Philly!...wh...wh...where ya at?!?

I've moved on to the part of my journey where I don't know the places and people (or at least most of them) and...yeah...my anxiety received a bit of a poke with the thought of that but I am having a blast (do the kids still say that?)  I've always wanted to go to Philly because of the incredible hip hop/neo soul music scene which emerged from there.  But then again East coast cities can be a bit intimidating...nah...it was cool.  I checked in to my hotel at about 10pm so I chilled out happy that the cab ride was so easy to navigate and had a real nice political conversation with the cabby who was from...from...I didn't ask and my amazing ability to guess where one is from was on the fritz.  It must have been the altitude and lack of moisture in the airplane...yeah that's it.  So I got a good night's rest and ate a nice bowl of continental Raisin Bran with a continental Bagel with continental cream cheese with you guessed it...continental coffee and OJ.  This powered me up for one of my famous "the only way to get to know a place is to walk it" walks.  So I strolled over to the Historic district by way of the Reading market which was full of so many dope (hip hop for nice or great) smell it made me wish that I hadn't gone so continental for breakfast.  Alas the sight of it was good enough.  Kind of like the Pike Place in Seattle on international steroids.  I made it over to the historical part of the city not too excited about it but quickly realized I was at where i had read about in his-story books in grade school and such.  I took the tour of Independence Hall and loved it.  I like being in the same room where huge decisions went down...

I wouldn't have wanted to make these decisions but after the fact is all right.  Strolled by the breakfast/cheese steak carts (man those things smell good!!!) and checked out the mandatory Liberty Bell and a few others.  Walked ov

er to the water front on Penn's Landing and then up South Street as instructed by my sisters in Seattle. Dope! (in this case...exciting!)  Great shopping.  Sneaker shops, a

 crazy number of spots to eat, and that oh so good city feel.  My type of street.  Had a slice of pizza.  they only come one way...cheese.  The sign said "No additional toppings on slices, so don't ask!"  I love it.  I'm not one of those people who care how food is prepared...if it is the way the people in the city eat it...that's how I want it.  of course there is people in Philly who like peperoni and such...I just love the balls (excuse t

he expression but it is the east coast) of some one who says this is how I serve it and that's it...buy it or don't.  So I bought it.  Good too...real gooooooood.

Made my back up through down town and rested for a bit before hitting up the Westside (always the best side) for a Hallal Cheese steak (Muslim version of Kosher for simplicity purposes.)  

The Place is Saad's on 45th and Walnut.  It's middle eastern fast food with American staples like fried chicken and cheese steaks for the Muslims who can't get that type of food anywhere else.  If you're in Philly....go.  Everyone eats there...Muslims, kids from U Penn, everyone.  Not intimidating although there is a certain way to order...but darn it go!!!  After fulfilling my lifelong dream of eating a cheese steak and having fit in to my dietary needs to boot, I jumped on the subway back into Center City and slept like a baby.

My sister Therese's partner's mother (that's a mouth full)  Picked me up the next day for a tour of the Philly Art Museum.  Awesome place.  

Saw the Rocky steps and all the great art inside.  Another must see for those of you who might visit Philly.  After that we road out into 

Amish country and bought fresh veggies form a roadside stand and took in the Amish culture.  Very cool.  I've always wanted to see that as well believe it or not.  So I've settled into her house for the next few days and am waiting on my sister Therese and her partner Jen to get in from the Democratic convention in Denver.  Gobama!  It will be nice to see them before I blast off over seas.  I'll check in after NYC.

Make up pictures

Ok...so I've moved on fro the land of big trucks, big oil and gas, big open land and big ice cream.  I know I was harshly sarcastic about Texas in the last entry but I actually have grown to like visiting there because the people are incredibly nice.  They say hello, ask how your day is and wave from their cars.  Much nicer than the concrete ostriches of Seattle...you know the ones...when you walk by say hello and down goes the head to the sidewalk as if to pretend you didn't say anything!  Yeah definitely like Texas for that...and the FOOD!

So here are some pics I've been wanting to post:

That's Jolan and Melake (pronounced: me-LA-ka) at Jojo's and his wife Sarah's house in Phoenix. (Aka the "thank God for AC place.")

That's the homie Nick in Tucson by my old high school reminiscing.  Sorry no picture of Steve the Greek and with a name like Steve the Greek you know why.  Just kidding.  but still no pic.

The beautiful skies of an Arizonan monsoon blowing in over the Catalina mountain range.

That's my beautiful sister Cathy at her house in Dallas, Tayhas (or Texas, but I like Tayhas better)

And these fine folks are the reason I'm here!  Take a guess?  That's right...Mom and Pops or in my family we say the ones responsible for twisting the handle on the big gumball shoot in the sky. (Our family myth for how babies are born...ha ha ha)

And that my fine feathered friends...or not so feathered, you're welcome too...catches us up on photos.  Now on with the show...

