceremonial head dresses and much much more. It really was a short seven hours because you could spend days there and not read everything they have. The museum is pretty impressive, even where there is no museum it is impressive. The massive courtyard is a great example of this because of the single structure that provides shade to a large portion of the museum.

The museum was divided in to different rooms... early mankind, preclassical, teotihuacan, tolteca, mexica, oaxaca, golfo, maya, norte, and occidente rooms. Wow, it was quite a bit of room to cover. I used a personal audio guide to help me get a better understanding of what I was seeing as well as piggy backing between Spanish and English tour groups.


After that tour I was spent. I grabbed the subway and headed back to the hostel. The thing that I noticed on the subways here is that they are very very similar to those I have been on in NYC. And here is so. In both NYC and DF you can have a car load of people and have complete silence. In both cities you have that guy who is circulating through the cars trying to sell pirated music as well as Chiclets.

My opinion of DF has changed. Most people think that this place is dirty and there are thieves licking their chops while the fresh bait comes off the train. While this city has its problems it seems like any other big city. I cant wait to come back here and spend a lot more time and explore all the museums.

I should be heading off to bed right about now...but I am afraid that if I fall asleep I will miss my flight to Lima, Peru. My flight is at 650am and Im gonna leave for the airport at about 330am. Hopefully I can meet up with my friends sister in Panama City. The ten hour layover will give me plenty to do. Especially since I forgot the combo to my lock. The lock is combination of four numbers...numbers one through 10. Ill get it by at least the 10000th try. I should write this stuff down.

See you all in Lima!

jp

Greetings from Mexico City!

Greetings from Mexico City!

This place is BIG and two or three days will not be enough to cover a smidgen of what this town has to offer.

I arrived from Cuernavaca and took the metro from the bus depot. Im pretty tall and with my backpack my clearnance is at around 7 feet. Needless to say my pack ran into a coupla things along the way. That darn backpack.

The metro here is very efficient and can take you just about anywhere for 2 pesos (around 20 cents) My stop was the Zocalo and my first view of DF was the magnificant Zocalo and the Cathredral. WOW! This place is huge. The Zocalo is a huge open area where all types of activities can take place.

The hostel location could not have been any better. Im right in the middle of the action and I am sharing a room with a guy from Alaska, a guy from England and a coupla other guys.

Today for a buck i took a tour of the Cathredral and its bell towers. Very impressive.




I also took a tour of the Palacio Nacional where Diego River created these magnificant murals depicting the history of mexico. very impressive as well.

well, my time is running short.

until next time

im jamester the gangster...

its a small world after all...its a small small world

well, this will be my last blog entry from Cuernavaca...Im gonna miss this town. Lots of good people, good times, and good stories.

Here is a great story.

I have been fortunate enough to get to travel a little bit in college and I have noticed something really strange that has happens to me.

This strange thing has occurred over and over again...Let me elaborate. I guess I really never noticed this until I started hanging out with my buddy, Jugglin Jesse. Jesse and I met while we were interns at Union Pacific way back in the summer of 2002. We both studied here in Cuernavaca albeit at different times and we have always had lots to talk about. One thing that Jesse said to me was "holy smokers, james, you sure are popular." Now I have never considered myself "popular" in the high schooler sense and i was never in "that group" in high school to be considered popular. I was more of the guy who was on the fringe of every group but never a card carrying member of that group. The reason Jesse said that was because every time we would go out I would run into people I knew. And it really never mattered where we went.

For example, Jesse and I were going to a juggling convention in Minnesota last year and we had a traffic accident in the middle of Iowa. Our car slid off the road and into about three feet of snow. The State Patrol picked us up and took us to a motel. The next day we got the car pulled outta the ditch and we drove to the Stuart Iowa Subway. While we were cleaning out the snow from the engine I see this girl that I knew that played basketball at UNO. Kinda weird...

Another example...I was walking my unicycle through Times Square last year and run into this girl from the Department of IS&T. I have been in bars in Chicago and have heard "JP!" and ran into friends of mine. kinda weird...When my brother and I went to South Beach for Spring Break last year I ran into four guys I had played baseball with while I was riding my unicycle along A1A. My buddy Rafal and I ran into some people that I knew when we went to Chicago for Memorial Day. No matter where I have traveled I have run into people I know.

This has been happening quite a bit...

And guess what...

I was walking down the street from my house yesterday, just minding my own business as a car passes. I hear the car stop and see the reverse lights follow me for about two hundred feet. I looked at the car and thought it was someone who needed directions. But then I thought "Why would anybody want to ask a gringo for directions." My deep thoughts were interrupted by a guy who said "Excuse me, but aren't you from Omaha?" Then I thought, "Now that's weird, he's speaking English." I then took a double take and realized it was my buddy Oscar from Omaha! Oscar played in a band called Surcos with two of my Argentinian buddies, Andres and Mariano. I gave the guy a hug and couldn't believe that I ran into someone that I knew from home. My buddy Jesse would be like "Yup, that's James...James runs into everybody and it don't matter where he's at."

