Mexico

1^st: Yes… I’m fine. No… Mexico is not as nearly dangerous as the media makes it sound. There is a massive difference (and distance) in the culture, ideals and way of life in the southern states of the country as compared to the north, where certain border cities like the suddenly-infamous, Juarez, continue to cast a decidedly murky shadow over this cool-ass country.

2^nd: Thanks for all the repeated emails asking if I’m okay and for an urgent update. Makes me feel loved.

3^rd: The job is tight. Teaching university students 4 hours a day, 4 days a week clearly has its perks. And I’m not just talking about the sheer amount of hot girls in my class or roaming the campus!

4^th: There are 17 English professors at the school and everyone is enjoyable, fun and easy to work with. No shit. We work together, party together, eat together and travel together. It’s a good time.

5^th: This is REAL Mexican food. Fresh tacos with homemade corn tortillas, enchiladas with verde sauce, chicken with Oaxaca’s (pronounced wa-ha-ka) famous mole sauce. Every other Saturday morning my landlord and her daughter teach me a new Mexican dish. We visit the market, we prep, we cook and then we eat. It’s an unbeatable way to start off the weekend.

6^th Speaking of weekends… My town is nice. Nestled at a high altitude between sprawling mountain ranges, it has a true Mexican vibe, plus an awesome market. Yet, it’s small with limited resources for entertainment. So on the weekends, we typically venture to one of three places:

· Oaxaca city: There really isn’t an adjective that I can think of to properly describe this historic and Spanish-influenced city. Filled with beautiful churches, cobblestone streets, vibrant colors, interesting history, sweet architecture, insane food, mind-boggling markets, wild clubs/bars and chill cafes, Oaxaca has sincerly become one of my top three favorite cities in the world.

· San Jose Pacifico: A beautiful mountain town high in the clouds and high on mushrooms. Lendgendary for its hulicenegenics, this small town emits a sleepy, almost surreal vibe. Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan and Keith Richards, among others, have dropped by to sample the product.

· The coast: Lined with sick beaches, this is obviously where I prefer to spend my time. As cool as any coastline I’ve been fortunate enough to visit (and this list includes all of Florida, California, Puerto Rico, plus 10 islands in the Caribbean, along with parts of Thailand, Philippines and Hawaii).

So, yeah… life’s good.

And if you don’t know yet, I wont be home for the holidays. Staying here, hitting the beach, then traveling south the Chiapas.

I will try to update again soon. Peace.

Mazunte Beach

One of my favorite places in the world. We ht the beach every few weekends. Pics of where we sleep on the cliff overlooking the sea, Iris and Josh swimming natural pool and, well you can see the rest!

San Jose Pacifico

As you can see, this place is crazy-high. Oh and the dog was a random who went on a hike with us. We named him Rambo.

Oaxaca City

My town

Pics of my town, the first meal I ate here, the University and my student.

BLOWFISH

I ventured to Japan last weekend on a visa run. I decided to take the overnight cruise to Shimonoseki. It’s located on the southern most part of the mainland and is commonly known in Japan as THE place to eat the infamous, ever-poisonous, fugu (blowfish).

For those of you unfamiliar with this particular fish, if it’s not prepared exactly right, the consumer will almost certainly die instantly upon ingestion, suffering, first from paralysis, then asphyxiation. A sushi chef must train for years to pass a crazy-strict test to become licensed to serve the deadly fish (on average, only 35% pass).

So needless to say, I decided I had no choice but to eat this fish. Here we go:

3:15pm – Sitting at the table, looking over the menu. My heart is beating somewhat.

3:17pm. – I glance at the other tables… nobody is eating blowfish. A sign maybe?

3:20pm – Buzz the server. Reluctantly point to the blowfish set. She smiles and nods. WTF… why am I doing this?!!!!

3:22pm – Buzz the server again. Order Japanese liquor. A big fucking glass!

3:28pm – I’ve eaten some strange shit in my life (live, squirming octopus tops that list), but this is clearly different.

3:30pm – Just finished my prayer. Told God, that if I was going to die, I might as well die doing something I love (eating) in one of my 3 favorite places on earth (Japan).

3:31pm – Retracted that prayer… told him I was being a retard and to please, please let me live.

3:33pm – It’s here…

3:35pm – Been studying the meal in front of me. It’s one thing to try a single piece of this fish, but quite another to eat it in 5 different ways! Blowfish soup, blowfish tempura, blowfish sashimi, blowfish with rice and breaded blowfish. This is stupid.

3:36pm – Hand the camera to the server. Feel like I have a better chance of surviving if video is rolling (although she thought she was taking a pic and stopped the video mid bite).

3:37pm – I’m chewing the deadliest fish in history. I’m swallowing it. I’m waiting. I’m still alive. Only a whole platter left.

3:41pm – Beginning to feel a mild tingle on my tongue. Can’t be a good thing.

I learned the sensation in my mouth was from some poison that the chef always leaves on the fish. It’s not enough to kill someone, just enough to feel the slight effect. In the end, the tail section (the tempura) was awesome. The sashimi was good, but a little chewy. The other parts were forgettable as far as flavor is concerned.

Not worth dying for by any means. This fish is as much a novelty as anything.

Shimonoseki, Japan

Here are some pics of the sushi market I went to on the water and of the Japanese garden I visited.

Back in Korea

Here are a few pics from my first month back. As you can tell, the kids were excited to see me!! And that's my favorite class. Ha!

The other pics are of Craig and me having drinks at the beach my first day back, Angie and me rolling Korean style on our cells and the fish taco party we had the other night. My Korean friends had never tasted corn tortillas before and the mango-habanero sauce "was mind-blowing," so said my friend Sunny. They liked it.

Crazy to be back. Awesome to see my kids. Great to see my friends and life is just as easy as before.

Sorry no good stories or time-lines for ya. Dustin kept yelling at me to update this blog...so I did. I'll have another update when I get back from China and will have pics of the Great Wall.

Hope everyone is well. Miss you all!!!