turn down the noise

i do believe it's time to move on from hueco.

no hard feelings, but i've been here over three weeks, which has been my average time spent in any one destination so far. i'm going to go climbing today and see how it feels. the last week was not my best... i spent more time waiting in line to go climbing, then actually being on the rock.

volunteering for the rock rodeo was an interesting experience. what did i want out of it? a) to be part of the local climbing community; b) an activity to focus on so i wouldn't obsess about climbing; c) some light work experience that i could mention in a future job interview; d) free admission.

Well, it was a lot more work than i had expected. some extra responsibilities were dropped on me at the last minute, and it was a lot of work. i haven't worked that hard since i had a job and was dealing with unrealistic deadlines. it reminded me why work isn't all that fun, and that sometimes i can take on a bit more than i can handle. i think it was because i'm a "little person" here so i had no clout in reassigning responsibilties. a couple people just responded "yeah right" when i asked for help. but the people that did help out were really great, and overall it was quite a rush to be that busy, but i've barely climbed in the past 4 days, and i feel like i haven't climbed at all the past week.

nevermind working registration, i got to bartend at night! that was a LOT of fun. unfortunately even though i tried to pace myself with my own drinking, i ended up getting a tad bit inebriated. working the bar i got to experience firsthand the beer goggles on men, combined with the blabbermouth effect of liquor. survey says that after three beers i appear "gorgeous" and "hot". nothing you can take seriously from a bunch of drunk guys when you're one of the few girls at the event, but it was fun. i even made a small amount in tips (same men, same beer goggles).

another reason i wanted to volunteer was so i could have a chance to interact with people. a set purpose. hi there, i'll register you, hi there i'll serve you drinks. without a purpose, i'd just be on my own saying "hi there" and then nothing.

oh yes, so i ended up drinking a bit too much. i could swear i didn't drink that much, but since i can't really afford alcohol i don't drink too often and my tolerance is a lot lower. combine that with barely eating anything the past couple days since i couldn't leave the registration desk, and i missed the entire party. i hear that the bonfire was great, and the band was good. all i did was serve drinks, and then go to my tent to sleep.

i haven't been that messed up since i was overdrinking as a teenager. i'm not proud of myself and i think that i've been regressing a bit here at hueco. i'm not a party girl per se, but this environment is a lot of party all the time. i'd like to move on and have a bit of time to myself. this trip can't be all personal growth moments, but at hueco i'm not really improving myself as a person. it's also frustrating to climb since you could spend 4 hours of the day in line up to get into the park instead of just being able to say "hey i'm ready to climb" and then go hit the rock.

i'll be here for less than a week, and i'm looking forward to picking my next destination. the weather is turning into what we canadians would call "summer" and it's going to be really hot this week. it's early morning and i'm already in a tank top. i'll leave for the crag in an hour or so, and judging from today's climbing results, i'll decide how much longer i'll be here.