La Muela

This afternoon the girls from the initial group that arrived with me two weeks ago went to take salsa lessons and everyone in the second group that just arrived this weekend had to meet with our in-country coordinator Jessica, so I was left to my own devices.  I decided to go on our school-sponsored trip to La Muela, a local hike just outside of Xela.

The group was pretty small: myself, two other students, our guide Kevin (who also teaches at Celas Maya), and two of his friends.  Sadly, there has been an increase in armed robberies on the outskirts of the city.  Since we were so few in number, we decided against walking and opted instead to take a camioneta (a converted school bus from the United States) to the base of the mountain.

I enjoyed the hike much more than I had expected.  It was really less of a walk and more of a rock scramble, much like Old Rag back in Virginia.  And you guys know how much I love Old Rag.

The vista lived up to the hype: we were able to see most of the valley and many of the surrounding mountain chains.  The crazy rock formations created by previous volcanic eruptions also let us get insanely close to the precipice.  We were pretty cavalier (hiyo!) with how close we came to the edges of the mountain, and I am truly glad that none of us fell to gruesome and untimely deaths.

To finish off the day, I video chatted with my parents when we got back from the hike.  I tried to talk to Titan, too, but he couldn't figure out that I was actually in the computer screen.  Bah, I miss you, you stupid dog.

Una Compañera de Cuarto

My host family has two guest bedrooms, but for the past two weeks, I've been the only student staying here.  Well, no longer!  I have a new roommate, and she is none other than... Nina.

What are the chances that my host family would be assigned another UVA medical student?  It's crazy, I tell you.  But it's definitely nice having a roommate around, and it's kind of cool that it's someone I already know.  I just hope my host family is prepared to have two hungry, hungry chinitos to feed this coming week.

El Volcán Santa María

Another weekend, another volcano.  This time we hiked up the Santa María, which was no easy feat.  Our adventure began at 5am, when our guide Gustavo (the same one who took us to El Volcán Chicabal) picked us up from our houses.  The hike to the peak took a good five hours, but the view at the top was totally worth it.

The air at the top, which is about 3,772m above sea level, was extremely thin.  But I kicked that mountan's butt and lived up to my new nickname, Samazo (the suffix -azo indicates that the noun is large).

The coolest part of the day was getting to see other volcanoes along the mountain chain erupt, like the Santiaguito, which is one of the ten most active volcanoes in the world.

The trip was physically exhausting, and I'm extremely proud of our entire group for hiking it.  Sadly, it was our last full day with Steph, as she is leaving to work at her site in Panajachel this afternoon.  On the bright side, the rest of the UVA group arrived today.  I can't wait to start showing them around Xela!

El Subalicilato de Bismuto

Whenever I travel, I make sure to bring Pepto Bismol along for the ride, and I never end up having to use it.  Of course, the one time I forget to bring Pepto Bismol with me to Guatemala, I suffer from gastrointestinal issues.

Luckily the pharmacies here carry the pink nectar of the gods, and I now swear by the medication.  As soon as I started taking it, my symptoms began to improve.  Plus, the cherry-flavored oral suspension tastes so good.  It's kinda like amoxicillin for adults.

Pepto Bismol: don't leave home without it!

La Chocolatería de Doña Pancha

Yesterday evening the school sponsored its best excursion yet: a trip to a local chocolate shop.  We learned all about the discovery and evolution of chocolate since the time of the Mayans, which was exciting and all, but the real highlight was of course eating the chocolate.  Not surprisingly, chocolate fondue with fresh fruit was part of the tasting.

Towards the end of the visit, we were given balls of chocolate dough and had the opportunity to make our own customized chocolate bars.  The owner then froze them for us to take home.  We all made desserts of different shapes and sizes, but I think Steph's fat baby chocolate was by far the most memorable.

In fact, her creation was so ugly that it broke my camera.  Just kidding.  Sort of.  Sadly, after taking the above photo, my camera did in fact break, although it had nothing to do with Steph's handiwork.  The 18-70mm lens that came with my Sony α-200 just started making a really weird grinding noise whenever I turned my camera on or off.

I did a thorough internet search when we got back to Celas Maya, and it turns out the infinity-stop on the lens is not strong enough for the camera's autofocus motor and will at times break with normal use.  My options now are to take the remainder of my pictures on the trip either using the manual focus on my regular lens or switching entirely to my wide-angle lens, neither of which is ideal.

