Layover

I'm on a 1.5 day layover here in Atlanta before I jaunt off to Guatemala. It strikes me as a bit surreal how we can travel so far across the globe in such a short period of time. Just think, when our grandparents were our age, it would've taken weeks to travel the distance that I've traveled in just hours.

I'm a little bummed that my bud Praveen decided to come back early since he was supposed to be in Guate the whole summer, so it looks like I'll be traveling alone, unless Amit comes through and decides to come to Guate. For better or for worse, though, it sounds like there are plenty of American students in Xela, the town I'll probably spend most of my time in, so it shouldn't be too hard to meet people once I get there. The downside of this being that I won't be totally immersed in the language in culture, but the upside being that I won't be so isolated. It should be quite a change from last summer, so I'll be able to decide which I prefer in the future, if I ever get the chance to do this again.

A quick wrap up of Japan, mostly concerning the food, once again. Being the culinary connoiseur that I am, I try to eat pretty much the craziest things I can find. Some of the most memorable from this trip - chicken and horse... sashimi (raw), miso flavored ice cream, noni and seacuwasa (sp?, a citrus fruit from okinawa) jello, and durian.

I always thought that if people eat it, then it must be good..... or at least not bad. That assumption was completely destroyed by durian. The durian is a fruit infamous for its noxious odor. Found in Southeastern Asian countries such as Thailand, Philipines, etc. it stinks so bad they don't even carry fresh ones to the US since it'll stink up the plane. However, it's supposed to be quite delicious, and since I never get the opportunity to try fresh ones here, I just had to try it since they're available in Japan.

The fruit came peeled and double wrapped - once in Saran wrap and another in the regular plastic packaging. I open up the first package, and the odor flows forth, somewhat reminiscent of gyoza (pot stickers) but kind of like they've been sitting in garbage for a week. After shelling out 500 yen (almost $5) thought, I was determined to finish the whole thing. So it smells bad, it must still taste good, people pay pretty good money for this, I figured. I take one bite. Hmmm, tastes like it smells, maybe it takes some getting used to. Take another bite. Tastes just as bad, if not worse than the first time. Take another bite. Maybe if I just keep going at it more? Take a few more bites, and my mom tells me to stop since she doesn't want me getting sick. I try to argue, but I can't really argue what my taste buds are telling me either.

I guess I should've figured out that if it smells bad, then most likely it will taste bad since most of our sense of taste is actually linked to our sense of smell. However, I remember hearing that people just eat this stuff up. If so, bravo to those of you who can muster the appetite, but maybe you should get your nose checked?