Life is a Journey...

"Life is a journey, Not a destination. There are no mistakes, Just chances we’ve taken. Lay down your regrets cause all we have is now ..."

Reflections....As I sit in my LAST hostel in my last days in Argentina, I think about how these past 5 weeks have been physically, emotionally, mentally, and financially draining. LOL. Riding solo has allowed me much time to sit back and observe life pass by and be ok with it doing so. In these observations, I have been able to develop more clarity in my life and as some would say, I found myself.

Amongst my travels, I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to meet some interesting people. With each person, they provided a new perspective on life as a result of their individual journeys/travels they had taken. There are those individuals who have been traveling for 12 and 14 months - seriously, WTF; do you not miss your family, do you seriously enjoy not having a home and wearing the same clothes for a year?!? And then there are those who tell me they are traveling until their money runs out - again, WTF; what do you do when it runs out?!? Generally speaking, these people are not from the states, but from other countries where these travels are normal. Although these travels are normal for them, I found myself wondering why would they want to travel for so long? I think that five weeks is a little excessive, or maybe it is because I have been traveling solo for five weeks. I conjured up my own reasons as to why they leave home, but they are the only ones who know their true reason. Personally, I do not know if I had a clear reason for coming on my trip, but I think I got out of it a whole bunch more than I expected.

LIVING FULL OUT...I asked myself have I really been LIVING FULL OUT?? HELL YEAH, I have. This trip more than ever has shown me that I have, not only on this trip but in my life in general. My whole life I have realized I have done things outside of the norms. Gone against the grain, per se. Being a swimmer and lacrosse player - seriously, a black swimmer and black lacrosse player; EXACTLY. Dressed however I wanted to, because I liked it - and I must say I dress pretty damn well; well not right now actually, I look pretty beat up - nappy hair, random facial hair growing, stained clothing. Went to DUKE - those from MD know you just do not do that. Became a ChiropracTOR, when everyone else I knew was becoming a medical doctor. Moved cross country not knowing a soul and being so far away from my family and friends. Traveled around world with the sole intent of providing more light into peoples life through the chiropractic adjustment. Taking risks in love, life and friendships, because I followed my heart instead of what other people possibly thought or said. Seriously, the list could go on, but those are somethings that showed ME that I have been LIVING FULL OUT. Although, some may think that this is not LIVING FULL OUT, but to ME it is and that is all that matters.

Additionally, on this 5 week journey it solidified for me that I LOVE MY LIFE. There have been times on this trip I wanted to pack up my stuff and be like f*ck it, I am coming home. Not necessarily because I really did not like where I was at the time, it is because I missed some of the most important things and people in my life. Traveling is great alone, but it would be a whole lot better if next time I travel with people I love. These past 25 years has blessed me with a wonderful family - YOU ALL HAVE GIVEN ME SOOOO MUCH and I LOVE YOU, a great profession - I can not wait to get back and start practicing, unbelievable friends - words cannot describe what you all mean to me, and had the best big brother the world could have given me - III ::tear::tear::. I would not change not one thing...well I would want my brother back but other than that I would not change one thing. The path has been perfect for me and I can not wait to see what else life has in store for me and to share it with the most important people in my life.

So in summary, I have been LIVING FULL OUT!

Feliz de Dia de San Patricio

URUGUAY SUCKS - Or maybe I´m just ready to come back to the states. Well as for Uruguay, thus far (Colonia and Montevideo) SUCKS and if it weren´t for St. Patrick´s Day to redeem it I might have just left that evening. As you maybe wondering, Uruguayians celebrate St. Patrick´s Day?!? I can re-assure you they do, but they don´t really know why they are drinking Promotional Guiness and Jameson Whisky, wearing green, and partying on a random Tuesday Night. Some locals say they need any chance to go out and party; ENOUGH SAID...URUGUAY INDEED SUCKS - The locals even believe it.

Initially, it seemed as no one was going to be participating in St. Patrick´s Day here in Montevideo, until I reminded people of this glorious day of drinking - especially when there was an Irish bar within walking distance. So a group of people, of diverse backgrounds, decide to go out and celebrate. To our surprise, the street is filled with people and you couldn´t reach the Irish Bars - given there were only two, that says alot though. Apparently, in Montevideo, you are allowed to buy alcohol at the store and walk around with it on the streets. So that is what we did instead of going into the bars. For a while, that satisfied our desires for St. Patrick´s Day, but others wanted more - THEY WANTED TO DANCE! You all know me, give me a little alcohol and the body rolls come shortly behind. But on this occasion, the Irish bar was playing house music. SERIOUSLY, I DON´T GET DOWN WITH HOUSE MUSIC. But I regressed and I made the best of the situation.

