layn´ low

layn´low for the time being. both got our own families. school mon to fri, 8 to 12. a few friends from puerto escondido made an appearance on the island. no toilet seats. been eating nothing but tortillas for the most part. mmm suffered the most agonizing 20 hours of my life yesturday. 12pm to 8am i was incapacitated with cold sweats.

jl

working class heroes

7am- we meet up with antonio and 4 other students for a hike into the mountains. we piled into a large flatbed truck with 30 other labourors (and a dog - shakey jim), all of which were wielding machetes. the 20 minute drive took us uphill to an extensive network of cornfields, coffee and avacado plantations. periodic stops were made to allow men and boys of all ages to disembark.

our hike took us into the peripheral of a diciduous forest. we stopped at a religious shrine..and if what i understood from antonio s spanish explination is correct, a certain sect of people from the area gather twice a year, drink, and sacrifice some animals. whoa.

murrrrrrrder.

after guatemala we´re headin to el salvador
i just found out its the leader in murder for ppl between the ages of 15 and 24

on a personal accomplishment note
after el sal....i´ll have been to the top 4 murder countries in the world

check the link
send us a gun if you can




http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7750054.stm

YOUTH MURDER RATES PER 100,000
1. El Salvador: 92.3

2. Colombia: 73.4

3. Venezuela: 64.2

4. Guatemala: 55.4

5. Brazil: 51.6

15. South Africa: 16.6

70. Greece: 0.5

76. Japan: 0.3

Source: Ritla, Instituto Sangari

mike bell

internet cafe´s are more common around these parts than honda civics in etobicoke.

more people make use of them.

letter to family

as much as i am joking, this is no joke; i am renting a guatamalan family here in san pedro.
i just moved in today. im living, eating, breathing spanish with descendents of the ancient mayan civilization.
i am really out of my element right now, but my spanish is sky rocketing. beyond the family stay, im doing 4 hours of class per day for 5 days a week. this whole program cost 120$ USD per week, probably the cheapest in the world.

the house is very minimalistic and rustic. its a bit worrysome at first but after the lunch maria (mom) made for us, my nerves settled down a bit. its a family of 4: father, mother, 14 yearold brother and 2 year old sister (and a young girl the hire as slave kinda?¿). they all call me Juan. yikes. in the family s spare time they sew backpacks (mochillas) for Jansport. what the hell, right?

if you want to see some pictures and read some commentary of my trip so far, visit.. www.jonandcolin.blogspot.com
it starts from the bottem and works its way up (so my newest postings will be at the top).

i have a really cool picture to send all of you, but i forgot my chord, so i will send it later.

take care.
i still love you all. this new family of mine is only for the experience.

- Juan

kings of the court in Gtown

today.
colin and i paired off against two young girls in a good ol game of AMERICAN BASKETBALL. needless to say, we slaughtered em.

this picture is a very accurate discription of the match. even an average 5 ten-er like myself has skysraper advantage in this part of the world - feel my rath.

"in-yo face sucka!"

San Pedro...we have new familes

Yo.
Were in San Pedro. Still on the same Lake...only better.
tried to bargian for a cheap boat here but only recevied a smile of silver teeth and a no.
We now directly beside the volcano...and there are almost no cars..mostly because there arent really streets...a lot of navigation is done through little alleys about 5 feet wide...however some people still rip through on their motorbikes.
there is also coffee trees growing everywhere...which is good for colin (me).
on the newsfront.
Jon and I have new familes....we are staying with familes as we attempt to learn the spanish language. theyre pretty tight...they cook us food and talk to us..ive got a personal rooftop terrace..and a crazy white dog named terry.
more news on this as it becomes more awkward..

impressions on guatemala
positives
1) lots of cofee
2) pretty cheap
3)incredibly beautiful
4)50 cent rum and cokes
5)dope traditonal clothing
6)lots of basketball ( at least in our town)

negatives
1) everyone tries to sell me weed (should be good but i dont trust anyone)
2) everyone tries to sell me prostitutes after i say i dont want weed
3) a large majority of guatemalans are eveangelical christians ( same religion as Geroge W and the southern USA)
4)falafels are expensive

TORONTONIAN (24) MAULED BY 3 SPANISH STREET DOGS

Guatamala - sustaining lethal lascerations to the neck, pelvis and 3rd lumbar, Jon Lee, was carried by coconut throne to the nearest hospital.

