Posted 5:54 PM by Gobbler
A new lease of blog

hmmm. particularly interested by lauras comments: 'found this on foreign office site:
"Local Travel: We advise against travelling on the roads outside San Salvador at night. There have been recent incidents of violent attacks on motorists travelling between El Salvador and Guatemala, on the Guatemalan side of the border."'

So it appears that the little el salvadorean adventure was even hairyer than previously thought. i'd like to remind you lot that the bus broke down on the guatemalan side of the border in some arse end of nowhere hillside 62km from guatemala city. Which is probably slap bang in the middle of where the good foreign office is talking about...

so, another foul plot by Doctor Octagon to ensnare me has been fouled! ha ha, i wonder what he has in store next. it does make me worry slighty about the fate of those who were unable to get a lift off the bus, however, and the conversation between the three of us travellers has been much taken up by the subject. in the process of scouring the newspapers for any reports of problems. I´m now exceptionally glad that the girls pushed the canadian guy for a lift. as usual i waws quite ambivalent about the whole thing but a little more caution may have been sensible.

safely back in the tourist haven of antigua and back in lessons etcetera. Today for the culture experience we took a chicken bus (what the touristicos call the beautifully painted - but fairly unsafe - old usa school buses. Prone to mechanical problems and plastered drivers, there are frequent problems and accidents. the week before last two chicken buses decided to race each other on a main road with the result that one crashed killing i think 4 people and injuring many more. On our way to san salvador on the weekend we passed what looked like the wrecked remains of one of them.) to a womans cooperative where they make traditional clothing. an interesting afternoon. i took part in a traditional marriage to dominica, the tall slim blonde austrian who came with Judith and i to el salvador, all in the name of culture and science of course. i have as yet been unsuccessful in persuading her to consummate the marriage, but dont worry uncle e i´m on the case. For now busty bev is been reinflated. Judith played the part of my mother in this little ceremony and has had trouble refraining from hugging me at every opportunity since. Then we had some traditional nosh which was palatable eat though it may have had a regrettable effect on my stomach. Bought some goodies for some of you homies back in the blighty ghettos. took the 10 pence chicken bus back to antigua and came more or less directly here. Its tuesday night which is the casa de lenguas' main night out. To save money dominica, judith, my housemate dominic and i have invested in another bottle of vodka for 5 bucks thus saving us a considerable sum in the bar later. a few people got a whiff of our planned private party and while some looked on disapprovingly others seemed to think it was a rather good idea. But as we'll probably be going back to dom's and my place there isnt room for many. While the drop in el salvador was the staple drop that is smirnoff, this stuffs called 'Stalingrad' and is likely as not fairly noxious. Still any brew called stalingrad is for me a must by if for nothing else than in the name of historical interest.

For the third time on this trip i am paying for my clothes to be washed. Statistically i have a fifty percewnt chance of ever seeing them again but i cant do them myself aty the house and they just arent as fresh as they were when they washed: Atlanta. Some of the more astute readers up to date with the quanity of clothing i possess my calculate that this has left me woefully short of certain types of garmentage. But soon i'll be clean again. probably.

So, lessons progressing well. Toying with the idea of taking individual lessons nect week but i do not think i can justify the added expense. Since i've been in guatemala i've been slipping over budget. But thats all fine just at the moment, and another nioghts entertainment looms large. I've even pursuaded one of the students here, who is a hairdresser, to do my hair tomorrow. It is time to trim my swede. the dear bro would if he could be bothered point out that this maneuvere should have been actioned some months ago.

