JJ's Travelogue

James and Jessica threw a huge bash as a farewell for all of us that are going separate ways. Twas mass fun.

Will bought a piñanta at the market in Sololá which I carried on my shoulders for a while around town, eliciting smiles from the locals.
We filled it up with all kinds of goodies, and in true local style, bought firecrackers too! I took care of the lighting (naturally) by ringing the yard in dozens of candles.
Besides about 20 of us students, a few of the teachers showed up and drank us under the table. Apparently the women don´t drink (maybe one drink, on special occassions only) or go to bars, so none of the women teachers showed up. It´s just not in their culture.

At first I didn´t think I had anything to wear, when I remembered that sarong buried deep in my pack. Perfect! Now for a shirt.. Marisol offered me hers, excellent. She also applied a touch of mascara and eye liner for effect.
Now here´s the interesting part.. at first, the male teachers (who are all in their 20´s) complimented me on my outfit. I got the sense they had never seen a guy in a long skirt (or any skirt) before. But they loved it. Kept giving me that fist thing that guys do, saying they loved my style. As the night wore on, they said it more and more closely until I began to get the sense that there was some repressed desire there. Interesting.

I don´t know if it was the booze, the space cookies or the great music, but I danced! As you know, Josh does not dance. But dance I did. For a long time, too! Mostly separate, although Barry eventually swept me off my feet (he was a national Lindy-hop champion, ya know).

It was a perfect send-off. I´m sad to be parting from these friends. Oh, I know I´ll make other friends on the road, but it´s hard to establish bonds in only a few hours or days. Here, we had weeks and lots of activities to get to know each other.

Everyone is on Facebook, which I have so far refused to join. It just seems like such a time-suck, of which I certainly don´t need another. But I can see the appeal for keeping in touch with people. Much easier to see what folks have been up to, and less awkward than email. Hmm.

The seond two photos are by James, who´s a professional photographer. I love his stuff. I shoot the same scene he does, and my photos just look like crap while his look amazing. He claims it´s his camera and lens (both high-end Leica) but I´m sure his experience has a lot to do with it. He (and wife Jessica, who collaborates with him on multimedia projects) have a web site here: jameschance.com