"A Widow for One Year" by John Irving

I am in developing countries for eleven days with no gastrointestinal issues. I am back in the US for one full day, and I get food poisoning.

When I wasn't listening to the tv, on the couch in the fetal position, I was finishing "A Widow for One Year". Irving's books are unlike anything else--so rich and full and the stories skip along at such a lively pace that you feel completely sunken into another world.

The protagonist in "A Widow for One Year" is a literary writer, and at one point she's plotting her next novel. Of course I wondered if her method is how Irving crafts his stories. There's an interview with Irving at the end of my edition of this book, and after reading it I think their processes probably are similar. Although I still have no idea how he composes such foie-gras-fed stories.

Also in the interview, Irving address criticism that he's a sentimentalist. Who knew Amsterdam prostitutes, abortion, Vietnam, or feminism were sentimental concerns? They're just the stuff of freaking good stories.

Belize

These past eleven days, I neither checked email nor shampooed my hair. I think I’m a better person for it.

Here are some pictures of what I was doing with all the time afforded to me by shirking excessive hygiene and technology:

(The weekend market in San Ignacio. The locals are a clever bunch.)

(In the ATM cave.)

(Cave tubing at Jaguar Paw. Hop on inner tubes, link yourselves together, and let the fun begin.

(Las Ruinas Tikal en Flores, Guatemala. ¡Qué estupendo!)

(Mark makes some local friends.)

(On Caye Caulker. This crabby little lady was preggers. Check out the eggs on her belly.)

(The dock at our hotel. Unfortunately it was the best thing about the hotel.)

Hiatus

(Yesterday's hail. We're hoping for better weather in Belize.)

Off to Belize with my partners in crime, my margarita amigos, my Maya ruins mates, my kayaking companions, my trekking teammates, my snorkeling sidekicks, my husband and brother.