Death from Above - Now for US Citizens!

Check out this video on "targeted killings" from the ACLU:



I just simultaneously crapped my pants and threw up in my mouth a little.

Is it progress that the US government is finally showing an equal disregard for its own citizens' rights as foreigners' rights?

Mystery: Where Are the People?

I arrived in Salta late yesterday and was promptly met by a ridiculous shortage of available rooms. Seriously, there was a huge line at the tourism office at 8pm of people just looking for a place to stay after getting turned down by the first several places they tried. And even after getting relatively gouged my first night, I only was able to get another place on the express condition that I am out by 10am tomorrow because the place is completely booked Fri and Sat.

With this kind of crush in the hotels, why is it that every restaurant I've seen tonight is almost dead? Where are the people?

For fun, though, I'm going to include a photo of the wall at Luna Verde, where I'm eating dinner (and also the first place in Argentina that put picante on my table as a matter of course. Score!):




Best wishes to all of you out there in the world!

A night in Buffalo

OK, so I haven't been great about updating my blog, but I have a huge backlog of half-finished entries. I just found this one in my phone. I wrote it on my phone while I was out having dinner and drinks in Buffalo, NY. I think I intended to polish it up, but I think it's a good read as-is. The numbering at the end is me trying to distinguish between the different drinks I was having. Nothing has been changed except for the addition of one picture and the correction of one typo where I said "in" and meant "on." I hope you enjoy. This was on the evening of May 14, 2010.
-------------------------------------

So I'm in Buffalo for the night, unexpectedly. Since I know nobody here, I am going out and have plenty of time to blog on my phone as I am not distracted by conversation. Yes, I am a total loner tonight. As such, I will give you a review of my drinks and locations.

Salsarita: the concierge at my hostel told me about this place. He said it wasn't bad Mexican food (he was comparing it to SF taquerias, which are the gold standard as far as I'm concerned). I was expecting a hole-in-the-wall and the place looked like a chain restaurant. Should have skipped out then. It's a level up from Taco Bell (aka the Worst Food Ever), but is 83 levels behind the lowest rung for SF taquerias. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul.

Allen Street Hardware: nice venue. [Ed. note: here's a pic from that night:

Allen Street Harware]

Red walls covered in original pieces of art, a huge bar, and 4 beers on tap, none of which I've never seen before. It also appears to serve some pretty good food for reasonable prices. I hate that fucking concierge right now as I'm full on shitty Mexican food and this menu looks über-tasty! Here's what I drank:
1) Piledriver IPA ($4.50 pint): made exclusively for this particular bar/restaurant, it is an excellent IPA. Milder hops than most IPAs, but with that same distinctive IPA taste and a lingering finish.
2) The first IPA filled me up quite a bit, so I'm not trying their other IPA, called Tröegs, for my next beer as the bartender said it is "really hoppy." Instead, I opt for the Rare Vos Belgian brew out of Cooperstown ($4.50 pint). Delicious! Smooth, but not too floral and sweet as some Belgians can be. It tastes like a pilsner with a faint hint of delicious root beer. Just enough flavor to let you know it's Belgian style.
3) HOLY CRAP the other bartender was wrong about the other beer being an IPA. It's the fantastic Nugget Nectar by Tröegs.
4) Check receipt in pocket
5) hoegarden
6) I am fuuuukt! Woo hoo! mamas little yella pils- oskar blues


Scotty is the MAN!!!!


[Ed. note: Scotty was my bartender, who was probably the best bartender I've ever had. Incredibly patient and attentive and yet somehow able to handle a crazy number of customers simultaneously. He gave me a free beer even before I told him that I thought he was the best. Of course, the next day I was talking with someone at brunch and mentioned Scotty and they said "Oh yeah, he's won 'Best Bartender' in Buffalo a couple times." Go Scotty, go!]

Location:Buffalo, NY

A Beautiful Thing in Uruguay

I am currently in Montevideo, Uruguay. Yesterday, the country held a huge reception for their World Cup team, who placed fourth in the tournament, with their only two losses being incredibly close heartbreakers at the end. I cannot imagine that the country could have shown more support for their team even if it won the World Cup. Here is a good video summarizing the reception the country provided for its team:



Please keep in mind that this was done in around 42 degree weather with around 70% humidity and a wind chill reaching close to freezing. They were out there for hours upon hours waiting for the plane to land and then the caravan to bring them from the airport to the legislative building. All for a team that placed FOURTH in the World Cup. You think anyone in Germany is doing anything close to this for their third place finish?

