news of sorts. first, i have been trying to reduce the amount of sugar i eat. too much time on my hands, you ask? indeed. al huevo.
either way, i have begun buying large quantities of grapefruits and orange, about 1-2 kilos each per week, and, well, juicin 'em. i bought a hand press juicer (small compartment where the cut orange or whatever goes, then a hand press that mashes the fruit against a solid wall, and small holes underneath where the goose goes out). less complex than i just explained. but, it is pretty rockin. i was thinking about how much sugar i ingest every week just from the juices that i buy, and it is a lot. yes, this way is more of a pain in the ass, as you have to juice about 6 halves by hand to get a good sized cup o goose, but the juice tastes 100 times better and i feel better about myself. part 2 of the last sentence was all i was ever really after.

continuing the saga, i have also started making smoothies. i bought a blender last fall, never used it, then finally started. i take my homemade juice, add a banana, frozen berries of whatever sort, carrots, maybe a kiwi if i have it, some flavored yogurt with meal in it, and liquefy the sumnabitch. sweet sweet action.

this is my two step process of feeling better about myself. the third step is going to the gym as often as possible, 3-4 times a week, and after the workout with weights, absolutely trying to kill myself on the stairmaster. that's right, i said it, the stairmaster. you burn calories on that thing faster than any other machine i have found. plus, at about 8000ft in altitude, it does not take long until you are entirely soaked with sweat.

in a somewhat unrelated topic, i went shopping after xmas to catch the sales. i ended up buying a lot of new clothes, which is good considering it has been a long time since i did that and some of my pants, especially, were literally wearing thin. i ended up buying two really cheap blazers. i now have 3. i wear them 3-4 days a week. imagine this. will. beard. longish hair. button down shirt. rockin blazer. i either grew up or just like looking strange. i must say my favorite part of wearing the jackets is the pockets. dude. three inner pockets? score. i love it. pens, paper, phone, keys, credit cards. it's all in there somewhere and as long i dont forget and leave it in there when i change jackets (this is happening a lot but i blame this on the transition stage), it is all good. we are talking about doubling, nay, tripling my on-person (or on-billy as i like to say) storage capacity. yahtzee.

went to costa rica last week on a business trip. that was really cool, although having to work was somewhat of a bummer. costa rica seems beautiful, but pricey. that only leaves panama and i have been to every country in central america. i met a guy who lives and works in colombia and that might be my next destination. if i can score a job at the school where he works, i could be out of here within the next year. or not. it all depends.

looks like mccain might be the man for the repubs. if that happens, i think the dems are lost. what are your thoughts on that? it is strange to go out and hear lots of mexis talking about the elections in the usa. i doubt anyone in the states was discussing the virtues and vices of amlo and calderón a few years back.

if i get a photo of me in one of the sports coats i will upload it. gq baby. keep on truckin.

on the fly. i remember when i was much younger that the idea of ¨winging-it¨ was not only the means but the ends. ¨just start and figure it out as you go¨ was the motto used by me and my buddy ryan when dealing with everything from asking the rents for something to talking on the phone with a some girl to getting out of some problem. i am sure i can glorify this method and claim that it makes your mind sharp as you must remember whatever lies are spewing from your mouth for future reference but that would be, well, a lie. the point is that later whenever confronted with some bullshit we had said, we just made up some other as an explanation. there was no basis for anything other than believing what you wanted the situation to be. i used to expound the idea that if you believe it, it is true. i still feel that way in most cases, undoubtedly confirming my own opinion by not seeking that of others, and confer upon those around me such wisdom as comes to the top of my head. how grand.

in some ways i am experimenting this semester with the idea of saying fuck it and making up each day as it begins. but, that would also be a half-truth as i have a plan, even wrote it down, of where each week and semester goes. the details of the day, however, stem from whatever it is i am thinking of at the moment. i have taken to reading technology sections of the bbc, new york times, wall street journal and economist to get fresh ideas to present to my students. the class is called literature and technology, where the literature, future or science fiction, serves as the foundation, or even catalyst, of the class, and technology acts as the medium through which the students interact with the texts. frankenstein? ok, we will talk about issues of identity and what makes a person a person (cloning, human genome project), or playing god (lack of genetically unmodified fruit and vegetables, tampering with viruses and diseases). the latest, which i read this morning in the bbc, was that a governing body (possibly international but at least british) has approved the splicing of human and animal egg and sperm to create a fetus. no joke. the claim is that the combination (i am sputtering for a word to describe this offspring) will never live more than 14 days and that it will only be used to harvest stem cells and study effects of viruses and diseases in general on the fetus. strange days.

the point of this might have been simply to help me explain to myself what the hell it is i am doing here. maybe i am justifying my rationale. both.

completely unrelated idea- i highly recommend the book ¨under the volcano¨ by malcolm lowry and published in the late 1940s. set in mexico, just outside of the city where i live, the story takes place in one day and loosely follows the odyssey format. incredible story, too much feeling at times, and rather unnerving. gives a startling view into the life of a foreigner surviving (and not) in mexico.

new school year started on monday. my classes are good and the workload is definitely manageable, so that is great. my good friend just became the director of the university foreign language dept. selfish of me, but this post really helps me a lot as well as he will be able to offer me classes in the university in the upcoming semesters which will help my résumé and generally improve my standing if i choose to make a permanent switch out of the high school. he will also have a lot more pull in areas like phd programs (he was the first to graduate, in december, from the program i want to enter, so i am hoping that he can also help keep the program alive and accepting new students). as we are pretty tight, it will also help me because i will be talking to him a lot and learning about his job and whether something administrative might be in the future for me as well (indeed, if he leaves in a few years and i am around working on a phd or whatever, i would be in a great position to take over the post). so ya, i am extremely pleased about this turn of events.

the director of the language dept in the university just quit; the director of the language dept. in the high school left 2 days ago. also, two other full time teachers have gone within the last 5 days. huge changes around here, which again makes me glad that a good friend is in charge of another dept in case things go south and i want out of this dept. i doubt that will happen as our new director is professional and up to the task, but with so many other external factors, one never knows. as this is the first time i have held a job for 17 months or more in the last 5 years, i guess i just assume that i will leave before anyone in a position above me does. strange to see your friends go as opposed to you be the one going. not exactly used to that, but oh well. there will always be new additions.

i would have to get sick as soon as i get back into town. sucks. oh well, today is my first day back at work and i already want another vacation. on the whole i learned an incredible amount on this trip, including where i want to go back to (la antigua and lago atitlan in guatemala) and where not (managua, nicaragua). i have wanted to visit central america for years. i finally got my chance. as i will be going to costa rica for a week this month, i will only have one country (i dont count belize really) left to visit: panama. all of my friends, including many who i met on this last trip, tell me it is beautiful and well worth the visit. i have no doubt they are right.

here are 100 or so pics from the trip. let me know if this link does not work.

if you check back in a week or so i will add some comments onto the pictures so that you have an idea of where they are all taken from. the first volcano is the island of ometepe in nicaragua and the water is a lake. the second volcano pics, the ones where are within 5 feet of flowing lava, are from guatemala. the last pics are from the beach in chiapas (mexico).

i am definitely hoping to go back to guatemala at some point soon, but i may have to wait until next winter vacation. the time to go is definitely in the winter if anyone is thinking of central america because you miss the rainy season and the heat is tolerable. july? hell no.

i hope the hokies win tonight and dont live up to the nickname as they did last year.

happy new years to all.