Well, today I turn 22. Not quite as cool as turning 18, 21 or 100, but it'll do.

I don't really have any plans for my birthday. I'm spending most of my time job-hunting or just exploring the sprawling metropolis that is Mexico City. I think today I'll head to the UNAM (Mexico's National University) and maybe scan their library holdings. Perhaps this evening I'll take a shot at one of the parties that are apparently held in the lobby here each Friday and Saturday evening.

Nothing too exciting going on. But if something unexpectedly interesting happens, I'll do my best to mention it.

I arrived in Mexico City yesterday afternoon at about 2.30PM and immediately made my way to my friend Frank's apartment in Hotel Virrey. I was exhausted from getting up very early and from the travel, but still managed to head out and have a torta (big sandwich) at the local sandwich shop, as well as take a walk through the neighborhood.

Frank lives in a great neighborhood, by the way. During the day it is bustling with activity, with people selling everything imaginable, both on the streets and in stores. Clothing; food; electronics; pirated logos, books, music, everything. Not everything of high quality, but everything of reasonable price. Hotel Virrey itself is quite interesting. It was at one time a rather swanky Mexico City establishment. However, in recent decades it has fallen a bit from grace. Now, instead of a hotel, it is an apartment complex, complete with a shared kitchen and dining area, a lounge and a large front lobby, completely with fabulous retro furniture. When I have the money (hopefully in a few weeks), I plan to get my own small apartment there.

For the moment, however, Frank and I are sharing one large one. It's basically like sharing a large hotel room, with two queen-sized beds. But Frank has made it home, impressing me by putting up posters he's collected on the walls and just generally giving the place a "lived in" feel.

As for work, I'm investigating a variety of options, including English First, where I worked before, as well as other schools in the area. Now that I am a qualified English teacher, and not merely a native speaker with a BA, I feel that I deserve a reasonable position with a competent school. I'm feeling optimistic about my possibilities.

This morning, I got up early and headed to the airport to check on my tickets. I was told that I was fine for boarding on Tuesday with just the paper tickets that I had already been issued. I feel better now, having confirmed all of this with the folks at the front desk. I'm not looking forward to getting up to arrive at the airport at 5 AM, however.

I remain tranquilo, here in San Jose. Besides my jaunt to the airport this morning, I've occupied myself with reading a rather technical linguistics book and working on my resume. Food? Mangoes, bananas and bean sandwiches on whole wheat bread. Simple is good.

Yesterday, a Swiss German friend of mine, Christoph, and I went on a tour of a trail on the far side of volcano Arenal and got to see some spectacular vistas of the volcano, including a small eruption. Fortunately for us, the air was clear and visibility was high. After that, we headed to the hot springs that are produced by the thermals of Arenal. It was pleasant, although I didn't have anything to drink, as drinks ran about three times the going rate. In all, I shelled out $25 for the tour and the hot springs. It was my one big Costa Rican splurge.

The tour through the jungle was a little bit uninspiring. The nature was nice, of course, but I felt like I was in a theme park as opposed to a natural situation. There's a saying that has really proven to be true: "In Nicaragua, there are twenty monkies and two tourists watching them; in Costa Rica, there are two monkies and twenty tourists watching them." This was definitely - literally - the situation yesterday on the tour. There were so many tourists within fifty meters of me (probably at least 30), with three or four different guides yapping away, that I often couldn't even hear the birds singing. It was not the situation I had hoped for.

I just hope that the commodification of nature that I have observed in Costa Rica does not prevail region or worldwide. But I think it will. Capitalism has a way of making any money-producing process more efficient. And, in this case, I think that efficiency is contrary to what I as a traveler want to experience.

I arrived in San José today and am planning on heading to the airport to confirm my tickets for Tuesday. I fly out Tuesday, very early in the morning, and I don't want to have any issues with my flight then. It seems a good investment of time to check on everything at the airport and feel secure about my situation.

I've just got a couple more days here in Costa Rica, and I'm very excited. I can't wait to get back to Mexico!

Today, Andy and I arrived in La Fortuna, near the volcano Arenal, one of the more spectacular active volcanoes in Central America. We took civilian transport, which ate up the majority of the day, but which only cost around $3. We avoided the tourist transport, which, while being a number of hours faster, costs around $25. I felt it a good investment of time versus money. Fortunately, the road between Monteverde and La Fortuna has been repaired since I last travelled it and is now bearable, as opposed to hellish.

My stated objective here in La Fortuna is to make a trip to the El INVU school, to pick up the luggage that I left there. I figure that the day after tommorrow I'll head to San José and prepare for my flight back home to Mexico City.

The food here is good and the prices are more reasonable than I expected, especially if one does not want to see any sights or go on any tours (but why else would one come to Costa Rica?). To my pleasure, I'm able to stay here in La Fortuna for only $5 a night and pay only around $3 per meal at a restaurant. When my sleepiness and hunger are satisfied, I rarely complain.

