Places been, decisions made, photos posted

I should probably write a few entries but you know how it is. The longer you wait the more daunting the task of updating. I don't think I really feel the need to come back with a bang but I have 3 months of my life that remain unchronicled. I guess I'll just jump right in.

So I got back from Hawaii and barely had anytime to relax before heading off to Mexico. Well I guess I had a couple weeks but I like to pretend to be a jetsetter, which I guess I kind of could be just looking at the last 6 months or so but between jet trips my life is quite dull. I sat in front of the TV listening to music and playing sudoku. So grand. I don't even know if I like sudoku but I play them compulsively now. So that sums up about about 2-3 weeks.

Then I flew down to Las Vegas. I won about $200 and then I lost about $200 plus an extra twenty. I met my Korean friend, who is white and from Oregon but I know him from Daegu. He did about the same as I did minus the winning $200. From there we took a quick detour to the Grand Canyon in a rental car and drove over the Hoover Dam. If you want to get out of your car head over to the Arizona side. Those Nevadans are always after you money.



From this point I will only make bullet points to save time. Some of the highlights (and lowlights):

But first, here's a map of the route we took:



Sleeping in a rental car in a Tuscan parking lot

Crossing the border to Mexico (still upset about no passport stamp)

Being on busses or in bus stations for 30 hours straight including a 14-hour overnight bus where I thought I slept horribly but according to Alex, who was afraid of being stabbed in the neck the whole night, slept quite well

Taking a train through 'amazing' vistas in the Copper Canyon where the views were unimpressive for 4 hours and then unviewable for 7 because of the overwhelming blackness of night

Eating ramen noodles on said train since there was no Mexican food on the Mexican train



Spending a night in the drug capital of Mexico, Los Mochis

Trying to read while Platoon dubbed in Spanish blared through the speakers on yet another bus

Finally, starting our Mexican vacation in Mazatlan about 2.5 days after being in Mexico





Eating marlin quesadillas, which are delicious

Having my mother be called a whore by some old Mexican lady

Meeting a friend of Alex's who we had been planning to meet but were unable to since our plans didn't mesh, at the airport in Mexico City by sheer coincidence. Crazy how that happens

Dancing to blues music at some bar with a 40 something health statician from Seattle

Finally meeting Alex's aunt and uncle and young cousins who we arranged to meet so many different times that meeting them seemed highly unlikely

Soaking up some sun in Mazunte



Taking a 6 hour ride in an suv through dense forested hills where going straight for more than 10 seconds was nearly impossible and nearly orgasmic the 2 times that it happened



Seeing Zapotec ruins at Monte Alban outside of Oaxaca



Literally falling out the doors of a bar after a few too many tequillas and twisting my ankle (only slightly)

Somewhat impressing some Norweigan girls with my unintelligible Danish

Consuming lots of chocolate in the chocolate capital of Mexico, still Oaxaca....mmmmm chocomilk



Watching a Zapotista demonstration

Meeting my grandmother, great-aunt and uncle at a bus station in Mexico City

Being serenaded to by a Juan Gabriel impersonator, a very popular Mexican singer, a Mexican Elton John you might say

Going to see the hometown of my great-grandmother and seeing the house where she was born and hearing how it became abandoned and was used as a place to get high



Losing badly to my cousin at a gladiator-style competition on an inflatable platform (Alex and my cousin, Fernando, well my mom's cousin technically)



Watching him dislocate his shoulder playing the same game by putting too much force into his swings

Going to a soccer game only to find out that we couldn't get tickets and just drinking for pretty much 8 hours instead

Having beers with my cousin while he drove on the freeway

Going to see giant pyramids outside of Mexico City only to return as a lobster and clown (my nose always burns)



Watching Alex go ga-ga at all the Don Quixote iconography in Guanajuato though this picture has very little to do with that piece of literature but apparently I took no photos of the Don



Stealing a bottle of water in the dead of night from a locked fridge at the hostel in Guadalajara out of unbearable thirst (I left 10 pesos with some other money on the counter)



Getting very nervous the next morning when I saw the surveillance camera

Staying with my grandma at her time share in Puerto Vallarta



Saying goodbye to Alex from a bus in Puerto Vallarta

Staying another 2 weeks in Puerto Vallarta reading trashy detective novels and Dostoyevsky

Flying back to Mexico City, and then to Oaxaca with my aunt and grandma only to see everything there for a second time (photo appears for a second time for comedic effect)



Going to a family reunion in the hometown of my great-grandmother, Real Del Monte(ditto)



Finding out that I'm probably descended from the man who started the first labour strike in the Americas by paying such poor wages

Seeing the sights of downtown Mexico City



Flying to Los Angeles with a screaming 12 month old girl, I do mean screaming after 7 weeks in Mexico (was supposed to be 4 but then I decided to stay for the reunion)

Seeing my original friend from Whittier though he worked each day I was there but it's ok (I'll come to that)

Binge drinking in Pasadena on St. Patrick's day

Going on to Denver to see another one of my Danish friends who is actually Asian and from Los Angeles but who I know from Denmark



Going for happy hour at a local bar and confessing all my secrets to said friend



Finally, returning to Edmonton (we live on the very edge of the city but my parents moved last week so I'll never see this 'sweet' view again. If you look closely you can see the reflection of my camera and without looking closely you can see powerlines)



Playing Sudoku at home for a week in Edmonton

Flying to Washington, DC via Minneapolis and Detroit to spend some time with my Danish friend who is actually from Hungary but who I know from Denmark

Eating lots of cookies from Potbelly's

Getting a bit lost after a quick electoral trip to the Hungarian embassy when the zoo turned out to be a bit further from the embassy than appeared on the map (I suppose groundhogs aren't the most exotic animals at the zoo)



Seeing another Danish friend who by now it will come as no surprise is actually from Memphis and listening to his classification of all people into 3 categories: Ninjas, Pirates, and Robot Dinosaurs



Flying back to LA to see the same friend

Going to Bakersfield to go see a Bob Dylan concert, he sat in the 3rd row and I sat in the very back row of the Rabobank stadium with his mom, though she is quite cool for a mom

I guess it's time to break back into a narrative. I'm actually staying with my friend in LA right now. Well, I'm being charged rent so I don't know if that's staying, probably not. I had nothing going on and for some reason I thought it would be smart to move down for a month or 2 while I decided what to do with the months after that. One of his 6 roommates was moving out so it seemed predestined that I come occupy the room for awhile so I did. I still need to go about finding an illegal job here. I'll have to think of something. It really is too bad that there's this big immigration debate going on in the US right now. I think it's probably easier to work under the table when what you're doing isn't thee hot topic of the day.

Also, I've signed a contract to go back to Korea. It's a cliffhanger.