Now THAT is weird.

Its too bad that I ran into Oscar on the second to last day here in Cuernavaca. Its always so much better when you run into people you know on a trip because there is someone you may be able to talk to or hang out with.

I don't know if all the people I run into is luck or coincidence or something else. I do know that it is a great feeling when you do run into someone you know.

ok...its gettin late and im gonna grab a beer tonight. Tomorrow Im heading to Mexico City before I head to Lima on Wednesday.

This is gonna be one helluva trip!

Adventure Awaits!

jp

im a movie star, baby

there was a film crew at the school taping a promotion video and i was in it...

movie star. yea, baby...yet another item has been crossed off my list.

im sick of something...

bla...

My breakfasts here usually consists of fresh fruit, quesadillas or eggs, juice and a little coffee. By the time i get home from class at 2pm i am starvin like marvin.

Today was one of those days. Excitement filled because I arrived home to the smell of steak in the house and it was just about ready. My excitement turned sour after the first bite. Liver. I have never been a fan of liver and never will be. The last time I ate this stuff was way back when and I didn't like it then either.

Spicy salsa was the only alternative to hide the foul flavor of the liver, but then got the hiccups because my body wasn't ready for the spicy green salsa.

To make matters worse I had to leave early from volunteering because my stomach was not feeling well.

- - - liver - - - never again.

monday night adventures down here in Mexico

Ok...im on a break from classes and thought I would write a little bit about going out to the bars in Cuernavaca on a Monday night.

My host family has been inviting students to stay at their house for prolly about 15 years...oh, there is the bell

until next time

k, im back.
My host family has been inviting students finto their house for about 15 years. There are a few they remember because the student really made an impression with a gift or an action or by the way they look. Well, Monday was a day when one of those students was in the country and passed through Cuernavaca to say hello. Now If every person in the world has a twin, then Zac is a guy who could pass as the twin bro of Leonardo DiCaprio. well, more of a mix between Leo and Paul Walker (from the Fast n Furious) Zac had lived with the family way back in 1998 for the summer. He was traveling to Mexico City on business and dropped in with a nice cake and had dinner with the fam. I was very impressed with Zac's Spanish. He spoke very well. We all ate and talked about all types of things for about an hour. Zac was heading back to San Antonio the next day and wanted to grab a drink before he headed back to his hotel. My Mexican brother had to work the next day and I didnt want to leave Zac just hanging. so we headed downtown for just for one beer. just one beer. famous last words.

Cuernavaca does not really have a happening spot on Monday nights, but we went to La Plazuela to see what was out there. Nobody was there. but there was one two piece band playing at one of the bars so we sat down to enjoy some songs that we dont know the words to. There we two Chilangas (girls from DF) who were outside and we started talking them. I used some of my selective bilingualism as a way to get in. normally im a pretty shy guy when it comes to the ladytypes or anybody else but i made it one of my goals to not be afraid to walk up to strangers and start talkin to them. I look at it as if it is my job: when ya gotta do a job, you put your doubts aside and get it done. and it works. The girls invited us to sit down and we were in like flyn. This was good practice for me...the more ya practice your spanish the better you get, especially after four beers. However, the girl Zac was talking to mentioned the word "boyfriend." Zac and I instantly became Peanuts characters listening to the teacher give instructions. After "boyfriend," it was like "wah wah wah wam...wah wah wah wam." we looked at our watches and decided it was time to split.

Before we went home we stopped at La Gringa for tacos al pastor...tacos at 130 am on a tuesday morning never tasted so good.

Week Five Update

hey there, another long update from jp

big weekend ahead here in C-town...

Vamos!
This was the week I started volunteering after my classes. My typical day starts where I wake up at 730 and eat a little breakfast before i goto class from 8 until 2pm. My family prepares a wonderful meal that is ready to go at 215ish. At about 245 i settle down for a nice two hour nap. ahhhh, nappy nappy... after that I do some homework and then maybe go out for a soda or something. But this schedule was boring the heck outta me because i had too much free time. Too much free time means i really don't get anything done...you know the drill. Well, this week i decided to add an activity to my schedule that allowed me to use my Spanish as well as give a helping hand. Vamos is the name of the organization I am volunteering for. It is an organization run solely on private donations and its goal is to educate and feed the children of street vendors in Cuernavaca as well as surrounding rural areas. Vamos provides different services for depending on the needs of the people it assists.

