Xmas

Just had an unexpected but very welcome video conference with everyone in El Transito, Chile 🙂
¡Saludos a todos!

After a successful BBQ on Saturday night with José, Ana, Jorge, Victor, Jana, El Rufles, Fernando, Ana, Javier, Monica, Daniel, Sita, Mum & Dad and a fair bit of partying around Gwod afterwards, Mum, Dad and me drove to Zacatecas on Sunday, which is one of me favourite towns in Mexico. We stayed at the Hotel Condesa (40 US bucks a night, clean, quiet, central, with views of La Bufa and around, Av. Juárez # 102, Tel. (492) 922 1160). Thoroughly recommended if you fancy a trip… It takes around 4 hours to get there from Gwod on the toll road via Aguascalientes. Anyroad, lots to see and do there. I signed mum and dad up for the city tour the next day and made my way around on foot listening to the usual podcasts (This American Life and Total Podcastrophe (check out Paul and Judy’s new WordPress site) taking photos of all around me. I even went up to the Bufa on foot and met me folks at the top. It’s a steep old climb, but the toothless bloke who was walking up at the same time felt compelled to tell me he was 84 (you know) so I can’t feel too proud of meself…

We had lunch in the old bullring, the Quinta Real hotel, where there was a 1-1 waiter/diner ratio and our food was revealed to us from under silver domes in unison at the table. Lovely, t’was, then a bit more shopping/wandering, a siesta, and then a nice little Italian place that has the only decent wine in Zacatecas- “Locando la tana” (C. Genaro Codina # 714) for lasaa and apple pie.

The next day we got up early and visited the La Quemada ruins which was stunning. I was expecting a pile of stones but it was a huge landscaped hilltop with steps and columns, you name it… After moseying to the top and back we found out it also harbours a wealth of rattlesnakes, which I’m sort of glad I didn’t know. I assumed the scurrying in the grassland and cacti were desert squirrels (if such things exist)… Mum wasn’t too keen on that aspect but enjoyed the rest.

After that we took the non-toll road all the way back to Gwod stopping for lunch at a mariscos place in Apozol, Zac for delicious, cheap fish. The scenery all the way was stunning- vast, desert plains, rustic villages and omnipresent mountains, finishing with a drive into Guadalajara’s barranca (enormous gorge/ valley thing) and back up it, which I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. Gorgeous all round… A great couple of days.

Today I’m meeting up with Ian for a bit of a Leo Sayer starting in La Fuente and ending up who knows where?…

A more careful reading of the Tapatian Scrabble Association’s webpage points to them meeting in Cafe Sandys about 100m from where I went yesterday to try and get in on the scrabble action. That would explain a lot… Never mind. Javier turned up in the afternoon and gave me a lift there on the way to the cinema. I was going to go with him to watch “Nia mala” (bad girl) but luckily I googled it and it turns out that’s the Spanish name for Hard Candy which I’d seen the other week (Recommended, btw- It’s a feminist stalker/psycho thriller film with several unwatchable scenes and you’re forever trying to work out who’s occupying the moral high ground…).

Ana popped round too to share her latest academic success stories, then I went over to Providencia for a pot luck and met a lovely band of folks who have the American School of Gwod in common. I picked up some tips for places to visit in Jalisco and once we have the car here again I’m up for a mission to Mascota and San Sebastian de something or other. It’s all written on the back of a napkin somewhere…

Today finishing off a couple of sites, hopefully. I’m getting mightily sick of Flash to tell the truth. Partly because of the below par coding of the templates I’m adapting, but also because of the need to switch between half a dozen programs to import graphics and so on, which means my creaking computer struggles at times.

In other news, you’ll be happy to hear that my cold’s holding steady. Shall be repeating the same strict regime today, pozole, lime, tequila, zinc etc, today and hoping for the best.

Spanish word of the week for last week: Diapositiva A fancy, but the only, word for “slide” as in a powerpoint slide or slideshow… I was in Irvine, CA, and there’s no Spanish there except when you’re helping yer missus with her presentation on the Spanish version of Office 2003…

Click for bigger… Today we got a mobile phone, bargain price and wandered around looking for “Se renta” signs. Anyroad, there’s a few more pix of the hotel on Flickr too and if you’ve downloaded Google Earth (Finally, Geography’s fun…) click on this link and open the file to fly as if by google-powered magic carpet to our posada in Guadalajara, Mexico where we’re staying for the next couple of days.

LAX-GDL Plane Evacuated

Two days of walks in a row for lucky young Atticus. The dog beach in Venice or somewhere and round Wilderness Park in Downey… First skype on the pocket PC to a foreign country landline today. And manana I fly LAX to GDL. And that’s it. Ooh. And I have new sandals and trousers.

It’s news like that last paragraph that keeps y’all a-comin’ back, admit it… 🙂 Certainly can’t compete with my folks who’ve just made a fairly large purchase (happy new house, B & A!)

Spanish word of the week (for last week): ‘tiritones’ from tiriton: a shake of the head as if shivering, a frequently used Chilenismo from Martin who uses this classification system for bad wine. If when you take a sip you shake your head three times it’s a Vino Tres Tiritones. The less tiritones, the better, obviously. He also has a nice adjective for wine that you’ve stolen from someone else’s glass too: vino besado, kissed wine.