When comparing with any other country, though, it's important to keep in mind that Uruguay was the second smallest country to even qualify for the World Cup (Slovenia was smallest) and by far the smallest country to qualify for the Round of 16. How small? Only 3.3 million people in the whole country! That's approximately 1/90th the size of the United States. That's smaller than Los Angeles proper at 3.8 million (as opposed to "greater Los Angeles") and just slightly bigger than Chicago proper at 2.9 million.

At any rate, I just wanted to share that I'm here experiencing it and I cannot envision a greater argument for why the human race even plays sports than the completely effusive pride and gratitude that this country is showing for it's futbol team. It's like watching Hoosiers in real life. Whether it's deserved or not, I must tip my hat to Uruguay's team and the Uruguayan fans. Tomorrow I go looking for my own Forlan jersey!

This Makes Sense

OK, so Spain won the World Cup. Watching the finals between Spain and Holland was a great experience. I enjoyed good friends, good food, good wine, and a good game. I have to say, though, that a majority of Buenos Aires seemed to support Holland. When asking a friend about this, one supporting fact she mentioned was that the Independence Day that Argentina celebrated a couple days ago was independence from Spain's dominance. That makes perfect sense to me, but puts into interesting contrast the US's close relationship with England, even after independence. I think the main reason the US is close with England is because - with the exception of the Native Americans - England's relationship with the US wasn't as oppressive as Spain's with South America. What are your thoughts?

Congrats to Spain on the final, although with the flopping they were doing at the end, I was definitely pulling for Holland. I hope you all enjoyed the World Cup. I have to say that being able to enjoy all the games here in Buenos Aires was an absolute privilege. I'll miss this city, but have enjoyed my time here.

---------------
2010-07-12 EDIT: So I wrote this blog entry without much thought and with much wine. Clearly England was horribly cruel to African slaves and other groups and my hypothesis falls apart in hindsight. Mea culpa. Anyone else have a theory?

Buenos Aires and my amazing friends

Hola amigos. Sorry I haven't rapped at you in a while. (can you name the Onion columnist that I stole that intro from?) I'm in Buenos Aires. It's nice even when rainy in winter. Here are three quick pictures to share from the past few days:

Train tracks in Palermo (the neighborhood I'm staying in).

Sunset from the balcony of my apartment, facing northwest.

Night view from the balcony, facing northeast.

The beginning of my trip was quite a rollercoaster in dealing with sleep deprivation and strangers. Here are three illustrative examples that occurred between 11pm last Wednesday and 5am Friday morning.

1. While in Highland Park (in Los Angeles), I stupidly left my iphone on top of my car while at a gas station. I drove away and did not realize until at least 15 minutes later what I had done. I raced back to the gas station and my friend called my cell phone. Amazingly, a motorcyclist found my cell phone and was waiting nearby with it. He returned it with a smile and mention that he found it in the middle of the street. No request for a reward or anything. I have no password on my phone. The Good Samaritan could have taken it and I'd never be able to find him. He's a rockstar in my book.
2. After traveling overnight to Argentina and getting no sleep at all, I immediately hit up an ATM at the airport. I stupidly left my card in the machine (I blame the fact that I got only about 90 minutes of sleep on the plane). There was a line of people after me. Clearly the next person would need to remove my card to insert theirs. They could have tried to give me my card back. I hadn't gone far at all. However, I found out later that same day that someone took the card and proceeded to try and charge a lot of stuff on it.
3. Immediately after leaving my ATM card in the machine, I walked out of the airport looking for transportation for me and my friend. All I was thinking at this point was to get to the apartment so we could crash out for a bit. Stupidly, I let one of the people at the cab stand walk me and my friend to a cab nearby. We were gouged on the cab ride and then the cabbie took our money and switched one of our 100 Peso bills for a 10 Peso bill. He claimed we gave it to him and we hadn't paid close enough attention to get into a confrontation about it, so he ripped us off for another 90 Pesos. I was furious at myself for the entire rest of the day once I realized what happened. For future reference, this is a common scheme in Argentina. Be careful.