I am volunteering at a place called Casa Tatic, its right in the downtown area so getting there and back is not a problem. Casa Tatic is more of an after school program than anything and I have tried to help out anyway that I can. There are approximately 35 kids ranging from toddlers to 15 or 16 years old. The first hour is for the kids to complete their homework and the next hour is where we eat together. I have helped kids read, did a little coloring, did a little cleaning, and helped teach typing. These are some things that are pretty easy to do in English...but things become a little harder in Spanish, except for cleaning...you really don't need to speak Spanish to understand when someone hands you a broom. The kids are great and full of energy,sometimes too much energy, but that's just kids being kids. I'm looking forward to the upcoming week and helping out the kids.

On a funny note, Casa Tatic is a series of four houses in a row all joined together with different sized doors leading from one room to the other. The first day I hit my head twice, now all the kids giggle in anticipation when I approach the doors and tell me "No Agaches!" which means "don't duck". A few of the older kids have been bugging me to teach them some American curse words. These girls already know them and wanted my confirmation. I shrugged my shoulders and gave them a blank stare and was like "huh, sorry, never heard that one..." They then walked away and using these words like they were singing their favorite song.

Now we`re cookin!.
I have learned to make some delicious beans, guacamole, chilaquiles, picadítas, gorditas y mucho más. Yesterday I helped my host family make some guacamole. The guac my family makes is oh so delicious and I wanted to know their secret. My host mother was more than willing to give a cooking lesson. The guac we ate required some chile ceranos. The problem with these chilies is you never know if they are the spicy or not. Well, the chilies we used for this guacamole were all spicy. But that's not the funny part. The funny part was when my buddy Hector called after the meal and wanted to make plans. I was a little tired when he called and I yawned and rubbed my right eye while I was speaking to him. Note to Self: No Eye Rubbing After You Have Cut Chilies and Onions. My eye began to burn and tear instantly...After about five minutes of dousing my eye with contact lens solution I looked into the mirror and saw one eye looked great but the other was pretty bloodshot. Hector said that I looked like a stoner, but how many stoners have only one eye that is bloodshot. Live and learn. I really dont wanna describe any more cooking stories right now because i haven't ate and this is making me hungy.

Big Trip is comin up
In about 10 days I leave for Peru. The excitement and nervousness are beginning to build. I'm excited to see a different part of the world and learn all different types of new things. I'm a little nervous because I really wont have a set routine like I have had here in Cuernavaca. No host family, no private bedroom, no familiar faces. This should be good for me, though. Pushing yourself outta your comfort zone makes a person grow. I have a 10 hour layover in Panama City and hope to see the canal, maybe catch a museum or something before I head to Lima. I'm gonna try and contact my buddy Julian who has a sister that lives in Panama City. It would be cool to hang out with Geoconda, I haven't seen her in four or five years.

I plan on leaving Cuernavaca next Monday and spending the last three days in Mexico City. In DF I plan on visiting the Museum of Anthropology, the Basilica, and the American Chamber of Commerce. I was talkin with the director of the language school to see what kinda opportunities are out there for a gringo like me. My Spanish is by no means excellent, but Paco suggested I visit this place and speak with them about international job opportunities with the American companies that do business with Mexico.

Street Vendor Food Is soooo good, even though it is killing me. killing me softly.
There i go again, talkin about food...There is a little taco stand called La Gringa which serves some pretty delicious tacos al pastor. Tacos al pastor is a method of cooking taco meat where pork meat is stacked in the shape of an inverted Christmas tree. The food is quick, cheap, and very delicious. This food is even better when its 3am and you have been drinking a little bit.

Cant figure out what to buy here
With all the time I have spent down here I still have not bought very much at all. I think i have purchased a magnet and that's it. there are so many beautiful hand painted crafts here that i would like to purchase. but, I'm pretty much 100% sure something would break if i put something inside my backpack for the next six months. maybe some nice magnets to put on my fridge will work well. I also cant figure out whether I want to mail my stuff home via DHL or give them to Hector and have him mail them home when he gets to his hometown in the USA.

The world continues to turn.
oh, boy! it is so great to wake up and not be inundated by Husker coverage. In fact, I have not read a single report about the Huskers in the paper. Now, I have nothing against the Huskers and I know what it is like to be a college athlete, even though i played Div II. Those players work their tail off and hafta put up with a type of media that the only thing they know about football is that they like it. Actually, I'm glad i don't hafta hear the Voice of the Huskers, Jim Rose. Cmon! Lets bring back Gary and Kent.

trouble on the homefront?
My sister's fiance sent me an email earlier this week that has me a little bit worried. Don, is a true and through New Yorker. He has an opinion on just about everything and is more that willing to share it or some type of commentary with anyone. no really, anyone. Earlier, Don wrote to me and said that Id better get home lickity-split because my dad is gonna put my things up for sale on eBay. I initially brushed the thought aside because my Dad doesn't know how to use eBay, but then I began to think..."What if..." If anybody sees JP memorabilia on eBay, please, drop me an email.

Put your rally caps on...
Friday was a fun day because our school director invited Hector and I to a car exhibition in the south eastern portion of the city. All types of cars were there, anything from classics to rice rockets to new models.

