No Pare, Sigue Sigue!

Alrigggght so this is it. My friends have been just so wonderful to me for my birthday and I've been eating it up. Last night, my roomy surprised me w/ tickets to In The Heights. Amazing. It was the perfect way to end my stint in the Heights and get a little nostalgic before I even leave. THEN Annie slaved away making me that cake up there. It's the Argentina flag, I love it. This is all the icing on the cake for the great family party we had in Jersey and dad's little visit to help me move out. So we're about to go out for some of the finest Dominican food outside of the Caribbean...I'm going to  miss mofongo... and then we're going to drown ourselves in champagne and hopefully I'll be alive to get on this plane tomorrow! Kidding, kidding, but what else am I supposed to do, it's my birthday and going-away at the same time!

So here I go, the day of voyages, a great way to start my 23rd year. Hopefully the Sphinx on my arm will guide my path and, thanks to Nani, the blessed mother will be watching too.... I'll try not to make her avert her eyes too much.... HA, can't wait!

Comings and Goings

So last night was the kick-off to my going-away festivities. The main event featured a beautifully awesome crew that came out to wish me well and cause a little trouble at my favorite dive bar, across the street from some of the best street tacos in the city. I came an hour late. To my own party. I figured since I was throwing my own party, I could do whatever the hell I want, so that's exactly what I did. The night was comprised of pep talks, words of encouragement, shots, dances, hugs, heightened emotions, and ridiculous statements from a group of the best people I could have imagined celebrating with. There were a few who couldn't make it that were sorely missed, but that's why I'm having a series of events to celebrate none other than... MYSELF! It's not easy being me.

But anyway, it was a great way to get prepared to leave. I'll miss all of my escapades, like theme parties and the crazy events that come from meeting random people in this city, and all my friends, but there is so much wild stuff I don't even know about that I'm ready to get into. I have a travel buddy for Brazil now. My friend from the restaurant, Natasha will be meeting up w/ me halfway through the trip. Very exciting.

Anyway, expect a post or two more before I get into the fun and exciting stuff. Thanks to everyone who was there last night, in reality or in spirit. You all are so wonderful!

For the curious

OK mom, nani, and whoever else likes specifics:


Flight: 
Thursday, January 28, 2010
AeroMexico # 405

New York John F Kennedy Intl (JFK) to Mexico City Benito Juarez International (MEX)
Departure (JFK): January 28, 9:00 AM EST (morning)
Arrival (MEX): January 28, 1:45 PM CST (afternoon)

Wednesday, February 3, 2010
AeroMexico # 14

Mexico City Benito Juarez International (MEX) to Sao Paulo Guarulhos Intl (GRU)

Departure (MEX): February 3, 10:40 PM CST (evening)

Arrival (GRU): February 4, 12:30 PM BRST (afternoon)

First stop: Mexico City. Staying w/ a friend at her place. She's picking me up at the airport.


Sao Paulo: Staying here:  www.vilamadalenahostel.com.br in a beautiful, chic, charming, safe neighborhood with tons of restaurants and nightlife. Feb 3-10


Rio: ArtHostel Rio. Rua Silveira Martins,135. They don't have a website but I'll say it's a step down from the Sao Paulo one, according to the reviews. But hey, it's Carnaval. Like getting a hotel room in NYC for new years eve, or maybe harder. It's in a good location at least. Feb 10-16.


From there, I head south. Not sure if I'll hit Sao Paulo again (I'll see how much I like it) or go straight to Iguazu or maybe stop off in Curitiba. I'll leave it up to winds.


Cut to March 5, and I'm due in Buenos Aires.
Apartment: http://www.buenosairesstay.com/bastay/vermas.php?codigo=121&carpeta=ing
My people: http://www.bavolunteer.org.ar/

"Life is like the surf, so let the sea take you"

Hey guys, welcome to my blog! The title deserves an explanation, so here ya go. 

When I was on a trip to Morocco a couple years back, I was in the middle of the Sahara Desert at this charming little hostel. As night fell, there were maybe 20 of us sitting at a big table outside. There was a fire, some guys were playing drums, and people were eating, drinking, and dancing. As the stars came out, they were more brilliant than I've ever seen, and I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. My new-found friends Tom and Cecilia and a horde of girls decided to break away from the group and walk into the dunes to get the full effect. A few Moroccan guys who worked at the hostel took us so we wouldn't meet our demise to a scorpion or whatever else could have been lurking in the sand. 

We all sat with some food and booze in the middle of our circle, and the guys asked if we ever heard the Story of the Black Camel. Sounds cool, right? If you're me yeah it does. If you're a normal thinking person, you might say to yourself, "I don't think camels come in black". And you would be right in saying that. But that's for later. 

So one of their own brought me and Tom out further to find this camel while the girls stayed back in the safe and trustworthy hands of the 2 other hostel workers (5 girls, 2 guys so we felt alright with it). We walked and stumbled  barefoot through the still-warm sand while the breeze was getting progressively cooler and night was tightening its grip on us. At each dune, our guide told us the black camel should be just on the other side. We kept climbing the dunes to no avail. He noticed our spirits fading and suggested turning back, but I was determined to lay my eyes on this magnificent creature - I had never seen a camel before, let alone a BLACK one. Finally our guide stopped us and we sat for a rest. He started with little tid bits about this black camel - people are constantly searching for this mystical thing that they really know nothing about. We are just like the others, exhausting ourselves, risking getting lost in the desert, leaving our friends behind, just to see this camel. And for what? He got up and, in his cool Moroccan saunter, edged up to the top of the dune. He reached up and pointed, "my friends, here's what you've been searching for". 

I'm sure you can figure how this ends. I was still drinking the kool-aid.

We looked to where he pointed and saw nothing. "Dude, you're killing me". 

"No, it's there. Look. It's what you have come to see," he persisted, as big grin crept across his face.

Nothing. We came to see nothing. He couldn't stop laughing. "How stupid are you to think you'd find a black camel?! At night, a black camel at night, in the dunes??!" Listen, I don't know anything about the habits of camels - black or otherwise. He was so elated that he had dragged us out there, reinforcing the philosophical point he was trying to make with his little story.

Yeah yeah yeah, so we're all searching for something and once (or if) we find it, it's not going to be what we expected. Like a night sky, I am a sucker for these kind of allegories too. The Alchemist - I can't get enough. It's a book, if you haven't heard of it.. It's a mystical tale of fate, omens, journeys and more. We didn't get led into the desert chilling with Socrates though. Moroccans might possibly make the best wingmen besides the valiant soldiers on Jersey Shore (referring to Pauly D's "jump on the grenade" scenario) and this guy dragged us away so that his friends could talk to our girl friends. 

So that's it. The black camel. I liked that he could get all deep on us but still have fun. We went back and found the girls and partied til the sun rose. Again, the most amazing sky I've ever seen.

So now I continue to stumble through my 22 year old life, mindful of the tale of the black camel, hoping that my pursuits turn out to be truly valuable. When you boil down to the truly important things, though, life gets pretty simple. 

23 days til I'm out. 22 days til I'm 23. Nice. Just wanted to get an intro going so I can start getting all of you signed in!