My Brain

My brain exploded

Any knowledge is long gone

Now nothing is left

Spain/Guatemala: Day 56

NERJA/BARCELONA/BASEL/SAN SEBASTIAN/ANGITGUA/OCOTAL



Today is the final day of my trip. In 5 hours I will be boarding a plane headed for New York City ending my 8 week jaunt through Spain and Guatemala, with side trips to Switzerland and Nicaragua. This is the longest trip I've ever been on, and I'm glad for the experience.



The principle objective of the trip, to improve my spanish, has been a modest success. My spanish is definitely better than it used to be, though still leaves a lot to be desired. Simple, relaxed conversations are no sweat, but most people still talk a bit too fast for me to catch everything, I have a lot of trouble with strong accents (like the Nicaraguans'), and my speaking ability is by far my weakest. But I actually know all the grammatical rules now, so with a little practice, I should be able to figure everything out.



Otherwise, the trip was a pretty full experience: beach fun, surfing frustration and fun, family, seeing friends in far off lands, new cities, new places, new friends, love-sickness, home-sickness, bowel adventures, wealth, poverity, beauty...the world is a fantastic place.

NICA VOCAB LESSON...

Sopa de Albondigas: Not quite chicken noodle soup, not quite matzah ball soup, but chickencornmeatball soup with yuca, ayote, and papas.

Avena: An oatmeal sugar-water drink in which you don´t actually get to the oatmeal until you´ve finished the sugar-water.

Fachenta: Another word for high class!, which is what this group of big ballers was in having to pay a full $1.50 for use of this pool.

Gringa/Chela: Super-whitey-mcwhitewhite...Adz, sunburned after 5 minutes, posing in front of the "magnificent" view of Ocotal.

SALVAJE!!!!

(open to interpretation)

vamos ver mocambique

this is my friend adrico, a teacher at a rural (and i mean rural) school, playing guitar while some students sing a song and try not to go totally apeshit in front of the camera.

i shot this off the back of a pickup truck i hitched a ride on as it went through a town. the two other guys in the truck were totally blown away by seeing the video play back. just wanted y'all to see a bit through my eyes....

July 4th BBQ in Prospect Park!!!

Bar-BQ tomorrow in Prospect Park. Enter at the Grand Army Plaza Entrance. When you walk in go down through the tunnel underpass and stay to your right. We should be to the left of the path.

We would like to get started by 1pm.
Please invite friends! The more the merrier!
Get ready to chow down and booze it up!!!

FIELDTRIP!

totally unexpectedly, the dudes rolled up to my digs for a barbecue, making me oh so deliriously happy. here's proof of the slumming in the jerz --- xoxo, l.

ps. this saturday! a picnic! (don't worry - bklyn this time)

Goodbye Joe

Little late but pics from Joe's going away party. He is coming to Nicaragua to visit me this weekend. Yay for family visits and saltines!!

XO

a

Transformers - More than meets eye!

Transformers actually opens tomorrow (7/3) @ selected theaters. Is anyone down to go tomorrow afternoon?

Holla back...

- Optimus Prime

4th of July BBQ

Okay Kids,
Let's do a BBQ in Prospect Park on Wed. We'll bring the grill, and be in the usual spot by 1pm. Bring food, beer, etc. Leave a comment with what you're bringing so we can have a minor attempt at organization.

Please feel free to invite who you want. The more the merrier!

Anyone one have any interest in going to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade to watch the fireworks later that night (~9pm)?

jayjayate travelblog: africa and middle east correspondent

like our other globetrotting hero, i too am capable of hopping continents, and i even managed to do so with all of my luggage. but, since i was flying "fuck-you-jon-ross-i-can't-believe-you-paid-so-little-for-your-ticket" standby tickets, it took me a few days longer than planned to get to tel-aviv.... there was no room on wednesday's flight from johannesburg to israel so i had to wait until saturday.

anyway, because i don't got much love for jo'burg (and on tuesday night it freakin' snowed!!), i immediately bought a ticket to livingstone, zambia (as in, "dr. _____, i presume") to while away my days. the home of victoria falls, which were amazing. so so touristy though, and for some reason the town and the falls were totally packed with american families. wierd.

let me go back and talk a bit more about mozambique. it's changed so much and yet it's hardly changed at all. there's a KFC in maputo and everybody has a cellphone (even if they don't have electricty at home) (even if their kids don't have shoes). there are a lot of new schools and universities and many of my friends have become teachers or have gone off to study. but there's still goats riding public transportation, the same song being played over and over and over and over again, exposed titties flying everywhere, and men who could drink whole fraternities under the table. good times!!

so i'll be here in the motherland for a week or so. should be good to relax, hang out, and take real showers (and finally wash my hair with shampoo!). also the return to the climes of the northern hemisphere seems to have gotten my bowels back in order.

the final stage of this trip, insh'allah, will be a climb in the alps together with josh, where we will cavort with bearded old alpine horn players by day and drink cold steins of beer served by busty barmaids in the evenings. keep an eye out for a feldman blog about trailmix.

love to you all,

jonny rocket