On the plus side, now I get to start shopping for a new camera lens.  Hooray for the inappropriate use of student loans!

La Tarea

Each week at Celas Maya we get a new tutor, and this week I'm working with Jessica.  I really enjoy her teaching style, because she focuses less on going over the grammatical rules and really spends time practicing with me.  This is perfect for me, since I am pretty comfortable with Spanish grammar (it's really not all that different from French grammar), but I forget how to use it in the context of a conversation.

The downside of having Jessica as a tutor is that she also loves giving homework.  I mean, LOVES giving homework.  On the first night, I had to do two worksheets, watch a video about pediatric cardiac surgery in Guatemala and summarize its content, and write three essays.  Lolwut?

Luckily last night I only had to do three pages of exercises on the subjunctive and write two essays, which meant that I actually had time to exercise as well.  Steph and I continued our run towards the Santa Maria Volcano, this time making it all the way to the town that sits at the base of the mountain.  The run was probably about six miles long, which I'm really proud of, because the longest I can ever recall running in my life is eight miles.  On top of that, the first time I had run since May, when I started P90X, was two weeks ago.

Let's hope I didn't push myself too far and give myself shin splints.  Warst.

Los Vahos

Yesterday afternoon's school-sponsored trip was to Los Vahos, a set of saunas heated by the volcanoes near Xela.  Sadly, Tracey had been unable to join us for our trip to Las Fuentes Georginas, so the two of us set on the trek towards the saunas with several of the other students at Celas Maya.  The hike provided us some pretty good views of the entire city, which is actually much more expansive than I had originally imagined.

I didn't actually enter the saunas when we got there because I had been having stomach problems all day, so I ended up hanging out and talking with some other students who also didn't want to go in.  On the walk back, I saw a brown cow.  BROWN COWS ARE AWESOME!  I tried to get a picture with it, but it literally sprinted away from me as fast as it could.

It's nice to finally get to know other people here, especially some of the other guys.  The five of us had pretty much just been doing things exclusively with ourselves the first week, and consequently, I have been surrounded by a lot of (too much?) estrogen.  Evan, you need to get over here as soon as possible.

Estoy Adicto

I used to make fun of Sunny for playing Tiny Tower all the time, even when we were hanging out.  But I randomly decided to download it this weekend, and now I completely understand her obsession with the game.

You basically build a skyscraper and move inhabitants in and find jobs for them in the shops that you build.  Things even keep happening, like your shops continue to make money, even when the game isn't turned on.  It's a nice combination of two of my favorite games from when I was a kid: The Sims and Tamagotchi.  Haha, remember Tamagotchis?  Oh man, those were the days.

Las Fuentes Georginas

After yesterday's hike, it only seemed appropriate to treat ourselves to something nice today.  We had talked about going to Las Fuentes Georginas, a group of hot springs that are warmed by the nearby Zunil Volcano, as soon as we had arrived.  When Kate's host family heard about our plan, they suggested that they take us there in their pickup truck, an offer that we eagerly accepted.

We spent a long time bathing in the different pools, which are naturally unbearably hot.  We could barely stand dipping our feet into the hottest pool, which is farthest back in the picture below.  The two lower pools are cooled by water that is piped in, and thus are much more comfortable to soak in.  I truly cannot recall the last time I've felt so relaxed.

I also can't recall the last time I felt so full.  While we bathed in the warm waters, Kate's family prepared us a feast of steak, tortillas, beans, and guacamole.  I ate two pieces of steak and helped Kate finish half of hers as well.  It was truly a feast for the history books.

So, since I spent half of the day in the waters of Las Fuentes Georginas, I don't have to take a shower this evening, right?  Right??

El Volcán Chicabal

It's finally the weekend, and we took advantage of the opportunity to take a day trip outside of Xela.  There are many popular hikes in the area, but we decided to start with one that isn't too difficult.  We hired a guide and a bus to pick us up at 6am and take us to the Chicabal Volcano, which is famous for the crater lake in the middle.  The ascent was extremely steep, but the view at the top was amazing.

In addition to hiking to the vista, we also went down to the lake itself.  It was insanely beautiful; almost eerily so and to the point that it made me feel like it was harboring some dark secret, like the island on Lost.