Now, all three of these were examples of me being careless. Even the schemes in the last example were clearly identified in the guidebook if I had simply been diligent enough to read up in advance. However, the first showed a great example of a stranger not taking advantage of my mistake and instead doing what most of us would consider to be right. The other strangers... well you can judge for yourself. It's unfortunate that I was so careless as to rely on the kindness of strangers so much (and to such a large degree) in such a short period of time. But I think of the man who returned my phone and I am grateful. The other strangers... fuck 'em. I won't let their disrespect for fellow human beings get me down.

That's one thing that my road trip in the US showed me I have absolutely amazing and generous friends. I didn't even get to visit everyone I wanted to, but everyone I saw was so fantastic and these recent events just remind me how fortunate I am to have been able to meet and stay in touch with so many good people. I don't necessarily believe that human nature is benevolent or good (right now I think it is completely malleable), but I do believe in my friends and family. Thank you all for being you.

The craziest damn pine tree ever

Here's an old post that was in my iPhone and I forgot to publish it. This is from April 25, 2010:

I'm currently in Hoyt Arboretum in Portland. Here is a picture of a branch of the Monkey Puzzle tree. It's native to Chile. Coolness.

Location:SW Fischer Ln,Portland,United States

Tired

I am sorry for my couple readers that I have not been posting more consistently. The truth is that I've been surprised with how tiring this traveling has been. With driving at least every third day, there's not even enough time in each major city to see all of the friends that I had wanted to (apologies to people I know in Chicago and apologies in advance to people in Boston and New York).

So that's my excuse. I have a backlog of posts that I would like to put on here. Hopefully I'll have time soon. I hope you're doing well. And I'm doing pretty well aside from being a bit tired.

Also, right now I'm in Columbus. A surprisingly fun and cool city. Good restaurant and bar scene. If you have a chance to stop through, I recommend it.

Suburbs: They're Hurting Us

So I'm leaving Denver soon. I must say that the bulk of my stay here has been spent a little south of Denver in the suburbs. I like Denver a lot, but these suburbs... well, it's like the Southern California model taken to insane heights. Everything looks like it was constructed within the last decade or two and large arteries of asphalt connect nondescript housing complexes A, B, and C to nondescript shopping centers J, K, and L, and nondescript business parks X, Y, and Z. It stretches on for as far as I can see in some directions, and in others it simply buts up against nature, waiting for the next wave of construction to carry the tide of concrete out even further. Here are a couple pictures:



Oh how this system of development annoys me like a splinter under the fingernail! (Sorry, I think I channeled a 19th Century op-ed writer for a second.) First, it completely destroys any sense of community. There is no separation between the allegedly different municipalities and all of the same chains dominate the landscape everywhere. Additionally, independent businesses in these areas are all but impossible to grow. Rather, large chains dominate the landscape and sap dollars from the local population to send to corporate headquarters, rather than reinvesting in the community. Furthermore, you absolutely have to have a car. Although Denver does have a light-rail system, you need to drive to the closest station and the closest super market is likely to be several miles from where you live. Walking along the street and interacting with your neighbors doing the same is just about impossible here.

The worst part, though, is that suburbs like this usually serve to only insulate the inhabitants from the realities of the communities, cities, states, and country that they live in. Aside from the racial segregation that - in my experience - accompanies this kind of development model, you also have economic segregation. Feather River community is for families with a net income of X, Happy Deer community is for families with a net income of Y, and Golden Eagle community is for families with a net income of Z. Of course, low-income or homeless people are nowhere to be seen, leaving the inhabitants of these areas free to continue on in blissful ignorance of the stark realities of the outside world. "What income inequality? Everyone I know is doing pretty well!"

If I sound unduly upset regarding the disease of suburbia, it is only because I grew up a victim of it myself. Only after I lived in more racially and economically integrated communities did I realize just how wrong the perceptions of reality I developed in my youth were. And it's not that my parents and occasional teachers didn't try to tell me - from time to time - that there were other people and things outside the bounds of my home town. Rather, it was simply that the reality I dealt with on a daily basis inexorably cast its imprint on my mind. I find it rational to believe that the same phenomenon occurs with at least the majority of suburban residents. Does anyone reading this disagree? Please let me know.

Here's hoping that we soon recognize the social and cultural harm that the system of suburban sprawl inflicts on our country and, more importantly, the people living here.

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Note: I did not want to address the environmental impact of suburban sprawl here, as that is deserving of it's own post entirely.

