24 Jan 98

Buenos Noches from San Cristobal de las Casas.

I flew back to L.A. and spent three days in the office. I got all my gear together, planned a few trips and hung out with the other tour leaders.

Then on a Saturday, bright and not too early, I started driving. I spent a night in Tucson, AZ, one in Fort Stockton, TX, one in Brownsville, Texas and then crossed into Mexico. I drove all day, slept in the van on the side of the road, drove the next day and again slept in the van off of a really long dirt road. The next day I had some spare time. I passed a sign for the ruins of Dzibanche. These ruins were not mentioned in any of my guide books, so I drove the one hour on dirt roads necessary to check them out. It was fun the have the ruins all to myself and my guide, Sergio. Even though Sergio only spoke Spanish, I was able to get quite a bit from his tour.

After Dzibanche, I returned to my favorite beach. At Xcacel I hung out with a bunch of tour leaders, some of whom were working and some of whom were on vacation there for the winter. The next day I sat on the beach and recovered from my 3200 mile-6 day solo drive halfway across the U.S. and most of the way across Mexico.

Last Saturday, I drove up to Cancun and met my new group. The next day we went to Chichen Itza and then on to Merida. We spent two nights there buying hammocks, looking at flamingos at the Celestun Nature Reserve, and eating at a Mayan BBQ in the town of Tixkokob.

From Merida we headed south to the ruins at Uxmal and then on to Palenque. After a day in the hot jungle we played in the 35 meter tall waterfall named Misol-Ha. I brought my flashlight and explored the cave behind the waterfall. There is a waterfall and a large pool in the cave. I think it would be a great place to bring a group and a bunch of candles and hang out for a few hours one night.

Friday we drove to Agua Azul, hiked along the river and waterfalls for a few hours and then came here to San Cristobal de las Casas. Today we went on a tour of San Juan Chamula and Zincatecas. These are two small Indian villages. Our guide was a mestizo woman named Mercedes. She gave a most excellent tour and touched on Indians, history, women's rights, politics, religion, and any thing else we had questions about. If any of you get here, it would be a shame not to go on her tour.

Now I am in the Cyber-cafe, waiting until it is time to go meet my group at the bar for a night out on the town. More likely though, I will just make a short appearance and head back to my room for a good night sleep in a bed.

In one of my college anthropology courses I learned that when you go to study a new culture, it is very important to write down your impressions for the first month or so. I now see why that is so important. What seemed so alien and unique during my first visit to Mexico now seems normal and ordinary. I am having a pretty good time, but I don't feel like I am seeing too many new things. Now that the novelty of working in Mexico has worn off, I realize that there are too many cities and too much shopping on my tours and not enough hiking and adventure. Of course, the trip I am on now is a short two week trip to places I have been before. For my next three trips down here I have planned a few new things to see, including a trip to Guatamala, a climb up a volcano near Mexico City and a drive up Baja Califorina with a stop to pet the whales. Hopefully, Trek will send me to the Canadian Rockies this summer.

Other than that, for a job it really is enjoyable most of the time and even down right fun often enough.

6 JAN 98

I spent the middle of December continuing my strict regimen of sleeping, reading, and watching movies. I was in fine form, the form of a slug. One weekend I became a bit more active and drove up to Gainesville to visit Karla. We went to a couple Christmas type parties and visited Tom and his family. Tom, I was sorry to learn, has given up his Saab and entered the world of the mini-van. At least he got one with a big sun roof.

Karla and I rented a canoe and took a little trip down the Santa Fe River. I saw an otter and a bunch of turtles. We also saw Ed. Ed is a man who has gone looking for a more rustic lifestyle. He lives at one of the springs that feed the river. He lives in a grass hut and wears a loin cloth. We stopped at Ed’s for lunch and he spoke to us continuously. I think he is a bit lonely after 15 years out there. We were on the river for about five or six hours and never once went swimming. I am still getting used to the idea of canoeing all day and not playing in the water. But, it is the middle of winter and even if we were wearing shorts and T-shirts, it was too cold for a swim.

While in Gainesville, we were able to rent my favorite movie of all time - The Big Meat Eater. I was again able to see Big Abdullah, the wind-up aliens, and all my other old friends in Berquithlam, Canada. Of course, the movie is also a musical. I was able to hear “From the bonny, bonny banks of Berquithlam” and “I’m a heat seeking missile, and your my target tonight”. I don’t think a poorer grade-B science fiction movie has ever been made. It was great.

Then I returned to South Florida and the familial onslaught began. I hung out with Milo (my brother), David and Ann (my cousin and his girlfriend), my mother (mama), Dori and Uri (my cousin and her husband), Aunt Anne, Uncles Jim and Gary, cousins Rafaella, Hillary, Yitzchak and Josh, my father and Elizabeth (his wife), their daughter and my sister Emily, Great Aunts Shirley and Francis, my three remaining grandparents (Grandma, Grandma, and Grandpa) and many others.

Of course, a big family gathering means lots of food. I am now thoroughly sick of food. I have eaten kangaroo, lobster, bagels and lox, my mother’s rice pudding and zucchini bread, a million different kinds of dessert, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, pizza, Japanese food, Thai food, kosher food, brisket, and a couple of tons of other assorted food stuffs. I am looking forward to getting back to three normal meals per day. Every single day for the past two weeks has revolved around one large meal and usually tapered off into another meal a few hours later.

Dori and Uri have a very nice group of friends. We hung out a few times, went to the arcade, played football, and went out for pizza. Uri is a great guy and Dori is lucky to have found him. He has the good looks of Beavis and the brains of Butthead, all rolled into one.

Their wedding was last Sunday and they went all out. They had a bunch of friends and family, a rabbi, a chupah, a light bulb, a couple of rings, a cake topper, a band, a videographer, a photographer, a caterer and not one, but two guys to make omelets. They also had lots of food and great desserts. It was a very good wedding.

Just to make a great month off from work even better, I received a big pile of season’s greetings from former passengers and a few phone calls from Gillian. I had never before received a phone call from over seas. It was nice to shout into the phone at my end and hear her posh-Australian voice from the other.

While home, I also did a major re-stocking of my wardrobe. I head back to Los Angeles with a new T-shirt, a new pair of shorts, and a new hat.

In the last week I have shaved three times. Twice for practice and once for the wedding. Now that is over, I can begin work on a new beard. I also had a few inches trimmed off of my hair. Dori said I clean up real well. That may be the case, but I am now actively re-cultivating my grubby travelers look. I think it suits me better.

Trek America called and asked if I was well rested. I said I was and they invited me back to work early. I leave for L.A. today. I will be headed down to Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala to lead four trips. I will get back to L.A. on the 9th of April, just in time for a nice Passover dinner.

I have had a great month off and am now ready for another few months of work.