The car show was in conjunction with a rally race that was scheduled from 10pm until 3am through the winding streets of Cuernavaca. The race when right by my front door. The rally type race is a little bit different than NASCAR because it is not entirely based on velocity. The rally cars had to pass through checkpoints at certain times and get points accordingly. Too fast or too slow will cost ya in this race. Im not exactly sure on all the rules, I just know these cars burned some rice and were not straight off the show room floor. My buddy Andy who owns a 2005 Subaru WRX STI would have been itching to enter his car into the race. I thought about renting a taxi into the rally race but changed my mind after looking at the modified cars and realized this was more of a professional sport than a cannonball run type race. oh well...at least i can still enter my unicycle into bicycle races and get the same effect.


its gettin late and im gettin hungry...have a great day and drop me an email or a comment!

jp

Happy Birthday, Ma

today is my mom's birthday!

happy birthday, mom

love, james

Comments From the Peanut Gallery 1

Alright...just a quick entry.

This week has been another blur! I cant believe that Friday is just around the corner. time sure does fly when you are havin fun.

Today was another good day because my buddy Devin and I got to cook a little bit. Today we learned a pretty easy recipe for some delicious meatballs and the salsa to cook them in. We also learned how that a blender and a pressure cooker are some of the best friends that you can have in your kitchen. My teacher Mari-Carmen explained some quick, easy, and delicious recipes that I can take with me back to the States. Im excited to cook something a little different.

I got home from the cooking class around 530 and took a nap. I slept so long that I actually missed my other nap...i hate it when that happens. So its around 830pm and i am wired! i know if i go out i will have the same experience that i had last week and hangovers are the last thing i wanna have right now.

when it rains it pours. yesterday was the first day that it rained for more than 20 minutes, it actually rained pretty hard for the entire day and night. Hurricane Stan is wreaking havoc south of where i am at. In Chiapas there are five communities completely isolated from the rest of Mexico (and from help) because all the roads have been destroyed by mudslides.

Tomorrow I am going to speak with the director of Vamos. Vamos is an organization that provides education, shelter, and work opportunities for children whose parents have abandoned them. Im not sure what i am going to be doing or what they need done, but I am excited to volunteer and use my spanish at the same time. Who knows, i may find a calling.

oh, one thing that I may not have mentioned. many of the mexicans that i have talked to cannot believe that the USA have a large homeless population. They dont understand how a country so powerful can have so many people without a home. They also dont understand how the USA could spend so much money on the war in Iraq but not promptly help its own after Hurricane Katrina. That whole thing is a pretty complicated organism that I dont have the time solve in this blog entry. perhaps next time.

its gettin late again, ladies and gents

have a great day and drop leave a comment

jp

a little bitta dis and a little bitta dat

alright, gang...

it has been a few days since my last entry so this one is gonna be a good one.

(deep breath) here goes...

the past week has been a little bit of everything. a little bit of learning, a little bit of fun, a little bit of frustration, a little bit of sickness and a little bit of health. a little bit of drinking (not a little, but a little more than a little) and a lot of good stories. this entry consists of a some short stories and some observations I have had in my short time here in mexico. i am going to extrapolate a little on some baseball metaphors and a funny little Dilbert comic strip that i saw in the paper back when i was in the states.

the language school has been great! right now there are only two students at the school and we are in different classes. Devin, aka Hector, is here until December. We hang out a little bit but we talk too much english. more to come on that later. my teachers have been very helpful and i think i am improving each day. the more i practice the more better i get.

now were cooking! the recipes that i am learning are simple, delicious, and impressive. last week i made chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, huevos a la mexicana, and picaditas. mmmmmmm, good food. when i get home im gonna cook for my friends and lady types and wow them with my delicious skills in the kitchen.

the past week has been just a blur. i stayed in for most of the week but decided to go out thursday with my buddy Hector. We went to La Plazuela and enjoyed the 2x1 priced beers (about 1.25 per 12oz beer.) La plazuela is situated between a set of buildings and has a similar feeling of Omaha´s Old Market. The pear shaped area has lots of 20 somethings, a warm atmosphere, live music, cobblestone paths, and lots of hole-in-wall bars that sell beer and beer. We enjoyed a coupla beers at one bar and then i noticed there was a open table with a group of ladytypes next to it. We quickly paid the bill and moved in. I introduced myself to the ladies and we started to chat. I think American guys or any foreigner has a better chance of meeting ladytypes because we are something this is a little bit different than the norm. But anyways, we started talking and the girls invited us to the bar next door to hear some live music. Hector decided to split because the buses were going to stop running in a coupla minutes. And then there was one. I felt the eyes of every single person on me as i entered and sat down. Not only was i about a foot and a half taller than everybody there, but i was also the only white guy in the bar. i should get a sign that says "take a picture, itll last a little longer" but it goes with being the stranger in a new place. I better get used to it on this trip. The girl I initially spoke with went to go talk with another guy so the other girls in the group of six invited me to sit down at their table and we chatted about stuff over the live music. I am a fan of live music, even if i cannot understand the words and am the only person in the bar NOT singing along with it. I now understand how my Colombian friend, Andres feels sometimes when he goes to the bar with me.