Many traditionalists still use the several altars surrounding the lake for religious ceremonies.  We passed a few as we walked around the lake, and they were fascinating to observe.  The man standing at the top right of the picture seemed to be leading the ceremony with his chant.  All of it was done on one note except for the last syllable of each phrase, which was a minor third below.

The hike lasted about five hours long, and now I'm absolutely pooped.  Perhaps it is time for a nice, relaxing siesta...

La Casa de Yoga

Since I'm only supposed to run in my FiveFingers every other day for the first month I use them, I needed to find a different form of exercise yesterday.  And so, the five of us decided to pay a visit to the local Casa de Yoga after our meeting with Jessica in the afternoon.  I was a little worried; unlike the rest of them, I had never taken a yoga class before.  In fact, the only form of yoga I'd ever done was Yoga X from the P90X workout.

Luckily, the class ended up being a good level of difficulty for me.  I had no trouble with the moving asanas and the strength exercises, but just as with the Yoga X workout, I struggled a lot with the balance postures.  It was kind of embarrassing; everyone else (including the four other guys in the class) had no problem standing on one leg while contorting their bodies in unbelievable ways.  Meanwhile, my arms were flailing and I threatened to take Steph and Tracey, who were next to me, down with me every single time I fell.

I'm glad we found the yoga studio, and seeing as how each class costs only Q20 (or $2.50), I feel pretty good about doing it on my off-running days.

El Museo Viboz

Up till now, our ragtag group of five med students has been doing all of its own exploring.  Yesterday was the first time we went out on one of the activities sponsored by our Spanish school.  I had my reservations, because it was a trip to a museum showcasing classical Guatemalan attire, and weaving isn't really one of my passions, per se.

The girls insisted that we all go, though, and I'm glad that they did.  The museum is actually a house in which the family still produces traditional Guatemalan clothes to this day.  In addition to teaching us about the history and process of the weaving, we were also allowed to try it ourselves.  The girls all had a chance to spin the fabrics together, which was much harder than the owner made it appear.

Since I didn't get to play with the spinning wheel, it fell upon me to work the loom.  This was also much harder than the owner made it appear.  It took me three tries and at least fifteen minutes to get the right settings on the 52 different threads.

Just when I thought my work was done, I found out that I still had to weave the colored threads through the white ones to create the appropriate pattern, which probably took another ten minutes, even with the owner's help.

Ah, the loom: capable of making me feel less competent than I ever thought possible.

Las Compras

It's the early morning right before classes start, which means it's time for my daily blogging session.  Sort of.  It's only the second day I've done it, but as any good Wahoo will tell you, it only requires one occurrence to qualify an event as a "tradition."

We had the entire afternoon off yesterday, so we decided to explore a different area of Xela than the one we live and go to school in.  We wandered up to the northeast corner where the large commercial district is located in search of some supplies.  We found the Megapaca, which is basically the largest thrift store I've ever seen in my entire life.  Goodwill, you've got nothing on these guys.  They even sell a towel-turned-into-a-duck.  What's there to dislike?

Next door to the MegaPaca is a Walmart, which seemed oddly out of place in Xela.  It had all the usual goods you'd expect to find, and not surprisingly, its bland layout didn't inspire me to take any pictures.  On the walk back, however, we were excited to stop by the Temple of Minerva, which inspired a brief photo shoot.

The temple to the Roman goddess is oddly out of place, but I kind of like it.  Its bizarre presence also reminds me a little of Lost, and that can only ever be a good thing.

El Correr

I made a commitment to get back in shape after interviews, and I'm sticking to it.  I brought my new FiveFingers with me, and I was happy to learn that Steph also wanted to keep running while in Guatemala.  Yesterday, we set out on our first trial run.

Xela is indeed beautiful, but unfortunately that does not mean it's easy to run in.  The streets are narrow, the sidewalks are narrower, and the hills are simply insurmountable.  Of course, that does make for some pretty cool views.

Instead of running through a city packed with pedestrian, motorcycle, and automobile traffic, Steph and I ran outside of the city in the direction of the Santa María Volcano.  The way out of town was especially hard, since we started at 2,330 meters (7,655 feet) above sea level and ran basically straight uphill.  The way back into town was much nicer, but I'm glad Steph and I are taking it slow until our lungs get acclimated to the high altitude.  I truly fear that my blood is going to be like sludge by the time I come back to the States.