______________________
Ed. note on 2010.05.04: I don't intend this column to be an indictment of the people who live in suburbs (aside from my observations regarding what might be labeled "suburb bias"), but rather an indictment of the practice of urban sprawl. People who live in the suburbs usually do so because the value offering is good (i.e. bigger home, better schools, less money). However, those benefits can be replicated in more urban settings (perhaps with the exception of bigger homes) and we should discourage urban sprawl because of the social and environmental costs.

Oregon Trail

So I've now been in Portland, OR, since last Friday night. My journey here was not as difficult as I was taught by the game Oregon Trail back in elementary school:

Poor Nicole!

I have to say that Oregon was pretty much what I expected from when I crossed into it from California: cow pastures, farms, beautiful forested mountains. And occasionally you see one of those beautifully forested mountains with half of the trees chopped down. It's a pretty jarring visual. I'm sure it has something to do with the reputation Oregonians have for being environmentally conscious.

Also, along the way I could tell why the two Pac-10 schools in the state chose their colors. University of Oregon chose the beautiful green of the trees and fields and yellow of the flowers and sun. Oregon State chose the lovely orange of the road construction signs and cones that peppered about a quarter of the entire drive along interstate 5 from the border through Portland. Of course, UO's uniforms have some weird tire-tread kind of stuff on the shoulders and knees, so maybe both schools are trying to channel the power of interstate 5 with their designs.

Starting with the majestic colors of nature and ending with this? Sigh.

I'll post more about Portland later. This city is amazing. Granted, the rain the past two days is downgrading my opinion of it a little bit, but really, it's a beautiful and fun city. I hope you all are doing well. I'm off to Salt Lake City in the morning.

On the road again

And the road trip begins anew.
I could have done without the LA traffic...


More posts coming soon.

Location:Wilshire Blvd,Los Angeles,United States

Guatemala by the numbers

I've been back for 4 days now. Time to review some statistics from my trip:

Nights in Guatemala: 38

Nights in Belize: 3

Hours of Spanish tutoring: 55

Nights in/near Antigua: 11

Nights at Lago Atitlan: 2

Nights in Xela: 8

Nights in Lanquin: 9

Nights in Fatima (coffee plantation near Xela): 6

Nights in Flores: 1

Nights on bus: 1

Nights in San Ignacio, Belize: 3

Episodes of food poisoning: 1

Food poisoning pills taken (Cipro or other): 0

Malaria pills taken: 0

Corn tortillas eaten: 7,875

Pounds of guacamole eaten: 4,309

Beer consumed: approx. 60 liters

Rum consumed: Reply hazy, try again.

Quetzalteca consumed: Ask again later.

Delicious Indian food dinners in Xela: 1

Xelaju Super Chivos home games attended: 2

Jazz concerts attended: 2

Cool people met: 182,360

Things I like about being back in the states

So I am back in California. Here's a quick list of things I'm enjoying:

1. Family and friends. I love you all and can't wait to see you. Let me know when you can hang out.
2. Drinking tap water. And San Francisco has very delicious tap water.
3. Not having to check my shoes for scorpions.
4. Catching up on some Colbert Report and Daily Show. Delicious!
5. San Francisco scenery. Beautiful.

My tax dollars at work

As my trip in Guatemala winds down, my attention has turned back toward the States. And a rainy day here in Guate means that I have more time to write a quick column about something back home.

Los Angeles is building better public transportation infrastructure. I rode the Red Line (subway) to/from work for 6 months and loved it. Fantastic way to commute. You can find out more at metro.net. While it is still difficult (or near impossible) to live in many areas of LA without a car, LA is slowly becoming a city with far better public transit options. I think it's unlikely that it will ever rival NYC's subway, London's Tube, or Chicago's L (the main reason I feel that way is insufficient population density to justify the infrastructure investment), but I'm still very happy about the progress on better public transit. Besides, LA has way better weather than those other cities, so maybe it's ok to expect people to walk or ride bikes a bit more? Of course, LA needs more bike lanes as well, but that's not the subject of this blog.

Rather, the subject is the kickass job that the MTA (people who run the LA Metro) is doing with keeping me informed of current projects, specifically the new Expo light rail line. Right now, Phase 1 of the Expo Train is under construction. This section will go from just south of downtown LA (right near the USC campus) all of the way to Culver City (about halfway to the ocean from the start of the line). Phase 2, if completed as currently planned, will continue all of the way out to Santa Monica (the beach).

