Happy New Year

So today is NYE and I'm heading up to the city for a couple of days just to see some of the friends from the past month I was up there and go wild in the city with River. It should be a lot of fun and I will be alright since I know how to take care of myself so no worries there. We are going to just jump from house party to house party trying to find whatever it is that you look for in a party and then I will attempt even though I know I won't succeed to stay up another 17 hours past my new years and give someone a call and enjoy the countdown with them by phone. Unsure yet who but I will definitely give someone a shout. Um lets see what could I tell you, I haven't been up to much, I haven't been to the beach yet to swim because even though you might have a warm day once you get to the beach its very windy so still no good summer days yet. I do eat tons of meat pies though which make me happy and I have been learning a little bit about the guitar, very frustrating instrument to learn how to play. This will mark the first NYE spent without a MN friend because I did go to Jamaica for NYE back in '04 and man that was a crazy 3 days. What a funny trip, me Jack, and Charles and those two didn't know each other but I planned a trip and those were the only two friends who decided to go and we had a great time. I wish I still had all those pictures but my hard drive crashed and I lost all those. I snuck a bottle of Jack Daniels on the plan on the flight home and every 30 minutes it was, BOOP(Noise to get a flight attendant) excuse me could we have 3 more cans of coke please. We ended up drinking the whole bottle and Jack even spilled his drink in the middle of the aisle and the whole plan smelled like Jack and Coke. Obviously it was us because we we relatively quiet at the beginning but by the end of the flight we were loud and obnoxious. funny at the time, we were 19 at the time I believe. Well tonight it will be a bottle of Grey Goose to do some destruction on me and my boys and the house parties we go to will be BYOB, I'm not a huge fan of BYOB I believe in Kegs and the fact that they're cheap enough to make your money back and the party is just great. That reminds me of NYE 2005 where I through a 4 kegger right in the middle of "the hood" only to have the cops come and bust it and we took the kegs into Kyles van and it was like 6 of us with Kegs in the car and we drove to another party where all of our time there was spent laughing at Kyle and Greg for not holding there liquor into a double sink respectively. Ahhh those where the days, last years New Years was a lot of fun for me and it was my roommates birthday so we had a party bus and went to my favorite bar the library and not only did we countdown the new year but that was also the countdown for my memory cause I do remember saying 3...2...1...HAPPY NEW YEAR but then I wake up the next day at Manvel to people scattered all over the house. That was one of my favorite mornings, we had champagne and went back to the library only to have them tell me stories of our gang from the previous night. Ahhhh those were the days, sorry to reminice but I just loved those times and they happen very rarely where I am. I believe Common said it best "Where drunk nights get remembered more than sober ones" Adults should be able to step out and agree that some of their favorite memories are sitting around with close friends and telling stories of their fruitful past over some drinks. Well I would love if you read this blog to just leave a comment telling me and appropriately everyone a favorite New Years Eve memory from the past. Don't be a jerk and not do it it only takes about 30 seconds, I'm looking forward to hearing from someone I didn't even know followed this blog, keep it semi appropriate also. Also a quick I love you to my grandparents, all of them. I will try to save up money to get a ticket back to the states just for a week or two this next year and then go back to my travels. alright then everyone have a great closing to '08 and may '09 be sublime

Its been a long time, I shouldn't of left you, without a dope blog to read too

HO HO HO Merry Christmas and all those other holidays that I have left out which leaves many. I am doing just great down here in Balnarring and have done so many things since I have been down here. Finding time to sit down and blog for an hour has proven to be difficult while facebook and fantasy updating has been pretty easy to do. Speaking of fantasy sports, football is over only to lose in the finals to my good friend Joel who is my old roommate. We both started 0-4 only to come back and his team blew mine out of the water and I benched DeAngelo Williams but even started it didn't matter which lets you know how bad it was.
So James what have you been doing, well I knew you would ask that question so I made up a song in the tune to Run DMC's its tricky...Alright no I didn't but that's the kind of things I have been doing. Down here in Balnarring its a super small town, like 1 class per grade which would be like 20-30 students, and there is like one major shop of each kind. 1 place to fill fuel, buy groceries, buy booze, breakfast, pizza all that stuff. I have spent most of my days waking up, eating a light breakfast and hanging out with Tree, then he takes me to a different national park. I've been to wetlands, and protected areas, that people can just walk on and it has been pretty cool. Just relaxing and thinking to myself and enjoying silence, Tree is a different type of guy that rubs off on me because he just sits back and comes up with some crazy thoughts and I laugh at him all the time. Also the families are just so nice to me and cook food all the time, I eat and eat well. Meat Pies have also become something that I truly enjoy which is basically a little tiny pie filled with different things and my favortie so far has been steak tomato and cheese, soooooooo gooooooddd. I have been hanging out with Australians now too so I have been getting the Aussy accent and different pharses down and I have even been driving. I drive all around actually with roundabouts and left side of the road and turning and all that. I can now drive anywhere in the world.
The weather down here has been alright for a couple days but then it's strating to turn to summer and we have had a couple days in the 80's and on Christmas is was probably around 78 or so and I spent my time in a pool and drinking, and playing on the biggest pool table I have ever seen. I even recieved presents which was very shocking and Rivers family was amazing. His mom and dad are sooooo good to me and so are trees family and they have made me feel very welcome. For Christmas I got a pair of thongs(flipflops), a singlet, some bonds undies(Aussy brand,very snug), and a key chain of a wombat. All in all I would say a very successful Christmas and also the first one I spent away from my family. that was weird but I don't know if it was, I just kind of didn't think about it and if I didn't have such nice people around me than maybe it would be a little different but I had a good time here. I will update the blog more frequently with just some random thoughts from now on and won't keep so much distance. Sorry this is soo short but I feel guilty being on the computer this long because it is a beautiful day, miss everyone and will write again soon

I can make it good, I can make it hood

Lyrics off of the new Kanye CD that I have become to really enjoy so let me update you on a few things. I have just got back from 2 days down in Balnarring which is where River and Tree live my two boys from camp. So Melbourne Central where I have been living is on a bay and then if you follow the shoreline southeast you will come to a peninsula and n the east side of that is where the boys live a short walk away from the beach. Now to get down there I had to take a hour long train ride which I spent my time watching Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas and quickly arrived to a town called Frankston. From there Tree picks me up and we have a 25 minutes drive to his town and head straight to Rivers house. Now River just got back from Thailand that day and didn't know I was coming so it was meant to be a surprise and also River had to deal with some crazy things in Thailand himself. Got falsely accused of stealing and was arrested by people who didn't seem to be cops and took them to a place that wasn't a police station and made him and his friend pay $1000 Australian dollars to get out. After that they had to leave 3 days early because there was some civil unrest there in Thailand and grenades went off at protests and things of that nature so needless to say is adventure was exciting.

So I'm at Rivers place and after he shows up we have a nice dinner with his family, while his Dad(Sparky) tries to see if he can get me on their basketball team that evening because they have a game. I'm quickly recruited and play a miserable game and I will blame it on the fact that I was so tired from the game I played the night before. Yes that is right friends and family I am being careful but I have joined 2 basketball teams and have big hopes of winning some championships while I'm out here. I won the game I had on Tuesday before heading to Balnarring but lost the game with Rivers team. The game that I won it was a tie game, 40 seconds left, ball was taken down to the baseline the guy got trapped, I'm at the top of the key with two guys behind me just waiting for this guy to pass it out. I jump the pass steal the ball, a guy tried to get the ball also so when I grabbed it spin move towards center court. The other guy who I was guarding came over right then, crossover, take off for the hoop and its 3 on 2 dropped the dime for the win. Basically I'm a beast but the beast was tired the second game so he didn't take over. Also got wacked in my nose and it might be fractured but we'll see what happens. I'm not as young as I used to be hahaha, well that night I just went to sleep at Trees house and the next day we woke up and went to the bakery for meat pies which is huge hear. Just a pie filled with Steak and Mushrooms or whatever you want inside so they're grubbin. After that just had a relax day and went on a walk around their city and I saw my first wild Koala Bears and the first one was a female with a little baby in her lap and then we saw a big male just posted in a tree above us. If this were the states kids would throw rocks at them or something like that but here never would happen, everyone just loves the beauty that they have here. We kicked back on a 700 year old tree for awhile and then headed to the beach and just sat there and they told me stories of the summers and why I should look forward to them. After chilling and walking back they called up some of the boys for a little park basketball and we hooped for a couple hours and then decided to have a barbie(BBQ) and beers so we went back to Trees place and his dad Nigel Fired up the grill and we all sat around having a couple beers and laughs just chatting about everything from the lack of water in Melbounre, the ozone layer hole above Australia, MN gun laws, told stories of camp the past couple years and just bs for awhile and I had a nice time over there. Tree and I then stayed up for 4 more hours playing video games and talking plenty of smack to each other.

