but there's no window...

i've been thinking about possibly blogging once a week with a travel story. i think i could scrape up 42 stories (to finish out the year), but they won't all be of 'wow' quality. in fact, i don't think i even have ten (or even five) 'wow' quality, so i'll hafta pace myself. no, we'll stick to happy, sad, strange, and funny. you'll have to bear with me regarding the location because the majority of the stories will probably be from Mexico, since i've visited there the most; the 42 stories will be spread amongst the following locations...

Mexico...been there 13 times...in 17 states...through 42 cities/towns (could just do mexico!)
Belize...3
Guatemala...3
Honduras...2
Peru...2
Costa Rica...1
Bolivia...1

and assorted U.S. cities, such as San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., Clearwater Beach (FL), San Juan (PR), NYC, or Minneapolis...

i'll try to make a list that i can check off for the stories. i'm not even sure if all you guys would be interested in these tales; it'd be worse if i accidentally repeated myself.
so, let's meet here every wednesday...you can gather 'round the fire...bring yer junk food and beverages...and i'll try to weave a tale or two ;)

btw, the title of the post refers to a hotel in San Ignacio, Belize. i had never stayed in a room without a window before. it was at the Hotel Eva...pink rooms...eerie lights that made the walls look orange...electric showerheads. it was 1991 and my first trip out of the states. the streets were dark, filled with curious people wanting to get a look at the blond gal in our group. being asian was not a novelty... no, i guess (back then) redhead and blonde visitors to Belize usually attracted the most attention. some of the people we encountered were fascinated by fair complexion and different colored hair. they all wanted to touch the yellow and red hair, since most Belizeans have coarse or curly black hair.

funny that this western Belizean town had little infrastructure geared towards tourism. nothing even remotely fancy. you would think that you could escape everything, it seemed so isolated. in fact, i almost believed this too until i walked down the stairs and caught a glimpse of the TV in the lobby. the owners of the hotel were watching coverage on the first gulf war. ah, you have escaped nothing if you're in the vicinity of a television, right?

well, i sat down and watched a couple commercials touting american products. and right before i got up, the news resumed. well, i'll be damned... there i was, 1900 miles away from home...and i was watching a Belizean tv...tuned in on KCNC, which is Channel 4 in Denver!!! that hotel had one helluva satellite dish ;) suffice to say, San Ignacio was as remote (pun intended) as you could get from Denver...