Xela ...you got me the runs

As usual I have plenty to bitch about, but I´ve decided to spare you the moans..mainly because my nemesis ´the giantess´ has finally departed and I am once more able to return to my natural state of semi-stabilty. In that spirit I´ve decided to post a picture of me looking vaguely happy with Gem and our best mate - Zen Surfer Dude, one of the nicest people I´ve met in a long time and the bonus is he loves poo jokes as much as I do.

The last fews weeks in Guatemala have been a strange one, in part due to the massive misconceptions I had of the country. Guatemala is not a place caught in a timewarp or a jungle (as someone remarked recently). What I have seen so far I like greatly, it´s possible that it has something to do with the location. We are currently staying in the city of ´Xela´a place that has benefited (in part) from a reasonable influx of gringos who wish to learn Spanish. So because of a bunch of ex-pats and some enterprising Guatemalans, the place has a cosmopolitan feel whilst keeping hold of much of the traditions that make the country so fascinating.

What has really hit me has been the warmth of a people that have so much less than me. Why is it that in the poor countries I have vistied I have always recieved so much more of a warm welcome? Sure money is a factor, but the old guy who walks past me every morning, doesn´t need to give me a smile and a big ´Good Morning´. Makes a change from the grunts I used to get in Dromcollogher or the sideways glances I´d get in Brixton.

Turning to world news I´m really glad to read of an overpaid pillock ruining his career because of some sort of inferiority complex. Here - I´m still hoping smug tosser Tony Robinson might go the same way....