Burleson, Texas y'all

I love my parents and I've even grown to love Texas (in a certain way...it's still all about the left coast!) But every time I visit them in Burleson (just SW of Fort Worth) the Texan culture never ceases to put a sarcastic smile on my face and an "I know i just didn't see that" chuckle in my belly. So rightfully so...the secondary name of this entry is: "I know i just didn't see that."
Sight #1: A sticker on the back of a car window which read something to the effect of, "The Ultimate Body Piercing" next to a very large sticker of a hand with with a nail through it. Kind of the "my boss is a Jewish carpenter" type of thang.I didn't even need the large word JESUS taking up 1/4 of the window to figure it out! I'm a smart one. Right then I knew I was in Texas.
Sight #2: In the same car trip, I look over to the right and see a Golden Coral restaurant with a boat load of seniors coming out. Then the road side sign caught my eye because it read: "Seniors buffet $6.99." The next line read, "Mon-Fri 2-4." Sure enough it was 3:20pm. But the third line is the kicker: "God Bless America" (and its seniors.) That's when you REALLY know your in Texas. It's as common as saying goodbye to someone.
Sight #3: I was in Borders with my mother picking up a b-day present for my pops and a travel book about Turkey when I saw the Religion section of the store. Anyone that knows my interests knows that I can't pass by that section with out taking a look. So I did. I thought to myself "I wonder how many of these will be about Christianity." The first wall (that's right I said wall) was Bibles. The second wall was books about the Bible. The third wall was books about how to live the Bible. These were followed by about 200 Christian lifestyle books and then-just as I was about to give up- one wall dedicated to the rest of the world...and I own most of them. Ah Texas...Where diversity of religion lies between Catholic and Evangelical.
I'm sorry I'm so harsh and truly believe that anyone has the right to believe in anything, but man this is just toooo stereotypical!

Back Home...

So I'm not sure of how many people are interested in hearing about the US portion of the trip but I've decided to go ahead and tell the whole tale since the US portion is as integral as any of the the more "exotic" destinations I'll be visiting. Why? Because it had been a very long time since I had seen and hung out with my brothers/best friends in Arizona. Because I MUST see my parents and my sisters before I do something as crazy as this! I think that I would be banned from the U.S. Association of Good Family Members (made up : )) if I didn't! And Philly and NYC have always been dreams of mine to visit.
With that said, I have successfully completed the first piece of this puzzle: AZ. I love Arizona, I don't think that I would live there again but the place is special to me. probably because I spent the "formative years" there, but on the other hand I truly believe that there is something special about the Sonoran desert. Phoenix...eeehhhh...sprawling cityscape with no true centralization and a desire to be slightly like LA?...enough said. Tucson however is not quite the same...A truly beautiful place that still holds the character of the South West. Sure there are issues with both but to me it is hard to top sipping Horchata while munching on a carne asada burro from Nico's (aka the best gut bomb in the world!) at sunset while a monsoon rolls in over the mountain tops displaying nature's fireworks in the form of a lightening storm which illuminates the respectful stance of the Saguaro cacti. OK...I'm a bit partial...and romantic...hopefully it lands me a wife one day!
Besides a true connection to the land itself, i have dear friends here who are more like brothers and who showed me the up most hospitality on my trip. I had long talks and borderline debates with my ace coom boom (sorry for the hip hop reference) Melake in his unusually hot...I mean hot like 94 degrees hot...apartment. My man lives bare bones so it was good practice for me but my lanky self missed a bed for sure! He reminded me to continually press forward in all that we do because laziness and its other friends lie just around the corner. Valuable advice for a trip like this. I enjoyed air conditioning, a couch, bed, TV, and Internet access and Jolan's house. He is fully domesticated now and gone are the days of smoking pot and freestyling for hours on end speaking with New York accents...this was a spec-e-al-a-tay of ours in our twenties. Now he is the best father in the world as well as a model husband. You know things are changing when your friend says they are going to have a party and all the guests come in pairs! He reassured me that the balance of a stable (aka married)life is something I have to look forward to...not to mention it's my goal to have a cuter kid than him...but I don't think that is possible.
In Tucson My friends nick and Steve allowed me to enjoy in the fruits of reminiscing yet at the same time compare where I've been to where I'm at. I never felt like I was a stranger to Tucson...but this time I did. My parents left and so there is no "home" there anymore. But they showed me that my heart is welcome there anytime. You can't be around Nick without learning some behind the scenes political info that will blow your mind away and Steve...Steve showed me that you will never be able to assume anything about your friends even if they are predictable people...God bless you man.
So I pulled away from Tucson and Phoenix today with a full belly and a renewed since of friendship. Sure people change, interests change, as well as other things but good people are good people and having a few of them left where you grew up is priceless.

To Possibilities

So this first post must be dedicated to one of the strongest reasons why this trip is even possible. The people in my life. From all the people who got their haircuts and talked about travel, to the friends and brothers who urged this move into reality. From all the new people I've met and been invited to their families homes by just saying "I'm traveling around the world," to my rock solid family who helped me prepare for something like this in more ways than one. I officially feel ready...as ready as I can be. As fear and doubt always hold me close, it was and is-no doubt- these people who perpetuated my determination in at least attempting to live out this dream. And for them I am truly thankful.
I hope that everyone enjoys reading this. I feel that writing is one of many gifts of expression...one that I happen to love and I hope that I am half way decent at. I've kept journals before as well as blogs...but I have never been faced with the idea of a full years writings depicting so many different places and experiences. It still numbs me to think of the idea of eating Pho in Vietnam or catching a cab in Casa Blanca. Praying in the desert, or hiking in the Himalayas. In preparation for this trip I've been faced many times all ready with the fact of the possibility of death. But the truth is is that death is always among us and we can only prevent it by making healthy decisions...beyond this there is nothing we can do to avoid it. I've become very comfortable with this idea...at least in theory...I definitely won't be taking this one to the lab to experiment. Not everywhere in the world is a safe place anymore but people remain the same in the sense that even in all of the bad there is at least some good.
Here's to all of the wonderful people who make it easy to find the good in life.