So after my visit there I have decided that the next Wednesday for our basketball game I would then move down there for the holidays and into the new year. River has told me I could get some manual labor work like 3 days a week and then I would just hang out and chill with those guys and their families which I have a great time with. The also have a good group of friends and I'm finally kickin it with Aussys, I had a jumbled conversation with a vendor which just proved to me that even though mate, sweet, no worries, and ta are all in my vocabulary now I still am so far from the real Australia. After I spend a month + down there I will come back up to the cities and well actually don't let me act like I know because I don't have any clue what I will be doing when that time comes. I'm just enjoying it as it comes. After coming back up to the city I realize why I love it so much, you don't have to think what am I going to do today, you can just walk outside, it's always crazy to just walk around and see so many people. The friday I get back I saw a concert because Melbourne is the hotspots for good art, music, bars, Kanye West and Nas did an all age show and I seriously rocked out at a concert harder than ever. I have never seen Kanye before live and I saw Nas just a month or so before I left the states so I was excited about that again, Nas rocked it as usual and I wondered if Kanye having just released a CD would perform some of the new tracks. My man comes out to Paranoid one of my favortie tracks on the new CD. He is definitely on his new thing right now because he was jumping and dancing around and had the audiotune vocals goin on and he killed it. He would tell the band what parts of a beat he would want and then he would just talk to the crowd and be freestylin sayin that he enjoys the city so much and all this stuff. It got old after a little but it was still a good show and he was scheduled for a hour and a half but was out there for almost 3 hours. Killed it, one of the best things I've done since I have been hear. Atmosphere, Murs, Brother Ali are all giving a show in like mid january and for those who don't know they're like some of MN's most locally famous hip hop artists so that is going to be nuts to see them in Australia. I hate your boyfriend is one of my favorite songs so check it out.

Well what else, the weather here is actually 4 seasons in a day and there is no way to predict the weather. It can rain at any given second, clouds will be out but it will be hotter than if the sun is out, its a crazy place. Also I don't think I told this story but I thought I would real quick. Flashback to me surfing at Mojo and I'm on the surfboard and the all of a sudden a wave in front of me has a big black mass under it. Hmm I think to myself, that couldn't be, then the guy next to me says the same thing. James do you see that big black thing, I lay as flat as I can on my board and the next thing I see is a fin coming out of the water. Oh my god I start freaking out because I'm not the best paddler on the surfboards, the its two fins, I'm freaking out at this point just thinking please shark attack someone else please. Then one of them jump in the air and it was a dolphin and also one of the most amazing things ever, I also saw a huge whale, not killer, jumping off in the distance while I was surfing. Well I will keep you posted even though I wont be on the internet that much when I leave. Everyone have a good thanksgiving I hope and what do you guys want for Christmas?!?!

Beep Beep Beep Beep

Well updates, I have looked at a great place and I hope things pan out. Tomorrow they give me a call and let me know if I'm in, its a 4 bedroom house and its one level. You walk inside and there is one room on your right and then two rooms up on the left, straight forward is the living room and a little bit more is the kitchen. There is a back yard and out there is where the other room is that would be mine. Big closet, furnished, and has wireless in the room and I would get all this for a little less then $525 a month or $800 Aussy dollars. If I get a job as a bartender though you get paid around $17-$20 an hour because you really don't get tips out here but I should still be able to afford the rent. I would be moving in with three 21 year olds but they're all pretty chilled out and seem like people I could get a long with easily. Still eating great meals with everyone here at the hostel and there has been some crazy things that have happened but I won't get focused on anything in particular but it was a couple peoples birthday and lets just say that they really enjoyed themselves and everyone had a good laugh. I have an RSA course, which is your bar license here in Australia, scheduled for Thursday which I hear is just 8 horrible hours long but something you have to do so I'm not looking forward to it. Also Happy Thanksgiving to everyone I didn't celebrate at all and if I had a camera I would have taken some crazy photo to post and show everyone but my battery has died. Maybe I should just give the address of the hostel I'm at to send me snacks and letters to. Hahaha, talk later

G'Day mate

Well hello everyone and how have your lives been? Right now I am getting back from checking out a place that had a snake running around it on its own like a dog or something. I was by the aquarium and I said what used to live in here, oh thats wally's he's around here somewhere. Thinking it was a hamster or something I say to her oh really you guys have those balls they can run freely in I broke my hamsters back in one of those, oh no he's a constrictor, oh yea well thanks for showing me the place and I will be leaving now.
Everyone in the hostel is pretty sweet, thats aussy for cool, and I enjoy being here. These Irish guys I've been hanging out with are two brothers, boondock saints anyone, and they are just money. They make these meals that are just amazing and are so cheap so I have been having good meals for less, but I panicked last night and had to order a dominos for the first time in awhile. It was sooooo good, had BBQ chicken, capsicums(peppers), onions, oh man it was so good. To update on the girl I met in Fiji and would meet up in Melbourne, she still hasn't called well there goes that one. My boy Tree should be getting home soon so then I will have a mate to see that I know for a long time. As far as the weather goes it has been raining here a lot and during the day its usually around 75 then at night gets as low as 55 60, it will be good once the actual summer comes since it is right around the corner. Hey while all of you are have turkey and mash potatoes with gravy don't forget about me and have one more piece. My thirst for a homecooked thanksgiving is at an all time high and I will be coming short for it isn't celebrated here obviously, I mean I'm sure some people will cook but this is one of those American holidays that just didn't make it overseas and this will also be the first time I celebrate Boxing day which is just a huge holiday and the day after christmas. Well during these holidays I will try to make as many calls as I can and the only reason I haven't made more is because the internet connection where I'm at is just horrible and cuts out after 3 minutes. Well hope everyone is doing great, i am, been meeting some cool people and I'm realizing that being myself is the best thing because before I was acting like everyone else to conform but now Im just that dude James Juice from Minnesota, true gangsta. Well talk to everyone later.

How could you be so heartless

Well I guess that could be directed at many things but most importantly it is towards the travelers at the new hostel that I'm staying at. I am booked until tomorrow night but unsure on what I want to do. I haven't ventured around this large city too much so maybe heading to a smaller suburb would be the right decision but also who knows. I'm hoping to hear from the girl I met in Fiji about getting a tour and a little bit more familiar with my surroundings out here so I know where I would like to live at. The surrounding suburbs are very different from each other as in I could live in the downtown area, a beach town, a more grungy type are, and then there is more of the younger crowd party scene that is also around here. A couple of words about my hostel is that there's not much of a social scene here and the common areas is really only the bar. A lot of people work for accommodation so they have been here for a couple weeks or months all together, makes it very hard to get to meet people and it seems like you need to do the same in order to get into their circle. At most hostels there is some sort of code as far as try to initially meet someone and decide who they are from there and if they fit with you. It's hard to even cross that border here which in turn could be a good thing and help me realize that once I branch off on my own I will have friends that I either work with or I meet . That's how you make friends back home and if this is to be home then I need to start making the friends that I want and not people to help me pass the time. Every hostel I go to I meet people that are foreigners just as me and it's cool because you have that in common yet its like Italians coming to America and only hanging out with other non Americans. You don't know where the best food is you don't know where the cheap drinks are, where the girls are, also I don't want to meet girls in the bar because we all know where that might lead, I want to make some actual friends who will care where I am and won't leave me(haven't been left). I know as I like to rush things that I need to take it slow but Im out of my element and have no one to talk to it about, I try to make calls at my hostel using the internet and it cuts out on me like every 3 minutes so I have to call people back through skype and it is very annoying. I have found a couple places that are hiring bartenders and will be checking them out, I like bartending for the fact that it will cut down on my drinking since I will be working at night and hopefully will find a place with cheaper drinks by doing so as in drink for free. Well today I woke up after spending the first Saturday in a while inside and in my bed, and thought to myself what a great day, wish I had someone to share it with, well off to the market that my lonely planet(appropriately titled) had told me about and there was hundreds of little kiosks that were packed with different things from clothes district, to raw meats, to cheeses, to wines, to fruits. I buy a box of strawberries and a slice of za to have for breaky(Australian for breakfast) and then some french brie, crackers, and a bottle of wine for a later snack that I am currently consuming while watching the dark knight, new batman. I walked around for about 2 hours looking at all the shops and was wondering if I am sure if this is the place that I want to spend the next 7,8,9 months. I decide to give it a try and not give up because that is the constant thought for me right now. Give up, go home, get comfortable, the only thing that has kept me going is words from my friends about how they're happy I'm doing this and the thought of I have no idea what I want to do with my life once I do finish this trip. Work is inevitable but I'm not sure if my life will be career oriented since I don't have a passion to do much. I just wished I had some friends out here to kick it with as far as being sarcastic, the humor here is so much different, there's the little things that you don't think about, I can't understand people sometimes, they can't me, ahhhhh is all that runs through my mind. Well I also walked around for a couple hours yesterday to get a little bit more in touch with my surroundings and in the central district there's a chinatown, a target, tons of shops, and I stumbled by a skate park museum which was graffiti on skateboards and was the highlight of the day. While I'm bored tomorrow I am planning on looking for work and hitting up the Zoo or the Aquarium. Sorry for using you but when I write more often means that I'm thinking about home and when I don't means that I'm really enjoying myself at the moment. Well thanks friends and will holla again

