Dog's Day Afternoon

Today we are in Panama City, by far the best Central American metropolis. We're staying at a mansion/hostel which overlooks the boats docked on the bay and the downtown skyscrapers in the background. The mansion/hostel is in the old town: cobblestone streets, fish market, some parts dirty, some parts European. We're going to venture downtown soon to do some essential shopping, I have a feeling it will be Miami-ish. Later we're going to head to the Canal and watch the boats come in (we'll blog about that afterwards, sorry no pictures).

A few days ago in Bocas, we were super hungry, walking around looking for a cheap place to eat. Finally we settled on a "soda" which is a cafeteria type restaurant where you point at what you want and the lady spoons it out. I got the stuff that looked like chicken thighs, it looked pretty good, too. Alvin got fried chicken. We sat down to eat and I started to work on the meat. it had this thick outside layer that was unusual. It was in between a skin and a cartilidge texture that enveloped the meat. I knew something was up. I took a tiny nibble and so did Alvin. It was super tough meat. Then, the cook came out to smoke a ciggarette, I asked her "Cual animal?" (which animal?) and pointed to the plate. She said "puerco, woof woof." And then, as if on cue, this cute puppy came up to our table to beg for food. I spent the rest of the night spitting and brushing my teeth.

We'll be in Panama City for a little bit longer. Stay here and celebrate Passover at the hostel. Then, eventually work our way back up to Guatemala.

We miss our family and friends mucho. See you in about a month.

Love,
alvin and donna

Bocas Del Toro

Hello,

Wow, can´t believe how long its been since we last posted. Sorry folks. We are currently in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Another Carribean gem. We unfortunately got our camera stolen at a hostel in Costa Rica which sucks. So we really don´t know about more pics. Alvin Wants to buy a new camera but wants to wait until we have an opportunity to check out Costco back home. It is super hot outside which is nice. We took a five mile bike ride to this beach yesterday named playa de bluff which was amazing and will probably stay in Bocas for another night and then we will be off to Panama City to check out the canal and others sites. We then will probably make our way back up to Guatamala on the fast track, study spanish for the remainder of our trip and take several weekend trips to Tikal and Copan and experience what is said to be the most spectacular of the Mayan Ruins. Chau, DNA

More Roatan Pics

This is the host families dog. Our bed in our apartment. Dana having fun. Alvin having fun.

Pics from Roatan before we left

These pictures are those left from Roatan that were not posted. Dana and Me. The family that hosted us on the Island. Jessie and Domonique, were such wonderful and kind human beings. Another beautiful sunset and Dana with her friend David, from San Francisco at the bar he works at on Roatan called Sundowners.

Granada photos

We are still in Granada, Nicaragua and probably will stay for atleast two more days being that it is so beautiful. Please enjoy some more photos. The first picture is of Dana in our hotel lobby, just kicking back and relaxing. The following four shots were taken around town as the sun was setting. Simple beauty. The last one of the main church in the towns center is my favorite.

Hola de Nicaragua

Hello to all,

We just arrived in Granada, Nicaragua about three hours ago after traveling two and a half days by bus +we did stop to sleep+ from La Cieba, Honduras. We went completely through Honduras and about half way through Nicaragua. I must say that this country is my favorite so far. The people are so friendly, as they have been throughout this part of the world. Tomorrow we will take a day trip to neighboring towns where most of the countryçs pottery and leather items are made. It should be wonderful. New pics will be up tomorrow so thanks again for your patience. Hasta manana. Buenos.

Happy Birthday PATSY (AKA Diddy)!!!!!!!!!

Your brother loves you very much!!!!!

Our Kithen, Bathroom, Dana relaxing, Lunch by DNA, Today's Sunset... Beautiful. No?

We have many more shots. They are all great, but unfortunately take a long time to load. We will continue to post them with time. Thanks for all your patients. Enjoy!

Kids playing at the beach in Roatan, Seven Alters water pools in Livingston, Taking a bite of Topado, Getting floured by the kids, Mexico City airport

Fisherman in Livingston, Dana next to coffee drying in San Pedro, On the way to Livingston, Chilling, Lake Atitlan

Pictures are here!

