Mental Block in Guatemala

Greetings from Guatemala, well actually Honduras for the moment. I´ve crossed the boarder to check out some ruins here in the infamous Copan, ok maybe not imfamous but something along those lines.

After visiting some coffee farmers last week with Equal Exchange I´ve gotten away for a week to explore Guatemala some. I´m pretty excited to be here. The weather is beautiful and all is well.

I got a fish the other day at a restaurant and they brought the whole thing out so when I got to the end I asked the waiter if normal people ate that there and he said, ¨if you want to.¨ Which definitely wasn´t clear enough for me so when I forced the issue he told me that some Guatemalans did eat it, including the eye, but most gringos did not. Since I wanted to be stronger than most Gringos I decided to take a stab at it...I mean literally, but when I did it´s mouth opened and I just couldn´t do it. I just kept staring at it and I couldnt get over how discusting it was to eat a fish´s brain so I gave up and submitted to my mental block.
sad, maybe next time I´ll have more courage, although I still don´t know about the eye.

One other thing is that I got electrocuted in the shower the other day since they don´t have much warm water here and it was an electrical head which heats it and I mistakenly hit and caused a terrible electrical chock that passed through my arm to my entire body. I guess it´s part of the adventure but I´m just saying, appreciate what you got with your warm water no electrocution showers up in the Global North

Skiing like and old man.

Once again returned from soccer in poor condition. I don't know if it's because I'm small, fall down a lot on this damn Astroturf, am getting old much too fast, or if I just actually suck at soccer but I can't seem to escape without damaging myself. The worse is that we have lost every game I've played (our record is something like 0-4) and I've been on a number of losing teams in my life and can't help but wonder if it's me, the team, or both? What a crummy thing being a loser, especially after losing to a bunch of old men in doubles (see Sportmen's Tennis Club) and having to drive to Weston, MA for it too. I guess it's better than sitting around and the alternative of going to a gym or running regularly sounds terrible.

Lot's of questions, not a lot of answers. Another possibility is that I have pre-maturely aged and my back is giving out and I should not be skiing, playing tennis, and soccer all in one week. Stretching might also help, but who wants to do that? Speaking of skiing, I went up to Loon Mountain in New Hampshire this weekend and had a pretty good time. Loon is something between Bolton Valley and Sugar Bush or Stowe in VT. The funny thing with skiing is at least half of it seems to be the adventure off the mountain and the culture of the mountain. There's so many funny personalities there (think Southpark ">"Asspen" not to mention the "ski bunnies (see above*)" Everyone is there to have fun which I love too -although the head phones thing is something, beyond the safety aspect which you can debate, I'm not quite sure I like (even though I've done it myself, especially if you are skiing alone). But it seems stupid that we spend like $70 for a day and spend an hour sitting at a table buying ridiculously expensive fried food for lunch and then quitting often before the end of the day. Then you go home and you talk about skiing and talking about skiing and the "freshies" and all is another cultural phenom in it of itself. Given the price, the distance to drive, the lines, and all sometimes I think we are convincing ourselves that it's better than it is. Furthermore, taking off your boots and grabbing a beer at the end of the day really is the best part which seems counter-intuitive. Maybe I don't even like skiing, no wait that can't be true, I just don't have the balls I used to and don't try anything that exciting anymore (actually I probably never did but just think I did - like when you get 8 inches of air and think you got 4 ft). It reminds of college and being on the diving team where the best part of practice was being done and sitting in the hot tub...probably a bad sign that you shouldn't be doing something if that's the case.

We did have some adventures before and on the mountain. After almost losing my ski bag off the top of my friends pick-up because I forgot to tie it down and it nearly fell off while we sped down the highway at 70 miles an hour (it was like 7:00 am) we made it to the mountain only to falter once again when my friend took out a little kid at the top of the mountain moving about 3 miles an hour and just not seeing him. It's really hard not too laugh when things like this happen even know you're not supposed to. I then crashed into a tree trying to wedge my way into one of those quick woods offshoots that comes back to the trail a little too quick. I'm sure it was fun not being me and hearing me scream at the last minute.

Anyways, that's it for now. I am taking off for Guatemala for work in two weeks to visit some coffee farmers and I am pretty psyched about that, one might even say stoked. I'll report more soon, sorry for this lame post and thank to you anyone who's actually reading this.

*Disclaimer: Picture of ski bunny may or may not actually be a real girl that I saw but in any case there's something really hot about athletic girls who can ski and look good with all those clothes on.

Sports, Love &/in Minnesota, & More

Playing in the Boston Ski & Sports or BSSC as people say has been fun but a big step up from previous recreation. We play on a real indoor soccer field with a real scoreboard, ref, uniforms, and the whole 9 yards. As you could imagine, some people take this much too seriously and as I sit in pain writing this post I can't help but wonder why the goalie last night thought it was necessary to check me into the board as I felt several bones snap - ok not really, but I did have trouble moving today. The worst though is getting knocked over from some these woman who must be on steroids or something. I mean what are you supposed to - knock them back over?