2 months

This pic brings me happiness, it's from my b day


Well I haven't seen the most of you for two months and to a small few it has been far more time and a few others far shorter. Skype is one of the most amazing things ever that can be invented. Internet calling service that allows me to make international calls at 2 cents a minute. I put $10 on it about a month ago and have 4$ left and have made many international calls for different lengths of time, grandma's I will call you soon. So I touchdown in Melbourne today after spending a week in Byron Bay, Byron Bay after being there for a week was a surfers and vacationers getaway similar to a cape cod of sorts. Small town, couple nice places to go out and eat, main attraction is the beach, and was just real relaxed. So after seeing these places and may be completely wrong to some of the locals but I would compare Sydney to a L.A. and Melbourne to a Chicago, I like Melbourne already because I've seen the dodgy towns and am in the heart of the city right now which isn't much to brag about so far but I haven't been around yet. I hear it's a more down to earth place here and more diverse because that is lacking everywhere I go, someone tried to tag me as Tolkien, as in of Southpark as the Tolkien black guy. I immediately squashed that comparison but it is true, I am the only black person in many of the places I go which isn't a huge difference from back home but just the idea that I can't see any black people is kinda weird. Me and river were talking and I was like what would you call a black aussy person and here are some funny titles for people that we created, African Australia, Fijian Australian, African Italian, Native American Indian, or simply Indian Indian, Japanese Chininian, hahaha and so on. Well my plan should start rolling here pretty soon as far as looking for a job and finding a place, I might already have a place here pretty soon and as far as a job I start searching on Monday and am excited about starting my new little life here in Melbourne. Think about it, I have stopped traveling and have moved out of state by myself, I never thought I could do something like that back home. I mean I wanted to move to ATL, to Cali, to Arizona, but never actually saw myself doing it, was scared about not being able to find a job or go somewhere I know no one, but I will have a whole new life here by the time this 6,7 or 8 months is over. I'm real excited about that, oh also met Rivers mom and she is real cool, already started helping me and all that. I'm gonna really like it hear and won't be alone for the holidays at all

Live your life ehhh ehhhh ehhhhh

So hello everyone who follows, I'm currently in a place called Byron Bay which is about 13 hour straight drive from Sydney north up the east coast. I'm only staying here for a week because I need a job quickly to counteract all the money that I have been spending since being here. Well the last time I wrote was on Friday evening here and the next morning I woke up and played basketball with one of my roommates. He had seen the court before and asked me to head up there with him and I was more than eager to get my chance to hoop some cats. Now we arrive and there is already a game of 3 on 3 going on so me and John see if we can get in a game, of course we are accepted and after a little stretching I join the game. We start out and after taking one missed shot I start out balling these cats, I mean hitting turn arounds, my spin fade move is out of this world, and droppin dimes(assists) like you couldn't believe. FIrst game we win final score was 10-7 , yea who plays to 10, and I easily scored half of the team points and quickly turn into a go to kind of guy. Since the game was so close they decide to play same teams and this time we really smoke them and finish off at 10=4. Naturally they want to switch teams up and the two next best guys, yup I am domination, want to be on the same team because they are friends and I'm stuck on a team with the worst guys on the court. My whole team is smaller than me and they're whole team is bigger than me, with a guy about 6'3" guarding my simple 5'10" frame, at one point who says to a teammate GUARD YOUR MAN I GOT HIM, I laugh and say no you don't and scored. Ballin!!!!!!! The score was 4-4 playing up to 7 and I had scored all 4 points myself, blocking this 6'3" guys shot at least 3 times, I was always finding open teammates but they could never finish and I told them we are going to win because we've made all these mistakes and still are tied with them while we basically just played good D and they would only score off put backs when I wouldn't get the rebound. So I'm on the wing, I'm just grabbing the ball off a long rebound and the defender hasn't stepped up yet. I'm gallop towards the hoop just thinking I'll go straight up, shimmy the ball a little in the air and just take a layup. Two other guys run over to help so I got 3 guys trying to jump with me as I go up, woooosh first guy is just up in the air but he knows he can't block me, second guy is behind the first just getting in peoples way, and the third guy actually sandwiched me while I was in the air but still I manage to form a shot and place it off the backboard and its GOOOOOOOOODDDDDDD!!!!! My feeling off accomplishment was quickly taken away from me as coming down I landed another guys foot and twisted my ankle the worst it has ever been twisted. F*********#############KKKKKK I scream as I immediately fall straight to the ground and try to stand up to walk it off and fell right away again. I'm out, I'm done I tell them and this brings me to where I am now. A huge fat ankle with swelling and bruising still on my foot and since I left Monday for my surf trip I spent Saturday and Sunday in bed and walking with 2 crutches. Seriously couldn't walk on it and about 10 hours after it happened, and I took a cab back from the outdoor court, My ankle swelled up to 2 times its normal size. So Monday after a 6 1/2 hour bus ride to Mojo it was my first time walking on it without crutches and lets just say for the past week I have surfed every morning and afternoon and my ankle hasn't had the opportunity to get any better. So at this surf camp you wake up at 7:30, eat at 8, so I wake up at 7:59, surf right after breaky and I would just snag rides from the guys to and from or it's about a 15 minute walk. We didn't really get much lessons you just kind of jump in the water and they tell you the technique of popping up on your board but other than that its just you on the waves. Paddling on the surfboard is one the most tiring things to do and you always have to do it. So long story short I can stand up on a surf board sometimes, can't really ride the waves to the side like you see the professionals doing, but I can ride them in to the beach. My ankle was really holding me back as I was grimacing sometimes while trying to jump up on my board, also wet suits are very tight physically. At night we would just sit around campfires getting pissed(drinking) and having a lot of laughs, saw a lot of bare ass cheeks and mine is on a couple of peoples camera as well, sorry mama. Well the week went by fast, there was about 40 of us, the instructors were your typical care free, fun loving people that would just say some of the most outlandish things. Dishes every night is decided by some sort of game and is different for example first night was an intense game of Jenga, second night was some sort of a Relay Race where it gets a little bit more raunchy with shotgunning beers, 5 sex positions displayed with a 3 hump minimum, clothes on, spinning around a rake 15 times and finishing off with a fast eating contest. The night I was on show they gave each team a balloon, there was partners that represent each team, we would break up into 6 teams, me and a female went up when they asked for volunteers. We were the only team that had opposite sexes which proved to be better because the game was sexual position and you were timed to see if you could pop a balloon. First up was two guys and their position was doggy style so the laughs were just exploding out of us. I got reverse wheelbarrow. Well the first day of the tour the book your accommodations in Byron Bay and I decided to stay at a different hostel than the one that they suggested just incase I didn't like anyone on the tour. I ended up having a great time and really enjoy the town of Byron, and booked a flight to Melbourne on Friday the 7th and will arrive in Melbourne to be picked up by my bud River who leaves Monday for a trip to Thailand for a month. So I will be looking for work in Melbourne and have already made a couple of reservations to check out some apartments that are for rent. Rent is about 400 a month but thats like 325 back home or something close to that, and hopefully working in a bar at around 20+ dollars an hour I should be able to find some work to help me pay for that. The hostel I am currently in is really rustic and has lizards, and yellow necked turkeys running around, I hear has dangerous spiders and snakes, and wireless in the room for 10$ a day. I just bought a steak with mushrooms and salad for my dinner that I will prepare tonight, yea I started to cook because its cheaper, and just am enjoying relaxing as I have the time too. Well everyone I need to know any good songs I need to download or if there's anything I am missing. I see Obama is expected to landslide but we will see what the voter does when he gets into the both. PEACE

My hand out the cookie jar

So this will be very short because the internet is all pay as you go so I don't ever have enough time to handle everything I want to. The hostel that I am at is one of the nicest I have been to, I have been meeting a lot of people and going to places like the zoo, aquarium, a 4 hour beach walk that walks most of Sydney's beaches, kings cross(has lots of strip clubs and meth heads but also good bars), Oxford st(found out the hard way that it is gay man haven). We walk down Oxford St just looking for a drink and we walk up to this bar and say jeeze it's a sausage fest (wiener filled place) and then after we grab our drinks I see 2 guys making out and another two dancing together, then I turn around and the picture behind me is a guy in his undies stretched out so we quickly left. We ended up finding a bar that played nothing but old school hip hop and rocked out very hard. This place is very warm right now and I can already tell I will be having a great time. I received my tax file number so I can start working and as soon as I get to Melbourne that's when the real fun will start. Im headed on a surfing tour with 7 lessons included and you can go out and surf as much as you want with boards and wetsuits provided and the meals are all included which you can eat as much as you want. I leave monday, your sunday, and will be gone for a week so I don't know if I will get internet access so I just wanted to write a little bit and tell everyone I'm doing great and close to settling down.

