A year in 7 brief paragraphs

Holy Bejusus.

It seems like just yesterday that I re-entered Canadia to surprise my mom/family for Passover. But.. lo and behold, a full Hebraic year has passed (and almost a full Gregorian one too). Somehow, it's managed to be a very productive year. Details follow.

Summer 2008 was spent in Montreal and filled with concerts, cooking and camping (note triumphant Manu, top right). When all that wasn't happening, I worked with my mom and saw first-hand how ridiculously hard she works. Fall 2008 was filled with jobs searches, job interviews, frustration, indecision.. and finally.. employment!

Which (of course) brought me back to Toronto - the city I expect to live in for the foreseeable future.

Winter 2008/2009. Hope springs eternal. Working in a super fun, super cool environment, where every day I see or hear something completely ridiculous! In my spare time, I entertained friends for dinner, wished I had a toboggan, dreamt of winter camping and hosted a ridiculous number of people at my housewarming party -- the good news is that the patio will be open at the next one.

Spring 2009 - NOW - what a difference a year can make - even if it flew by in a flash.

More soon. Perhaps even something amusing.

Sometimes spring follows summer

Paradise led to Panama city, a boiling hot inferno chock full of shopping, canals and people. I shopped, avoided the canal, tried to visit the old city by getting on a bus marked Panama Viejo (Old Panama) - ended up in completely the wrong area, then walked back to town.

and then the following:

10pm taxi to airport
2am flight to Lauderdale
5:55am stupid questions from US customs
6:10am pulled aside for luggage check
6:25am escape from luggage check
6:45am board plane to Boston
10am arrive Boston
10:30am ask tourist information for information (completely incorrect - called Hilton Hotel for correct info - thanks Hiltons)
11am visit ICA in Boston (Contemporary Art Gallery) - cool exhibits, photography prohibited
12pm check email at Boston's courthouse - awesome!
1:30pm go to catch bus to Salem at subway - customer service tells me there's no bus, go to other subway.
1:45pm get to other subway - visit two customer service areas - both tell me there's no service to Salem
2:10pm miss bus to Salem
3pm meet to lovely ladies waiting for the bus to Salem, they sympathize about stupid transit people - bus clearly stops at both subways that I was told it didn't, and as an added bonus - also stops at the airport!
5pm get to Salem
5:03pm see sign for witches museum - yes, it's that Salem!
6pm meet ride to Montreal

24 hours later - ask some Hasids what time Seder starts - they reply not before 8:20, but as I learned the less orthodox actually get hungry earlier
3 hours later - ring doorbell
30 seconds later...

A brief trip to paradise

Last you heard I was in Bocas Del Toro, Panama - a place with heaploads of angry people - the government is selling off lots of land to foreigners, causing prices to rise, lives to be disrupted, and people to be generally unhappy. From chatting with people, it looks like only 2-3 years ago cars were a rarity on the main island - i.e. one every half hour - while there's still no gridlock, it's easy to see the the way of life is changing for all the locals. The ambience is therefore not excellent, as everyone is annoyed that you're there, or trying to make a fast buck. Ah well.

From there I headed to San Blas - a territory governed by the Kuna - an Indigenous group that gained autonomy in the early 20th century. The territory includes the San Blas Islands (my destination) - a group of approximately 365 islands, most of which are super-tiny and filled with palm trees, white sand and the occasional shell. They're surrounded by the clearest water one could possibly imagine. In other words - paradise.

Off and on the beaten track

My last week in Colombia was jam-packed with an adventure into the unknown - it all started Sunday at 7am. My first stop was in a little pueblo called Guatape - most notable for being within walking distance of ¨The Rock¨. (I had my backpack repaired here by Dona Flor)

Then a quick stop in Sante Fe de Antioquia - a charming town where I stayed indoors due to enormous amounts of rain.