"I begged for mercy but they were unrelenting.. so blood thirsty. or perhaps they couldn t understand english."








back to reality, yesturday we peeped a natural reserve just outside of town. for about $6 USD we got to check some butterflies, waterfalls and spidermonkeys. truthfully, i was more focused on the 3 tacos for $1.25 waiting for me back in town. later that evening i ate an argentinian empenada and a whole coconut for about $2. i lost $6 on peso exchange and ripped off for $2 more at the hotel. that s a fine day.

































behind the buildings is a volcanoe..

guat-E

misprint in last blog.. not 2000 ft. - 7800 ft.!
---------------------------------------------
it recently occured to me that oaxaca was our first trip inland since jasper, ab. that was almost a month and a half ago - wow!

further,
goodbyes to mexico. hasta lluego. you have allowed me to see large quantities of hair jel, and in recent days, children{s boxing matches (unethical, yes. but they were too young and weak to actually hurt each other).
---------------------------------------------
guatamala is lush and tropical. there are plenty of children intentionally flying kites next to powerlines. the woman are swinging the hoe in the fields (with two babies on their back), and the men are tearing up city streets with a chizle and hammer.
also,
similarly to the girls in south east asia, the water quality here is the pits. so we are watching our anus s very closely now.

that little lake on the bottem left corner of the map is where we{re at - lake atitlan.

Guatemala...wow

we spent one night in san cristobal de las casas...it was really nice..but we just didnt know what to do (i did mange to get a falafel though)
so we hopped in a van for guatemala.
i kinda fell asleep for the exit of mexico..so i cant say much about that
but guatemala is crazy..its weird the sensation you get crossing a border..i mean its not real at all....just some bloody lines...and yet you get this excitement because youre entering into "new place".
first imprerssion of guatemala is that is incredibly beautiful...we came in through the highlands so everywhere you look a large hills/mountains with a powdery covering of green foliage...everything is incredibly lush and fecund.
so far ive noticed a lot of speedbumps, indigenous people, cool ass stray dogs, and handicrafts

we{re currently at panajchel....which is a 300m deep lake (actually a volcanic crater) surrounded by hills and volcanoes.....its a pretty breathtaking spot..

jon. post some pics yo!

colder still...

oaxaca to san cristolbal, 2000 ft. in the sky. got into a car (or bus) accident last night on a curvy mountainous road. rear-ended by an 18 wheeler. all is well, though. only minor damages.

there´s a lot of hippies and reggae here. can´t say how i feel about that... tomorrow or the next day we´re over to guatamala.

monte alban ruins

saw some ruins, napped on the grass.
its cold in the morning. first time i{v been cold/worn socks in a month.
colin... write something.

have you any children?

a little more PE..
it has been our longest stay of about 5 or 6 nights. and, beyond the hostel and people that made the stay what it was, i met a cool street dog named stealy-dan. he liked stealing people´s towels and blankets right from underneath them, and i liked that.

other highlights include:

-hitching a ride on the back of a bumper from a distant surf spot. we needed a ride, and he needed directions.

-most of time, poop-tickets go in the waste basket.
_____________

this morning we arrived in oaxaca, capital of oaxaca state. in the underworld, oaxaca is acclaimed for its one-of-a-kind hot chocolate. this is the first thing we bought upon arrival. mmmm. switzerland´s got nothing!&%·
























stealy dan and I

puerto escondido

we just spent a week in puerto escondido...didnt do much blogging cause we were busy doing nothing...
vans surf contest....our freind from the hostel won the bikini contest (props nicole!)
we made friends with lots of stray dogs on the beach,,,surfed a bit...you tube parties...lots of nights on the beach.....sunburns
i dont really know how the rest of the days past....7 dollars for a litre of gin maybe?..
i also learned that i hate sandals.

one good thing about acapulco

so yeah..this place was shit.
but one good thing is the buses..
theyve been privatized which i usually dont like...but it has had some cool effects in acappulco.
so every bus you see has been uniquely decorated by the operator.
some examples would be stuart little., apocalypto, little boss
all of which have coresponding designs...usually spray painted on the inside and the outside.
they also play really loud music sometimes..
one was blasting reggaeton and soulja boy through a bassy beefed up systems...all the while random business people and families are riding beside you.
the other one played pretty much all disco..which was fun.
the highlight being a sweet remix

girls just wanna have fun....but boys just wanna have sex.

puerto escondido

one night in acapulco and we took off for a little surfer spot called puerto escondido. there{s a vans international surf competition going down, amongst other things: motocross, skate and cockfight competitions. we began spanish and surf lessons today, both of which were a success. i like this spot, it looks like we will hang out for some time.

jl

passing time till 11