Mi Primera Lección

Today marks our first full day in Xela, as well as our first set of language classes.  Actually, "classes" isn't the right word, because we meet one-on-one with our Spanish tutors for five hours each day.  I'm working with Sheny, who evaluated my level of proficiency this morning and created an outline for what we're going to work on this week.  I even get homework every night, which makes me feel like I'm 17 years old again.

Sheny and I immediately bonded over the fact that we are both dog owners.  She ooh'ed and ahh'ed at my pictures of Titan, and she told me all about her husky at home named Ringo (after Ringo Starr, of course).  Whoever matched us up either did a great job or a terrible job, because we literally spent more time talking about Titan and Ringo than we did on Spanish grammar today.  Oops.

¡Estoy Aquí!

Here I am in Quetzaltanango (or Xela)!  My trip here wasn't very eventful.  As predicted, I slept the entire flight from Washington to Houston.  I tried to do the same on the flight from Houston to Guatemala City, but the woman sitting next to me did everything she could to make sure that didn't happen.  I typically enjoy talking to fellow travelers, but not when I'm exhausted and especially not when the fellow traveler tells the most boring stories of all time.  I wish she'd picked up on my body language: the reading of a book, the gazing listlessly out the window, the closing of my eyes.  But apparently she interpreted this to mean I wanted to hear more stories about her friends that I've never met.  Sigh.

Emi, Kate, Steph, and Tracey all arrived in Guatemala City yesterday as well.  We enjoyed some local cuisine, spent the night at Patricias Bed & Breakfast, and took a four-and-a-half bus ride this morning to Xela.  Jessica, our in-country coordinator, gave us a brief orientation and then set us loose to get some lunch.  After indulging ourselves and exploring a little bit of the city, we relaxed in the cafe at Celas Maya, our Spanish school, and waited for our host families to come pick us up.

Of course, everyone else's families have already arrived, and I'm still waiting.  On the bright side, I now have time to catch up on e-mails and blogging using the free Internet at Celas Maya.  It looks like everything always works out for the best in the end.

Captain's Log

Sammas is embarking upon yet another excellent journey.  This time, the destination is Guatemala, which means "land of the trees" in the Maya-Toltec language.

And in fact, the journey has already begun.  My flight leaves Dulles at 6am, and it didn't make sense for me to wake up at 2am to make the two hour drive in order to check in by 4am, so instead my parents dropped me off a little while ago and I'm spending the night at the airport.  Sadly, it is very different from Night at the Museum.  Also, the check-in counter looks like this:

It would appear that my plan to check my luggage in early and sleep at the gate until it's time to board my plane has been foiled.  I guess I'll be doing a lot of napping on the flight instead.  Just the way I like it.

Relay

In a rush to meet Troy and Liz's new golden retriever puppy, I ran out of the house and locked the door behind me... and realized when I got to my car that I had left my keys in my room.  I called all of my roommates and was surprised when nobody picked up, seeing as how it's rare for less than two of the six of us to be home at a given time.

After walking around my yard aimlessly for about five minutes, I got a call back from Mo, who told me that he was driving a bus on the Inner Loop and would be at the New Cabell Hall stop in two minutes.  How fortuitous!  I ran to the bus stop from our house, got there just as he was pulling up, grabbed his keys from him, and ran back to the house.

The kicker?  After all that work, it turns out that Timmy was home all along.

So was Titan, but he can't unlock doors because he doesn't have opposable thumbs.  Bad dog!

Merry Belated Christmas

For a long time now, I've been thinking about getting myself a Kindle, but I just haven't been able to commit.  Honestly, I know I want one, but the only thing that's holding me back is the cost.  Well, today I considered all the pros and cons for a really long time, and then I went to Ragged Mountain Running Shop and bought myself a new pair of shoes.

Hm, that's not where I expected that story to go

During my trip to Boston, I spent a long time talking with one of the residents who had recently begun barefoot running.  I know, it's trendy, it's crunchy, and it's the "cool" thing to do right now.  But she highlighted all the benefits of barefoot running, many of which are explained in Christopher McDougall's bestselling book Born to Run.  Long story short, she convinced me to give it a try.

So, I am now the proud owner of a pair of Vibram FiveFingers KSO.