The night ended up a success because I exchanged numbers with three of the six and they invited me to Harrys on Saturday. I took a taxi home and it was all good. It was all good until I had to wake up six hours later with a little bit of a hangover. This is prolly the first time in a long while that i have had a hangover and had to go to class the following morning. not good. my teacher noticed my condition and asked me what i did last night. i told her about my adventures and she then began to tell me about her favorite drinks. please note, when i have a little bit of a hangover, alcohol is the LAST thing that i wanna speak about. my body was alternating between feeling great and feeling very hot and sweaty. not good. but i did not get sick. i politely asked if we could change the subject and the teacher did so. phewwww! that was a close one.

Saturday was a fun day. i did a little homework, walked around a little bit and prepared myself for the weekend. Hector and I went to a movie at the Cine Morelos and saw "Walk on Water" this is a foreign and was pretty good. itll be in the States in a few months, i might pick it up on DVD. After the movie we were dying for some food and headed to the McDonald's and enjoyed some great food. I even wrote a little poem while i ate, that poem is down a little bit further. Harrys is the place to be on saturday night. since Harry was going to close for remodeling the next few months the bar was packed for the last night. harrys is a pretty expensive place to be. Hector and I met up with one of the girls we met the past Thursday and decided to split after about an hour. the girls were going to move the action to a karaoke bar that was not nearly as dense as harrys was. I was glad to go. The nite ended up being a success after Hector took off. right now i am a little agitated with this fella because more than once he swoops in after i lay the foundation with the ladytypes. his is like the vulture in baseball or The Topper from Dilbert because both cause frustration.

Lemme extrapolate a little bit on this term because this is similar to experience I have had in baseball. It is called the vulture. Or a vulture-win. A vulture-win is when the starting picture comes out of the game and the reliever enters. All the reliever has to do is hold the other team and prevent them from tying the game or surrendering more runs. The reliever earns the vulture-win because he has surrendered the tying run but his team comes back to win the game. The starter does not receive the decision he deserves and the reliever gets a cheap win. the cheap win is known as the vulture-win. The starter has done all the work but doesn't get the credit he deserves...and this is very frustrating. Hector has been doing this more than a coupla times, I talk to the ladytypes but he swoops in and dominates the conversation. grrrrrrrrrr. Its a little like the baseball vulture and a little bit like The Topper in Dilbert. But when Hector left it was all good, I met a cool girl named Ive and we talked for a bit outside of the bar. Tomorrow we are gonna go grab some tacos and chat.

I arrived home at around 430 Sunday morning and slept well. At about noon i awoke and prepared for the rest of the day. I walked to Mass, hung out at the Jardin Bordin and then walked back to my house because I was gonna have coffee with a friend's host family's sister, Montse. Montse is a beautiful Mexican women with all the right proportions. Not so much as an hourglass shape, but more of a guitar shape, and its all good. We went to starbucks and chatted for over an hour. She invited me to hang out with her friends next weekend. im excited to go out with some of her friends because they do not know a single word of Spanish and i get to practice practice practice.

when Montse dropped me off i was ready for a nap. but it was very hard to sleep because there was a soccer game going on and the entire neighborhood sounded similar to Able Hall during a NU touchdown. The entire neighborhood erupted when the Mexican national futbol team won over Brasil. Mexico is very passionate about their soccer, prolly more than NU fans are addicted to the Huskers. Ear plugs solved the problem and i drifted off to sleep.

who let the doggs out. no. seriously, who let the freaking dogs out! every where you go there seems to be a dog or two in the street. now these are not your typical fluffy, lovey-dovey, come over here and give mama a smoochie type dogs. many of these dogs have no owner and roam the streets looking for food and intimidating tall gringos, such as myself. more than once i have been scared by these dogs late at night when im walking to el centro. its prolly something i gotta get used to. oh well...just dont bite me, fido.

you really dont know how tall you are until you run into things or sit down at a table and it feels like you are sitting at the kindergarten table (where your knees come up to your elbows). last saturday i went with some ladytypes to a canta-bar to do some mexican karaoke. (i didnt sing `cause there wasnt any dolly parton, thank you very much). we all walked upstairs to the bar and entered through the door except me. i more or less stumbled into the bar after hitting my head on the ceiling when i entered. I dont really feel that tall, i feel that im pretty normal...that is except when i stand next to people in fotos and dwarf them when i look at the picture . everybody is pretty normal, i guess im just pretty tall. the streets here in cuernavaca are lined with trees that are maintained well and shaped similar to a lamp shade. these are realy nice trees except for the fact that i hafta duck quite a bit when i am walking downtown. (sigh)...such is life

one thing i have noticed here is the unedited american music. the following is a entry i wrote when i was a little tipsy at a McDonald's. All the trays at the MacDeez have a piece of paper on them asking customers to write there favorite McDonald's memory. Mis mejores momentos lov viví en McDonalds...and here is what i wrote.

