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Monday, July 31, 2006 ( 4:37 PM ) shut up christine  I'd like to wish a very HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY!! to my older sister Janet Damita Jo Bulaoroand I'd also like to mention that our parents didn't get her a card (while I on the otherhand got a fancy pants one with a handwritten message on MY bday... they also gave me more money) nor did they get her a bday cake or pancit (and its a filipino tradition to eat pancit on your bday!!) but this is how my sister and I differ... because being the jealous little brat that I am, if it had been the other way around I would have taken all this as evidence that our parents love the other sibling more :( but Nanet laughs it off and she doesn't hold it against me that our parents shower moi with more attention (although I must say they are a lot more protective/strict with me than they are with her) so happy birfday Nammy! I loves ya, you are my favorite hermana. anywho, my toenail officially broke off I was thinking I'd wear it around my neck as a souvenir of surviving that volcano but as it is, I have enough trouble meeting guys hah AND how come no one ever told me that Venice Beach is "da bomb!!" Every Sunday they have an amazing thing called a drum circle so hundreds of people bring their drums/tambourines/maracas/trumpets/whatever and they form a huge circle on the sand and they ROCK THEIR HEARTS OUT The mix of people is so eclectic - like you can see every group representative of Los Angeles, from cholos to drag queens, and everyone is dancing together. beautiful And the music! When you walk around the circle, one side can sound completely different than the other, but the hundreds of individual instruments together make this awesome constantly shifting beat......... it's my favorite sound in the whole world, definitely something you need to hear for yourself. Go with me # Thursday, July 27, 2006 ( 12:40 AM ) shut up christine Want to see a magic trick? .................................. ............................ ..................... ............... .......... ..... ... .. . . . . .  TA DAH!! So sexy!  and this is me trying to give a thumbs up I'm so proud of Toetoe for hanging on! What a trooper  hooray for black and broken toenails! Sexiness! # Wednesday, July 26, 2006 ( 12:21 PM ) shut up christine  thanks for planning the Brisa reunion Eileen! Reasons why I love the OC Fair: - butter toffee sunflower seeds from House of Pistachios - dance troupe called Seniors Gone Wild - grandmas in leather mini skirts and leather jackets danced a routine to the song Wild Thing - AND at one point in the song some of the grannies smoked cigarrettes and the others pulled out big lollipops and seductively licked them/flicked their tongues at the audience! Only in Orange County, folks. anyhoo today is the day my hero Jeffrey Lee embarks on his round-the-world trip. Read about his adventures here GOOD LUCK JEFF! # Thursday, July 20, 2006 ( 10:18 AM ) shut up christine A few things  22 was a huge year for me. 23 started off awesomely. The Bingo Club in Hawaiian Gardens is a little scary. Do not yell out BINGO! when you haven't won I got the feeling that bingo players can and will beat you up. Big toenail on right foot is falling off. Big toenail on left foot is still black :( It's great to be back :) Every time I get into my car to drive, for the first few minutes I cannot convince my hands to stop shaking. Still getting used to it. Cuong Phu Trinh always brings me to my new favorite places. My mom still opens and reads my snail mail Email me instead. Plans for the next big traveling trip are already in the works! My parents are going to shit their pants Gnarls Barkley tonight at the OC Fair, tickets $20! p.s. I brought home so much music from my trip, 21 cds ranging from reggae, reggaeton, ranchera, bachatazo, punta, romantic, musica nacional, and various artists' albums...I haven't figured out how to post music but if you want to hear I have a cd for you # Saturday, July 15, 2006 ( 5:04 AM ) shut up christine  First and foremost I have to congratulate my old roommate Oliver... he's going to play rugby for Belgium in December!! I screamed when I heard his message on my cell,I am SO PROUD, and all I can say is that sometime within the next couple years I will be in Belgium waving a handmade poster at one of his games. You rock Olie and now a slideshow of The Traveling Gnome's Adventures in Central America  in the beginning  our house in San Ignacio, Belize. we lived on the bottom floor  our shower. notice the electrical outlet on the wall  our dog Chu Chu with the boys who played in our yard  don't know  sprained ankle. kawawa  made this from plants! heals sunburns, bug bites, rashes  one of the other girls in the natural healing program  our jungle survival guide Sir Winston  my "room" in the jungle  Mayan temple in Guatemala  she played w/ my hair while her mom braided Loralei's hair  hard to see but our hostel here was a treehouse in the middle of a lake (Guatemala)  Rio Dulce  this was so pretty in real life!  kanye. he took us fishing  Lloyd aka The Cake Man, my punta partner  after 5 weeks, right before Lo went home. compare this to our first pic  street meat  i love this picture. she's selling tiny clay animal whistles at the market  looking into a volcano (the easy one)  beisbol game  the school I volunteered at in Granada  I know how to make pinatas now :) this is the Dora the Explorer one  my friend Aracely, one of the girls at the school  Carlos, the guy who took me to church. He kinda looks like Justin Guarini from American Idol 1, no?  