Really though, did I leave the states and develop a serious case of ¨white people dancing¨syndrome. I felt so awkward and rhythmless dancing to this music. I just couldn´t find the beat and I wouldn´t allow myself to throw my arms around and my body and look crazy. I understand why now people do drugs to dance to this music, yet I tried other things such as Doubles of Jameson - seriously they were like 4 dollars. Yet, after about an hour of this craziness I couldn´t take it anymore, I decided I had to leave and that ended my St. Patrick´s Day.

I grow weary and anticipate coming home, moving on to the beautiful beaches of Punte Del Este.

LIVING FULL OUT (the best that I can in Uruguay)...

I AM NOT MY HAIR!

¿Hola? This is all I hear as I sit and people watch. With blank stares, children and adults alike approach me and say ¿Hola? This is not foreign to me for I feel like people have been amazed to see a Black person in Argentina and they don´t know what to do; so they stare.

Not adverse to the attention at first, I become slightly paranoid and think everyone is looking at me. On some occasions, I get treated like a celebrity. I receive nice looks, smiles, waves, and then get asked to take pictures with people on the streets and half naked women who are performing in street parades :-). Yet, on this given occasion while touring through Salta and the surrounding areas, I was sitting outside with some new found friends from Germany and Holland drinking a beer, and once again I receive the blank stares and ¿Holas? from the local children. Yet, they stare so intently, like they are about to do something or afraid to do something. All of a sudden a hands attack my face, thinking they were going to hit me or something but they reach for my hair. Next thing you know I have several hands touching my hair and smiling with amazement. WTF?? Do they do this to everyone; apparently NOT as the locals are laughing at me and so are my German friends who candidly take pictures of my embarassment. They slowly move down from my hair and touch my face and arm. "MORENO" they say...yes I am black. It is very weird to me that they never seen a black person before but I allow them to continue on their first encounter with a black person. If all could be so priviledged. ;-)

I wonder, is that what everyone else wanted to do to me as they stared prior?? If so, what happened to our childlike inquisitiveness (I think I just made up a word...anyways)?

Once they finished groping me, they asked if I was a wrestler and wanted to see my muscles and then compared muscles to my German friends. It was quite comical actually. Then they should us theirs; then challenged us to arm wrestling. To entertain the children I went back and forth with them, acting weak then going strong. Then to try to overcome our strength several children ganged up on us. After about several matches, I grew tired and told them I didn´t want to play anymore.

Soon, they pieced together that I spoke English and this one especially inquisitive child decides he was going to try and learn how to speak English from me. I tried to teach him how to say "Hello" and "How do you say..." It turned out to be quite a difficult thing for they couldn´t get the right pronunciation. Yet, I enjoyed myself working with him.

Hopefully after their encounter with me, they realize I am more than just my hair.

LIVING FULL OUT AND MORE THAN JUST MY HAIR...

Desperate and Lonely...

I´M ALLLLLLLLL BYYYYY MYSEEEELLLFF::singing::

After another week in Buenos Aires, I found myself stagnant and ready to leave. I still had numerous places still to see and had about 2 weeks to do it in; WHERE´S MY TRAVEL AGENT??? As a result, I booked a nine day retreat to visit Iguazu Falls (200+ waterfalls in Argentina and Brazil) and Salta (Western Argentina). During my stay in Argentina, I acquired a large entourage of acquaintances who I did most of my sight seeing with who made my days go by quite fast and enjoyable. But now, that I am leaving, I will no longer have a buddy to go touring with or having meals with; IT WILL BE JUST ME.

Thinking my spanish was improving, I thought venturing out on my own to other parts would be easier than when I began my excursion three weeks ago - also because the further you area way from Buenos Aires the less English they speak. Over the course of my trips, I´ve developed a knack for almost missing all my busses, but making it one minute before the leave - like the driver is on the bus about to back out the space and the luggage compartment is closed. 18 hours of solititude on a ridiculous nice bus - WINE, CHAMPAGNE, DESSERT, BED, MOVIES, HOT FOOD!

Although, I´ve noticed that whenever I´m by myself and looking around at my surroundings, I find myself missing my family and my friends; especially my big brother. **sidenote** I realize more and more as I travel that there was so much that my brother did not get to see and experience as a result of his untimely passing, and I wish he was here so he could take part in this adventure with me. ::sigh::

As I approach Iguazu, I get excited for the natural wonder. Really, how does the world produce 200+ waterfalls...AMAZING. I am just hoping that the weather holds up so I can see a rainbow or two and take some pictures - it is supposed to be Thunderstorms the whole time I´m there.