"My best memory was when I was in a McDonalds en Morelos, Mx. It was late at night and i was dying from some American food. Viola! There wasa MacDeez in sight and los BigMacs were on sale for only 20 pesos. mmmmmmmm...delicious food was within our reach! we sat down with our food and enjoyed a BigMac and a McPechuga McTrio Meal Deal when JaRule began playing on the restaurant sound system. Wow, there is nothing like eating a BigMac and hearing the classic JaRule tune, Murda-Murda in the cozy surrounding of McDonalds. We sat down, enjoyed our wonderful, nutritious and McDelicious meal while soading in the unedited sounds of JaRule, Shaggy and Eminem. This was my best memory of McDonalds....ps, the internal cd player kept on singing, so we never really got to hear the whole song."

chicken beer. i was in the supermercado the other day and i actually saw a brand of beer called Gallo draft. this reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where the Yankees sign a contract with Tyson Foods for a fermented drink they were going to sell at Yankee Stadium. The beer really isnt from chickens, but the can has a pretty cool picture of a hen on it.

car seats...there are very few...one thing that i have noticed is a lot of people carrying their kids on their laps when they are driving around Cuernavaca. There are little babies that are riding shotgun with their parents. its very common. Im a little shocked to see this.

oh, i am teaching my host family´s son how to juggle. He is about 10 and is really eager to learn, i am giving him lessons for about 15 minutes a day. and he is improving! He is going to be almost as good as my buddies Dan and Jesse.

well, im getting tired...thank you for your time and drop me a comment after you get done reading this. i hope this made sense because i was doing a few things at the same time. oh, well.

catch you all on the flip side!

jp

Tepotzotlán and Cookin - Mexican Style

hey there, troops...

back for more

This past week has been busy with school, homework and a few side trips to places like Tepotzotlán...pronounced teh-po-tzot-lan. The origin of Tepotzotlán begain around 1580 when a group of Jesuit priests arrived with the intent of converting the locals. We arrived at the city around 330 with the intent to see the church but needed to scoot because the pyramid on top of the mountain closes about 1.5 hours before sundown.

One of the things that I really like about small towns like Tepotzotlán are the narrow streets, the market where you can buy just about anything, the streets make of stone and the general feeling that everything slows down here. We stopped at the market to get a little something to eat and then made our way to the base of the mountain. One of the things that I do not like is the amount of stray dogs that wonder along the street looking for food. I like pets and I like dogs, but these animals are something that I am afraid of and want no part of. And of course, they followed us for quite some time because Annetta had a little bit of food in her back pack and the dogs wanted us to share. And of course there was someone in our group that wanted to give them some food. The name of that person has been changed...We shall call him Hectór.

The mountain ascent was a workout, in no time our clothes dripped of sweat and our lungs and legs were not ready for the initial pace. We took frequent breaks and lots of pictures. Hector forgot his camera so I was the designated camera errr...guy. One of the cool things about digital cameras is that you can retake pictures if you mess up and there is no cost of film. HOWEVER...taking over 100 pictures during a three hour hike is a bit much. I was tired of being the camera errr...guy. But its all cool now. The rocky road to the top was ummm, well, rocky and pretty steep. Annetta said in her British accent "I am not in form for this trek." We were worried a little bit about her because she said she was gonna stop and turn around, but she decided a little later to continue the trek up the mountain. It took about an hour and 20 minutes to climb the path to the top. The last 100 yards to the top was incredibly steep. The path zig zaged like a mountain switchback after a near vertical climb up some not-so-sturdy stairs. We all made it and could not believe some of the people we saw climbing this thing. There were people who looked more dressed for church then they were for a hike. We saw a coupla dresses and three or four women in heels! yaowza.
The top of the pyramid was a great! We relaxed and enjoyed the view of the city below for about an hour. We met a coupla people from chicago and talked with them for a while and then met some people who were into Ben Harper a little too much. To each his own. The hike down was much quicker than the ascent and it was nice to be one of the last people on the trail because traffic makes climbing difficult. We all arrived at the base safe and sound and were welcomed by another stray dog that wanted a free dinner. Hector really wanted to feed him. I suggested taking him home and giving him a bath but comments from the peanut gallery were not being accepted.