Safely In Sydney

Alright well when we last left off I hated Fiji and guess what, I still don't like it anymore in fact now it is less then when i started. What else could've happened one might ask? Well the next day it started to piss rain so there was not much to do, I naturally buy a hour long internet card and the internet goes awol about 4 minutes before every 15 minute cutoff so basically if you only want to use 15 minutes it's really ten because the internet doesn't work for the last 5. This made for a lengthy e-mail which resulted in a free half hour that I get to use now, oh hurray. Well I decide that the best thing to do is rent a scooter and this started the only bit of fun that I had the whole entire time in Fiji. I was driving it around 80 km/hr and weaving around cars when there was traffic as if I actually lived there. I got to see the town of Nadi and I mean it wasn't much but it was definitely a different site and for that I enjoyed it. I tried to drive to a beach that I heard was good but thought I was going the wrong way so I turned around but I was going the right way but ah, no issue, or no worries this oceanians say. I filled up the gas tank and it took 7 Fijian dollars which is going to make me want to buy a bike when I get home but then I'll have to move to a place that is sunny most of the time. I almost rented a bike even though I have only driven a bike once before but decided that it wasn't the best idea. Oh what prompted me to rent this scooter was because they have their driving wheels on the right side and drive on the left, after driving in LA my mom and sister have seen me for the professional driver that I am and this challenge wasn't hard at all. I can now get away from the cops in any city or town. Mom I never told you this but at Prom with the 'God Squad' I had a getaway chase after running a stop sign in the Passat which ended with us all ducking down in the car prompted by me screaming "GET DOWN!!!," as the cops slowly creep by. This is definitely something that they will all remember as one of the most exciting times in their lives and me well it doesn't quite make the top 20. Anywhoo when I am finally finishing up my cruise around town I stop in the town and walk around to check out the place. Fiji is divided into two subcultures of native Fijians and Indians, like 3rd eye Indians, and after a talk with some Fijians their is a little bit of ill feelings towards the Indians and they feel as if they are stealing from them. I laughed and although it was 5 am drunk talk I explained how it doesn't matter where you go in the world people need someone to hate, a group of people that they feel they cannot co-exist with. Where's the Camp Sunrise out here? So I'm walking down the street and get invited to a Kava ceremony which is a root that scientist have proven to cure Leukemia and breast cancer, its ground up and made into a powder that if you go to a village you need to bring this root to the chief before entrance into the village. So this ground up root is put into a silk type slip and water is poured on it to make a brown murky looking water which is drank. You clap one time when accepting Kava, say bula(hello) and give thanks to someone or wish them well, drink the Kava, and then clap 3 times. Kava makes your tongue numb and after a couple of glasses, which is typically drank all night with song and dance in the village, I believe it gets you messed up. After the Kava ceremony you are told to look around and buy something and the money 'goes to the village', yea, un huh, cuz must not know he's talkin to a hustler. Thanks and I leave only to be caught in the rain and driving a scooter in these conditions can be extremely painful and also I'm just soaked when I get back. No worries, after food I decide to go out this evening which turned into me kicking it with 4 locals on a abandoned platform of some sort until about 7am when I finally get back to my hostel. It was a solid time, when I get back I had noticed the night before that I left my credit card with bar staff so when I get back I ask them if the had seen it. A few calls later Amos the bartender said he gave it back to me so I ask for his number to call him personally and help him remember and after receiving the number I then ask to use the phone to call him at the front desk. This chump tells me I need to buy a calling card to call this dude, I'm like you just called him, sir this is between you and Amos he tells me, I finally let 4 days of built up Fijian bullshit out on this man telling him he's talking to the wrong person like that and told him to warn management that I'm on my way up because the office is secretly located on the top of the hostel. Once I arrive up there we make the appropriate calls but now due to my inconvenience I get a free ride to the airport, which I already thought I had, but I guess that was just free pick up. So card cancelled and another one sent, now it's time to bring the scooter back. These dudes tried to charge me for some damage, I start laughing at them and said ya'll aren't gonna play me for some fool, don't try to f**k with me. I'm not paying for anything else. Well could you fill the oil up, hahaha, start laughing at these clowns. First of all you got more gas than I was supposed to put in it and the gas didn't even start at the level that you told me it did now give me my ride back to the hostel. No problem sir, if you thought black people time was something there is such a thing as Fijian time. They walk all slow and drag their feet and don't want to be helpful at all. Just when I think finally I'm out of this country I realize thoughts like that may happen too early and after waiting in a very long line at the airport, which I arrive 2 hours early for, I'm asked where's your paper ticket? Well here's my booking confirmation, ok but where's your paper ticket? Well my name's on the computer right? Yes seat 17 C, but I need your paper ticket. After waiting for about 45 minutes I'm told I won't be allowed on the flight. After saying a bunch of words and basically wasting my breath the only way to get me on is supervisor approval and of course it's Saturday and no supervisor around and calls still don't help. At one point I even hear this lady say yes I've explained everything to him but he still doesn't get it. Awww man I must've snapped at that point and security was called and it came down to waiting 3 days to sort this out or buy another ticket. Dammit these fools got me again because there is no way that I'm staying another 3 days in Fiji, I even contemplated the ticket to LA and just ending my journey there thinking to myself a month is a long time, you saw a lot, just go home and try again in a year or two. Well I didn't end my journey, I'm in Sydney, when I arrived last night I just decided to go straight to bed at midnight only to awake at 5am to a man that seriously was piss drunk, coughing the nastiest cough ever and it was every other minute he would having a coughing fit. I was woken up by this guy every 30 minutes for the next 4 hours and he would even be stumbling around the room almost getting into other peoples bed like he couldn't remember which bed was his, also ended up blowing his nose in his towel and just unloaded some of the most snot possible. It was just disgusting, I get out of bed to walk around the town of Sydney and can only think of to compare it to LA or something like that. I'm 2 blocks away from China town where the Asians have Auzzy accents and a lot of the women and attractive. I watched a little bit of Saturday night college football and the ALCS game and went to the movie Body of Lies, which was good, and now I am back at the hostel filling you in on everything. Finding a job should be easy, don't know how long that I will be staying here but I will be doing a lot of work tomorrow towards figuring out the next year a little bit more. Well at the top check the pics and some are from Machu Piccu for grandma

Lazy mouthaf***as

These people are really starting to get on my nerves, the people at the hotel I am at just act as if they don't want to help me with anything. Like when I asked for a map she said it's over there and pointed to a big kiosk of brochures. When I asked her could she be a little more descriptive she huffs and gets up and gets it for me. When I ask what's on the tuna sandwich, just tuna and bread she says, ok well do you have cheese, no it just comes with tuna and bread, ok do you have lettuce, it only comes with tuna and bread. Bitty I wanted to add some things, but they act like it's a big deal. Oh the tuna comes out with tomatoes and cucumbers on it, I really hate tomatoes!!! I mean seriously am I asking for much, I'm gonna start snappin on these fools. They measure out every drink they give you so my whiskey cokes and definitely just less then good. I asked for a Iron Butterfly, white russian with baileys instead of milk, I clearly see all the ingredients but the guy says he cannot make them because there's no button on the computer that will register the drink. After a confused look and a little bit of bartering I finally get what I ordered but it was a half glass compared to what it should be. I went to a bar and literally they are measuring their bottles to the milliliter. Oh I go out with this guy from the hotel I'm staying at and ask where's the locals at and my guy tells me of this place after dark and says he will accompany me there. We arrive and seriously there is a lot of men there but I just think that it's early. Then a lot of the guys their are smiling at me, then I look at the few girls there and see they aren't girls. There was about 7 actual ladies, 4 maybes, and a good 5 lady boys. I'm thinkin if this is this guys spot why the hell did he bring me here. Do I put of the gay vibe, luckily I'm there with this other guy from the UK and we are just having a great time laughing about the whole situation. My guy Ronnie even got harassed in the bathroom while he was pissing, I waited until I saw it completely empty and bolted for the bathroom. We soon got out of there and headed to a different bar that was a little bit more to my liking and I met a nice lady from Melbourne who I hope to see when I get over there, 27 and a cutie so I'll keep you posted on that later oh had to lie and said I was 25 but I'll fix that later. Umm lets see, every time I walk around the hotel with my shirt of the hotel cooks just stare and I'm starting to get real uncomfortable. I believe that probably half of Fiji likes boys and met some Fijian girls who assured me they feel the same way about girls. It's just a weird place. Well I look forward to tomorrow being my last full day and then off to Oz where I hear a bar-tending job should be a cinch especially since Candice, 27 year old, has plugs she says. Well everyone I have been banging that Pop Champagne, Love Lockdown, Gym Class Heroes Cookie Jar, also I'm Illy is the best song on the new T.I.

I'm Illy, couldn't mess with me even with a Brazilian Chick

Who wears long skirts, Men wear long skirts

Well I'm here in Fiji now and quickly because I only have 5 minutes left on my prepaid account I will tell you that everyone has an Afro, so I sort of fit in, also everyone wears long skirts. Men out here, since I landed at 5 local time, I ended up getting out of the airport at 7 or so and everyone was lined up for school. I saw all these guys seriously in skirts and just thought that must be a free feeling yet must improve the amount of ball sweat they all have. All men know about the dreaded B S and because its so humid and muggy down here they must have it the worse. How do you pee now I'm thinking? Well that will be a question to ask later, the 10 hour flight wasn't bad I slept for about 7 of it and crashed hard. Well everyone I will be sure to write more when i find something exciting to write about but all I foresee is beach laziness and getting ready to get a job in Australia. Love you all, this is the long haul. Peace

Day O me say DayyyyyO

Alright paly by play

September 29th, that night was my last night and I ended up going to this thing called La Bomba. Now this thing was crazy, it was a huge warehouse and was just packed with people. We are all there to watch this performance of 12 or 13 people all playing different instuments that range from different types of drums like bongos, some sort of horns, even had a guy come up to play a keyboard and play just some funky sounds out of that thing. I have videos and pics but in Peru I can't figure out how to upload any of these things because they don't have the right software. We went like 10 people deep and it was amazing I was dancing and just enjoying the perfomance and not to mention the beers they gave us were just huge. After we left I decided to put my new found independence to the test because everyone wanted to eat Chinese food and it being my last night I went to my favorite steak place and had my final Argentinian steak and it was just great. Once I got back to the hostel everyone was tired and wanted to sleep so I ended up meeting a couple of girls from the states and we decided to go out to a bar across the street that played some hip hop and the fist pump was back and I was twerking these girls from Ireland who didn't know what it was. All in all it was a good last night in Buenos Aires.

September 30th: Not much I hopped on a plane and watched Don't mess with Zhohan and it wa funnier the second time around also once I got into Lima at 12 I had a flight to Cusco the next morning at 7 so that means I got like 3 hours of sleep that night. My first impression on my taxi ride was how does this country have so many casinos so I might have to abuse some of these guys with my poker skills when I go back tomorrow.