SUNSHINE...that is all I see when I arrive in Iguazu, therefore perfect opportunity to take some pictures and visit the falls. On this afternoon, I have a guided tour of the Brazilian side of the falls - there are two sides; an Argentinian and Brazilian side. The Brazilian side is shorter and easier to tackle in one afternoon for it only gives you like a panoramic view of the Falls. Since I know no one and it seems as if I am the only American on this tour, I become a mute. Everyone speaks much too quickly for me to understand, so that´s my best route. I´ll just be that picture taking tourist.

To my delight, it is a special time of the month when the Falls allows you to go at night to do a Full Moon Excursion; I´M IN. Seriously, FULL MOON and WATERFALLS - weather don´t mess with me tonight! During this nighttime excursion I see this stunning woman traveling with this elderly woman - I try not to stare, but I get caught at times. The younger woman approaches me and asks me something in another language...womp womp - didn´t understand jack squat. I continue to take pictures but realize that my camera couldn´t focus on anything - too dark and I don´t have a steady enough hand. NEXT PURCHASE TRIPOD! Yet by the end of the trip I made a makeshift tripod and caught a pic or two that seems worthy enough to keep.

745am rapidly approaches...it is time for me to go on the Argentinian side, yet it is cloudy and overcast...BOOOOOOOOOO! But I see glimpses of sunlight in the horizon, I am determined to make this a good day. Hoping to run into that beautiful girl again on the bus, I anxiously wait to see who we pick up. As we pass her hotel and not stop I thought I would never see her again. As we tour, there is so much to see and marvel at. SIMPLY AMAZING!! And as I take pictures, who do I see?!?! She is there again...woohoo, EYECANDY! (NO I didn´t take any pictures of her...I´m not a stalker).

We break for lunch, and I have no one to dine with...so I will eat alone. That is one of the downfalls of this trip, I´m basically a mute for the entire time unless people have patience for me and my lack luster spanish. So I did what I do best; people watch. Guess who sits at a table next to me??? The girl and her grandmother (foreshadowing...how did I know it was her grandmother). I must have looked desperate and lonely, the next thing I know the girl says something to me rapidly in Spanish and the older women says " Would you like to join us??" They say that I shouldn´t have to eat by myself. That was nice of them. It was interesting interactions, because they spoke some English and I spoke some Spanish, so we helped each other. I found out that the grandmother brought her to Iguazu as a reward for her graduating high school with good marks - 18 isn´t too young for a wife is it?!?! We talked for almost an hour, they told me of places to visit and see while in Argentina for the remainder of my trip. They explained to me why they carry American money when they travel instead of Argentinian pesos - It´s because for their savings, they convert all their money to the dollar as an investment so when they travel they have more money that way...smart cause the dollar was rising by the day and it is supposed to catch up with the Euro by the end of the year. Not wanting lunch to end, I get beckoned by my tour guide. The girl asks me where I was off to next in my adventure and what I was doing tomorrow..unfortunately I was leaving to go to Salta. Parting is such sweet sorrow ::tear::tear::...

I guess being desperate and lonely isn´t all that bad...LIVING FULL OUT - Desperate and Lonely!

WWWD?!?!

When letting my friends know about my trip to Argentina, some inquired as to as if black people backpack? Well I never knew of any taking time to go out and travel. Knowing my friends, some even ventured to say only white people do that - even those that weren´t black. So one of my last night´s in the states, I was hanging out with some friends and he told me that when he (anonymous black friend) went backpacking through Europe, he always was like WWWD - WHAT WOULD WHITE(PEOPLE) DO??? At first I thought this wasn´t sound advice, but then again as I traveled throughout this trip, it actually has proven to be excellent advice - besides sitting out in the sun and getting sunburned. (BTW, I am now peeling. This shit is not cool!)

After my adventures with trying to get to Mendoza, I thought that my stint in Mendoza was going to be just as adventurous with Hannah; AND IT WAS! I had thought that once I got to Mendoza, I would stay in a nice hostel similar to that of the one I was staying in Palermo - apparently I had yet to fully experience a HOSTEL. Well, you ask and you shall receive. 14 PERSON DORMITORY! The hostel was yet deceptive on the website, they show you the main house, not this shithole of a place that rested behind the main house which housed 14 people. But then again, white people were doing it, so it is going along with the theme of my trip.