I had a huge crush on this guy. my favorite part of Nicaragua  Fernando, the guy I followed to Ometepe  view of a volcano from my hostel  hurt my foot on the volcano and my toenail turned black :(  this is why they call them "chicken buses" The chicken beat me in the face with its wings after I took this pic, my seat was right next to it  Sandinista rally  mis amigos en Leon  La Bamba (my trusty backpack) and I return home safe and sound I lost 15 pounds! Did I not say volcanoes were hella good cardio? Let's see how long it takes me to gain all the weight back # Saturday, July 08, 2006 ( 3:38 PM ) shut up christine habit I picked up: when Lo told me she likes smelling her floss cause it smells like poop I laughed for days, I thought it was gross and now every night before I sleep I floss my teeth and smell it, its become an obsession dammit Loralei! hah try it sometime, its fun Yesterday I marched with the Sandinistas to El Fortin so I'm standing in the crowd listening to a speech by DANIEL ORTEGA and this is the kind of thing I've only read about in books, but to actually be standing there - to be present and to participate, its one of those things I will remember for a very long time. the Nicas I was hanging out with told me not to tell anyone at the march that I was American because it would be dangerous, I dont know if they were exaggerating but I followed their advice... they also said it is illegal for me to bring a Sandinista flag into the US, I could be considered a terrorist. Crazy. anyhow, I have about 5 more days until I am back at home It has been one crazy ride. The electricity shortages, the huge beetles that fall out of the sky, the seasickness, the alarm clocks that go off in your hostel when you are trying to sleep, having your water shut off in the middle of your shower, the bugbites, the feeling you get when you realize you have been majorly ripped off, the rainstorms, the dirty clothes, the heat, the tummy aches and the diarrhea... I would do it again in a heartbeat. Ahhh I made it guys! See you soon # Tuesday, July 04, 2006 ( 8:46 PM ) shut up christine when I finally got my drivers license I was already a junior in college I remember the first time I ever drove to school by myself, such a small accomplishment but it was a huge deal to me and I remember how that feeling was negated when I realized my parents had followed my car to Irvine "just in case" and I resented them a little because of that not just for that but for everything, for being so protective, and I guess this is why I have the need to prove that I'm a big girl I can get very defensive about it and then I come here and there are streetkids who have no one, there are four years olds who completely look after themselves and I realize what a dumbass I am... how wonderful a problem it is to have parents who care too much lesson learned. anyhow, I followed a guy to a remote hostel on La Isla de Ometepe because it was cheap the cool thing about this dorm was that it was rustic one-room dirt-floor wooden cabana right on the beach with pigs, chickens, and dogs running around everywhere... the bad thing about this dorm was that it was a rustic one-room dirt-floor wooden cabana with pigs, chickens, and dogs running around everywhere hah I decided to climb another volcano but I should have known what I was getting into when I was already out of breath walking to the base of the mountain... in a nutshell, for a chubber heifer like me, that mess was Hard. My guide was an athletic 18 year old who expected me to keep up with him and this was no walk in the park, I had to use my upper body strength to pull myself up this mountain we are balancing on tree trunks and swinging on vines in the middle of the effing cloudforest and the only things my guide says to me are "this is very dangerous. be careful. do you understand me?" After a while he was starting to freak me out, I was thinking what the fuck am I doing here and then we got to a really steep rocky area and he says "be extra careful, one false step and you'll roll down, understand?" and of course as I am nodding my head yes, my foot slips and I start sliding down...fortunately I did not die honestly for the first time during this trip I was really, really scared.... I thought maybe this was something I could not finish my legs were so tired and sore that they were shaking uncontrollably, they felt like jelly and I could barely walk since my knees kept locking and charlie-horsing and on top of that it was raining and I had to balance on top of logs and jump off ledges and try to keep from slipping in the mud every step was soo painful and I was bleeding and after the 9th time I fell down, I honestly thought I couldnt do it, I even started crying... To make a long story short, it took me ten hours to finish, somehow I did it by concentrating on my breathing and by humming the tune to Total Eclipse of the Heart that was the most physically demanding thing I have ever done in my entire life, and if I never climb another volcano that will be fine with me. Now I am in Leon, someone in my hostel has incredibly bad B.O. but other than that, life is G double O D good. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA HU! # |
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