Then a quick 8 hour bus ride to Turbo - a Caribbean port town near Panama, followed by an 8am boat ride to Capurgana (see video below). This experience was the most painful of my entire voyage. (thus far anyhow)

Capurgana is a super lovely beach town with no cars (or motorbikes for that matter). Sadly, I had only 2 days in this wonderful place. Whilst there, I took a quick hike across the border to a beach in Panama. Interestingly, the beach I went to is actually in the Darien National Park. So.... I´ve now officially been to the Darien. Too Cool!

After the one hour flight to Panama City, I spent a short three hours (!!!) going through customs. (10 people) I thought that this sucked, but imagine the Colombians who must go through this every time they take the route. Incredibly frustrating.

And now, I´m in Bocas del Toro, Panama in a town with seemingly more gringos than Panamanians. Seeing as the beaches are completely mind-blowing, I´ll somehow manage to suffer through it.

Political Note: Terrorists, drug smugglers and arms shipments do not travel by official means. There is a group of Islands in Panama that are self governed - the drugs arms and terrorists would probably choose this option.

2008: a backpack odyssey

The final night parade in Popayan was spectacular - the same delightful Jesuseses but without the crowds. (great for reminiscing about Jesus's journey on the cross)

Then, on to San Augustin - the site of some wierd funerary statues. (note photograph)

And now I'm in Medellin - a place where it may be possible to dance on Pablo Escobar's grave. But more importantly, it's the place where my backpack began its odyssey and I learned some valuable lessons in keeping a smile going. (note photograph again)

Lesson 1: There is no smell worse than a backpack soiled with fish juice - except maybe Bundaegi. (Korea's national hiking food)

Lesson 2: There is no pain more severe than picking up your freshly laundered backpack, only to discover that it still smells of fish - except maybe childbirth. (everyone wish Loni well)

Lesson 3: There is nothing worse than discovering that your backpack has been taken apart, and the straps sewn on backwards - except maybe death. (this is not my wisdom, but what the cleaner told me in order to put things into perspective)

So, my request is for everyone to pray to Baby Jesus for him to use his Baby Jesus Powers for me to find a place for me to re-repair my backpack. (Please do not pray to Ninja Fighting Jesus)

[Side note: whilst writing this, someone climbed the walls of the hostel and stole the VCR and DVD player. The police were here within about 2 minutes - now that's service!]

This Week in God Week

On today, Good Friday, I felt it wise to reflect on the state of global Messianisim.

No, not really. Instead, here's a brief review of my week.

Monday - took a day trip from Cali (Colombia's salsa capital) to San Cipriano - a small town that can be reached on foot, or by the remarkable moto-tren. This was my main reason for going to San Cipriano - and it was well worth it! -- a couple videos are up on youtube.

Then, Tuesday morning I headed to Silvia - as every Tuesday, the town hosts an indigenous market. I wasn't thrilled with the market, but the town was lovely, and on one part of my walk, I smelled the sweetest air ever. (It must be noted that 5 minutes later it was foul as foul can be)

Wednesday morning brought me to Popayan - where I am now, for (apparently) the world's second largest Easter celebration (after Sevilla, Spain). Daytime atmosphere is fantastic - evening atmosphere is soporific - and late night atmosphere is where you truly get close to Jesus - at a salsa bar.

Zoo Logic

I'm currently in Cali, Colombia, one of the world's foremost plastic surgery destinations - as evidenced by the thousands of silicone enhanced breasts that are simply everywhere. (Not to mention less evident surgeries).

Yesterday I went to the Zoologico, and as recommended, compared myself to a monkey. Clearly the monkey has slightly more hair, and I wear glasses. I have no doubt that there are subtler differences too.

It was strange being in a zoo after recently seeing some of the animals in the wild... On the plus side, I saw a few animals that were too reticent to come out when I was in their hood. On the negative side, as amazing as zoos are, it's not the same sort of experience.

This is also the first time in my life I've seen a complete Sunday shut-down - the only way I found an internet cafe was to accidently stumble upon the city bus terminal. It's wierd seeing a metropolis turn into a ghost town overnight.

Political note: Whilst in Bogota, I could have had my hair cut by the president's barber, but for some strange reason I didn't - yet another reason to always go for the gold.