Fiesta Inn Xalapa Jalapa

... constantly hazy apparently due to burning of sugarcane and humidity due to impending rainy season. The town was so buggy, firts thing I did was to buy repellent, not that it ever works - placebo effect - if I think they're not biting I won't scratch & turn my bites into suppurating sores that bleed streams of pus down my legs!! Had some of the mole Xiqueña (distinguishing feature apparently use of 7 different chillis) for ...

I heard about couch surfing dot com so I decided to try it out. It's a bunch of people that are willing to let random people sleep on their couches. It's a pretty cool idea but it's a little sketchy at times and you never really know what you are going to get. Fortunately I ended up with some really cool people the first time so ...

... zu uns**** Tour. Wir wollen uns die Vanilleproduktion genau** anschauen und nach El Tajin fahren. Yasmin hat schon vorgearbeitet und einen Vanillebau**n organisi**t, in dessen Pick-Up wir auf seine Plantage fahren. Sie liegt etwas auss**halb d** Stadt in Mitten von riesigen Orangenbaumplantagen. Wir l**nen, dass die Vanille imm** etwas zum Hochrankeln braucht, weshalb die Plantage voll** Klett**g**ueste steht, meist klein**e Baeume und Straeuch**. Die Blueten w**den von Hand ...

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.

Written from Esprit in Jalcomulco: 15:00hr We have had a particularly good but particularly long night hence the delayed update. Yesterday evening Joel's condition was trending very favorably and many of his vital signs and organ functions had drastically improved. Joel has displayed normal function of his heart, stomach, kidneys, liver, pancreas..... his lungs are drastically improving but remain laboured and potentially susceptible to infection. Although still ...

... a much steeper path than the way into Chopilapa, and also up some more ladders. We hiked back to the same level that we had walked earlier in the morning so we were really hot and tired by the time we reached the top, but there was, of course, another great view. After reaching Buena Vista we got back in the van and drove towards Jalcomulco, scouting a route for a new cycle tour which Esprit might run. On the way ...

so the past week and a half has really been a blast! A lot has been going on but I guess ill just write about the highlights. Pablo and I have been meeting lots of people, we went to a house party last weekend i think and man house parties here are wild, we were told that people might go to the bars for a little but mostly house parties are were jovenes hang out. So that was loads of fun, also went and saw some ...

... get on the computer. So I wanted to do a seperate entry for the bike trip we took to Xico yesterday but I have already uploaded the phots to this entry, anyway still learning this blog thing. Pablo and I got up early yesterday (sunday), went over to Byron and Leti´s house (Byrons wife) for breakfast and then met up with a group of cyclists in front of Park de Juarez. There were probably 3 dozen people meeting up for ...

... of course made me feel very awkward. I realized all my hard work to try and teach everyone to do things themselves instead of asking for handouts was obliterated in just one week.  I have realized that Murra is always going to have groups coming in and giving things out and that probably won't change since they are in such need. What I tried to do was talk with the Baptist's about other nearby communities like San Gregorio or Mina de Plata that have a much higher need ...

... jungle. I did see a beetle that was the size of my foot. Actually it was half a foot, but that's still a giant beetle. I also saw a number of butterflies, which my mother would have loved. Or maybe they're just really pretty moths. I don't know these sort of things. But they were still cool. Tomorrow it's off to Catemaco and some nearby beaches. I need a little color before I go home.