Monday, November 28, 2005

I love NYC...!!!

this city is just the best...!!! aaahhh - I love it here.... having a really great time aqui con Carolina and salsa congress in Brooklyn over the weekend was really good too...

oohhh - and it even got much warmer here during the last 2 days than it was when I arrived last week.... nice nice nice.....!!!

but only 3 more days before I fly back to Germany.... :) and :( mixed emotions ahora....

posted by Astrid @ 3:17 PM 0 comments

Saturday, November 26, 2005

from the sunny West Coast to the freezing cold east....

after 3 days in sunny L.A. I drove up to SAN FRAN on TUE and spent 2 more days there with Jay and also met some oher CS friends - Casey, Dani, Matthew and Heather - who were so sweet to come and pick me up from the bus station when I arrived....
aaahhh nice....

I still love SAN FRAN..... great great city.....had another really nice day there, went to the same beach near Jay's house that we went to in July as well.... pretty much exactly 4 months ago....soooooo long.... but yet so short....!!
and also 2 more very fun nights dancing at Glasskat and Rocapulco.... aahhh great - really been missing salsa after 2 weeks without dancing....

and then on THU afternoon I was on a plane again (yeah, THU seems to be my airport and flying day at the moment...;)

off the the East....NEW YORK CITY... !!! the last stop on my trip before flying back to Germany.....
yyaaaiiiiii..... was really looking forward to go back to this amazing city again and especially to see Carolina and some other friends here again....!!

all great here and we're having a really really nice time.... bbuuuuuttt - it's also VERY VERY COLD HERE....!!!! like 0 degree C.... hhhhmmm, maybe a good preparation for Germany..... ;)

and this weekend it's also the NY / NJ Salsa Congress here..... we actually just got back from there.... really really good night..... lots of great dancers, very good music - and all super fun.....

so even this cold can be standable in a city like NYC....!!!
and now I have another 5 days here before I'm gonna take my next plane.... back to Alemania.... not long anymore - und Deutschland hat mich wieder.... at least for a while.... ;)

good night for now.... xx

posted by Astrid @ 5:53 AM 0 comments

Monday, November 21, 2005

Smiling again in sunny LALAland.... :)

hhmmmm yes - Mexico City was partly very bad and not only a nice experience.... but I can't be upset y triste and in a bad mood because of that forever....

and I guess sunny California really helped to cheer me up again a bit....!!! :)

Spent 2 days in Fullerton, Orange County, with Jess and her family.... super-super-sweet people, I got stuffed with great Chinese foor by her lovely Grandfather and it was just nice to relax in that little town for 2 days....

then Marko and Brian picked me up from there on SAT and I moved to his "Couchsurfing-paradise" in North Hills, LA..... Celine was already staying here as well, and it was just great, great, great to see some old friends again.... same as when Nathalie picked me up from the airport last THU and drove me to Union Station.... thanks so much again for that darling.... !! really meant a lot to me that someone nice was waiting for me at the airport when I arrived from Mexico....

Marko's lovely Guatemalan family, party in Bel Air, a great day on Venice and Santa Monica beach - with a beautiful sunset over the ocean and dolphins jumping up and down so close to us as if we were in Seaworld or MarineLand..... dancing on la playa to live percussion and drums last night - AND ABOVE ALL, great company and lotsa nice people around me.... all that helped to cheer me up and make me feel a lot better... !!

and today I was walking through downtown L.A. in the sunhine - Broadway, Staples Center, Biltmore Hotel, "historic" district, Wilshire Boulevard, MacArthur Park - and I was smiling again..... :)

posted by Astrid @ 8:22 PM 0 comments

Friday, November 18, 2005

buena onda.... mala onda....

so yeah - Mexico City is a great and amazing city with lots of things to see and to do and lots of beautiful areas....