Check out the website, though: BuildExpo.org. As opposed to burying information on a random page linked only through the city's (or MTA's) website, the government bought and dedicated a separate domain to load up with information about this project. I think it's a very nice illustration of the difference between only making information available and actively trying to educate the public about what the government is doing. I mean, aside from having quarterly updates on construction progress, there has clearly been some attention to graphic design as well:

Pushing information out like this provides a level of transparency and accountability (they claim that Phase 1 will be completed this year) that helps ordinary citizens evaluate the performance of government and get a true sense of value from taxes spent. Imagine if we had similar websites for federal tax dollars. While sometimes tougher to conceptualize for non-infrastructure projects, hopefully we're moving in this direction.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't give a nod to the SF Bay Area's own BayBridgeInfo.org. Right now on the front page is a neat video about how the Self-Anchored Suspension section of the new eastern expanse of the Bay Bridge is being constructed. They also have some neat information and graphics about this project. Of course, the current date for completion is listed as "late 2013," which I think means "hopefully in early 2015," but I'm sure bridges take a bit more time (and involve more potential delays) than light rail. The Bay Bridge website also has this:

The Skyway also features a 15.5-foot-wide bike/pedestrian path which is being built on the south side of the eastbound deck and will extend to Yerba Buena Island along the SAS. The path, which will be slightly higher than the roadway, is the result of a cooperative effort among bicycle and pedestrian groups, and participating agencies. This effort moves the Bay Area closer to completing the proposed 400-mile multi-use Bay Trail.

Niiiiice. But in regards to educating the public about the use of tax dollars in infrastructure, I have to give the nod to LA Metro. Now if we could just get similar websites for all tax dollars spent. Anyone else out there know of good transparency websites that are set up by the government?

The view from my porch right now

I hope you all are doing well.

Semuc Champey

So yesterday I checked out Semuc Champey. Awesomeness. Here are some pics:

Great spot for swimming and just admiring the natural beauty. So very peaceful and relaxing. If you visit Guatemala, I highly recommend coming here.

There are also caves nearby that you can tour. There's still water flowing through the caves and so you can climb waterfalls and swim through some passages (the water is too deep to walk through). Very Indiana Jones. Coolness. No pics, though, as I don't have a waterproof camera.

Now please allow me to geek out a little bit about the fact that this is basically a series of beautiful turquoise pools in limestone with a big river running far underneath. The pools are filled with ancillary streams and then the waters from the pools and the (underground) river meet up again at the end. Here's a sign from the park that explains.

[Dave's translation:

This scenery is impressive but dangerous!

The pools of Semuc Champey form a bridge over the Cahabon River. Under this bridge is a cavern through which the river passes. The location where the river's waters enter or "drain" into the cavern is called the Sink. The river leaves the cave 300 meters later.

The Sink is where the "river disappears below the land" and this is what Semuc Champey means in the Q'echi language (note: Q'echi is one of the Mayan languages still spoken here in Guatemala).

Observe the powerful strength of nature in the abundant waters of the Cahabon River. In the rainy season, the river can grow so much and gain so much force that it can pass over the top of the pools.

This scenery is impressive, but be very careful approaching since the rocks are slippery and accidents can occur.

A park guard should accompany you at all times when you visit the Sink.]

Random Thought #2

If you were a resident in a country that had endured decades of civil war, including death squads and other forms of massacres, what would be the attraction of fireworks for you? Seriously, Guatemalans love them some fireworks. And the really loud kinds. The ones that make me jump when I hear them. And they set them off at random times throughout the day and night. I'm just surprised that this doesn't set off some people's PTSD. It's interesting to me.

Location:Lanquin, Guatemala

Chichicastenango

Some people say you should try to visit the huge market at Chichicastenango. So I did. While I was underwhelmed with the market, there were some unexpected highlights.

I arrived around 10:30am and the market was already packed. I sat down to grab some brunch after an older British couple who were just finishing their meal recommended the place. The food was alright, but the most interesting part of brunch was when the British couple returned less than 5 minutes after leaving to look for the woman's wallet. It wasn't in the restaurant, so apparently it was stolen from her person in less than 5 minutes after leaving the place. Quite a bummer. Here's a view of the market from the cafe.