Speaking of moving, this past weekend I went to the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain which moved last year to basically my back yard, which I was pretty psyched about. There aren't a whole lot of places to go out in JP, definitely not the best place to move if you are looking for good night life in Boston. There are even fewer places to dance but The Milky Way is one of them and on Saturday night they had some great DJ's and some spinning lights on the dance floor. Only problem - no one dancing. There were people there for sure, although everyone seems to be about 5-10 years older than me on average, and they stood around the dance floor just talking. And if you can't get people to dance to good music on a Saturday night I don't know what you can do. My strategy was to get on the floor even if with the 3 other people (2 of whom were men) and pull some good moves - this did not help. Everyone continued not dancing while I made a fool of myself.

Lastly, I am taking off to Minnesota this weekend after a bizarre series of events. I was facebooked by a girl I have not spoken to since freshman year of college (who I was never particularly close with) who said she wanted to buy me a ticket to my former roommate and good friend's surprise birthday. Wait, hold on a second, were the strings attached? None apparently she said. Oh she must be rich? Probably not as she does Teach for America. So I decided to go with it and take a chance since free trips are always sweet and I want to see my friend. We'll see how it goes and hopefully this isn't some grand hoax where I have to pop out of a birth cake somewhere naked or something- but apparently this girl and my friend are pseudo dating long-distance which I didn't hear about from him and seems rather odd. Although not that odd considering my other roommate from college was dumped shortly after a 3 year relationship ended just after graduation when he found while travelling in Israel that it was for a woman that she'd been cheating with for almost a year and she was now a lesbian! So much for their plan to move to Hawaii together. Or take my friend who studied abroad in Ghana and met a military man there that's more than twice her age (mid-forties) with 2 daughters just younger than us, and became friends only to later fall in love after graduation after he moved to Japan and then she moved there too to get married. The latest I hear is they are planning on making some children of their own in New Orleans where they now live.

If all goes well I should be dating a trannie soon on the streets of St. Paul that comes back to Boston only to find out that it's my boss' mother who is pregnant with 3 children, and needs me to travel to Zanzibar to find the father whose whereabouts are unknown.

The Herb Files (part III)

It's been awhile since I wrote anything about my dad Herb and going back to Vermont this past weekend made me remember some things. The funny thing is that to me his "eccentricities" are probably pretty prevalent amongst fathers in the baby boomer generation but as an economist and being around college students you would think he would be a little bit more hip at this point.

The first thing is a mis perception about price. Perfect example was me getting some very nice new Patagonia shoes for $60 and upon bringing them home he remarked, "I've never spent more than $25 on a pair of shoes in my life, that's outrageous." Now this obviously can't be true first of all and second of all he then proceeded to give $60 for gas money as I left to go back to Boston without any hesitation. So it's obviously not about cheapness it's just that every day there's probably a new item in his life, or I should say category of items, like shoes for instance, whose price seems unreasonable. Clothing in general really is the big category here but there are many others.

The second thing also has to do with inconsistencies - and that being in the field of technology. Herb does know a good deal about computers, Blue-Ray, and flat screen TV's but when it comes to checking his messages on his cell phone or sending a simple text message he is clueless. I can't figure out whether it's a lack of motivation and interest or really an ineptitude at figuring out the small buttons. It's not that I'm that embarrassed for him about this...but it was pretty amazing that when I came home talking to him while driving the other night he kept talking after I hung up. How do I know this? Because I pulled into the garage (in which he was standing and speaking into his cell phone), rolled down the window, hung up my phone, and while I proceeded to finish our conversation from a large and very noticeable car with him standing 5 ft. away from me, he continued for a few minutes to respond not looking at me and still speaking into his cell phone as if I weren't there.

Is there any way to bring these people into the new century?

A Study of Contrasts

The last few weekends has been a tale of many lives for me, or maybe more since I seem to cross a few different crowds these days.

The weekend before last I went to see Phish in Albany NY for two nights. The "scene" is perhaps the least enjoyable part about seeing Phish and I had almost forgotten about this until I realized that my friends are part of the scene. Let's just say it's not always about the music for everyone there. In the past I didn't know they were referred to as the "nitrus mafia" and that other people are actually blogging about this. It just seems stupid to me. So anyways, Saturday during the day we had time, well actually the whole day to kill and let's just say there's not a whole to do in Albany, NY. After a leisurely 11:30 am wake up I was trying to inspire my crew of 7 or so dirty and smelly male comrades to leave the trashed hotel room we were staying in to do something, anything really, and not a single one of them seemed to have any interest in moving. On the contrary, they seemed content with watching Ritchie Rich, Blade II, and then Blade 3 Trinity, and a number of B movies while ordering pizza for breakfast. I couldn't take it so I left to check out the local food co-op since I had previously heard about it and wanted some real food.

