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Well, back to blogging I go. Back to the joy of old school computer screens and spending hours trying to find the at sign (I even tried to put it in there and failed...).
Its day 4 of my 6 week trip and I have been reminded of the ups and downs that travelling always brings. The downs are pretty minor. Like STA failing to book my meals properly, lets be glad I have experienced their incompetence, but there are only so many choco-rice bars you can eat before you feel pretty sick... e.g. 2. Or arriving to my hostel after 4 flights and 2 days of travel, dreaming of a shower, only to find that there was no water.
The ups? First, Leon is amazing. A gorgeous old city with crumbling old buildings, massive cathedrals, colourful houses and cobblestoned streets. Horse and carts compete for space on the one way roads with rattling taxis, motorbikes carrying families of 4 and ignorant backpackers (such as myself), who look the wrong way before striding into the traffic. I stil don't really know which way to look, 360 degrees is probably a good idea. The city is set out in a grid but, thanks to a lack of street signs combined with my ridiculously useless sense of direction, I manage to get lost on what seems to be an hourly basis.
Another up. Heather, a girl from DC, who befriended me on the airport bus in LA. Not only showing me which bus to get on and where to get off, but paying my bus fare "As a welcome to the States" when I didn't have small change.
Yet another. My hilarious experience of Danzo, a dance class at the gym 3 doors down from my homestay family. An event worthy of more sniggering even than the time when I was made to do a demonstration of my dancing skills in front of a primary school class in Africa, all of whom I might add, had amazing rhythm. This was worse. The music was great, the teacher super enthusiastic, the other gym goers were friendly... but, the dance moves required, disasterous! It seemed that almost entire songs were dedicated to shimmying and hip-shaking Shakira type moves... well, turns out that Shakira and I are not very similar. I think I looked more like I had been electrocuted. And, despite my great idea of hiding in the back row to avoid suffering through the sight of my abismal moves in the mirror, being twice as tall as everyone else renders that plan pointless. Still, too much fun to be to embarassed and I will be back tonight!
Apart from my dancing attempts and getting lost in the city, I am spending 4 hours a day studying Spanish. Hard work really, not quite the 'I will arrive and suddenly be fluent' initial plan... but my teacher is great and staying with a host family, who only speak Spanish at a speed which seems like its been put on fastforward, I am getting lots of practice. As usual, there are the language mixups. E.g. attempting to excuse my poor Spanish by explaining how my beer was tired... or the time when I randomly ordered dinner in Swahili when my brain switches in 'anything but English' mode... but, I am yet to accidently propose to anyone, as I did in Tanzania, so I guess its not going to badly. Yet.
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