October 1st: I arrive in Cusco ealry in the morning and I have someone waiting there for me with a Pinkett sign so I felt like a star of course and I get in the van and meet a very nice lady named Allison who is my contact person while i'm in Cusco. I signed up for a package tour so they were helping me and providing a lot of transportation for me. Allison asks if I feel ok and was a little unsure at what she meant and she let me know that I was currently 12,000 ft above sea level. At that point I did realize it was a little hard to catch my breath, dammit Allison why did you tell me that. She lets me know what the plans are for my week and bring me to my hotel which was a good break from all the dorm rooms I had been sleeping in. Cable TV, double beds, personal bathroom, it was definitely different from what I had been experiencing for the past couple weeks. That day I just took it easy and caught up on some sleep and ate at my hotel, I had chicken and rice because apparently you shouldn't have red meat your first day. That night was horrible I woke up in the middle of the night and had a throbbing headache due to the altitude and couldn't sleep for like 2 hours, just had my pillow over my head and listened to CNN. I've been watching a lot of CNN to stay in to tune not only with the US but the world. I have learned that world history when I was younger was one of my most hated classes and as Americans we don't really care about what happens around the world when we are young. The rest of the world knows way more about other countries history and just has a better sense of America than some Americans. By the way about the whole world wants Obama to win and totally believe that he will increase our reputation because the world hates us because of Bush. I have had more political talks then ever with a lot of the people that I have been meeting.

Later on I learned so much about the history of Cusco and the Quesua people this day and wasn't affraid to ask questions. I went on a city tour and saw 4 ecological sites, the first was the Cathedral. Now when the Spaniards came here and found the Incas and Quesua people they basically told them to give us a room full of gold to bring back to our king and we won't slaughter you, Incas are the kings Quesua are the people. The Incas did and then the Spaniards killed a lot of them and then tried to domesticate the people. So the Cathedral was built to teach the Quesua people religion since their gods were pretty much everything they saw. The moon, the sun, the puma, the snake, the condor, the wind, the rain. The Spaniards took a lot of the gold back to Spain and the church has ton of gold all throughout it, I mean so much gold in there. Anyway I 'm not going to give you a history lesson but after that we saw where they tore down these temples that were there and learned a little of how the Quesua people built there temples. No mortor, no cement, all the stones were made pefectly symetrical and would fit exactly right with the other. It was amazing to see and to understand because they had sooooo many stones and to build temples like that it was pretty cool to see. Next we went to a different site where once again temples used to be that were destroyed by the Spaniards and they had stones that were actually in shapes of llamas, puma paws, snakes that used to be completly covered in gold, again just cool to see. So the people here are all short and I make them look like dwarfs and some of the native people that don't live in the city wear extravagant hats, tops, skirts and I have pics of that.

October 2nd: I wake up early to take the 645 train to Maccu Pichu and it was a 4 hour train ride and I ended having a discussion with an 70 year old man from New York who told me a lot about himself. He called me Santiago and just loved what I was doing and we talked about his mother and how he's taking care of her, his divorce, his sister, how he has no kids and I slowly realized that he is gay. It was kind of weird cause I think he liked me if you know what I mean. When I arrived I found out that I was in his group for the tour, oh hurray, and we(30 of us) take a bus to the top of Macchu Pichu. It was crazy to see and it's seriously on top of a mountain and there's all these mountains all around and I just took some time to sit back and reflect a little. I would abandon the tour at some points to take pictures and to just look around. I hear, Santiago would you get in this picture and he took a pic of me with the mountains in the background, again weird. I had him take a picture with my camera and seriously even after explanation he still had his eye directly on the 3.5 inch screen thinking it was some sort of view on the disposable cameras. Needless to say I found so other people to take my pictures. After I went down and had lunch and as I'm sitting there I realize I having lunch in the Andes, helped me strive for more on this trip. After the train ride back that night I decided to go out with the guy who worked at my hotel to an all Quesua club and I was the only foreign person there. I had a lot of fun, salsa, samba, all different types of music was being played. Now me Juan and Wilbur decided to go in the middle of the dance floor and I was dancing and looking at all the girls look at me and the baddest girl showed up with 2 other friends so we had a good ratio. Those girls come by us and are just hounded by all the guys there coming up to them and they are just playing them to the left, shoving them away, putting her friends in between them and her, one guy even got muffed(hand to face). Juan says in his little accent, James she wants you. I was like naw man go ahead go holler at her, when I start drinking I fall back into my old speech patterns and use words like chop her up, holler, spittin game, I doubt they have any idea what I'm talking about. So after I kept my back to these girls the get attacked by three guys who decide its cool to wear backpacks when you go out. They move even closer to us and now this girl is giving me the, as I like to call them, good eyes. This girl was close to my height and decided to show her puppies as some might like to say and had more back than a little bit, the women here have no buns. After ahwile I approach the girl who seemed un approachable and dance with her for about 2 hours complete with dips and twrils and a whole lot of me not knowing what I'm doing but once again I faked it. After awhile I decided to leave this bar, Juan, Wilbur, and the girls and head out to another bar in the main square. Met some other girls and a nice man named Eloy who handed me more pounds than ever. Everytime we made eye contact it was JAMES with the pound extended. I ended up getting back to my hotel at around 630 am and went to bed.


October 3rd: I had a free day to explore the city and thank god because the only thing that I explored was the American speaking channels and the toilet. Dry heaving at 12,000 ft is very, very painful and I had a bit of the hangover, well more than a bit. I stayed in bed all day and watched a very touching episode of Extreme home makeover or whatever its called. They took this guy Luis who was in the army and lost his leg but had crutches because his artificial one was too painful and he couldn't move around the house that well. As he goes away they fix his house but send him to a clinic that gives him a leg suited for him and has computer chips in it and at the end he's doing the salsa, it was a great episode. Seriously though pain all day.

October 4th: I wake up at 530 to go on my Lares trek. After a 3 hour van ride I'm in a group of 8 with 7 people from Holland who all took this trek unknowing the others did and have seen them before in their travels. I'm an outsider and sometimes they would speak in English so I wouldn't feel like one which was nice of them. First stop is the hot springs which I jump in and really enjoyed it, we have lunch there and these cooks were great. We head out and go on a 7 mile hike through the terrain and we walk by pleanty of people who live out there and that just helped me realize the difference in our lives and just aprreciate a little more the things I do have. During this hike I felt a little bit of pain in my groin muscle which through the evening and the cold got tight on me and I was really affected by this. Dinner was great the night was freezing. It probably got down to like 40 degrees and I woke up plenty of times.

October 5th: I wake up in extreme pain and after breakfast I tell our guide my problem and walking was very painful. He gives me some icy hot and tells me lets see how you feel in 10 minutes. I apply the icy hot never using it before, it was soothing and then all of a sudden my balls are on fire. The most pain ever, it should be something you do to get into a frat because seriously icy hot on the balls put me out of commission for about 20 minutes. Still it was very difficult to think I could continue and hike another 17 miles in that condition so I had to walk back accompanied by a guide and a couple who also couldn't continue because one had an allergic reaction. Around 5 hours later I am back at my hotel and in bed to rest up and get my leg better. I ordered a pizza and to much suprise Sunday Night Football was on so that helped me pass the time while I was in the hotel.

October 6th: If you haven't noticed these are getting shorter because I am tired of writing but I woke up to eat breakfast but was bed ridden for awhile because my leg was still hurting but I ended up making it to an internet cafe to write my short litte blurb yesterday and found a place that had Monday night football. What a game that was, Vikes vs Saints I really enjoyed it and ended up going out with a guy I met there from San Diego and had a great night.

Well that catches you and me back up, I'm doing fine, get to see my Mom and my sister in 2 days so I really excited for that and then I head off to Austrailia. I got a work visa so that allows me to stay for a year and I'm most likely going to take adavantage of the full year and work while I'm out there so that means I'll be traveling 9 months longer than expected bringing me home sometime in 2010 and I just wonder what kind of man I will be then. Everything will be so different so I am looking forward to the opportunity that I am recieving and my hunger for more knowledge through my travels is growing stronger everyday. I wanted to come home when I first started but that was just being uncomfortable and now I am growing more and more comfortable with what it is that I am doing. I miss everyone still and I will write again. PEACE

Sorry to my fans

For taking so long to get something posted on here but the internet has been real bad and I have also been quite busy since I signed up for a package tour here in Cusco. As far as pics no place has the software compatible so when I get my computer shortley I will not have the same problem and I will relay all of them to you guys. SO to make this easier for me I'm going to it by days and actually I'm not because I just asked and the lady said she closes in 5 minutes here. Damn, well short summary of Peru, people are real short here and I am a giant. First day in Cusco the lady tells me that she hopes I can adjust quickly and my dumb ass had no idea that I was landing 12,000 ft above sea level which does have an affect on you body. I had headaches, troubles catching my breath, and it was so bad I woke up in the monring and couldn't sleep for another two hours because of my headache. I'll explain the city tour more later that I took but I learned soo much and the city is extremely poor. I thought people in Minnesota were hustlers but these people are extreme hustlers and sell everything and go from one job to the next. Even the kids are not afraid to ask for anything. Picture Picture, payme. Hola Buenos Dias, dame un caramel. Its kind of funny to see and I have some great pics of the locals who wear colorful clothes and exotic hats and skirts, carry their kids on their back, or the men carry like 150 lbs of things. Macchu Pichu was cool, I explain more later I'm getting the shooo. So everyone I have one more full day in cusco and then lima for a night and then I meet up with the fam in LA. Sorry its so short but I will write a lengthy one tomorrow.