My timing was impeccable: 12:30pm Saturday's just happens to be the time for a free half hour session of "Yo Ba" Chi Gong, which to my luck was open to the public. This is the description from the co-ops website of this class:

"Join Unchatwa (aka Tim Stoddard) on a gentle journey for health and vitality. An eclectic fusion of Pasha (gentle heart) Yoga and Ba Gau Zhang (8 palm change) circle walking with kidney cleansing Chi Gung to cleanse the blood, tonify the kidneys, and energize the body, mind and spirit."

Wow - if I had to describe food co-ops to someone and the people there - I would use the exact above description to offer a really poor stereotype of a co-op shopper. While I am pretty open to anything, this is not something I would normally do but having nothing to do in Albany for the day and thinking about the disgustingly dirty room of friends awaiting back at our cheap hotel I decided to give it a try. I actually felt a lot better afterwards, although it was pretty strange - of course I never heard the end of it when I got back to the hotel room, which to no surprise did not see any movement until the show at night except the brief walk to buy snacks from the gas station across the street.

Last weekend I went to NYC and joined my friend's holiday party (he works for Sungard Financials) at Bryant Park. Luckily we are the same size and I could borrow some clothing since I forget that my workplace is very different than a lot of my corporate contemporary's and I had to snag a nice shirt, pants, and tie (when it's warmer I sometimes go to my work in my Cameroonian shorts by contrast). While they didn't ask who I was to get in since I guess I looked the part, this was one of the most extravagant work party's I've ever been to. Catered and delicious meal with the type of deserts you see in commercials, multiple open bars, beautiful roof-top deck view of, the Manhattan downtown, and a solid DJ spinning tunes all night. I was actually in New York for a retreat for a group I volunteer with called CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People's of El Salvidor) - man I am really taking a turn to the left lately...and it was such a contrast to be with this radical leftist group the next day, who probably mostly are anti-consumerists and work for non-profits (or are unemployed). We did exercises such as "activist yoga" and "anti-oppression workshops." My friend would probably have felt pretty weird there and he's also a pretty open guy.

Finally, just to top things off on my way back Sunday night I stopped in Springfield, MA and wondered upon the most amazing and unexpected restaurant ever called Teresa's Soul Food. at 10 pm Sunday night I couldn't believe there was anyone there but Teresa, just returning from church, bounced right in and started cooking up some great candied yams, collard greens, and Southern Fried chicken while a huge bible lay open on the restaurant counter (it was kind of diner style). She put on gospel music on the CD player, fried up some cat fish as samples while we were waiting and persisted in trying to get us to try the pig feet. The obvious point of contrast here was that you wouldn't normally associate Springfield, MA with great soul food cooking - and even though we were the only people in the place, the food was really amazing. I highly recommend the stop if you ever for whatever reason find yourself in Springfield, MA 10 pm on a Sunday night. And if you ever the opportunity to do Yo Ba" Chi Gong, I say take it. Why not? You only live once and you don't need to go abroad to see the incredible diversity of layers that exist right here within our own society

Birdie in the Nest

Growing up I always was told by my mom that this was one of our family recipes so I assumed it was special. I've always loved Birdie in the nests but then later on found out that lot's of other people eat them too. I've heard lots of names for them too including:

Egg Island

Eggie Weggy (England)

Toad in the Hole

Egg in the basket

And just now I check in Wikipedia and they've got also:

It is also known by a large number of alternative names, examples being "Rocky Mountain toast",^[4] "moon egg",^[5] "egg-in-the-hole"^[6], "One-eyed Jack",^[7] "Bird's nest"^[8] and "frog in a hole"

So somewhat disappointing, but it still is bomb and I highly recommend this to my readers

The Return of Trainwreck

Picture above may or may not exeggerate age of average tennis player at the Sportman's Tennis Club in Dorchester, MA

So last night I made my 2nd appearance (group hit night) at the Sportsman's Tennis Club in Dorchester, MA. It's the only club of I know of in Boston that's relatively affordable. I guess I am back on the courts again after a long hiatus (except for a few good stretches during the warmer months of the year) and thinking about joining. These guys also do league play which is cool and I can represent Boston.

It's funny - I've never really thought about rankings and levels (3.0, 4.0, etc.) but now I need to. What's also funny is that this group, maybe around 20 strong, is mostly a bunch of old men who play some good old man tennis. Last night I played doubles and felt pretty shaky. These guys do not look like they should be that good but they are deceptive and play smart. In addition when you move indoors the balll just seems to skid and move a lot faster. These guys are probably not serving more than 70 mph but it feels like 100 mph.

It's funny how quickly I revert to old habits. I know I can play the game, but the minute I get on the court, especially with new players, I start second guessing myself. I have always been this way - a real headcase. When I am confident - I can hit ridiculous shots that I should not be able to hit but the opposite is also true and I don't what's in my genetics that playing with a bunch of average old men can make me so nervous.

In general, I think having some competition and being challenged with some stakes are a good thing to have on a weekly basis in your life. It keeps things interesting. And yet I'm not gonna lie by saying it wasn't somewhat of a relief to graduate MAC and not have to think about playing another match there again in my life and the thought of playing in a competitive league again makes me think again about how quickly "Trainwreck" (my college alter-ego) could return.