Crowne Plaza Hotel Xalapa, Ver Jalapa

... on sunday and although they clearly state attendence of all activities is optional, there has been a noticeable shift of attitude now they realise I am not a potential follower - any of you that know me can vouch for that! So went to Xico, an even smaller, prettier, higher & lusher coffee town - got even closer to the volcanos, El Cofre de Perote & Orizaba(highest in Mexico, 3rd highest in North America at 5000+ M), but still no ...

... m going to keep surfing and possibly host some day. I was hosted by a girl and her family and they accepted me like family. They only let people stay for a day so she said I could stay at her friends house the next day. Her friends house was nice and it had a pool. They ended up taking me out on the town and we had a good time.

... sehr freundlich. Wir kommen an kleinen Haeus**n vorbei, die hell **leuchtet und offen sind, in denen wir Gruppen zusammen beten und singen sehen. Vor d** Kathedrale hat sich eine riesige Schlange gebildet, und imm** mehr Leute scheinen sich dazuzugesellen. Nach einem vorsichtigen Blick hinein **inn**n wir uns, dass heute ja Asch**mittwoch ist, und die Leute stehen an, um vom Priest** ein Kreuz aus Asche auf ihre Stirn zu bekommen. Frueh am naechsten Morgen brechen wir mit Yasmin ...

Written from Jalcomulco, Mexico: A phone call was just received directly from Jordan at 19:35 our time. Joel is awake and recognizes his brother as well as other friends and family. He has little memory of the incident but is making jokes and talking about kayaking. One lung continues to labour but the doctors plan to take him out of the ICU tomorrow. The family will be sending us further updates as they come along.

... securely in the hands of Canadian medical experts the WILD crew will be participating in a full Critical Incident Stress Debriefing before loading up and transferring to Huatulco for a final group paddle into the Pacific. Spirits amongst the group are currently as strong as possible under the circumstances.... everyone has passed their thoughts and energies along to Joel, Jordan and his family and are now prepared to move forward as a group for future adventures.

... some coffee which has been dried and husked but still needs roasting and grinding. This was really touching and I will enjoy taking it home, roasting it, grinding it and sharing this with my family at some special occasion in the future. Maybe whilst talking about the village and the museum and the amazing kindness and hospitality of the people who live there. Later in the morning we hiked back via a different route ...

... independencia" from the balcony of the town hall. Fireworks and mariachis followed. We ate "elotes" (corn on the cob covered with mayo, shredded cheese and chilli powder) and drove back to my cousin's home. Day 4 We prepared "dobladas de mole" for breakfast, walked around the plantations and headed back to Mexico City.

... been very exciting and I feel my spanish already starting to improve as well as my sense of direction around the cluster F of the Xalapan streets. Here are a few pics taken on a 2 hour lost journey from city centro to my mom cousin (Byrons) house, it should have taken no more than 20 mins. Tomorrow I am going on a 40km bike ride with a bunch of locals and will tell y´all about that as well as post pictures next time ...

... like baseball hats, a few soccer balls, some baseball mitts, tote bags filled with goodies for new mothers, and all kinds of stuff. I saw the community transformed as all of a sudden everyone was Baptist and had no problem asking for things. I had people I didn't even know coming up to my home asking me for things... which NEVER happened before. There were only a few in this group that spoke Spanish so many of my Murrain friends wanted me to ask for things for them ...

... who loves me despite my unwillingness to "do something" with my life, I've had some cash to throw around. I've stayed in some pretty nice hotels, eaten well, and done things I would have otherwise been unable to do. Good people. Today we went to a small town called Xico (J sound again, or a hard H for the English speakers). We visited some amazing falls and had a nice trek through some ...