Ok, so I finally decided to post something to this list...

First, about the name. Though not originally intended for this forum,
the "Neil Yee Speaks" concept IS meant to be taken lightly. I think
the idea was that my friend Carol Maki was going to compile some of my
many rants and edit them into something coherent. Well, that never
happened, so only the name remains... Coherence is not a part of the
plan.

I clearly have kept my promise of not filling up everyone´s inbox with
a bunch of junk. One posting a year or so? Who knows.

I still haven´t finished posting my photos from last year´s road trip,
but hope to get it done in April. Why April? Because I am gone until
March 25. Too much text below...

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050129 Saturday - One from the road...

Yep, it's a status report or "blog" of sorts. Who knows if I will
ever actually get around to doing another one.

The disclaimer first: The following text has not been edited in any
way, and was only mildly premeditated. It started out as a quick
email about what I am up to at the moment, and ended up looking more
like a journal entry. I'm spewing all of these words at a small
internet shop in Xela... Maybe it´s the Nyquil talking?

Well, I've been in Guatemala a little over a week, and things are
going quite well for the most part. My only complaint is that I seem
to have come down with a bit of a cold. I'm sure it has not helped my
concentration in Spanish class and has curtailed my nightlife
experiences - including Salsa lessons. Then again, getting to sleep
early might just be helping my concentration for Spanish. Who knows.
Either way, not much to complain about - and I have already gotten
all complaints out of the way.

Please bear with me - or hit "delete" - as I babble a bit on a few
topics - those being: Living in Xela, Spanish, Tajumulco, Danger! and
what's next...

Living in Xela:

Quetzaltenango, also known as Xela is just about all that I know of
Guatemala so far. I came here one day after my arrival in Guatemala
City, and have been living here ever since. I am staying with a
family in a large and open home. By open I mean open air hallways.
The house seems typical of much of the city, though by design it is
very difficult to tell what is behind most doors. Some lead to
moderate homes, some to elegance and some to open fields and empty
lots. High temperatures during the day are in the 70's (F) and lows
are in the high 30's ?!? It's one of the more extreme temperature
changes between night and day that I have ever experienced, and of
course there is no heating here so the temperatures are experienced in
their full glory. Dressing in layers is pretty much the rule. It
took me a day or two to get used to this. It seems quite normal now.

A few other things have also become normal to me since I have been
here... Wonderful meals, many involving black beans, rice, eggs and
plaitain. Fresh salsa and fresh tortillas are always present. By
fresh tortillas I mean made within the last few minutes. Also the
fresh cheese here is phenomenal, and fresh fruits are plentiful, cheap
and delicious - once you get past the warnings in the guide books.
(See Danger! below...)

Other things that seem normal? The roar of colorful buses speeding
down the rough and narrow streets spewing exhaust fumes and amazingly
not seeming to crash into anything. Unlike the US where the
pedestrian's rights in a crosswalk vary from state to state, there is
no gray area here. Vehicles clearly have the right of way in all
cases, and crosswalks exist only in the minds of foreigners. It does
get interesting at some of the many busy and entirely unmarked
intersections. I did once drive in a place like this, and there is
definitely an element of faith involved. Perhaps that even more
explains the need for "Dios es Amor" somewhere on almost every vehicle.

One more thing that somehow seems norrmal to me now? Not having
water pressure in the house during the day. That's just the way it
is. Schedules adjust accordingly.

Sadly, it often takes me a few tries to remember names. It seemed
more difficult when those names were surrounded by a language that I
had not yet begun to study. In my first day living with the family
here, the only name I could remember was Congo the dog, a huge and
friendly German Shepherd. Later I did manage to figure out Maria and
Hugo, though I have yet to figure out the names of their sons or their
granddaughter. I think part of the problem is that it is a large
house and everyone seems to keep different schedules. Sometimes
everyone is together, but often my meals are with Hugo only. He and
Maria are quite kind and entertaining, and of course things are more
fun the more my language skills progress. Last night at dinner I
learned a new word or two that I probably won't end up using very
often, except in this house. I'm probably spelling them wrong in my
notes.

I am robot - or something like that? "Soy cibernetico" because I
don't seem to notice the cold temperatures much and I don't have sugar
in my coffee, that is when I actually have coffee, which is not
particularly often. Yep, such oddities make me a robot or a hologram,
though I can't even try to remember the word for that one, that is if
I was understanding correctly in the first place. Western pop culture
is everywhere as we also discussed whether or not I was a Vulcan.
Suffice it to say that pieces understood and misunderstood are all
good fun.

While the culture shock of my first day or two has almost left me, I
must remind myself that my first impressions were dust, cold and
poverty. Hot showers only in the cold of night, and only a trickle
then? Yes, these conditions and much worse clearly do exist, but the
celebration of living and enjoyment is also strong here. Is a
wealthier society a happier one? Somehow we are encouraged to
believe such things. I have always known it isn't really so, but it
is good to have such a strong reminder every now and then. Happiness
can be sitting in the park, a meal of rice and beans, a clever pun or
a warm blanket. It is a respect for and understanding of the
surrounding chaos rather than a need to control. It is not for sale
and not something to plan for in the future. It is living in the
present.

