Travel’s Downside, II

A drawing of a suitcase with the word "TR...
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I’ve been thinking almost all day of travel’s downsides and I think I’ve hit on a solution.

(Things like missing my own bed or dealing with unfamiliar surroundings I really can’t do much about, I’ll just have to live with them.)

My solution is to create a ‘travel bag’ so I can use on my next trip. It’ll be the bag that will contain the essentials: moisturizer, lotion, deodorant, etc., phone and laptop chargers, adapters, batteries, memory card for my camera, cable and whatever else I tend to need when I travel. So next time, all I’ll have to do is pick up my travel bag and put it in my suitcase. Kind of like those little portable inner bags they’ve been promoting to women who change their bags, so they don’t forget anything.

What do you think?

Besides forgetting your essentials, what are some of your travel downsides?

I’m curious to know.

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Travel’s Downside

Sometimes, one of travel’s biggest downsides for me is having to be someplace else besides my own surroundings. It makes me feel quite discombobulated.

Whether it’s a trip I’m looking forward to or one of necessity, when I get to my destination, initially, I long for things I left at home.

Home is where I can walk around (almost) blindfolded because I know where everything is.

It’s where I don’t have to unpack.

It’s where I know how everything works and if I can’t find what I need, like the tea or a towel, it’s because I’ve put it someplace else (or I need to do the laundry!).

Home is also where I know how to get around, almost without thinking about it.

No matter how well I plan, how many lists I make, there’s alway something I forget – and it’s usually something I really need. Like the time I forgot my toothbrush. Now, that might not sound like much, but it really caused me stress until I could locate a drug store and buy one.

What did I forget this time? My moisturizer. And I know exactly where I left it too! So I’ll be in the drug store first thing in the morning trying to find one, preferably one small enough to fit TSA guidelines.

Please don’t read this and think I hate to travel or I’m letting little things spoil my trip. I don’t and I won’t. I love it! Each trip, no matter how short – whether in distance or time – teaches me something about myself, the world and people, relaxes and re-energizes me. It’s just the first few hours of adjustment to a new place when I don’t have the trappings of my life to support me.

As long as there’s a store, I’ll find what I need.

Sometimes though, it’s not as simple. Like tonight when I tried to log in, the wifi connection wouldn’t work. Thankfully, I was able to get hooked up with a dial-up modem or I would have had to miss my post for Wednesday.

So what downsides do you face when you travel and how do you handle them?

Let me know.

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Interview with Ozias Sanchez, First Year of Freedom – Part 1

Ozias Sanchez aka “Mozes,” who blogs as First Year of Freedom is one of my blog buddies. Mozes and my other buddies have been very supportive in helping me stay on track on this Postaday2011 blogging challenge.

A few weeks ago, I did an interview with Mozes. Here’s what he had to say about blogging, writing and Lady Gaga. Since the interview is a little long, I’ll post it in two parts.

Here’s the first part of the interview:

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I was born in Kansas City, MO, but I’ve been living in Colorado since I was 8. While I don’t meet the technical definition, I like to consider myself a Colorado native. I’m also very mature and pretty soft spoken.

Are you a full time blogger?

Well, I’m part of post a day, but I do what I can. While I see blogging as a chore, it’s also fun at the same time. Just one of those things, I guess.

What do you do when you aren’t working on your blog?

Actually, a really big hobby of mine is collecting postcards. But since the post office has very inconvenient hours, and I don’t own a car, I’ve not been able to trade as many as I’d like. So, I just play Xbox or something.

How did you first get involved in blogging?

If I remember correctly, the real reason I got involved into blogging was through myspace. Myspace lets you have a blog as well as a profile. I always looked at it, but I never knew what a blog was. One day, I finally looked it up and got really interested in the idea of keeping an online journal.

How do you keep coming up with material/content for your blog?

Oh, let me tell ya, it isn’t easy. Actually I’m constantly paranoid about running out of ideas for my blog. But to keep on track, I’m always writing questions and interesting things that pop in my head throughout the day; one idea could be extremely different from the next, but both are interesting.

What do you find most challenging about blogging about your topic?

Well, until my “official” topic of blogging about college actually comes around in August, I think the hardest part is actually sticking to one topic. I’m the kind of person that finds something interesting in everything, and I don’t know if I could not write about something for the sake of sticking to a specific topic. Well, as long as I don’t have to write every day that is. As for college, I think the hardest thing will be finding the time to blog, and having something interesting about college everyday that’s more than just college drama.