luvvlybubbly: hope you are satisfied by account of day to day events. Evil Uncle was not impressed. you cant please everyone. Evil Uncle: OK so bouncy bev was a sorry loss but busty bev is filling the gap quite nicely. Or was it the otyher way round? Oh, and I'm rather hoping than dominica is a liberal. And i've yet to use the fascinating tit bit about viv richards and hisn piles. i'm saving it for the rifght moment. Tulsa Hilton: Come to the conclusion that there are numerous splendid things about tulsa, tjho even here in antigua it appears i am the only one. 1) that splendid shirt i purchased there which is meeting with widespread approval. 2) those splendid trousers i purchased that are having a similar effect as the shirt. 3) Any international airport that isnt international is a splendid converational tool. 4) Theres a splendid university there started by that religious chap who chatted to god a bit, which you have tio admit is on the whole rather splendid. And lots more that i will mention at another time if i hear any other derogatory talk about the place. Laura, property developer: well done well done, good work. Glad to see things working out. Hows el tony? Papa Smirf: Theres nothing quite like a firm hand shake. Youve clearly been wearing too amny pairs of white socks.

all the rest will have to wait as i'm late for dinner. hasta mañana.

Posted 5:47 PM by Gobbler
Contemplated making this a blog in spanish but then realised it was a stupid idea because the dialogue wouldnt get very far. It would be a Blog Too Far.

tis monday now. Just had an interesting weekend in el salvador. Discovered whe i was there from Judith (from Utrecht) that the dutch govt advises its citizens not to go there as it is unsafe. I believe the austrian govt has similiar opinions onnthe subject. I havent checked what the bristish foreign and commonwealth office has to say on the say on the subject, and as i have now returned safely there isnt much point.

it is certainly true that there are virtually no tourists in el salvador. We stayed in san salvador, el capital, in the american guest house hotel. At 7 dollars each it was entirely reasonable - el salvador is relatively expensive. It was run by a lady who came second in the Miss World competition. In 1956. Sadly her looks have, unsurprisingly, not lasted the distance. She is 79.

The place reminded me a bit of Fawlty Towers. Theres not much especially similar about the place, but its full of wierd and wonderful people that come straight out of a stereotypical description of an ancienyt and run down hotel. Theres that aging lady with flaking makeup and thick mascara that has run down her cheeks. Her husband who smiled nervously all the time, ran around doing all the work never saying much. Some old geezer who is apparently an ex university professor of economics who is spending his dieing days sitting in his chair in the wide corridor watching the television and reading the paper. The hotel needed a serious spring clean and renovation; the gold coloured wallpaper in our room hasnt been fashionalbe since the thirties. Still, it did the job.

As we looked around El Salvador in search of the cathedral, a token bit of culture on friday night before hitting the bars recommended to us by an el salvadoran we had met in antigua, we had to pass through the main market. Its not quite fair to say that we were the only white people as some el salvadoreans are white but certainly we were very much a curiosity as we walked along. In places like thailand, the bodia and the nam people at the market seize the opportunity to try to flog touirists som,e expensivem tat, but here they were unprepared and so didnt say anything for the most part.

We went into one church on ther way. interestingly it is probably the only church i have ever seen that was made mostly out of wood. At one end it was largely stone but the rest was wooden, encased in sheets of metal on the outside. Interesente.

Made it through the market to the town square but the cathedral seemed locked up so we didnt get in. There was soem kind of political rally going on in the square. We made our way back towards our hotel and stopped off onn the way at a little cafe whcih was able toserve up one of the finest sandwiches in history for a dollar and 17 cents. They use the us dollar there, having ditched the Colon a couple of years ago. You cant blame them for dumping a currency named after a part of the anatomy, tho clearly they should have started using pounds rather than silly dollars.

Then we went out, next day went to the beach. 52 cents on an old usa school bus for a 1 1/2 hour trip. beach was shite but not a bad day out. then went out again back in san salvador. had another sandwich at a different place this time. Shared a bottle of smirnoff before going out to keep costs down and met up with some el salgvadoreans we had met the night before. Another good night out, then back home on the luxury bus the next day which broke down 62 km from guatemala city. as it got dark we got worried as we were in bandit country and the bus was a sitting target. all the locals that could were contacting friends etc to get then the hell out of there and we were able to hitch a lift with a friendly canadian on the bus who took us to a hotel in guatemala city from where we got a 190 quetzal (24 dollars) taxi home. It isnt a good idea to go wandering around the city after dark looking for a bus, so we didnt. And that was that. this is rushed as ive got to get back for dinner. Tlak backs later, lo siento. Blog Out.