So in addition to traveling with Hannah, we were also traveling with one of her housemates that was also volunteering in Cordoba. I thought we were just going to enjoy and take in all that is the Wine Festival and the free activities that the city was having - NOPE! They had other plans for me - Rafting, Ziplining, and WINES AND BIKES - Tour of the Wineries by Bicycles. All sounded cool and different, so I was game.

OH WINES AND BIKES! Sounds like a great idea doesn´t it. Bicycling through wine country stopping at different vineyards, touring, having wine and taking in the scenery. That´s the exact picture that the agency painted, yet they failed to mention the 12 km bike ride and the blazing heat we were in. THIS AIN´T CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY - where I am used to driving in my air conditioning and enjoying the wine. Through recommendations by another hosteller it was said that it was better to trek the 12 km to the end of the tour and taste on the return back - trying to bike drunk might be nasty. So that is what we did. I thought I could tackle 12 km easily, but again you were not told of the shitty bikes with flat tires and crappy seats that would leave your butt bruised for days! Getting to the end of the route was a struggle, but the wineries were awesome! Learned soo much at the first bodega (winery) - Carinae. We had this cute Argentinian tour guide and typical me, I flashed a smile and began to flirt. In the end I made her very nervous and she said she had a boyfriend for 3 months - she hinted at if I had come 3 months earlier, magic could of happened. To be honest I was just trying to get my tastings for free. She explained to us the difference in grapes and even got to taste them off the vines - DELICIOUS! Differences in grapes is truly noticeable, especially between the Malbec and Cabernet. But you only can tell the difference in grapes by the leaves not the grapes - informational tidbit of the day. Once the tour ended, we dreading mounting the bikes on our trek back 12 km to visit the olive oil factory, other bodegas, and the liquors and chocolate factory. Amongst all the sweat, tears, butt bruises and drunkeness it was a great time had by all - OH THE MEMORIES.

Exhausted from our excursion in Maipu (wine country), our night life in Mendoza suffered as we were too tired to even go out, especially when you plan on going rafting at 9 am the next morning and things in Argentina don´t jump off until about 2 am.

RAFTING! I was slightly scared yet excited for this. Never had I done this before but I have heard people rave about it. I thought to myself people will not believe I did this - as most know, I´m not the outdoorsy type of person. BUT WWWD??? - WHITE WATER RAFTING IN ARGENTINA; EXACTLY.

You want to talk about gorgeous scenery. I swear that was the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen - but I did not break out my camera, how dumb was that. Snow capped mountains, smaller mountain ranges, and blue skies = RIDICULOUS!

After 2 hours, we arrive to filling out waivers, not holding the travel agency liable for death or injury - standard protocol yet the nerves began to mount. We get ushered into this barn to put on wet suits, windbreakers, life jackets, and helmets - I COULDN´T BREATH! These uniforms sucked in all my fat and made me slightly uncomfortable, but then again it was to protect me from those frigid waters we were about to face.

12 KM....12 KM of pure, unadulterated FUN! That was the most exciting thing ever! The thought of getting tossed out of the boat, standing up on the edges, paddling through rapids, and getting drenched by the waves = ADRENALINE RUSH! I guess I am becoming more of an outdoorsy person, cause I wanted to do that again. I was getting excited for our ziplining.

While eating lunch, this group of like 20 people overheard us talking English and inquired as to where were from. To our disbelief 3 of the girls were from the DC-MD Area (1 goes to Howard - yup another black girl ;-) and the other 2 go to UMCP). RANDOM, right?!? But they made me feel real old when they told me they graduated from HIGH SCHOOL IN 2007.

ZIPLINING awaits us...but to much disappointment as we thought we were going to be ziplining multiple times across mountain tops, we were only ziplining across a the rapids we were rafting down and only ziplining once. WHAT A RIPOFF! But still fun none the less.

We return to the hostel that evening to try and extend our stay for one more night, Hannah and I were going to continue our adventure while Stefanie was going to head back to Cordoba. To our dismay there were no rooms available in the hostel for the next night - WE´RE HOMELESS! And let the searching begin...

LOVING AND LIVING FULL OUT - HOMELESS

*P.S. THIS IS NOT INTENDED TO OFFEND ANY PEOPLE OF ANY RACE, GENDER, OR CREED.