Out of my Element

Replying to my sister´s comment, yes Buenos Aires is the techno capitol of the world and as I was at club Pacha that saturday night I realized something. I can´t fake it, I mean I tried for like two "songs" if that´s what you call a thumping bass line and noises comparable to a Star Trek phaser(phaser on kill). I mean the club is packed and the guys I went with quickly jump on this stage and do moves that would look like chopping their arms and as I look around, the guys dance with guys and the girls dance with girls. There is no way to dance with someone, can dance in front of them and show them your sweet techno moves, but you can´t get close to someone at all. I´m shaking my shoulders and moving my arms but guys all around me are bopping their heads and some people are like do the chalreston it was all just very foreign to me. People constantly say you don´t know this song, I love this song and I can´t tell the difference from one to the next. So I have now told myself after being to the supposed best club in BA that I will no longer go to these techno clubs and will only head to hip hop ones, maybe samba, but definitely not techno. I have no fun, I end up just sitting down somewhere hoping to leave and have no idea how people like this stuff. I´m sure they feel the same way about my music so I don´t get mad or defensive just now know that I would rather be by myself enjoying the scene rather than trying to conform becuase I can´t fake it. A couple that I have grown fond of, a 29 year old man and his 25?6? year old fiance that have been together for 7 years, see in my face that I´m not enjoying myself but they´re great and gladly try to help me enjoy the music. It´s not working and then we get into a conversation with a couple other ladies and I explained to them what twerking is, the theory behind it, how you can get twerked and then the girl can just walk away. This is completely foreign to them, they first just called it dry humping, then said that if they did that a guy wouldn´t ever leave their side. I could understand that, that might happen back home but I let them know that they had free choice in what they wanted to do but it helped me realize that maybe twerking shouldn´t be as informal as it is. Maybe the culture of the twerk is a little bit of raging hormones and maybe it is something that shouldn´t be passed around. If these girls are so comfortable dancing with each other and no one really breaks that personal bubble space then that might be a good thing. Maybe it is something that could be compared to a bond that people shouldn´t experience unless you feel a certain way. I will put in fact the original twerker of them all and the lady who invented the twerk face, Em, now this girl from the first day I have met her broke me off in a proper twerk session which included people holding my back so I wouldn´t fall over and ironically we made that full circle on my going away party. Now I know that it is purely fun whenever she or others are dancing but it has just made me think differently about it or atleast challenge my original thoughts. No worries when I get home I definitely will be due for a twerk session and Lemon is one of the best. (Twerk to anyone who doesn´t know is slang for dancing so I wasn´t being vulgar, had to put that in there for mommy) So hopefully when I get to the next hip hop club I will feel more at home. Also about challenging ones thoughts, I have always done that with my friends. It might piss them off and I might not even be opposing them, just challenging their way of thinking. People get so stuck in a routine they don´t know that it may not necessarily be as common as they think or even if it is doens´t mean that they majority is correct. I don´t know if it was debate in class or when I was sober they would really help me think in other peoples shoes but I just like appreciating both sides of an arguement and I feel that you can justify a lot of what you do if you know all the angles. So I have learned that is something I am doing right now, I like clubs, I now have tried and still I don´t like techno and now I can fully make a decision that is unbiased because I have tried. This can be done in multiple situations not only with music but with food, speech(everyone across the world laughs at us for calling elavators elevators, they are a lift, cling film[saran wrap], and they say that we say aluminum while they say al·u·min·i·um. just weird) so as I continue I will find more ways to challenge myself and I challenge you do to the same, exits blog with snaps similar to a peotry reading

But its always forward Im moving, never backwards stupid heres another classic

C Notes are falling from the sky, sorry that was some Nas that inspired me a little bit there. Wow just realized I havent wrote anything in awhile so to the public I am sorry. Well that 17 hour bus ride started and about 15 minutes after we start on our journey there is a check point. I see someone with a gun and a uniform enter the bus so take off my headphones and hear pasaporte. Alright pull out my passport and show it to him a little nervous of the open yet corked bottle of red wine I had snuck in the bus. Dont really know if I had to sneak it but neverless I was a little nervous. He moved on with little hesitation and made his way up to an Agrentinian man who didnt have a passport, then the man with the gun(respected by me, anyone who has a pistol on their hip, Im slowly realizing that the right to bear arms is truely a American thing due to a lot of converstaions with people. People have told me theyve never heard a gunshot in their life so that is teaching me a few things.)back to the man he starts to search this guys stuff. Dvd player, digital camera, all sorts of electronics. The man with the gun starts to interrogate this man and then he is pulled off the bus and his bag is searched. Then he comes on the bus and grabs his things, as I think wow he must of done something wrong for all this to happen and I hope they dont find my bottle of wine, hahaha. Long story short we wait, for 5 hours at this one checkpoint and have made no progress on our trip. Oh here comes a movie while we start waiting thats cool, oh my god, its 27 dresses. The movie line up on this bus was extremely confusing to me because they had no idea what they were playing and the order had no sense of order. After watching 27 dresses, ahh I guess it wasnt that bad the next movie comes on, yes we are still 15 minutes away from where we departed, and is one of the most depressing films ever. Ok this couple have been married for 45 years and have been together since they were both 18, the lady starts to develope alzheimers and she decides to put herself in a clinic and the husband disputes but she wont listen to him. The first month she must stay there and not see anyone so after the month hes all happy to see her and she doesnt realize who he is and has developed a connection with one of the other patients. He shows up everyday and she wont give him more than 3 sentences before she needs to tend to the other mans needs. He shows up everyday just to watch her and then after the man she developed an attachment to is pulled out by his wife she goes into a rut. Wont move, crying all the time, wont walk and everything reminds her of him. The husband shows up still to read her books and try to keep her active but she doesnt know who he is at all. Just a horrible position to be in and really that was a true love tragedy just basically made me feel like shit after. Wheres that dedication these days, i dont know if I could do it but I mean anywhoo off that subject, the following movies were Scoop(woodey allen flick, just sucked), Under the Tuscan Sun(reminded me a little of myself as in looking for change but total chick flick, it was alright) and then 10 items or less with Morgan Freeman and who I thought was Penelope Cruz turned out to be Paz Vez(I like Paz wayyyyyy more now) The bus ride was way better then my previous one other than the delay because of the movies, they feed us, glasses of wine, and my seat reclined to make sleeping somewhat comfortable. After I arrive in BA I tell the others who Im traveling with that I kind of needed some space eventhough it was just for a night which helped me. I fell back into the I know noone but this time I was more willing to meet people and talked to a couple guys, played some ping pong, had a few laughs and beers. So in BA I met back up with this guy that I met in Rio and he has a couple of friends that Ive been hanging out with going to eat and clubs. The meals are so good, I had a steak and split a bottle of wine and spent 50 pesos, the dollar is 3 to 1 here so thats around 17 bucks and Im talking filet mignon. Huge steak and it was seasoned in garlic and just amazing, Im straving right now just thinking about it and will go for more steak tonight. Apparently Argentina is supposed to have the best steaks in the world and they havent disappointed me yet. I went to a couple clubs which if I liked techno wouldve just been amazing but since I dont Im kind of just stuck bobbing my head and pretending. I mean these guys are out here in stunna shades moving there bodies too much for my taste and have some of the weirdest hairstyles ever. Spiked mohawks, shaved sides, shaved everywhere but the back(wish I got a pic), I mean just some things that would be made fun of back home. I walked up and down this street called Sante Fe in Buenos Aires and realized that Im one of the darkest people here, its a more white skin tone here then in Brazil so Im standing out a little bit more which I hope is in my favor. Im going to club Pacha tonight and hear its supposed to be amazing so Im pretty excited, like one of the best clubs in the world. Lets see what else do you want to know, the hostel Im staying in is notoriously known for being a party hostel and its a club inside around 10pm with DJ and everyone just meets up there before heading out to other clubs at like 2am. Im having a lot of fun right now and its short lived because I head to Peru on Tuesday to trip to Machu Piccu so those pics will just be amazing. Well love everyone and Ill update you later and every computer I use just wont let you put up pics, also they have a totally different keyboard everywhere I go so I gave up on trying to find question marks and apostraphes(sounded that one out)

Buenos Aires Baby

So Argentina is just great, Im having a fun time here and I head to BA in like an hour for a 17 hour bus ride and then will stay there fo 6 days. I wish I had more time there, its so cheap here. I hear the bottles of wine are 5 pesos and a pizza is 10 and with the exchange rate being 3 to 1 that is definitely in my favor. Iguassu falls cant even be described and the pics just wont do it justice but I havent been able to upload them yet and will at an internet cafe in BA. I took a video just so you could get an idea and took a lot of panoramas so hopefully I will do a good job of relaying it to everyone back home. Iguassu divides Argentina and Brazil so I went to both sides and both were amazing although Argentina was more breath taking due to Devils Throat which is the main water fall. I mean the mist off the waterfall is getting you wet and even after a 300 ft drop the water is so powerful that there is a mist that comes all the way back up. I mean you cant even see the bottem of the falls because the water is so powerful at the base that it is literally a ball of mist that doesnt disappear. Well just letting everyone know whats up so Ill holla when Im in BA

