Damn.

Well, as some of you are already aware, I made a really dumb mistake last week. After a lovely day in Antigua, I headed back to Parramos. At some point during the bus ride, a water bottle that I had in my bookbag cracked and leaked all over my beautiful computer. I had no idea any of this had happened, my bookbag didn't feel wet at all. It was only later when I pulled out my computer and was met with this sight did I realize what had happened:

After the initial panic subsided, I went online (on someone else's computer) and got some advice from a few friends. Since I didn't have the tools to take out the battery (why do you thwart me with complicated computer designs, apple??) I had to settle for burying it in pasta and hoping for the best. Here it is pre-plastic bag covering. It's a good thing I'm a carb addict and had six bags of pasta on hand.

I left it for a week but sadly it didn't have much affect. The water splotch is still there in full force. The good news is that the computer seems to be working fine, I didn't lose any data (which I have no backup for since coming to Guatemala). The bad news is my screen is shot. I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure I need to buy a new LCD screen for it and then it'll be okay. They run around $150/$200 if I replace it myself (which I may be able to do). I asked about getting it done here but was told that since they'd have to order the part from the states, it would actually end up costing me way more here than at home and I was better off waiting.

Sadly ladies and gents, that means I'll be without a computer for the remainder of my trip. I'm depending on the kindness of my fellow volunteers for any kind of internet time on their computers, but updates on the blog will undoubtedly be affected. I'm grateful that this happened with only 12 weeks left instead of in the beginning of my trip, and hopefully I'll still be able to blog about some of the huge events coming up in the next few weeks (the giant kite festival, the departure of the kids for their vacations and most exciting of all, my very first friend visit! My good friend Tracey will be coming down to experience the chicken-bus firsthand and I'm sure I'll have a ton of stories to share.) Hope everyone at home is doing well (and on an unrelated note, I hope everyone will be voting next week!!)