Picures are here! Now that we can post, we will be sure to document it all for our friends and family. We are currently on the Island of Roatan, Honduras. It is absolutely amazing and is as close to paradaise that we have been. Fresh snapper straight of the boat cost $2.50/ lb and is delicious. All fruits and veggies come by way of truck that park on the side of the main strip all day everyday and range from mangos, grapefruit, pinapple, canalope, avocados, eggplant, bananas, plantains, watermelon, red and green peppers, , tomatoes and on and on. So fresh and so good. The water is a clear turqoise blue and is a wonderful temperature. The place that we are staying at is amazing, please see for yourself. Enjoy. DNA ( the camera just died)! We'll be right back.

flour n eggs

buenas dias amigos! today is ash wednesday and for livingston that means that all the kids hang out on the street all day and select victims to throw eggs and flour at. they´re pretty brutal. we were walking down the street on our way to get a bite to eat when we realized this. Pretty soon we were walking right through the crowd and a cloud of flour. one kid approached us and asked us if he can flour us, I guess it´s curteous that he asked. We said no very clearly. Then he asked, howabout a little bit (un pocito). We turn to him and say NO! and he didn´t stop pleading us, as if we´d change our minds. Thankfully he never threw any flour on us. We just finished lunch and are at the internet cafe upstairs, a safe haven. The kids are still downstairs egging and flouring. Cross your fingers for us that they´ll be kind to us again on our way back.

Mucho amor,
Alvin y donna

eat. drink. siesta.

hola amigos. we made it to livingston, a rastifarian'like community at the end of rio dulce. it{s by far the best spot we{ve been to. the only way to get to livingston is by boat up the rio dulce (a 2 hour trip). lush jungle, crazy birds, ridiculous colors. the local cuisine is this fish stew with coconut milk and plantains. the drink of choice is a fresh coconut cracked open with rum inside. we{re doing good. it{s hot and humid. we{re sleeping in a cabana. the mesquitos are taking a liking to alvin. we eat a lot, we drink some, and we rest the most in hammocks, sometimes in the shade, sometimes in the sun. we{ll post pictures soon.
yesterday we travelled 10 hours (with little food, no bathrooms, and little water) from san pedro to rio dulce. the bus would stop on the side of the road of small villages and all the vendors would attack the bus selling peanuts, mango, sodas, oranges (etc.) it was a bit hostile, but so great to bargain from inside the bus behind windows, it was just a different experience. we got to rio dulce, we heard it was a gem of a town, but it was pretty far from it. as soon as we got up we headed out to livingston.
our plan is to head to roatan, one of the bay islands off the coast of honduras, ASAP. supposedly, its a little piece of paradise. }
hope everyone is well. missing you and thinking of friends and family while travelling.

besos,
alvin y donna

Hola

Hello again. We are currently in the small village of San Pedro that is on the bank of Lake Atilan. The lake is beautiful and is surrounded by three volcanoes, which now makes six volcanoes that we have seen so far in this country! The town is pretty nice, kind of dirty but plays host to many who come here to visit and end up staying for a long period of time. The flow of tourists that arrive daily probrably allows for this to happen at a higher frequency than other locations. There is live music at the restuarant and bars at night with fresh pina colada´s and indeginous mayan women walking around selling homemade chocolate donuts and cake (so good). Most internet cafe´s don´t allow us to use the computers to post pictures which is bummer, however the second that we can we will make sure to do so. No mosquito bites yet(knock on wood, foo, foo, foo). The food that we´ve enjoyed the most has come from street vendors (execellent)while the restuarants that we´ve tried have really let us down. It is surprising to see pizzas and hamburgers for sell at many places. Thai food is on many menus as well which is strange. The chicken is super fresh because it´s life is probrably cut short the day that someone orders it. I wish more friends were able to share this experience with us. It is relatively cheap out here, with great weather, beautiful local people and is only five hours from home.

Hello from Antigua

Hello, we made it safely and are enjoying the nice weather. We planned to go on a hike up one of the three volcanoes that surround Antigua, but last night we ran into twenty or so people that just came down from the volcano after being close to it as it burst on to them. They said that they were terrified and ran and quickly fell down the mountain and rolled over sharp lava rocks. They all had bad cuts and scrapes and looked miserable. They were torn up. That made the decision for us to forgo the volcano trip much easier. We still would like to participate and hike the volcano, but have decided to save it for the end of our trip when we know we will make it back home to recover. This place is beautiful nonetheless and our trip is young. Stay tuned...

We´re eating yummy food. The hostel´s cool, lots of Israelis (many of them injured from the volcano). Alvin wants to take salsa dance classes. We´re going to go explore the city now.

adios amigos.

And we're off. ADIOS familia y muchachos.

Hello to all.  We are still in San Diego waiting to take off for L.A. where we'll visit some of Dana's family before getting on the plane tomorrow morning around 7 a.m.  All is wonderful and we are very excited.  We love everyone and are eager to share our experiences.