While these may not turn me into an ultramarathoner, I am hoping that they'll inspire me to start running again.  Thanks to interviews, it's been two solid months since I last worked out, and I'm starting to feel really guilty about it...

I Smell a Rat

I remember fake screennames on AOL Instant Messenger.  I occasionally get friend requests from Internet bots on Facebook.  But today is the first time I've been scammed using my trusty friend Gmail.

hollisterandrea2: hey
me: hi who is this?
hollisterandrea2: I cant belive you dont remember me
me: sorry dont have you in my contacts, who is this?
hollisterandrea2: hey whats up? 23/F here. youu?

"Belive"?  "Youu"?  Come on, if you want me to respect you at all, even as a scam artist, at least use proper spelling.

Top Headline

There are few news sources as ridiculous as Yahoo! News.  Whenever I get bored at work, I find myself visiting the homepage to see what stories they've put on the front page.  Usually it's sensationalism at its best, like "Which Star Wore This Dress Better" or "Teacher Explains How She Lives Off $20K Salary" or "Most Expensive Mansions In Exotic Countries You've Never Heard Of."

This afternoon, I came across just one of those articles, but it actually proved to be a pretty entertaining read.  Then again, anything would be considered entertaining compared to the season finale of Terra Nova.  It's so bad, but I just can't stop watching!

So, for your reading pleasure: RuPaul in New Hampshire: 'This country was founded by a bunch of men wearing wigs'

Traveler's Woes

This morning I arrived at Logan Airport to learn that my flight had been delayed by an hour.  There was still a chance that I could catch my connection in Newark, but this glimmer of a hope was stomped out when we were forced to wait on the tarmac for thirty minutes while the air traffic cleared.  And so, I was forced to spend three hours in Terminal A of the Newark Airport waiting for the next flight to Richmond.  That in and of itself was bearable, but the fact that they don't have free internet was not.  Talk about first world problems!

At least Continental Airlines gave me an $8 food voucher for my troubles.  I used it to buy a chicken wrap from a sandwich stand... then discovered that with tax it would be $8.51.  How is it that airport food is so expensive, anyway?

There were also pigeons flying around the terminal.  It is a lul.

But no matter now, I'm back in the Richmond Airport (where there is free internet), waiting for Colleen and Sunny's flights to get in so that we can carpool back to my parents' house for Faux Chinese New Year's.  Don't ask me to explain that sentence, because I don't know what's happening in my life.

Done and Done

It's true: today I completed my last residency interview.  I am officially done, and I couldn't be happier.  I've loved visiting all of my friends across the country, but the traveling has truly taken its toll on me.

The positive: I managed to achieve my goal of never paying for a hotel room.  Aside from the one interview in Cincinnati that paid for my lodging, I crashed entirely with friends and couchsurfers.

The negative: I failed to achieve my goal of only using frequent flyer miles and never paying for airfare.  I had to purchase a one-way flight from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and for this weekend's flights to and from Boston.  But hey... buying two plane tickets for 13 interviews?  I can't really complain.

And now to figure out my rank list... crap.

Checked Out

I had to write a check to the International Studies Office to cover my Guatemala trip expenses today, and when I tore it out, I found that it was the last one in the packet.  This is only the second pack I've gone through in my entire life, which should give you an idea of how often I write checks.  Let's take a stroll down memory lane and see what other checks I've written.

#101. Albert Einstein College of Medicine - Ah yes, the $100 check you had to send in with every secondary medical school application submitted.  Man, I do not miss those days.

#102. Phi Beta Kappa - My $80 membership dues.  Yeah, I'm a nerd, so what?

#103. Cravens & Noll - To pay $750 to the attorney who defended me when I was charged with reckless driving for going 81mph in a 65mph zone.  Not my brightest moment.

#104. VCU - I can't believe I had to pay them $5 for a copy of my dual enrollment transcript, or that they wouldn't accept a credit card for the transaction.

#105. Kathy - I paid her $25 for a CD of all of the headshots she took of me for the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Annual Report.  Worth it.

#106. City of Charlottesville - $15 for what I can only assume was a parking ticket.  Poop.

#107. Mulholland Society - Given the crazy amount of $1705.18, I can only assume that this was a transfer of funds into our alcohol account.

#108. Montfair Farm - Written during the peak of Social Co-Chair craziness, this was a $1675 payment to book the lodge for our annual bonfire.