After brunch I walked around the market a bit, overpayed (most likely) for a hat because the sun was brutal and the hat fit (hats here are frequently a little on the smaller side), and then made my way to a Mayan sacred stone on a pine-covered hill next to town. On my way up the hill, I noticed all of the undergrowth was burned away. The reason therefore became clear once I reached the top and saw that their rituals there involve setting lots of fires. The monument has been vandalized a lot, rendering it almost impossible to discern any form or significance in it. A little disappointing.

On the walk back down the hill there is a shop where they manufacture wood masks. It seems to be Guatemala's version of Venice. Very nice masks.

On the walk back to town I ran across a very cool institute that teaches kids and young adults about art. This place was really cool and the guys running it were very nice. Here is the website if you want to learn more and here are some pics.

I spent the rest of the day checking out the market and waiting for my bus. In my opinion, it's not worth going much at all out of your way to visit Chichicastenango. Some people say that there are local artisans who go there to sell their wares. Unfortunately, I only ran into one or two people who might have made the items they were selling. So you don't have that connection to the people who are actually fabricating what you're buying. Maybe once upon a time this market was culturally significant, but I think those days have passed. Hopefully the art institution I stumbled across will keep growing and maybe bring a more diverse art scene to Chichicastenango. I'd be happy to return to see something like that.

Location:Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Showers: Now with the cleaning power of ELECTRICITY!

What are the voltage and amperage ratings on your showerhead? What's that? You don't like to have exposed electrical wires in your showerhead? Wimp. What's the matter? Your sensitive skin can't handle the awesome cleaning power of electricity?

The above pic was taken in my bathroom here in Flores, Guatemala last night. These are typical all over the country. On-demand water heating. It leads to mostly lukewarm showers, although I've found two that were able to actually generate a hot shower. Of course, in one of those hot showers, I got mildly shocked when I touched the dial to adjust the water pressure. Just a little shock, though. Helps the shower really wake you up in the morning, I think.

Random Thought About Guatemala #1

So Guatemala's sewage system is unable to handle toilet paper being flushed into it. Therefore, next to all of the flush-toilets (as opposed to outhouses at more rustic resorts), there are little trash cans for used toilet paper. First, it doesn't smell quite as terrible as I would have thought. My random thought, though: I haven't seen one single bidet in the entire country. If you were forced to deal with (be around, dispose of, etc.) used toilet paper, wouldn't that be an incentive to take a simple step to try and ensure that the used toilet paper is a bit cleaner? Maybe they do exist in the nicer places that I have been avoiding on my budget-conscious trip. In poorer areas (read: almost all of the country), it would be a luxury. I wonder if there are any public health concerns that might justify the investment.

No me lo pidan

So I have just finished up two weeks of 1-on-1 Spanish tutoring (45 hours in 2 weeks). This built on 10 hours I had received the first week here in Guate and some sporadic attempts to keep my Spanish alive since my days in high school. Last week, my teacher (Lety) gave me a poem by Pablo Neruda. We spent 30 minutes talking about it and translated it a bit. I'm not huge into poetry, but this particular poem really resonated with me. An excerpt from it is included on the "diploma" awarded to every student when they leave PLQ here in Xela (Quetzaltenango). I wanted to share the poem with anyone reading this blog just in case it might resonate with you as well. I'm going to try and translate it myself, with a nod to Lety who helped me understand it. You can probably find another translation somewhere on the internet.

No me lo pidan

Piden algunos que este asunto humano
con nombres, apellidos y lamentos
no lo trate en las hojas de mis libros,
no le dé la escritura de mis versos:
dicen que aquí murió la poesía,
dicen algunos que no debo hacerlo:
la verdad es que siento no agradarles,
los saludo y les saco mi sombrero
y los dejo viajando en el Parnaso
como ratas alegres en el queso.
Yo pertenezco a otra categoría
y sólo un hombre soy de carne y hueso,
por eso si apalean a mi hermano
con lo que tengo a mano lo defiendo
y cada una de mis líneas lleva
un peligro de pólvora o de hierro,
que caerá sobre los inhumanos,
sobre los crueles, sobre los soberbios.
Pero el castigo de mi paz furiosa
no amenaza a los pobres ni a los buenos:
con mi lámpara busco a los que caen,
alivio sus heridas y las cierro:
y éstos son los oficios del poeta
del aviador y del picapedrero:
debemos hacer algo en esta tierra
porque en este planeta nos parieron
y hay que arreglar las cosas de los hombres
porque no somos pájaros ni perros.
Y bien, si cuando ataco lo que odio,
o cuando canto a todos los que quiero,
la poesía quiere abandonar
las esperanzas de mi manifiesto
yo sigo con las tablas de mi ley
acumulando estrellas y armamentos
y en el duro deber americano
no me importa una rosa más o menos:
tengo un pacto de amor con la hermosura:
tengo un pacto de sangre con mi pueblo.