Don´t Worry - It´s An Adventure

After a highly eventful Carnaval, I was faced with a tough decision - whether to allow the debauchery to continue with my buddies in Rio or head back to Argentina to head to Cordoba and Mendoza with a high school acquantance, Hannah, who I haven´t seen in 7 years. After much guilt and persuasion, I was like what the heck, RIO IT IS! But then my plans got shattered by the fact that my ticket was non-refundable and non-transferable. Well that made my plans that much easier, well i guess it is Argentina then. Getting there might have been another story with having the last bloco begin at 1030pm on Tuesday and my flight left at 345am on Wednesday.

Through all the beers that were consumed, masses of Aussies at the bloco, my bad Spanish and even worse Portugues I was able to hail a taxi and make it the airport. What makes this trip back to Argentina that much more exciting is that my friend Hannah has provided me with little to no direction about my trip to meet up with her.

Getting back to Argentina, it was to be a struggle to get everything together. I had forgotten amongst all the chaos that the bus ticket I had bought was not for the right city, it was for a city an hour outside of Cordoba, where she lived. In addition, I would get in after she would have had to go volunteer, so she would not be there to greet me. With all that, I had not a cell phone to contact her so I was going to be basically stranded with my luggage in a foreign place; FUN TIMES.

Upon arrival to the bus station in Buenos Aires, I had to man up and use my best Spanish to communicate that I needed to go to Cordoba instead of Carlos Paz. Once again I surprise myself with my Spanish and the guy understood my dilemma and he said he would drop my off in Cordoba instead. One problem down and onto the next. Hannah tells me if my plans change to call her in the morning, to my dismay she gives me a local number without a country and city code - so how am I supposed to call her?!?!? Once I arrive in Cordoba, I rush into a taxi and try and make it to her house before she has to go volunteer. Communicating with the taxi was not as easy as the bus driver, I end up in the slums. I´m like is this where she lives??? There were no houses or anything in site looking remotely liveable, but the taxi insisted this is where I told him to take me. I knock on the door with the number in which Hannah gave me and look who opens the door, HANNAH!! Woohoo...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! We were very surprised that I was able to find her.

I accompany Hannah on her last day of volunteering with these kids in the rural areas of Cordoba. It was a lot of fun and a lot of pictures were taken. I got to work on my spanish, help the kids with some english, provide them activities to keep them off the streets. After it was all said and done time to pack and get ready for Mendoza; WINE FESTIVAL!

While I was at Carnaval, Hannah booked a hostel and bus ticket for me to make sure we would all have the same travel arrangements. But I thought, don´t you need my passport number to travel on the bus. I ask her and she tells me she made one up for me. MADE ONE UP?!?! I hope that isn´t a problem, if it is it will be an ADVENTURE she says. When I came to Cordoba they didn´t check my passport so I thought it would be cool. Famous last words.

It was time to go and she looks over her confirmation, only to see her own and not mine. I was like did you book my ticket, she swore she did yet had no evidence to suggest that she did. So we rush to the bus station to try and fix the problem. We ask the ticket office if we don´t have a confirmation what do we need to do - OH JUST SHOW THEM YOUR PASSPORT. FUCK! Clearly my passport number doesn´t match the one she gave them - we´re screwed. I tried to get away with showing them my driver´s license, no such luck. I pull out my passport and they look and see the numbers don´t match. We get ushered to the bus ticket terminal and they go back and forth about my passport and I tell them it had to be a glitch in their computer cause we typed in the right passport number. I showed them several identification suggesting it was indeed me. Ultimately they let me on the bus...yeah that bullet was dodged, but I wonder if this was going to be indicative of my travels with Miss Hannah! It already has been interesting up to now, could it get any more interesting?!?! I´ll just have to wait and see.

IT´S GOING TO BE AN ADVENTURE - LIVING FULL OUT!

FACT or FICTION?? Black people don't get sunburns???

FICTION! MELANIN FAIL! SUNBLOCK FAIL!

So in all my years of being in the sun - swim team, lifeguarding, tennis practice, lacrosse, wearing baby oil in Cancun - never have I burned before. What would make Brazil any different??!?! Who knows but after 2 hours on a boat headed to some island beach, I find myself red - apparently you can see the redness in my skin - and having this burning sensation covering my chest, arms, legs, and face. I have a new found understanding for white people and their suffers to look like me; DARK. Needless to say, white people this is not worth it. Wear sunglasses. Wear hats. Wear t-shirts. Use an umbrella at the beach. Wear sunblock, not just any sunblock, sunblock with like SPF 70!

What sucks for me is that I didn't bring any sunblock. ::womp::womp::

Still going strong, LIVING FULL OUT, but underneath an umbrella :-(