Andy (the American I'm travelling with) and I are staying in Monteverde another day, because we didn't realize that there was only one bus that would get us to La Fortuna today, and that it left at 7.00 AM. So, Andy is spending the day going on a hike; I opted not to go because the trail that he's taking, while it sounds wonderful, costs $12 for entrance, and I'm not up to spending that much. I'm trying to make my way through Costa Rica on $15 per day, which pretty much means I won't be seeing any "sights."

I'm planning on spending the day meditating, writing, and drinking coffee. I have realized that my way of life has become truly lax during these past two months, and that I've put on some weight. I attribute this to my regular drinking and excessive eating that has come with two months of largely sedentary vacationing. So, I've got to do some readjusting now. I'm beginning a new discipline: I'll be drinking coffee, not alcohol (which I actually prefer!); I'll be avoiding all caloric beverages; I'll be more closely monitoring how much I eat; and I'll consciously try to get more excercize.

I feel a little bit ashamed, because this is the first time that I've gained weight in a number of years, and I'm determined not to let myself become a slouch again. I think the biggest part of the solution to this problem is simply getting back to Mexico and getting to work. I mean, I don't know how two months of relaxed vacation could have failed to result badly in terms of my general form. But I'm getting back in the swing already; I recover soon enough.

Andy (the American I'm travelling with) and I are staying in Monteverde another day, because we didn't realize that there was only one bus that would get us to La Fortuna today, and that it left at 7.00 AM. So, Andy is spending the day going on a hike; I opted not to go because the trail that he's taking, while it sounds wonderful, costs $12 for entrance, and I'm not up to spending that much. I'm trying to make my way through Costa Rica on $15 per day, which pretty much means I won't be seeing any "sights."

I'm planning on spending the day meditating, writing, and drinking coffee. I have realized that my way of life has become truly lax during these past two months, and that I've put on some weight. I attribute this to my regular drinking and excessive eating that has come with two months of largely sedentary vacationing. So, I've got to do some readjusting now. I'm beginning a new discipline: I'll be drinking coffee, not alcohol (which I actually prefer!); I'll be avoiding all caloric beverages; I'll be more closely monitoring how much I eat; and I'll consciously try to get more excercize.

I feel a little bit ashamed, because this is the first time that I've gained weight in a number of years, and I'm determined not to let myself become a slouch again. I think the biggest part of the solution to this problem is simply getting back to Mexico and getting to work. I mean, I don't know how two months of relaxed vacation could have failed to result badly in terms of my general form. But I'm getting back in the swing already; I recover soon enough.

Another American traveller and I made our way to Costa Rica on Saturday, first stopping in Libera for a night. The buses here in Costa Rica are absolutely horrific, and it really wasn't reasonable to try to get to Monteverde in one day, so we have broken our trip up. Yesterday, we made our way to Monteverde. Tommorrow, we're headed to La Fortuna. I figure that I'll spend a couple of days there and go to El INVU to pick up my stuff from the SIT school there.

Coming back through Costa Rica again, I find myself looking at it more through the lense of Central America, rather than through the lense of Mexico, as I had previously. I have found myself reflecting a great deal on the role of tourism in developing countries, and what kind of tourism is helpful and unhelpful. I've had a lot to think about, as many travellers complain about the changes brought on by tourism - one would almost think that they wanted Latin America to remain poor simply so that they could have a cheaper, "more authentic" vacation. But, while I think that Latin Americans have every right to enrich and develop their communities through tourism, I do question whether tourism doesn't sometimes destroy that which people originally came to see.

And, of course, I'm faced with the question of who is actually benefiting from tourism. Many times, it seems that most of the businesses who are exploiting the "eco-tourism" phenomenon are foreigners anyway. It seems that, more often than not, it is Americans, Israelis and Europeans who are setting up shop in Central America and making their fortunes through their ability to buy up properties and businesses. The local people, it would seem to me, don't gain very much by this development scheme. At best, they get some jobs - but that's not exactly empowerment, is it?

(And just a note on "eco-tourism": This is the most abused and absurdized term ever. Every little hostel and coffee shop puts the word "eco" on their product or service and pretends that their patrons are serving the local community, protecting the environment and just generally doing good, when that's simply not the case.)

And, as always, I'm also concerned with the spread of an assumption that all First World people not only know English, but should be addressed in it, even if they are attempting to speak Spanish. Not only does it prevent foreigners from coming to know the local culture, but it also affects the local culture in a very extreme way in the long term. How could it fail to?

I'm in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua's premiere beachtown, basking in the afterglow of a idyllic beachside sunset. San Juan is quite a bit like Costa Rica in a lot of ways: The prices, the appearence of the people, the kind of tourists who are here, the "vibe." I would say that it's a good transition spot for passing from Nicaragua back into Costa Rica.