-Pablo Neruda (1960)



Here's my translation. If any of you have suggestions for how to improve the translation, please feel free to leave them in the comments:

Do Not Ask Me That

Some ask that this human theme
with names, last names, and laments
is not included in the pages of my books
is not written of in my verses:
some say that here poetry died,
some say that I shouldn't do it:
the truth is that I'm sorry to not please them,
I salute them and tip my hat
and I leave them traveling on the Parnassus
like happy mice in the cheese.
I belong to another category
and I'm only a man of flesh and bone,
and for that reason if they try to strike my brother
with whatever I have in hand I will defend him
and every one of my lines carries
a peril of gunpowder or iron
that will fall upon the inhumane,
the cruel, the arrogant.
But the punishment of my furious peace
does not menace the poor, nor the good,
with my lamp I look for those who have fallen,
I tend their wounds and heal them.
And these are the duties of the poet,
the pilot and the stonemason:
We are obligated to do something on this Earth
because on this planet we were birthed
and we must fix the things of man
because we are not birds nor dogs.
Moreover, if when I attack what I hate
or when I sing to those I love
the poetry wants to abandon
the hopes of my manifesto,
I continue with the commandments of my law
accumulating stars and weapons
and in the unyielding duty of the those living in the Americas,
a rose does not matter much:
I have a pact of love with beauty,
I have a pact of blood with my people.

Chicken Bus!

Ah, the big yellow school bus. A staple of American childhood. Ever wonder where all of the old Blue Bird buses go when the states are done using them? Well, a large number of them have ended up in Guatemala as Chicken Buses. The name comes from the common occurrence of riders transporting live chickens on these buses. The buses are the most common form of public transportation here in Guatemala and a vast network of these buses allows you to get just about anywhere you want for a very cheap price. For example, a one hour and fifteen minute ride cost me less than $2 US.

How does a ride on the Chicken Bus (pronounced "cheekeen boose" by Guatemalans) differ from the ride I may have taken on the very same bus 20 years ago? Glad you asked! Here's my how-to-make-your-own-chicken-bus guide:

So you just bought yourself an old America schoolbus and you want to turn it into a badass chicken bus? Good on you! Here's how: First, take that old school bus and PIMP THAT RIDE! Start with a very bright new paintjob. Red dominates, but green, blue, white, and even the original yellow are also used liberally. You want your bus to have some personality to stand out from the competition. Paint some flames on there. Give your ride a cool name and paint it on the sides. How about a nice new chrome grill from a semi-truck on that Blue Bird? Claro que si! And put some siding on the bus that reframes the windows so that they are angled forward a bit. Because now your chicken bus looks fast even when that ride is standing still, yo! I'm sure that someone will put spinning hubcaps on one of these buses soon. It should be you!

Next, throw some luggage racks hanging from the ceiling and some railing all around the roof so you can put bags up there as well. Remember, you're going to have people traveling with all sorts of luggage as some are artisans traveling to sell their goods, people simply traveling to and from work with a backpack, tourists traveling with luggage, and even the namesakes of your bus bringing chickens with them.

Of course, if you want to be able to travel as fast as possible, you can't have the driver taking fare from people as they get on. You need to allow people to get in from the front and the back as fast as possible and then you'll have your passenger manager handle the rest. His job is to make sure you get as many people on the bus as possible and collect the proper fare from each. If luggage needs to go on the roof, he handles it. The guy is fast and can carry 50lbs. suitcases on his head as he climbs the ladder to put the suitcase on the roof.

