gettin my culture on

last nite was possibly the best cultural experience to date.  i'm really digging the hostel scene here.  at dinner i was seated with a german family (dad, daughter, son), a spanish couple and a grumpy american.  i'm not entirely certain whether to classify the american man as grumpy or just opinionated, but he lectured several of us about smoking in an outside area (yes, i had a cig today), very angrily, then he gave me a glass of wine, then completely ignored me.

the german family is great.  rheinhart is the father and has been living in honduras for 5 years.  he's fluent in german, english and spanish.  his kids are visiting for 5 weeks.  he smokes monster cigars and tells interesting stories about his years of travel.  he would make an amazing mall santa.

the spanish couple, from barcelona, sat across from me and hadn't spoken to anyone all evening, they had just gotten to santa cruz in time for dinner.  the husband only spoke a little english but his wife had more.  i actually made them understand me in a spanish conversation (after explaining that everything has to be in the present tense).  they travel 5 weeks per year and try to go somewhere new each time.

my scuba buddy and general companion of the day was kat, a younger woman from southern england.  she's sorta goth and has been tromping around central america in doc martens.  i've always been envious of people who make a strong fashion statement, i've never really had the courage to do that.  or i'm just lazy.  i guess slouch is a fashion statement of sorts.

we were joined by a man that spoke halted english, but i never figured out what country he's actually from.  somewhere in central america i think.  his english was better than my spanish.  we sat around with drinks after dinner and talked about anything that popped into anyone's head, but mostly travel.  there were a couple other american women from various places.

it was such a great group, and i quickly learned that not everything is funny in translation.

i'm not sure why i was afraid of hostels before this, la iguana perdida is absolutely the best place i've stayed yet.  i've heard so many stories of hostels being crazy party places and i think i'm just too old to want to party every nite so i've never stayed in one.  sleeping in a dorm with 8 other people, sharing a bathroom, not my style at all anymore.  i like to sleep.  but this weekend i've finally realized that hostels have a couple nice rooms as well, cheaper than the hotels, that i can hang with everyone all day then have a nice peaceful nite in my own room.  aha.  at my 3 month travel anniversary i have finally learned something useful.