The Books The Carried Me Through

For better or for worse (and trust me, there is a lot of "worse" - English lit. was scarce resource at some points), this was my reading list from the Rio Grande to Aruba.

The Power and the Glory
Guns, Germs, and Steel
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
A History of Latin America
The Metamorphosis
Love in the Time of Cholera
Slaughterhouse-Five
Foundation and Empire
The House on Mango Street
Far From the Maddening Crowd
Lapham's Quarterly (War)
La Divina Comedia
The Luncheon of the Boating Party
Relato de un náufrago
The Teahouse Fire
Newsweek Special Edition (July 2008)
The Economist (June 2008)
Barrel Fever and Other Stories
Into Thin Air
Light a Penny Candle/ The Lilac Bus
The Liar's Club
The Innocent Man
The Good Earth
The Path Between The Seas
Cien años de soledad
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Longitude
Sailing Alone Around The World
The Agony and the Ecstacy
The Idiot
The Pillars of the Earth

I'm Back, or The Master Map

Two flights, two buses, and nine months later...





[Because, you know, I love maps.]

An Attempt At A Recap (For my memory as much as for posterity)

Day 1: Cartagena; Old Town
Day 2: Cartagena; La Popa and Castillo de San Felipe; Bus to Medellin
Day 3: Medellin; Palm Tree Hostel and Martina; Metro/ Teleferico/ Spanish Library/ Botanical Gardens/ Krishna Lunch
Day 4: Medellin; The Ignominious March to El Peñol (La Piedra)
Day 5: Manizales; Bus to Manizales; Rendezvous with Manisha, Tomas, and Doris; Coffee Farm Arrival (Jose, Cathy)
Day 6: Manizales; Highland hiking, stream swimming, highway hijinks, and dancing.
Day 7: Manizales; A day in Manizales
Day 8: Manizales; Abortive attempts at swimming; Agua panela con queso; onward to Salento; Teresa
Day 9: Salento; Valle de Cocora with Teresa, Marc, and Herlinda (60 meter wax palms and snow!)
Day 10: Salento; A day in Salento
Day 11: Salento to Pereira to Marsalla; Buses, cemeteries, and naked Bolivar - oh my!; Overnight to Bogota
Day 12: Bogota; History, politics, and culture: a day in Bogota; Israeli food!
Day 13: Bogota; Shopping Bogota and abortive attempts at theater
Day 14: Bogota; Climb Cerro Monserrate; Bus to Tunja
Day 15: Tunja morning; Villa de Leyva afternoon; a tale of two miradores; Laura, Jessie, and Oscar
Day 16: Villa de Leyva; in search of waterfalls near Santa Sofia; Paso de Los Angeles
Day 17: Villa de Leyva; biking through the countryside and through history: from dinosaur bones to prehispanic fertility cults and beyond; getting L-O-S-T; Overnight to Cucuta and the border
Day 18: Into Venezuela, slowly but surely; 28 hours by bus from Villa de Leyva, Colombia to Merida, Venezuela
Day 19: Merida; A Day in Merida; Planning
Day 20: Into the Andes; Hacienda El Carrizal
Day 21: Through the Andes; From El Carrizal to El Quino... without Boca e' Monte
Day 22: Descending Back to Earth
Day 23: Merida; Aguas Termales
Day 24: Merida; Pico de la Aguila, Paso del Condor; 4100 meters up, 8 degrees north of the equator and 8 degress above zero...
Day 25: Like a bat out of Venezuela and into Colombia (Santa Marta)
Day 26: Taganga; Life's a beach
Day 27: Taganga; ...more beach...
Day 28: Minca; the mountains, one last time
Day 29: Minca; waterfalls galore
Day 30: Taganga redux; Election Night - you, me, and CNN
Day 31: Cartagena; Welcome back to Astor

Some things just never go away

This is the second time in as many months I've been headed toward a sailboat and, likewise, the second time I've felt like this. I guess I never mentioned it before - things just got away from me, I suppose - but damn I miss my dad.

So...

... how about that President?