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My name is Travis Taylor.

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What I Have Done During My Gap Year So Far

February 28, 2008 | Author: Travis | Filed under: Gap Year, Volunteering

Abbreviated Version.

8/12-

Baldi springs, cactus thorns being smeared in the chest and wrist, hanging with 3 adults and a kid and staring at varying degrees of semi-unattractive girls bathing in scalding volcano heated water

Taking the taxi who had no fuel gauge or seatbelts. Sirens in the middle of the night, sounds like a prison movie.

8/13-

Climbed Arenal, desperate fear of dysentery due to stomach pain, but was actually due to starvation and shitty coffee. Vultures are everywhere.

8/18-

Stuck in a traffic jam for 3 hours, due to double murder.

8/24-

On my own finally, in the boat going back from Tortuguero. Glorious feelings of happiness inspired by Britpop while passing down the thin channel, bordered on both sides by green.

8/25- Missed bus to Samara due to bad schedule, intense anger. Expected to show up with no one there waiting for me. Did show up with no one waiting. Found girl who lives ten minutes from Avon. Eventually into my own apartment.

8/26

I want to kill every rooster within a five mile radius. There is a menagerie outside of my window that begins at 3 in the morning, well before light even in the tropics. I am contemplating earplugs or making a lot of soup. Every ten minutes it seems like something is trying to hump or eat another creature, disregarding size, species, shape and color. Iguanas and monkeys, FTW.

No more dates. Thoughts become more scattered. Lo siento. I am far too lazy right now.

People met:

Henry- pharmacist who is creepy, gave Bram massage and free sleeping pills, calls Lawerence all the time, wants to open sex shop, cares about the monkeys and doing fruit surveys, kisses too close to the lips. Edit: Kisses girls too close the lips.

Drunk driver who pissed on his own door and nearly hit me twice

The town drunk who loved Erin. Lives in the bus stop, pocket ‘o guaro.

The quiet Rasta who brought home the Italian girl by looking bashful. Possibly a mute?

Crabs crawling around the shower, dogs in the bathroom.

Trash pile outside of Casa Amarillo. Ticas coming up to yell after I step in ant hill. Great pain.

Leo who supposedly killed a man and has 3 kids and sent love notes to Mary, stole Anya’s sandals

Alejandro the Colombian who was hit by a grenade. Sells jewelry. Looks like a guido.

What teacher is coming tomorrow = wet t shirt contest tomorrow

Andre the norwegian guy who yelled at the dance teacher about people being stiff and cold in norway, unable to dance

Bram and Holand has the best dikes. Double entendre!

Surfing in the pouring rain. Ocean connecting with the clouds.

The whistling language used by the ticos to talk about waves and girls.

The british language gap. Confusion.

The friends who trained for oktoberfest

Lance the killer dog and bram crashing into the tree

Cutting grass with Excalibur

Ernesto aka gigio, the crack dealer who dates mary and is living with me

The dogs that didn’t let me go home at 2 in the morning

Armadillo walking underneath my hammock.

Leena the german girl with the nose ring and the lies we told

Karma of broken glass pickup leading to new surfboard from German guy with faux-hawk

Not missing home and feeling bad for that reason

T.I. And Jet drinking songs

Renee the dutch vegeterian who didn’t believe in sunscreen and went to Colombia and became overwhelmed by the girls there.

Pablo seeing me naked

Barret watching porn in my house and Mary calling me out about it

Stepping on the poisonous animal and having my foot swell ridiculously. Surfing through the pain.

The striptease in Gondola with the drunk Julio for his bachelor party using my belt.

Trying to say cheers in swiss german but really saying titties

The Spanish guy who sang Ska-P

Meeting Tyler Donahue’s cousin Ali from Mass

Surfing at midnight

Katie, the married cornell grad who wants to open a laundry/coffee shop

Peter the dancing elementary school teacher who moved from California to surf, do coke and smoke pot

Feeling the earthquake tremors

Dropping the cookies in the mud, losing my sandal

Inner circle, the porn in the bar and surf videos

Kelly as superwoman and Erin as tinman, mary as dorothy, me as lion

Running into the new zealand and swiss girl on the streets of san jose

Meeting the norwegian girl Liv on the bus to the tranquilo hostel. Starting in Cali, bus to Costa Rica, fly to Ecuador, fly to Aregentina, to Easter Island, to New Zealand, to Australia to Norway.

Running into stephanie and leena again

Traveling with carlos and the girl goes to buenas aires with her sister, carrying carlos’ machete

The American girl who was “bilingual in three languages”

Getting a job on a yacht traveling around the Caribbean

Three thoughts from home:

How fucking indie I am alternating sips of black coffee and red wine, decked out in plaid and flannel

The crooning pleasure of icelandic rockers, ie Sigur ros

Mediocre jobs and pretending to care

Return

The horse tripping over the dog and the very attractive girl falling onto the ground in front of me. All three being ok.

Not able to get into the club because of the shoes/Roberto. Fucking asshole bouncer.

The busride with Madleen, kindergarten teacher from Germany, the taxi ride going up hills at 100 km/hour, getting dinner, getting rejected by the fact that I don’t speak German
The Swiss invasion
“Viewer Discretion Advised” from an episode of House after taking my pants.

Mary leaving
Spencer’s fight WWE style
Erin breaking my fin?
Tanja, my new roommate from germany

Marley the puppy, who pisses everywhere and can’t walk

Kai, lawrence’s dog. Is he deaf?
Walking to Barrigona 10km with one sandel / all the way back. Pain

Carlolina, the hippygirl from finland who loves to dance and makes you feel alive
Jimmy the pimp
Random people coming up to the house to sell things

Finding out that Donald’s friend was trying to pick me up when he bought me the beer in the bar

The guy who tried to pick a fight with me four times. Fucker, I don’t even know your name.
The Lebanon brothers, including the human rights lawyer. Owning at table soccer.

Marley dying
Not hooking up with the Uvol girl that wanted. Awkwardness.

The deliciousness of frito, pig head dish

Brittney’s fake boobs, openness
Emily and Lucas and the screwed up relationship that they share

Coast guard guy who is wined and dined by port authority. My tax dollars?

Fisherman in language school who drove his motorcycle down from Alaska / likes whores

Bismark, the dreaded bee killer with the can of smoke and off bugspray

Sea turtle in izquierda that scared the shit out of me

The guy from the bank who was shot through the stomach, had the cousin kill himself afterwards

Kelie’s mom being drunk and winning money on the giants in the superbowl

The canadian guys who stayed in their bosses house, said eh and acted cannock

Lauren’s love of terrible salsa dancing
Kai getting run over, only having one mildly fractured leg

The guy in the bar who grabbed my throat and wanted to fight

Lucas, getting played by Emily
Chris the swedish guy getting played by Molly

Smashing the grahm crackers with a beer bottle, making cheese cake with Tanja, listening to hanson and being happy to be in Costa Rica

Maria the hot girl that I talked to while sober from the massage school. We did not communicate well
Going to the waterfall, having my ass hurt in the car, jumping/sliding off the top