Hmm... didn't expect that paragraph to go quite so far that
direction. How do I transition from that?

Spanish:

Anyway, one of my present goals here is to learn a bit of Spanish.
It seems that it will of course that I will not attain the level of
proficiency I had hoped for in the short amount of time I am giving
myself. That being said, one on one instruction for five hours per
day does do quite a bit. I can have very basic conversations, though
I still tend to get confused when put on the spot in a store, bus or
taxi. I tend to use French words all too often, though they are
sometimes similar enough if delivered convincingly. Gestures also
work well. I noticed this in France too... Even if you are entirely
wrong, people try harder to understand if you speak with confidence.
Well at least sometimes this seems to work. I will complete my two
weeks of study on Wednesday, and then travel for awhile before taking
another week or two of language study somewhere else. At least that's
the plan.

Hey - that can almost transition into the next bit?

The Plan:

Of course there really isn't much of a plan. Other than contacting
the language school, the Guatemala and Central America books received
no more than a cursory glance until I was on my second of three
flights to get here. As the second flight began, it seemed that being
in Central America for over two months might be a bit too long. Then
I opened the books. Here's the idea of the moment. Now I only wish I
had more time.

...spend a bit of time at Lago De Atitlan - called perhaps the most
beautiful lake in the world... Visit the city of Antigua - though I
probably won't stay long as it has been over gringoified I understand
- though still beautiful... then on to the clouds of Coban, up to
Flores and finally to the Maya ruins at Tikal. After that I might
head through Belize to the coast, or go through Guatemala to the
Caribbean coast at Livingston. It's then on to Honduras with beach
and diving at Utila and Roatan. These $3 hotel and hostel stays keep
things much more reasonable than they sound.

Ok, well it looks as though I missed two of my intended targets in
this writing, Tajumulco and Danger! Here are the quick takes.

Tajumulco:

Last weekend I went on a two day hike with a group up Tajumulco, an
inactive volcano and the highest point in Central America. It was
cold camping at altitude and my sleeping bag proved to be almost up to
the task. We watched an incredible sunset from a lower peak, feeling
the onset of the cold as the sun sank below the clouds and off of the
horizon. At 4:00am after a cold attempt at sleep, we headed for the
summit with flashlights, headlamps and some help from the moon. The
idea was to be at the summit for sunrise, and it was worth it.
Hopefully I'll get around to posting a photo or two when I'm back, but
of course nothing replaces the experience. A few photos are on the
neilyeespeaks group page - check under photos...

Of course part of the experience is the cold, the tiredness and the
blisters. During most hikes, and including this one, I wonder why I
am out here and if I am only pretending to enjoy this. At the outset,
each hike will be my last. This is not fun. By the same token, each
trip will be my last. Why can't I just sit at home and read a book
while lying in bed? Oh yeah, now I remember... I sold my house and
gave away my bed (which was subsequently lost to fire) and there are
always moments that make it all worthwhile. Somehow those moments are
always with me as I choose to torture myself in seeking them. Yep,
had a great time and will do more hiking on this trip and in the
future. Just as long as my knees hold out. Maybe longer. Yep, and
also never again... that too.

Danger!

I was a little bit apprehensive about this entire trip. Maybe it was
not knowing the language? Maybe it was all of the warnings in the
books about contaminated food and diesease? Maybe it was the warnings
of armed bandits on the buses and trails. Yes, reading that sort of
thing over and over again can cause a bit of paranoia. Then I got to
thinking that I had heard this all before. Once when I mentioned
moving to the Detroit area... "You'll get killed... you should have a
gun or something just in case..." This of course from people who had
spent little to no time in the area. When I moved into the city I
heard the same thing from people in the suburbs - about how I was
going to get killed and should have a gun and all of that. Oddly
enough, I felt safe enough in my Detroit neighborhoods to crash
parties on a relatively regular basis. I haven't experienced that
anywhere else. When I opened the bar/venue in Cass Corridor - "You'll
get killed..." and the same warning about the bears last year when
solo backpacking in Alaska. You need a gun, or at least pepper
spray, or something as a backup. While I understand this logic on
some level, when I did have pepper spray at the bar it caused more
fear than it prevented. The first thought was "where is the
backup/weapon" rather than thinking the situation through. Rather
than giving confidence it caused paranoia and panic when not at all
necessary. I felt more confident without the "backup."

That all being said, yes, it is possible for things to go wrong. I
am aware that I could be killed by armed bandits, tropical diseases,
bears, street thugs, WMDs, etc., though hopefully not all at the same
time. If any of this should happen, at least I have had many moments
to enjoy. Of course statistically I'm more likely to be killed
driving my car to work, so which one is really more scary? Despite
appearances to the contrary, I don't think I like to push my
boundaries or test my confidence. This is clearly becoming more true
as I get older. On the other hand, what is life if motivated and
controlled by fear? Make sure all decisions are out of love and not
out of fear. Something about this seems to ring true. I'm trying...

Ok, that's more than enough for now. Heading to the staduim to
experience futbol Latin American style.

All the best,
-Neil

PS If you made it all of the way here to the end, please let me know...