Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Two more days until it's Belize. I can't hardly belize it! It's unbeliezable.

Ok, I'll stop.

I did get and take the scary anti-malarial meds -- Chloroquine, which comes in big, white tablets the size of a freakin' Sweet-tart, and are uncoated and taste terrible. I took the first one Friday (you take one a week) and I haven't slept well since. It may well be coincidence, but it may also be general pre-trip anxiety. (I actually got out of my warm bed last night and went to my files to make sure my passport was where I saw it last [it was].)

What should I be nervous about? Oh, just this:

"Visitors should exercise caution
and good judgment when visiting Belize. Crime can be a serious problem. [...] Road accidents are common (see Traffic Safety and Road Conditions) and traffic fatalities have included Americans. [...] Medical care is limited and emergency response services such as ambulances or paramedics may be either unavailable or limited in capability or equipment.
Boats serving the public, especially water taxis, often do not carry sufficient safety equipment, may carry an excess number of passengers and may sail in inclement weather."

It goes on.

And then there's the botfly problem.

We have 30% Deet spray and will use it liberally, but I am still terrified of getting a botfly. I think if I got one I would just never stop vomiting.

So, why are we visiting a place that wants to kill us? Belize has toucans and howler monkeys, and rivers running through big caves containing with the bones of dead Mayans, and crazy tall temple ruins you can climb. It also has a very big, long reef and lots of neato fish (including sharks and rays) to swim around with. Oh, and did I mention that this week they've had high temps in the lower 80s, and lows in the 70s? It is guaranteed that I will not have to chip the ice off of my car for a full 7 days.

Plus, this will be challenging for me, and I want to see if I can do it. Do it, and enjoy it. Which is what I am expecting, but who knows? I may freak out at all the non-first-world-ness of it and spend the whole time playing Word Warp on my iPhone in the hotel room. But I don't think I will.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

AIM convo with a friend just now:
9:55 PM
F: Wait, WHO is president?
D: Obama?
F: OH SHIT YEAH
D: Bush who, amirite?
F: BUSH FUCKING RAN OUT AS FAST AS HE COULD
F: FUCK THAT GUY OUR GUY IS IN NOW

F: OH SHIT OBAMA IS DANCING WITH ANOTHER WOMAN
D: It's not like "hey that guy would make a great president. Too bad we're stuck with this really, really shitty one" anymore!
D: WHAT
F: he just danced with some Army bitch whose about to get Michelle's arm down her whore mouth.
D: She is smokin' hot and has nothing to worry about.
F: Michele smiled, then fucking kicked her in the face
F: CONDI RICE ISN"T SHIT ANYMORE
D: She smiled, then leaned in to hug her, and whispered in clenched teeth, "I will cut you, bitch."
F: FUCKIN NO MORE DICK FUCKING CHENEY
F: She leaned in and said "Send me a postcard from Falluljah, bitch."
D: Can you believe him in that wheelchair he was all "And a happy new year to you -- IN JAIL!" and then he laughed like The Penguin while stroking a white cat.
D: She shook her hand a little too tightly, and hissed "Gitmo's about to get a new visitor"
10:00 PM
F: She looked at her chief of staff and nodded, who knew what that meant and started making calls.
D: When she hugged her, she placed a tiny tracing tag on her back.

F: I can't believe that scumbag roberts fucked up the oath. It's like 32 fucking words. Can't his fucking clerks have written it on the back of his hand?
10:05 PM
D: There's speculation he did it on purpose to be a dick.
F: I can't actually imagine that.
D: Also that Dick Cheney was in a wheelchair just so he wouldn't have to "please rise" when the president got sworn in.
F: Nah, I think beelzebub is starting to take his fee.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

I have not posted in a long time.
San Diego was nice, except I was sick (just like the last time I was there!) and therefore we didn't get to do some of the funner things on our list, like strolling along the beach and looking at sea lions, or driving to the desert. We did go (with CJ's entire family) on a VIP backstage tour of the Wild Animal Park, which was sort of cool. The highlight was getting to pet an adorable small owl, and to watch two adolescent lions play around inside in a romping area separated from us only via glass. I forgot my camera so I'm at the mercy of one of CJ's sisters-in-law for photos.
And on our last full day there I felt good enough to go to Sea World, where we touched rays, watched otters frolic, and saw the Shamu show. It was also quite chilly and we were under-dressed, so that was a drag. What else did we do on our trip... We had some authentic Mexican food (tostadas), Pinkberry, and Jamba Juice, which was nice. We went to a tacky but fun place called Boomers! where we drove go-karts and played video games (including a Japanese drumming simulation game that was very fun).

And now we're gearing up for our Belize adventure -- gearing up quite literally, since I keep ordering things from Sierra Trading Post like the aforementioned convertable pants, plus a rash guard shirt and some water shoes. I like to be prepared.