I love life

Sorry about the lack of pics everyone, everytime I do a blog its so amazing because I don´t knowwhat Im going to say and usually dont have my camera cord with me. Please forgive me. Well letsupdate you on everything, I finally feel some sort of clarity in what I am doing and a little bit more confidence in myself. I know when I meet up with my mom and sister in a couple weeks I will be a little bit out of wack and maybe want to come home more but those feelings have grown less andless everyday. Well not that I dont want to end early but the part of me that wants to do it to come back to a simple life is getting farther away. I know that I need to challenge myself and this is what I should be doing and believe you me it is a challenge indeed. Im leaving all my friends, family, and those Ive grown close with to somehow better myself and thats been one of the most difficult tasks yet to believe in the cliche what doesnt kill you makes you better is something Im striving for. Well one of those things is a 23 hour bus ride, didnt kill me and made me feel that I could do it again. The only problem with it is it takes away a full day of excitement that I could be having somewhere else. For example I wanted to go to a city called Florianpolis but thanks to a friend named Annalee she convinced me that Buenos Aires is a place I would want to spend my time so I decided in that conversation I would make my way towards Argentina rather than stay in brazil for much longer. So off to Foz do Iguacu in Brazil I head to see the Iguassu falls that are trying to become one of the 7 wonders of the new world. Extremely beautiful, pictures could do it no justice I took a video that hopefully would help people understand how serious this place is. I mean yea its a lot of water and yes I did get bored after a while but I think if you lived close not only is it cheaper for you than an outsider but its a phenomenal place to just think. I was with 3 other people I had met the night before and had invited me to join them in traveling for the next week but I still took the time for personal reflection. I am doing the right thing for myself. At home I had a desk job, one that culturally isnt liked by the public, fuck them I was getting paid but yet I still wasnt doing what I love. To this day traveling is something I love to do and just to get an understanding of others lives is very humbling. Working with inner city youth has made me have that appreciation and and yet didnt want to be different from those Im telling the fact that they dont have the best clothes or the best shoes on the market is ok. Im seeing kids who seriously may have 3 shirts in their entire collection if that, yet their entire family is at the bus stop. If I had more of a heart I would cry at those things because we all yes all take so much for granted. I love my grandma for always making sure the middle child wasnt forgotten by the new born I still remember those things. I love my mother for deifinitelty being one of the only in my corner because Ive lived atleat four or five differnet lives where no one knew including myself where i would end up. Its not that seeing poor kids makes me feel that way its the fact that people even when they have less than nothing can be more happy than the way I felt when I felt I didnt have anything. Maybe I just see them at a good time and theyre happy, maybe I feel that they deserve to fell happier than they do and that they should be able to experience the things I have. I mean seriously who am I and I couldve been born into any situation and I just feel lucky. On my 23 hour journey I saw some of the most dingy dirty towns but um who am I to say that, thats someones life and they may never leave that. Im becoming more greatful and yet dont feel that I fully understand yet. Brazil is the worlds 8th strongest economy and I will be heading to the worlds lowest 25%, I have a lot of recognizing to do. The falls though, they were amazing and I will be putting up pics within a day or so to the original link if that link doesnt have the new pics let me know if you didnt get them tell me your email I will link you. When I arrived in agrentina I dont know if it was the fact of a new sense of clarity or the fact I knew it was way cheaper but i really love it. Also theres some sort of slip I was supposed to hold on to from customs, duh, I didnt and its a fine of 75$ but luckily James being James slipped out of that one. Sorry mom. Well I head to the other side of the falls tomorrow and then to Buenos Aires for a week or so and then Machu Piccu, if you dont know any of these places, neither did I, hit up google or Wikapedia and educate yourself. Then you will be like damn I want to go there. After october thats when the real journey and test begins because then I really know Im gone so wish me luck. I miss everyone real bad, not to leave anyone out but Jones miss the laughs, Joel I miss the friendship, Mark miss the competiveness, Kyle youve been gone but still miss you, Little Man miss the love, Jiana miss the attitude, Naya miss the fact that right now youre becoming your own person, Dad Ive always missed you, Nicole missed the dependecy on eachother for guidence a lot has happened that we havent spoke about for me and you Im sure, Rome miss the younger brother, same for Loon, everyone that Ive ever had a relationship with you know how strong that is and was to me and how much I had your back. If your guessing about it Im sorry you shouldnt have to. Im getting there, not there yet, but Im getting there. So just know Im doing ok and hopefully( its a crazy world as Im beginning to find out) that will continue. Again not to leave anyone out but I have had the most vivid dreams where I wake up on a bus or in a hostel room by myself to a harsh reality. Those I can remember were in a couple, Mom, Nicole, debbie, Joel, CMac(yea weird dog), Jones, Bugger, and Im sure many more to come. Seriously really hard to wake up to. Well peace up M town down

This sucks

23 hour bus ride to Iguassu falls today, look up pics. Just not going to be fun

Boom boom boom, let me hear you say wayo. WAYO

Well this post isn't going to be about much just wanted to shout at everyone and say I feel so happy whenever I read any of your comments. Since its been so long since I've seen anyone(only a week) or heard some peoples voice when I read you're comments I swear I can pretend as if it's face to face. I'm still at the same place feeling comfortable as ever, in Brazil its been raining and chilly so really I've been sleeping in until 1pm due to the 6am sleeps and just lounging playing pool with my boys and listing to my iPod on speakers(just phenomenal). The pool table hear will definitely make you a pool shark back home because the pockets are smaller then any table you've definitely ever seen. You have to play the sides because if you go for the corners it needs to be from the middle of the table. If the ball is hugging the rail and you go for a corner you have to just tap it to set you up for the next shot because no matter what you try you will definitely not make it. Still I'm hustling cats except I did lose to my boy in best of 5 for a drink, its alright only cost me $2. Its not cheap in Rio as I hear it is everywhere else in South America but still it's cheaper than back home. I've been eating twice a day and seriously I'm so skinny now compared to when my sister started calling me titties which in turned rubbed off on my neices and nephew. I was getting a little wild and doing nothing with my life physically at that time, only work out was beer up, beer down, 1, beer up beer down,2. Obviously not the workout and breakfast of champions. Anyway just wanted everyone to know that I'm doing fine, reluctantly wanting to say goodbye to the friends I've made because then it all starts over again. The stories I've been hearing about the places I'm headed as Thailand and Cambodia are just unreal so I think I'm going to have to spend more time in that part of the country then expected. I love you guys and thanks for the support, side note I'm in a 9 person dorm and there's only one other person in it and he leaves tomorrow. Don't come a knockin if you smell me, but actually in Brazil, brazilians think I'm brazilian and a perv or broke(not the come up that the white person looks like) and foreigners think I'm a brazilian man which is basically overbearing and will lick you neck at the opportunity basically you know I'm neither so I gets no love. Its alright though I'm having a great time, shout out to Kyle, you're my boy and also to those who read and surprised me by your interest. This is for you

Well hello there

Alright you guys after my last rounchy post and a few words from my mother I have decided to keep the blog at a more appropiate level rather then just sharing my drunken stories. If you found the last one a little too much well then I am sorry and promise to bring it back to a level of interest. Well its been bad weather for the past couple days and I've decided to stay where I'm at until it clears up because I'm right off the beach and didn't get much of an opportunity to swim yet. Also there is an island that I hear is a must see so I believe that I will hang out until my friends friend arrives and we'll head out to there. Just to tell you that yesterday I pack all my clothes in my little backpack in order to do laundry walk a couple blocks down and then remember its Sunday which means everything here is shut down, except for the bars of course. I was able to eat a meal at a place called shenanigans and yes of course its an Irish bar but the only reason why we were there was for the american football. I saw the Jets and the NE game and then the all but end of what I read later was amazing of the San Diego Denver game. I play fantasy football and it is really tough to try to stay on top of your team when you can't see any of the games. I'm down 5 points with Tony Romo going against philly and my opponent has Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb so its not looking good right now but I have faith. Well after a little football I head to the commonplace upstairs at my hostel where they are showing us Capoeria which is a combination of martial arts and dance. There was about 10 or so people doing it infront of all of us so close that I nearly got kicked in the face by spin kicks and one of them got pushed into my chair while trying a handstand in the fight. You seen it before where they kind of step close then step back compiled with acrobatic flips and kicks. After their performance they pull people out of the crowd and of course for the second night in a row I'm pulled to center stage. The night before they were teaching us how to dance 'funk' which was basically hips moving. So when they have the volunteers they have us mock fight with the Capoeria and after watching a few failed attempts before me it is my turn and I'm nervouse doing this in front of the other hostel mates. It begins with our hands in eachothers as to say begin and then we both do a kartwheel into the middle of the ring. My opponent shows me the initial steps, left foot forward right foot back then right foot forward left foot back, ok got it. Now bring your forearm up to protect your face with each step and we're off. He signals me to duck as he kicks over me and then I follow and kick over him, a few spinning heal kicks and a few jumps to advoid contact and now I'm feeling like a natural. Definitely recieved the largest applause from the audience and when I return to my seat everyone doesn't believe that I've never done that before. One guy said hey are you athletic, I didn't know how to properly answer the question. Then the evening we go to the favela funk party and its basically a warehouse with like 2500 people inside all moving to samba. I really enjoyed myself there and it was basically the whole hostel there and we partied until 5am. Well thats about it, today its raining so I'm just going to do some laundry and watch a movie. Miss everyone back home. Hey if you give me you email addresses I can send you my brazil photos with a link from snapfish.

