http://www.hectorhill.com Just another WordPress weblog Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:19:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Circumnavigate the globe. Check. Learn about biological father. Check. Lose too much weight, most of my bets, and a girlfriend in the process. Check.  Check.  Check. Not to pat myself  on the back too much here, but I have to say, this whole boondoggle wasn't too shabby an idea.  It sure turned out to be a ... http://www.hectorhill.com/?p=172 I'll fill you in a little more on Monday or Tuesday in the final post, but the short of it is...I'm back in the states and just laid the final bet.  My last $173.  Every dollar of it on Missouri (in honor of some hardcore Mizzou fans I know back ... http://www.hectorhill.com/?p=166 Last stop, Bogota.  It's little more than a long layover, but it's my final stopping point before heading back to the states.  After this it's Orlando for a long-ago planned weekend with a group of 7 friends from Vermont (our Virginia buddy, Ed, got an exemption).  Right now I'm eating my last ... http://www.hectorhill.com/?p=164 I've discovered South America's answer to Southeast Asia's Chinatowns.  Simon Bolivar plaza. Just like no self-respecting city in Asia goes without a Chinatown, no town in South America would dare not have a Bolivar plaza to honor the guy who brought them independence.  Get off any bus into any town, point yourself in ... http://www.hectorhill.com/?p=159 Recognize these guys?  Well, you know the short guy.  The tall, metallic, long haired dude in the back you may or may not depending on your soccer IQ.  It's Carlos Valderrama, the captain of the 1990, '94, and '98 Colombian World Cup teams, known as probably the greatest Colombian footballer ever.  ... http://www.hectorhill.com/?p=154 It didn't take long for me to become a huge fan of Colombia.  It's making a serious run at the title of best country on this trip.  We still have a week to go though, so we'll see if it's a finisher too.  Took awhile to get here, as that bus trip ... http://www.hectorhill.com/?p=150 The luck of the Irish came a little early last night and I finally got off the schneid.  I was beginning to wonder if I had another win in me.  Not sure if you noticed, but I had updated yesterday's post a couple hours before the game because I found a straight up bet on ... http://www.hectorhill.com/?p=146 (BET UPDATE...I WAS ABLE TO GET A BET ON VENEZUELA TO WIN STRAIGHT UP, SO FORGET WHAT I SAY BELOW AND ROOT FOR VZ OVER PUERTO RICO TONIGHT INSTEAD)  Okay, today's topics...(actually yesterday´s topics...for some reason it didn´t post last night) Beisbol, shabbats, currency rates, Cuba and duck mixups. But I'll save the CIA for the next ... http://www.hectorhill.com/?p=142  Why, you ask, do I have a picture of the quintessential American chain restaurant leading off my first post from South America? Good question. Simple answer. I never turn down a free meal.  I arrived in Caracas following a nearly 24 hour travel day thanks to a backtracking Frankfurt connection and an engine leaking ... http://www.hectorhill.com/?p=140 Today we're going heavy on the pictures; light on words. Using that little black book I found in the chest with the passports and other memorabelia of my father's, I traced what could have been a hypothetical night out for one Hector del Prado  in Paris circa 1963.  Places definitely have ... http://www.hectorhill.com/?p=129