It's hard to believe I've been on the road for nearly two months now. Somehow it feels like it's been much longer, and much shorter at the same time. The last month has been all about developing a "new normal." Without going into too much detail, I'll give an example. As I write this, I'm stranded in Costa Rica with a very, very broken motorcycle, unsure if the bike's engine is going to be salvageable at all, and in desperate need of replacement parts that can't be found anywhere Central America. So here I sit. And wait.

But a big part of the "new normal" is learning that time, along with most things, are not under my control. I live in time's world, and must bend to it, never it to me. So even as the first few weeks demanded a speed and focus that I wasn't sure I was capable of, I now find myself with nothing but time. So here I sit, watching "Man on Fire" (probably a terrible thing to watch while traveling in Latin America) trying to capture my experiences and reflections from the first half of the trip before I forget them forever. In the interest of time (and the amount of stuff to cover, I'll go quickly- offering only snapshots (in words as well as pictures) of my experiences thus far.... Buckle up, vámonos, y'all.

When we last left our hero, he had just visited the ancient ruins of El Tajin and experienced the incredible hospitality of some Mexicans met on the side of the road...

The following day was a long, hard day's ride to Coatzacoalcos- not a particularly nice or pleasant town, but I was honestly just too hot, hungry, exhausted, and lazy to go any further. I had spent most of the day lost, and was frustrated at how little progress I had made. Coatzacoalcos is a pretty major industrial hub- not touristy in any way. A shower raised my spirits some, and I headed out into the town to look for some grub.

Unknown to me, there was actually a festival going on that day. What must have been half a mile down the beach was street vendors, dancers, and general carrying-on. I sat down at a restaurant and asked the waitress what she would recommend. I ended up with "pastor con queso," which although I'm still unsure exactly what it was (maybe pork?) it was incredible... seriously- like life changingly good.

The restricted time table on this trip has kept me from visiting a lot of places I would have liked to see. But it's also forced me to stop and see places that no tourist would ever go. (For example, at this festival of a few thousand people, I was literally the only white person there) The non-touristy destinations have given me a chance to see a better picture of daily life than I would have had otherwise, and I'm thankful for that. In the interest of moving quickly, I'll leave this entry brief.