Yesterday, we arrived here after having to make our way through a big transportation strike. The taxi and bus drivers are on strike to protest the government's lack of action on gas prices and they were enforcing their strike yesterday, blockading the highway to all public transportation. So, when we arrived to the edge of town in Rivas, on our way to San Juan del Sur, we were confronted by a mob of taxi drivers who surrounded our vehicle, started to shake the car, and ordered us off of the road. They had barracaded the highway with big planks of wood and tire treading and made us wait an hour in the sun before, for some reason unbeknownst to me, they decided that we had been delayed sufficiently and let us go.

It was kindof a strange feeling being on the business end of a strike (double entendre). I had always tended to be on the workers' side, in theory, and would theoretically support strikers. But, in this case, the striking affected me directly and was quite annoying. It was interesting to find myself resentful of the striking workers instead of supportive.

I'm in Moyogalpa, the largest town on the Island of Ometepe, and I'm enjoying relatively cheap internet for the first time in a week. Marcus and I decided to spend the night here and then head out tommorrow morning, leaving the island and heading to the beach town of San Juan del Sur.

Only two weeks now remain until I fly back to Mexico City, and every day I look forward to returning more.

Since my last entry, I haven't moved. I'm still in the Finca Magdelena on the Island of Ometepe, enjoying the tranquility of this place and just taking it easy... Really, really easy. Maybe a bit too easy.

Anyway, I've met some really cool people here - Spaniards, Swiss, Swedish, French, Canadians and Quebekers, Germans, Dutch - and I have ever more contacts for my upcoming adventures. Some rather strange folks came in last night, some New Agey types from a "commune" in Costa Rica. They're mostly Israeli and seem super flakey to me. That, combined with the very high price tag of "living in harmony" (25 dollars a day, with no income), has convinced me to steer clear of that little experiment. However, these New Agers are giving me some things to think about in terms of my own plans for community, especially about the relationship of money to the community and how it affects who is able to join the community.

Tommorrow, I'm going to head with a Swedish friend, Marcus, to another part of the island for a little while, and after that I think I'll start making my way out. I wouldn't be suprised if I were in Costa Rica by mid-week. But I've learned not to put any trust in my own expectations.

I'm now on the Island of Ometepe, on Lake Nicaragua. After my first evening on the island (Monday), which I spent with the British girls, an Australian and some French Canadians, I separated from them all and made my way to the Finca Magdelena. This is where I originally decided to extend my travels and spend an extra couple of months in Central America, and I'm very happy to be back.

Here on Ometepe there is just an incredible sense of peace and tranquility. All I want right now is to relax here on the Finca, write, read and meditate. I'm very tired of constant motion and rootlessness, and so I embrace this chance to stagnate, to sit here on this island and await my date to fly out of San Jose. I'm hoping to stay here for over a week, and then head South to Costa Rica, pick up my things from the El INVU school, and fly out from San Jose on the 25th.

I won't be updating much this coming week, as the internet here is extremely expensive. But I doubt there will be much to say. I'm just relaxing, focusing inward and thinking about this moment - as well as upon the future. I'm happy.

Today I travelled from León, through the capital city of Managua, and am now comfortably residing in the famous "colonial city" of Granada. It's really kindof trippy to be back here in Granada after all this time. This is kindof the place that my unexpected journey began; until I arrived here, I was only doing what I had previously planned for my shorter trip.

I'm travelling with the British girls again, Clare and Becky. I figure we'll stay here for a day or two before making our way to Ometepe. Granada is a comfortable town and I'm already soaking up the luxurious environment (as compared to some other areas of Central America). Dinner tonight is going to be pizza from a great local pizza parlor. There's just something nice about being able to get a variety of food, especially as a vegetarian. Vegetarianism is less advanced here in Central America than it is in Kansas, to the extent that I would have reason to get excited if a person down here actually knew what vegetarianism was, much less had a dish without meat on their menu. My meals tend to consist of beans, cheese and, if I'm lucky, tortillas.

Anyway, one interesting thing that happened today was an experience the British girls and I had in Managua. Managua is a sprawled-out, souless Central American city and is incredibly crime-ridden and notoriously dangerous. However, the British girls had to go and get their airline tickets changed, so we would need to navigate the city a little bit before moving on to Granada. Our time in the city, despite our collective expectations to the contrary, was quite positive. The taxi driver who took us to the airline offices was quite nice, and I had a good conversation with him.

When we finished our business at the airline office, we asked the woman who had attended us where we should go to get a bus to Granada. She informed us that it would be dangerous for us to go to the bus station, because there was a strike going on. We needed to go and wait for a bus somewhere else, where they passed on the street.

When we inquired as to whether the woman could call us a cab, a young man informed us that he would be happy to drive us to the busstop himself. So, in this big, scary city, we were able to hitch a lift to the busstop and catch a bus out of town almost immediately. I spent the bus ride to Granada just grinning. "I'm having a very good day," I informed my European companions.