Stories my family told me

Over the weekend I visited my parents in Boston. I got to visit an area where my ancestors had lived for years and years, pretty much since a bunch of buckle-shoed Brits decided to get up and go live with the Dutch (which didn't work out). They then decided to go to New York but they were blown off course and landed in Massachusetts, where they mostly stayed until about a generation or two ago.

If you know me (and you do if you're reading this), then you probably know about how I've lived a number of places during my life and how I can't give a good, short answer when people ask me where I'm from. ("Well, I was born in Florida, moved to Pennsylvania, moved to Colorado, a buffalo soldier, singing wayayay wayayayayay wayayayayayayayay...")

I think the last time I had been to Massachusetts (save for staying one night last year to play a rock show), I was about 2 or 3 years old. This time I got to soak up the sights, sounds. Everybody really does live and communicate just like Grego told me the first week of college: "A liquor store a packie, a hoagie a grinder, and you go to the Olympics and yell 'Yankees suck.' "

A quick rundown of the places I visited: Commonwealth Ave, the "Freedom Walk" (through the places where people got drunk and started a revolution, in that order), North End (I saw the St. Anthony's parade through the super-Italian Italian part of town), Harvard University (I went in to use the bathroom), Quincy Market (I saw a street performer stand on a ball while his sister stood on his head), Boston Gardens, The Prude(ntial building, Boston's empire state bldg), Rockland, Plymouth Rock (asterisk-name of a Puritan band), Duxbury, Cape Cod (home to the ugliest plaid pants outside of the South), etc. I also took the opportunity to jump into, and then out of, the icy ocean water of my forebears.

It was a surreal experience to look at places where people with my last name, who contributed bits and pieces to my humble double-helix, had lived 30 years ago, and 100 years ago, and to think deep thoughts to myself such as: "Who was the first person who thought to eat a lobster? Somebody must have been hard-up for food. It's like a nautical cockroach. A delicious nautical cockroach..."

...but I digress.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with

the first step.

"Cheshire Puss" began Alice, "tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where," said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
" - so long as I get somewhere" Alice added as explanation.
"Oh you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if only you walk long enough."

With only 8 work days left until the next adventure begins, I've been getting together provisions, medicines, vaccinations, jubilation, donations, vacations, etc etc in preparation for the first leg of the coming adventures.

Primer paso: HONDURAS. I'll be going back to Honduras to once again work with Students Helping Honduras, this time for a three-month stay. During this time I'll hopefully be able to lay the foundations for an SHH internship program, offer tutoring to the kids at Copprome, help to finish the computer lab, continue to work in SHH community development initiatives in Siete de Abril... Much more to come soon.

(And after Honduras, on to Japan in December and then eventually Argentina some time before March when the Fulbright begins, with a number of stopovers in between...)

Testing 1 2 3

i'm trying out this blog thing in preparation for my upcoming adventures...

not long until the gira mundial starts up, so stay tuned. so far the itinerary includes:
-honduras
-japan (+other parts of east asia tba)
-sudamérica

ending up in argentina sometime before march when the fulbright gets going.