#109. Kathy - Um, I guess I ordered some more pictures from her?  For another $10?

#110. Richard - This was the year that we didn't mow our lawn for so long that no civilian equipment could have done the job, so I had to pay a professional $30 to do it.

#111. Hasbrouk Real Estate - The month Pete was out of town and I had to cover our rent.  Oh, how I miss first year, when we paid $1200/month for a six-bedroom house.

#112. Nicole - Memo says "tubing refund" for $34.  She missed out on a rainy trip, where we (apparently) erroneously decided that it's safer to be in the water during a thunderstorm than out of it.

#113. Lee - $170 for our first whitewater rafting trip down the New River.  It's the trip that started a tradition.

#114. HBREC - Oops!  My property manager found out that my roommate and I had two dogs in the house and made us pay the monthly pet fee for the first time.

#115. Jerry - I had to pay him $400 to provide the audio equipment for the first ever First Harmonics/Arrhythmics joint concert.

#116. Matt - Before he moved to LA to pursue his dream of being a professional dancer, he was our VMed Prom disc jockey for $350.

#117. Jordan - In order to satisfy the stringent Newcomb rules, I had to pay an undergrad $25 to be "party manager" at our VMed Prom.

#118. Alex - Scratch that, I had to pay two undergrads $25 to be "party managers" at our VMed Prom.

#119. UVA Police Department - Er, the cops were also guarding the VMed Prom for the low price of $399.30 for the night.  This was the safest prom OF ALL TIME.

#120. HBREC Escrow - I wrote a check for $100 to act as the pet deposit for our house, since I never paid one in the first place.

#121. HBREC Escrow - I tore up the last check and wrote a new one for $200 to cover both my dog and Celeste's cat.

#122. Sean - Sadly, our Gauley rafting trip was cut short by a death on the river, so I had to reimburse him $121.50.

#123. Matt - Same story as above.

#124. Matt - $85 for "Books and Crabs."  In the literal sense of both words.

#125. University of Virginia - This would be the aforementioned Guatemalan expenses, which amounted to $350.

It's hard to believe that I'll be in the country in less than ten days.  HOLA, MIS AMIGOS!!

Mind the Gap

Today, I started my Geriatric Psychiatry selective.  As you may gather, this has absolutely nothing to do with my chosen profession of Pediatrics.  And yet, I kind of love it.  I will always be fascinated by the field of Psychiatry.  Also, I love old people almost as much as I love kids.  It's just patients between the ages of 35 and 65 that I generally dislike dealing with.

Starting a new rotation is exciting, but seeing the other half of the pictures from this past weekend is far more exciting.  This is our official group photo, taken while we were still winning the game, which explains the sincere smiles.  However, it does not explain why Paul is twice as tall as everybody else.

Looking at pictures is exciting, but this scene from Fantasia 2000 is far more exciting.  Thanks to Jenna for sharing this; watching it was the best 12 minutes and 33 seconds of my day.

Let's Go, Wahoos! (Clap, Clap, Clap-clap-clap)

Whew, sorry for my extended absence.  I spent the past few days on a whirlwind adventure to and from Atlanta, where I went with nine of my friends to the Chick-fil-A Bowl.  As you probably know already, the game didn't quite end the way we would have liked, but that didn't make the New Year weekend any less epic.

The epic-ness nearly went undocumented, though, as my camera was low on batteries the entire trip.  I did capture a few gems on mine from the nonsensical Bowl Parade, which featured Shriners, people dressed in Star Wars costumes, actors from Medieval Times, the local motorcycle gang, and way too many clowns.  At least there were a ton of cows, one of which stopped to take a picture with Nosheen.

The majority of the photos, including all of the ones from the actual game and the subsequent celebration of the New Year, are on Coop's camera.  And what a celebration it was!  A few of us braved the neighborhood around our airport hotel and hung out at Spondivits, a seafood and steak restaurant that stays open till 4am.  You know the place is legit, because Young Jeezy raps about it in Trap Star:

Eat at Spondivits four times a week
Bucket of crab legs, Slick had the lobsters (chyeah)

We just ordered drinks from the bar and skipped the midnight seafood meal, but maybe that was a mistake, because I apparently chewed through the lining of my hotel pillow while I slept that night.

So here's to you, 2012.  May you be a wonderful year with even more lulz and nomz than the last.