BBBUUUUTTTT.... I also learned how corrupt that country and its system is and had some very bad experiences there.... got totally scammed by a stupid f****d up American bastard, lost lots of money, caught him again, had him locked up for a day and a night and after spending mucho tiempo with the Mexican policia learned that they are actually the worst ones themselves...... aaaahhhh - corrupt, corrupt, corrupt..... and soooooooooooooooooo many lies..... I hate it....!!!!

and it's all just really sad cause my friends there are great and super-sweet and really did everything for me ....!! but I still left from their city with a lot of bad memories.... the only ones from my trip so far....

oh well, am in sunny California, Orange County, at the moment.... will spend a few days here, then in LA, San Francisco, San Jose and then another week in NYC....

so, a few more nice things to come before I fly back to Germany....

posted by Astrid @ 11:19 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Here is in a nutshell....

what happened to me in Mexico City during the last few days.....

and the German Consulate seems to be just as helpful as the Mexican Police in this case.... not so great really.... pero, asi you learn..... I guess....


HERE IS THEIR ANSWER TO MY MESSAGE BELOW:

Sehr geehrte Frau Schnabel,

Leider kann dieses Konsulat nichts für Sie unternehmen. Zum Einen ist die Straftat in einem Drittland (Mexiko) erfolgt und weiterhin sind wir keine Strafverfolgungsbehörde.

Ich kann sehr wohl Ihren Ärger verstehen - und Sie haben auch das Richtige unternommen, indem Sie die mexikanische Polizei befasst haben.

Die Einschaltung eines Rechtsanwaltes stellt sich wegen des doch "geringen" Verlustbetrages wohl auch nicht dar.

Etwas für's Leben gelernt ? Sorry, dass wir keine bessere Antwort für Sie haben.

mit besten Grüßen,


Thomas Scherer
Vice Consul
German Consulate General
Los Angeles
www.losangeles.diplo.de
Thomas.Scherer@Diplo.de



Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 12:36 AM
Subject: I got scammed in Mexico City last week. PLEASE HELP....!!

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

Ich hab gestern nachmittag schon kurz mit einem ihrer Mitarbeiter am Telefon gesprochen und wollte ihm meinen Fall erklaeren. Aber er bat mich morgen wieder anzurufen und nach Herrn Thomas Scherer zu fragen, um ihm die ganzen Geschehnisse zu schildern.

Hier also schon mal Kurz:

Ich war letzte Woche in Mexico City und wurde am vergangenen Montag, 14th NOV 2005, von einem Amerikanischen con-artist aus Detroit "ge-scammed".
Er stahl $ 800.00 von mir.

Waehrend des Verbrechens nannte er mir einen falschen Namen und falsche Kontakt-Informationen, aber sein korreker Name is MICHAEL ALAN REDER. Er ist auch DETROIT, USA, und 47 Jahre alt.

Er ist seit dem 19th September 2005 in Mexico und hat ein Touristen-Visum fuer 180 Tage.

When I saw him again - by total coincidence - the following day, TUE, 15th NOV 2005, I had him arrested by the Mexican police, they already knew him from previous crimes that he had commited in the same manner and detained him for one night and one day.

I filed 2 police reports explaining the whole situation, but since it was his word against mine - AND MOST OF ALL BECAUSE THE MEXICAN POLICE IS VERY CORRUPT - he was free again the next day and I never saw my money again.

I hope that you can work together with the FBI or your Mexican co-operating partners and stop him from doing what he's doing :

Scamming tourists in Mexico City out of their money by telling them lots and lots of lies !!!

Please let me know if and how you can proceed this case, if you need more information from me, and how I can receive my money back.

I am currently in California, will be spending next week in New York (25th NOV - 1st DEC) before I fly back to Germany on 1st DEC. Email is the best way to contact me.

Many thanks for your attention and help and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Mit freundlichen Gruessen,
Astrid Schnabel

posted by Astrid @ 8:32 PM 0 comments

Monday, November 14, 2005

Mexico City.....WWoooooowwww....!!!

The bus-ride to here from SAN CRISTOBAL over night was an adventure - but great - and I would do it again any time....

and now D.F. - MEXICO CITY - impressive.... been a very long time that I`ve been in a city as huge as this.... well, actually it`s the biggest city I`ve ever been to at all so far....!!