I look forward to more mountain climbing expeditions in the future. One of which is my trek along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I needed to pay my deposit yesterday and it took about 1.5 hours to send a hundred bucks via western union. This was my first experience with Western Union and I really didnt get a warm fuzzy from this legal form of loan sharking. Why loan sharking, because it cost 25 dollars to send 100 dollars. all i hope for is to get my spot reserved for my Inca Trail hike.

Now Were Cookin! One thing that I did do this week was attend a cooking class sponsored by our school. Students prepared a cheese stuffed chile that was dipped in a batter and was cooked in oil and served with spanish rice, beans, and salsa. This stuff hit the spot and is pretty simple to make. I have a copy of the recipe and look forward to learning how to cook some more mexica dishes. One of the things that I will definitely buy on this trip is a flanería. A flanería is a metal dish with a sealed top that is used to make flan. Flan is kinda like jello minus the gelatin. It is very rich and hits the spot. I look forward to making it for my friends when I return home. Like the commercial says "There is always room for flan" oh, wait...that is jello...it dont matter because this stuff is that great!

Well, im gettin hungry and my contacts are drying up after staring at this screen while writing this blong entry.

Drop me a message and lemme know how you are all doing. And say a little prayer for my sister and her family. They had to evacuate Houston yesterday...Hopefully the Hurricane Rita will be a waste of time will not take any lives.

Have a great day!

JP
for more pictures of whats been going on you can click on the link on the right side of the blog that says "Spankin New Photos" - jp

more interesting stories from south of the border

jp here...back to tell you more about the wild and crazy times south of the border.

but first the academic stuff. school has been going well. the small classes make speaking spanish the only option, hiding in the back of the class is pretty tough when there are only two students in the class. my brain has bonked a coupla times and i feel much like a person who has never spoke spanish. the classes are six hours a day and five days a week. the day is divided into six periods: three for grammar and the rest for conversation. much of the grammar class has been review and housekeeping, since my brain is a little bit dusty from not speaking spanish for a while it is a great help. conversation class is a little more difficult because we are required to bring articles in from different magazines and explain them to the class. this is where the rubber meets the road because alot of it is vocab recall and stringing sentences together on the spot. it is a pain sometimes but just like many other things; the more you do it the better you become at it. funny how that works.

now for the fun stuff.

so my buddy jesse taught me how to juggle and got me started on the devil sticks. the devil sticks are three sticks: one for each hand that are the same length and diameter with a rubber grip to lift the third stick. The third stick is much bigger than the hand sticks and the stick diameter decreases as you move toward the middle. to make the devil stick dance you lift the third stick with you hand sticks and then you can make it do all types of cool stuff. my devil sticks have been a pretty handy way to meet people. for example, last night some classmates and i went out to La Plazuela and actually met a guy who was excellent at the devil sticks. Axle had actually manufactured his own devil stick torches and i was very impressed at the tricks he knew. alot of people don't realize how much time it takes to learn some these tricks and ya gotta give the guy alot of credit with the tricks he knew.

ok...so that's my first devil stick story, the second has to do with actually giving a performance for a crowd of people. the cool thing about El Centro is that it is a huge commons area for families to take their kids to get something to eat or buy something from the well-established black market nearby. there is also lots of space for street performers.
on fri sat and sun there are clowns that perform for quite a few people. these clowns are pretty darn good at what they do and have a great stage presence. you can understand what is happening even though you cannot understand everything they are saying. after talking with a few of the clowns and introducing them to the devil sticks they invited me to actually perform in front of the crowd. i was a little nervous to say the least but gave it my best effort as i performed the six tricks i know with the devil sticks. hey, everybody has got to start somewhere.

the people i have met here so far have been pretty genuine and nice to talk to. tonight i hope to take it easy since i was out pretty late last night and enjoyed a few...errr...sodas...i think i might just go do that after i get done with this blog entry.

catcha on the flip side!

jp

greetings from cuernavaca...take two

ok, gang...im back.

as i was saying in my last entry the weather here is great. nobody in the city has air conditioning because the humidity is so low and the weather is around 75 or 80 in the afternoon year round. i only wish omaha had weather like this year round. this weather is much better for us big guys who sweat a lot and have a hard time cooling off.

things here in cuernavaca are a little bit different than they are in omaha. for example, streets. the streets here are not as block-like as they are in omaha, everything is laid out in confusing pattern circles and winding streets that wrap around buildings and gardens. ya gotta be careful cause some of these jokers htink that this is gran turismo and drive pretty darn very fast. there are not a lot of suvs here because space is so precious, almost all the cars here are nissan sentras, vw jettas or similar four cylinder cars. oh, and there are lots of motorcycles. money is saved through fuel efficiency. and rust. there is none. there are dirty cars here but there are no cars that have rust. cool.

