It's short for forecastle.

I'm a little late to join the game with this thought but I find it fascinating how different the computer has made travel. When I was 19 years old and leaving home for Europe, I promised my parents I would try to call every couple of days or every couple of cities and even that wasn't always possible. Now, we are able to go anywhere in the world and instant message an old neighbor we haven't seen or talked to in years. A person can maintain constant communication if they choose to. This is both a change for the better and a change for the worse. In either case, it is definitely a change for the safer.

It being Saturday (I think!), we took the day off and enjoyed ourselves in a more relaxed manner than we have so far. We went into town for a breakfast of crepes, which they do very well here. They understand that a crepe is not just a thin pancake and we had them with fresh cantaloupe, papaya and yogurt. So good. Guatemala's chief export is coffee and the brew here is known for being delish. Unfortunately, they don't really do anything decaffeinated in this country other than Fanta, so I just savored the smell of Chris's cup, which he said was excellent.

I didn't want to do nothing but I also didn't want to do anything today, so we wandered aimlessly and the walk took us past the town church which was open for the first time, and it is lovely--very similar in decor to St. James in Santiago which we found so beautiful yesterday. From there we walked the road out of town for a spell and saw better where the people here actually live and the shops that cater to locals rather than tourists. It is safe to say we were off the beaten path, at least the tourist beaten path.

The avocados here are the size of softballs and we can make a huge bowl of guac using one aguacate (ahem--I always thought avocado was the Spanish word for avocado), one tomate and half a cebolla so we stopped at the open air market for supplies and today also found some cilantro and basil that is so intense in its flavor that our whole house smells of it now. The vendors in the market are patient and kind and answer every question Chris has about the Spanish words for the different peppers and vegetables and spices.

We planned to rent a kayak this afternoon but when we returned to our place to inquire about one, we were told that it is really only safe to do so in the morning so we spent the afternoon at the pool, where a very nice man brought us drinks.

I started The Terror by Dan Simmons today and couldn't put it down which may be why I got a little too much sun this afternoon. It is this huge book my friend Eric Jones recommended, a fictionalized account of an arctic exploration in the mid 19th century, and it is chillingly (yeah, yeah... it's a pun) atmospheric. Plus, when I was in high school I fell in love with Philip Larkin, in large part because of Poetry of Departures, and today marks the only other time I have seen the word fo'c'sle in print so it reminded me of that, my favorite poem.

Right now there is a bird outside making a noise like I imagine the pterodactyls might have made and it is kind of cool that I just can't see it even thought it is so loud and seems so close. I think I'll stop looking for it, just enjoy the noise and see if I can help Chris with dinner... Kayaks in the morning.