But ever since I left London in June I haven`t been to a Multi-Million Metropole like this.... and it`s great here....!!

so much to do, so much to see, so many people, so much culture, so much history, so many beautiful buildings..... aaahhh - amazing....!!

some of the streets actually remind me a bit of Bangkok - lotsa little tiendas and foodstalls all over and people are selling just everything en las calles...!! and the climate here reminds me a lot of Texas when I was living there in November 6 years ago.... damn - really that long ago already....!!! but yeah - still very nice and hot and sunny here....

just weird to see all the X-Mas decorations in the shops and still walk around outside in a short summer dress and sunglasses..... strange feeling...!! ;)

Apart from all that I get totally spoiled by Luis and his family here.... they`re all so so so sweet.... yesterday we went to see the pyramides of TEOTIHUACAN.... really great....

and today I just went to the historic centre, Zocalo, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Palacio Nacional, Biblioteca de Mexico, muchos mercados y artesanias, and, and, and.... I loved it....!!

and for a city as big as this everything is pretty well organized too.... and for the first time for quite a while I`ve been to a STARBUCK`s and ZARA again today.... ;) nice...

very very different from ANTIGUA - but nice distractions.... :)

posted by Astrid @ 5:47 PM 0 comments

Friday, November 11, 2005

back in Mexico.... once again....

So I finally had to leave Antigua after 3 great months there.... very strange feeling..... after a very good last evening / night in Cafe Flor, CAFECITO and Cafe NO SE with Seb, I had 2 hours left at home to pack my bags and then took a shuttle from there at 4.00am to la capital, from there at 5.30am to LA MESILLA on the Mexican border..... very beautiful busride..... about 8 hours, but I really enjoyed it..... just nice to sit there, watch the landscape outside fly by, little villages and towns, mountains, rivers, clouds, beautiful Guatemalan countryside..... aaahhhh - I´m sooo gonna miss it.....

we also drove past the Panajachel area and you could still see a lot of the damage that hurricane STAN had done there...... but the roads are pretty much all usable again, even though in some parts there´s still only one lane available and we had to wait for like 15 minutes cause traffic can only go into one direction....

then the adventure of crossing the Mexican border, 2 more short - well 1 and 1/2 hour - bus-rides in COLLECTIVOS (mini-buses) and I arrived in SAN CRISTOBAL around 5.45pm....

went to the POSADA MEXICO that Suzie had recommend to me - and here I am...!!! :)

After my last 3 nights in Antigua with hardly any sleep I was super-super-tired when I got here last night and just walked around SAN CRISTOBAL for an hour or so, had a shower and went to bed really early..... like 10.00pm..... aaahhhh - nice....

It´s all fine and okay here nad SAN CRISTOBAL is a pretty nice little place, but I also think that at the moment I just compare it too much with Antigua..... or I´m just still thinking too much of Antigua.... and, of course, no place that you see for 2 days can mean the same to you as one where you lived for 3 months....!!! claro....

but it´s nice enough to spend 2 days here - apparently there´s also a Latin / Salsa place about 2 blocks from our Posada..... entonces, vamos a ver..... and tomorrow evening I´m leaving for Mexico City.....
more soon.....

posted by Astrid @ 5:07 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Oh god.... I`m gonna miss this place....!!!

12 hours left in ANTIGUA... and it feels so strange to think about leaving this place tomorrow moring at 4.00am...!!!

walking all those streets here one more last time.... everything was too nice here.... gonna miss it and everybody and my life here loads loads loads.... :(

posted by Astrid @ 3:55 PM 0 comments

Monday, November 07, 2005

3 days left in Guatemala....

...and soooo many things still to do.... I know I won`t have enough time for everything, but gonna try to fit in as much as possible....

A little bit sad to leave Antigua...?? Claro... after 3 months here it kinda does feel like another home..... lotsa nice people, great times here.... buenas, buenas memorias....

but the good thing is that I still have a lot more nice things to look forward to for my next 3 weeks of travelling - San Cristobal de las casas, Mexico City, maybe a short stop in San Diego, L.A., SAN FRAN y San Jose otra vez and then una semana mas con Carolina en Nueva York / New Jersey con mucha salsa.... yyaaaiii.... :)

So all that makes it a lot easier to say Goodbye to Antigua and Guatemala and Central America - for a while at least.... xxx

posted by Astrid @ 10:21 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

but the views from above the clouds were soooo totally worth it....!!!



















posted by Astrid @ 3:21 PM 0 comments

Climbing up ACATENANGO..... was really tough....






posted by Astrid @ 3:01 PM 0 comments