power...ya gotta have power. many of the internet cafes here in cuernavca are vulnerable to blackouts or brownouts. i have already experienced the joy of typing an email and having the power flicker off for a coupla minutes and then resume. the computers in the cyber cafes are hit and miss. yesterday i was on a decent box that made email alright, today i am on a machine that uses windows 95 and a blazing intel pentium chip. i guess not everything can be as nice as PKI. The keyboards take some getting used to because there are alot more symbols than i am accustomed to.

the food so far has been great! i think some of the so called mexican restaurants in omaha should take a trip to cuernavaca and try some of mama vazquez's tomales and enchiladas. the food my host family makes really hits the spot. i have asked my host family to teach me how to make some of the great tomales. it will definitely take some time before i am as good a cook as my host mother. however, i hope to wow my host family with my apple crisp making abilities.

i have already made some friends on the street. i met two jugglers on the street that performed while the traffic light was red and asked them if i could juggle a bit. we exchanged the secret jugglers handshake and it was all cool. i brought my devil sticks with me and taught them how to stick a bit and then passed clubs with them. see how juggling can bring the world closer. im doing my part. solid.

when i find a computer that has usb ports on it i will include some photos in my blog. until then, i guess you will hafta use your imagination.

well, it is about that time to practice some spanish. the classes here are a mix of grammar and a mix of conversation. the biggest thing that i need to do right now is improve my vocab and verb conjugation abilities. after that i think i just need to practice practice and practice. guess i better find a mexican girlfriend to practice my spanish with. just to practice my spanish...

until next time...im big game james

greetings from cuernavaca

ok, gang

this is gonna be a short one because im between classes and oops, the bell just rang

things here are great and the weather cant be better. it is like early summer temps here

laters

jp

big day is coming up

ohhh boy...the day is coming up and I think i am ready. Yesterday was kinda a shock because my parents gave me the news: "James, you have two weeks to move out when you get back!" Holy Smokers! That day is coming up, too.

So i spent the weekend sorting and tossing away stuff so it's not such a headache when i come back. now my entire room is filled with apple boxes of school work, clothes, and other things that will adorn my future home. i guess peter pan has gotta grow up one of these days...seven months plus two weeks and counting, ahhhh!

a coupla more things came in the mail today. it's the last of my online ebay purchases. my pacsafe paddle locks and xD memory cards showed up. joy!

ok...time for senior matias tacos! yeee haaa

jp

Getting Gear for this Trip

big news, ladies and gentlemen...i purchased a one way ticket from Mexico City to Lima! Sweetness, it's no turning back now...That is unless i want to make a generous donation to the airline industry. I prefer not to do so and would much rather be on that flight.

lots of things have been happening since the last time i entered stuff on this blog. i finally got my backpack from an online dealer that sold me the pack for less than what it would cost me at the local store. The Slumberjack Latitude +20degree bag will serve me well on this trip as a means warmth and confort when the hostel sheets get a little shady. My Keen sandals came in earlier this week which was pretty cool because im running out of time to prepare and should prolly discontinue ordering things off the internet because they might get here after i am gone.

it's really early in the morning and i got stuff to do...catch yall on the flip side

jp

So...I am getting headaches trying to figure out how much stuff i am going to bring. One thing that I gotta do better at is focus on getting one thing at a time. Too many times I catch myself looking into one thing and that will remind me of doing something else. This is not too productive when there is lots to get done.

Yesterday was a busy day. I purchased a few pairs of Capilene socks for my hiking boots and today I am still debating whether or not to purchase my backpack from ebay or from a local distributor.



oh well...more to come

and there is more to come...BIG NEWS!yesterday i purchased my ticket! Sweetness! I saved myself some sweet moulah by using the Student Identity Card from STA Travel. This little card cost only 20 bones and it has already saved me 300 dollars on air travel. Thank you STA Travel!!!



Things are coming along alright i guess...My brother, Jonathan, said that he might come along on the trip for about 11 days. That will be pretty cool if we meet in Buenos Aires, Argentina for Christmas and New Year's. Being gone for a few months could be kinda hard on me, so seeing someone from the fam would be cool. Plus, if things work out alright, we might even get to take a tour of the John Deere factory in Rosario, Argentina.

im excited.

i still need to develop my website that will store all my photos so people can see all the cool and interesting places I plan on going. THis site will be pretty basic that will give the lowdown on where i am at and what i am up to. Ill prolly use the blog as an easy form to communicate to all the folks who wanna know where I am at.



A question...Will my home still be considered home when I return from my trip? Itll be kinda weird to leave for a long time and then return. Should be interesting.

Travel Versus

Travel Versus

just another try at this whole blogging thing

Travel Versus

Travel Versus

gosh, i wish i was better at this internet thing

james



james says "take that and rewind it back"

Testing out my blogging skills

So here are a few pictures of me where I am unicycling at Creighton as well as unicycle jousting at ISU's Viesha festival. I hope the unicyclers were not the folks who caused the Viesha riots. Gosh, that would not be good.

testing my blog

THis is a test of my newest blaog