That same guy will also ensure that you never have to turn away a single customer. These buses might have been designed to hold 4 kids across (2 kids per seat in each row), but that isn't the law! You need to get at least 6 full-grown adults in each row before you can acknowledge it as full. Sure, the last two people will only have one asscheek on the seat and the other hanging in midair, but they can lean against each other in the middle of the aisle so that they won't fall. Of course, then your passenger manager still needs to be able to squeeze between them all to go collect the fares after people get loaded in. If people can't get in the front, put them in from the back. Sure it was designed as an "Emergency" exit, but ensuring that your bus is full IS an emergency! There are rumors of some passenger managers having superhuman abilities, like being able to open the front door, climb up onto the roof, walk to the back of the bus and then reenter through the back door, all WHILE THE BUS IS DRIVING DOWN THE FREEWAY. These rumors are unconfirmed, but very interesting.

Your driver needs to be a machine. He must be able to drive for hours on end, navigating roads that vary from winding mountain highways to narrow cobblestone roads in colonial towns. He must spot the people on the side of the road who might want a ride. When they do, he must stop quickly to allow them to get on. It's best if he doesn't even wait until they are all on before he starts pulling away. The last couple passenger can jump on a moving bus. If they can't, he'll slow down a little bit... maybe.

Congrats, you are now ready to have a chicken bus in Guatemala. But I will not be riding it for any trip longer than 30 min. As of yet, I've had 2 such trips and they've been ridiculous. Seriously, on the most recent trip, I was sitting in the middle of a row (read: one butt-cheek on the seat and the other hanging in the aisle) that had 6 full-grown adults and two children. As if this wasn't enough, we then ran into another chicken bus that had broken down and proceeded to pick up at least 20 new passengers. No joke, a bus that was designed to hold around 40 kids was carrying around 80 adults and probably 10 kids. I think I'll pay the premium for a shuttle (newer bus or van with more room) from now on. But the chicken bus is definitely a fun experience to try out or for shorter trips that seem to be less crowded.

He llegado.

Earth Lodge is up in the hills outside Antigua Guatemala (ht: Mystic for the recommendation). Beautiful location. Great place to recharge for a bit. Not much opportunity to practice Spanish with the other people staying here as just about everyone here is a native English speaker, but I will be taking lessons beginning later today hopefully. I can't wait to see the sunsets. The clouds that greeted me at the airport were awesome. Beautiful day. Above is the view of the Antigua valley from the lodge. The thing that looks like an orchard in the middle of the pic is a coffee finca (plantation). The trees are used to provide shade to the coffee plants.

Guatemala!

So I'm going to be taking a slight detour on my cross-country trip. The detour shall go through Guatemala and begin next Wednesday. Details to follow.

I drink your milkshake!

The California Aqueduct bringing water to Southern California.

Location:Los Banos,United States

Adios to my bro and LA!

A day later than originally intended, but what a beautiful day to leave LA!

And I got to see my brother Jeremy again before leaving. You know, for about 29 years of my life he was always way skinnier than I was. This helped when I would use the excuse "I must be genetically unable to put on muscle" with respect to my twiggy upper body. But then my brother had to go and prove my genetic argument wrong by putting on 25 lbs. of lean muscle. So now I guess I need a new excuse. I'm just lazy? I hate the gym? Sigh. Thanks a lot, Jer.

Oil and Water

Filling up before I go. (taken w/ phone @ Hollywood & Bronson)

And so it begins

Hello. As many of you probably are aware, I've gone through some big changes in my life recently and so now I'm heading out on a road trip for some reflection, exploration, and to reconnect with many friends that I have lost touch with or just haven't been as connected to as I might want. I plan on blogging while on this trip and most of it will be posted here. Just thoughts, pictures, etc. Current itinerary for the trip is SF, POR, DEN, CHI, STL, CLE, BOS, NYC, PHI, DC, NOLA, Austin. I might also swing through SLC and Chapel Hill. If you have any recommendations for places to go or are wondering whether I'll be in your neck of the woods, please message me, email me, or call me. I'd love to meet up with you. Everything is subject to change, though, and I'm guessing (hoping) the trip will last at least six weeks.

Today I leave Los Angeles. Rain started right as I left. You could be romantic and say that it's weeping at my departure (yeah, yeah... tears of joy. shaddup!). Then, at 12:30 today, my work (I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity to do some remote contract work while on the road) sent around an email that stated the new salaries that they'll be paying associates. Let's just say that if I had decided to stay at my firm I would have been making substantially more money this year. Sigh. At least they didn't tell me those salaries a few months ago. Otherwise I might still be working there full time. But today, the open road awaits...