Whats up pussycat whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa

OK rewriting disclaimer: In this blog post it may be a couple things that may go over your head if you are not closely associated with me or my friends or the lingo. It may be graphic yet take it with a grain of salt and I´m just relaying my experiences so far.

Alright let´s see here, what to say what to say. Since we last spoke I´ve done a couple of crazy things, later that evening I met some guys at dinner. I was eating lasagna and was the first good meal that I´ve had in like 4 days. All my other meals I would look at a menu, not understand it, point and be disgusted at what I was eating so this meal was very important to me. I started off headphones on writing in my gournal(wet hot american summer anyone) and then decided to not shut myself off from everyone and took them off. I stood up to get a beer and when I came back my spot was taken and I was pissed off a little because I left my notebook there as a sign of spots reserved. Well the guy moved over when I came and that quickly became the start off all the fun I´ve been having. To jump back real quick I went to copacabana and it was nothing but thongs, wowzers. Anywhoo Tom(the seat stealer) quickly started a conversation with me and then what do you know 2 other guys come and sit across from us and boom and conversation erupted. This is my first time chatting it up with people in awhile and they let me know that they´re all also traveling by themselves and have developed these friends since they´ve been here. Great news and a few beers later leads to hey lets go to the hostel next door and start the night off. Hurray beer, I have friends now. We march off to a hostel called Stone of a Beach and act as if we own the joint heading to the biggest table and being the loudest people there drawing stares from other backpackers. There´s 7 of us now and we play a game that I´m familiar with called 21 the drinking came. Involves nothing but a voice and a quick mind, a couple rules that if you break you must drink were; no swearing, can´t drink with your right hand, and no pointing. Me being the expert at drinking games move my cup to the left a couple inches and claspe my hands and put my hand behind my neck as to point with my elbows. Now everytime someone messes up a new rule is made until about a 1/2 hour goes by and we´re all a complete shit show. Some new rules were you have to make an animal noise before you drink, baaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh(sheep), have to refer to yourself in the 3rd person(James is really having a fun time), when one person(designated) stands up and bawks like a chicken and spins in a circle the last person to follow and sits down has to drink. This means drinks were spilled, people missed there chairs and a whole lot of laughter and since my laughter has been built up for so long I´m just exploding whenever I get the chance. So after awhile of drinking the bar closes down and as we walk out the front door literally the next door over is a club. We enter, see a lot of stars of David and they assume that its a jewish club. I look at the bartenders and see rabbi type beards but I know a Rasta when I see one, this is a rasta bar. I go to the dance floor wishing that I could just get twerked(grinded on to those who don´t know the lingo) but I quickly find out that´s an american thing. You mean a whole year of no twerk sessions accompanied by the infamous twerk face, sadness. Well in this club there is a girl who I start talking to named guadalupe who speaks no english but is very good looking, her friend who seems a little more eagar to meet me comes over and starts to speak broken english to me. The guys I were with described as a whale but I thought she was a very friendly person. She tells me her sister is a DJ there and its going to be a lot of reggetone played so the Sean Paul in me comes out and I start moving the hips yet bring the american fist pump out. I realize I do that fist pump a lot. Well to sum it up quick I ended up getting that dance with Guadalupe, she was amazed at my skills, everyone left except for 3 of us. Drunken stop at the neighborhood gas station to grab the essentials, eggs, loaf of bread, cheetos, and 1 copy of playboy(they have great articles) Me and Daniel spend about the next half our in the public kitchen dropping eggs in the sink, on the stove, no toaster so put bread on the pan. Basically just a shit show and security comes up and he was mad at the mess I was making and I quickly told him, I got this, I got this. Start mopping up spilled yoke with pieces of bread which turned into a great story the next morning when I woke up still a little loopy. So at breakfast at like 12 we all recap what happened, Tom rememers nothing, Mel broke her camera, and Daniel has a wicked burn on his hand from the Iron Chef experience the night before(todays ingredients EGGS!!!!) I had a tour booked to see christo de redeemer basically a 100 ft statue of Jesus that looks over all of Rio. Now when we arrived I had heard from someone thats its not that big which I found to be the contrary and just an amazing view of the city. I mean I just sat there and took it in and got closer to realizing what it is that I´m doing here/on this trip. Also I see one of the sweetest mullets I´ve ever seen, curls and all. We go to the helipad that is a little lower then where Christ is and watch the sunset over the mountains. To describe it a little bit better Rio has taken these mountains that are right in the middle of the city and put them to great use building favelas(shanty towns), winding roads, and viewpoints of the city. After I take a lot of camera shots we head back to the hostel where I have a dinner date with a couple of mates from the night before. We head to a restuarant similar to Fogo de Chao in MN, a brazilian style restuarant where now I´m getting the real deal. Its a buffet with a salad bar and they come around with skewers with all different sorts of meats that are just pouring juices out. This whole experience plus drinks cost 27 reais which is about 15 american dollars. Daniel ate more than I´ve ever seen anyone eat in my life. Everytime they came by he took some meat and filled up on the salad bar twice. I´m talking ateast 20 times he got meat off the skewer. We head back to the hostel and we all have kind of said that we want to take it easy tonight because of last nights activites. Well that didn´t last long because there is a street party in Lapa that just rocks and we all reluctantly decide to head there. Since we all took our time in making our plans we are all split up between 3 different vans which makes me nervous but then I meet some other guys on the van which made up for all of that. Everyone is pretty good at sticking together and making sure everyone from the hostel is ok. Oh the breakup of people is pretty much Irish and Englend with me being the only American. So at Lapa which happens every friday its pretty much where you want to be with street vendors, blaring music, dance clubs, and live music outside but we´re told that you need to be very careful while you´re out here. So this means that in the midst of all the brazilians there is a gringo grounds where all the white people are standing together and me being me its hard to loosen up because I have to watch my back. My hands over my pockets, every brazilian that stares at me I stare back, looking around just to make sure there´s no crowds of brazilians. I then get tapped by an intimidating man with his shirt off and big muscles who asks in I speak portuguese in portuguese, I say no and he points at this guy whos standing behind this girl from the hostel. I couldn´t quite see the problem until I see that he is grinding on her with a MASSIVE boner, I´m talking this thing was pointing to the sky, way worse then Ron Burgendy(its the pletes in the pants, they´re creating an illusion) but then it just wasnt the boner. He had two guys standing as close to him behind him and while everyone in Lapa is moving to the street music they´re standig stiff(no pun intented) with straight faces. I told 3 people from the hostel to move immediatly and come down to where I was, a quickly after a fight breaks out right by us. Time to move in my book. We all start moving down the road and that´s when I see two 5 year old boys sitting to enjoy just as up as anyone else at 2 in the morning. I forgot to point out that the people I heard you are supposed to watch out for is the children, and me working with youth was definitely one of the most aggravating things to see. no joke I seen a 3 year old selling gum following his 7 year old sister and they are just demanding money. Putting chiclets in your hand even after you say no, and the brazilians wont be fooled quickly throwing them back in the box that she is carrying. Back to the two boys, shirts off, having just a great time so I stop to observe them with these two english girls I knew from the hostel. The boys start asking her for some liquer and are just as cheerful as any kids that age but are just in the(cultured) wrong enviorment. The pull out there little weiners and start peeing on the wall as one tries to fill up a plastic glass and the other keeps kicking it away so then he stops grabs another glass and the other kicks it away again. I finish my drink and set it down and tap him to let him know he can pee in it and the other grabs the cup and they run off. I sat back and thought about how different that was to me and how normal it was to them and realize us 3 have lost the group. No problem though these 2 english girls were black so now we are a traveling group of brazilians no longer confused with all the white people we were with. We decide to go to one of the clubs thats playing hip hop and rock out for about an hour or two to songs that I´m all too familiar with. A milli amilli a milli amilli, theres that damn fist pump again. The cuter of the the two english girls was using me as the fake man as guys were grabbing her from left and right as the other sets herself up quite well with a local man. I think its my time to strike, I start to dance with her as she stops after about 1 minute into the song, stupid. I still rock out with my cock in to the Kanye music and am just having a great time doing so. We talk for a little bit more and that´s when she reveals she is in a 8 year relationship. Um, TAXI. I quickly leave them two and hop in a cab by myself and as we´re exciting Lapa there is a car with its trunk open pounding music and who do I see shaking there hands like tamboreens and freaking out, those 2 little boys and now it is about 4 in the morning. The cab driver found out about 3 minutes after she starts driving that I´m american and told me she was scared because she thought I was brazilian and we chatted it up a little on the way back to my hostel. I crawl up to the third bunk, try to set my alarm for the 6 hour tour I had planned to go to at 10 in the morning(its 530 now) and after a few attempts I failed and go to sleep. I wake up thinking if those guys went on the tour that is amazing as I´m hurting right now from the previous night and after about an hour of being up I turn the corner and see them, just as hungover as me and we share some laughs about the 10 am tour was not the best idea. I know that was a lot but so much to cram in about the past couple days. Today we plan on just taking it easy renting the dvd player and watching super troopers. We´ll see if we can stick to our guns, but my plans right now are to stay at this hostel for the next couple days with the Dubliners and then start making my way to Buenos Aires on monday or so. Well I´ll holla at you, oh the best part is these guys know Chappelle and we´ve been saying quotes all night.