Amy -
Hostel living was fun for about two days, agreed? just wanted to let you know you definitely made the experience. thanks for your company, slipping me drinks while you were working bar, sharing the surreal experience of working out in a Guatemalan gym while listening to music from the earlier 1990s, and saying what needed to be said to that one jerk when i didn't have the guts to do it for myself (that last one is somewhat of a tangent, so i'll only divulge if asked)

i leave the Black Cat with extensive knowledge of the magic that is a cuba libre cocktail, an intense appreciation of my privacy after finding i had none, and a certain liking for bootlegged dvd's that the german kids brought and watched in the tv room, totally pretending that the film wasn't taken by a shaken hand in some theater in Normandy ... and in case there was any question as to the movie's authenticity, please know that in a copy of "Ocean's Twelve" people repeatedly were captured on film, walking across the screen. when i asked Hans about it he pretended he didn't know what i was talking about: "Vat? Vat du you mean?"

27 - countries the people i met at the Black Cat were from
43 - drinks consumed to forget about hostel life
12 - times i was shocked by the electric-heated showers
5 - really cool people who run the place, made the stay worth while, and offered me a job and a bed after i'm done taken spanish courses in six weeks.

thanks guys, Jessie