el fin del año 2012

there are years that ask questions, and years that answer. 2012 was a mixed bag. there were good moments and bad moments—many bests and worsts. but just as last year, i learned from the bad and fully reveled in the good. here are those worth mentioning

Best Meal

the megacenter tour with jonathan: appetizers of burritos and nachos in La Cueva, the main course of Factory chicken wings, and we finished off with dessert in the Dubliner. i think i gained 10 pounds that night.

Worst Meal

la paz ceviche for breakfast with nico (note that pictures are of delicious ceviche for lunch with lorenzo in lima)

Best Completed Project
Will Roman mural

Worst Uncompleted Project
reading El Hobit


Best Party
afterprom

Worst Party
carnaval in oruro (being sick, sleeping on a wood floor, no windows, and no running water was not a good combination)

the worst of it

making the best of it

Best Success
finishing a draft of my dissertation before turning 30

i celebrated with these afterwards

Worst Failure
never quite getting the double tijeras llave


Best Student Experience
being greeted with "hey darlin" at aaa

Worst Student Experience
seemingly permanent back pain before my first lucha event


Holiday Celebration
halloween with mau, derren, rylan, kicho, & gus (2nd year running that halloween takes the honors)

Worst Holiday Celebration
st. patrick's day

at least the day started well with a strongbow and chapter 4 at 7am

Best "Illegal" Activity

the week clandestinely spent in the forbidden hostel room

Worst "Illegal" Activity

strapping $50,000 US to my belly and taking a 12 hour bus ride

and worse yet, at the end of the bus ride i was stuck in potosí for 36 hours

Best Birthday Gift(s)

its a tie

my tattoo and my lady blade portraits

writing 1, 2, & 3

Worst Birthday Gift

6 tequila shots in under an hour thanks to jaime and lucas

Best Acquisition

my pollera

Worst Acquisition
several pairs of ill-fitting jeans


Best Encounter with an Animal
horse riding with el profe

Worst Encounter with an Animal
dog bite in obrajes

Best Fight
villa copacabana lady blade contra black spyder

Worst Fight
over hip hop music with jonathan and lorenzo


Best Death Defying Feat
urban rush, face forward

Worst Death Defying Feat
almost careening over a cliff during a car crash between puno, peru and the bolivian border

Best 24 Hours
el centro to la cumbre to mallasa and back

Worst 24 Hours
one of the many stomach dealies, throwing up every 2 hours and running out of potable water.


so there is my year, simplified to superlatives. the good were good and the bad were a learning experiences, thinking moments, or at least sighs of relief for not being as bad as they could have been. i'm lucky in so many ways. i met so many new wonderful people and grew to love so many old friends this year. my life will never be the same, and now i've got a tattoo to remind me of bolivia every day, now matter what hemisphere i'm in.