How do you describe your blogging style?

I write exactly how I talk, so I’d consider my blogging style (just like my topics) very relatable.

Do you find it more difficult (or easy) to write about personal topics as opposed to what’s in the news?

That’s a good question. I’ll have to go with personal topics, because though the news can have a lot of interesting things to write about, I commonly find some topics, like a state election, or the revolution in Egypt, boring (but still important).

What’s your strategy with your blog in general?

Would I find my own entry interesting if I came across it? And I usually try to make it more than 400 words.

What has been your strategy for creating visibility to yourself and your blog?

Commenting random people’s blogs can get me quite a bit of views, but I usually just advertise of Facebook.

Read Part 2 of the interview with Ozias Sanchez here.

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Soulful Sundays: Sting

Sting at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for th...
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All the music in my collection have a personal backstory. Sting‘s Ten Summoner’s Tales CD has special resonance for me as it is the music that helped me through a stressful transition.

I knew about Sting from his days with The Police but something about that particular CD made me really take notice. Each track spoke to me in different ways. It accompanied me on the way to and from work. If it had been in the days of vinyl, I would have worn a groove into all its tracks.

I played it so often, I knew all the lyrics and could identify key guitar licks. Of course, as far as I was concerned, Sting was singing only to me. You couldn’t convince me otherwise.

So, take a listen to Sting’s Shape of My Heart. I love this version – it’s so spare, so clean, so Sting.

Enjoy!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Old

"Mrs. Ples"

Discovered on April 18, 1947 by Dr. Robert Broom and John Robinson, Mrs. Ples is the nickname given to the most complete skull of an Australopithecus africanus specimen ever found in South Africa. Mrs. Ples is estimated to be about 2.05 million years old.

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Tasty Thursdays: Easter Bun (and Cheese)

When I was growing up in Jamaica, certain foods were associated with certain religious holidays, days of the week, etc. For example, rice and peas were reserved for Sundays and special occasions, like weddings, parties, etc., rum cake at Christmas, and Easter bun for, you guessed it, Easter. Now, the Easter bun can be found in most grocery stores at any time during the year, rice and peas has become an everyday and rum cake can be bought at any time.

I didn’t always like Easter bun. learned to like it when I was away at university. And I started making it myself a few years ago. It’s not particularly difficult to make. I found two recipes that I liked in The Real Taste of Jamaica, by Enid Donaldson, and combined the ingredients I wanted in my bun.

So here’s my recipe for a popular favorite – our answer to the Hot Crossed Bun.

How to Make Easter Bun

Ingredients

3 cups flour
4 tsps. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. lime juice
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup cherries (you can also use mixed fruits)
1 cup Guinness  stout

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees
  2. Over low heat, dissolve sugar, butter, spices in stout.
  3. Mix flour and baking powder.
  4. Beat egg and mix all the ingredients together
  5. Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for 1 hour.
  6. Remove and allow to cool.

Easter bun’s usually accompanied by a processed cheese that’s close in taste to Chedder but use the cheese you like. It also works with American cheese. Some people substitute butter for cheese.

Hope you can try this out and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

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Recalling My First Trip

El Castillo (pyramidd of Kukulcán) in Chichén Itzá
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April 29, 1974: My first trip – Merida, Yucatan

Each time I think about this trip, I’m amazed that it ever happened. Almost everything that could go wrong did.

I was teaching basic Spanish to 11 year old students in Jamaica when my school received an invitation to take part in a one week trip to Merida, Yucatan. We jumped at the opportunity.

Three students, another teacher and I decided to go. Several weeks before we were scheduled to leave, we sent our passports to the travel agency that was taking care of the arrangements and get us our visas. But when we arrived to pick them up, we discovered that our passports had been destroyed in a fire at the agency. No one had even bothered to inform us.

So while the other students were jetting off to Merida, we were stuck in a police station in Kingston reporting the loss of our travel documents. We would spend the next few days waiting for the police reports, taking new photos, completing new application forms, getting them notarized and resubmitting them to the passport office.

A few weeks later, the 5 of us, passports in hand, we were on our way. We spent 7 wonderful days in Merida.

I’m glad now that I kept a journal because the few photos I have of that trip are so grainy I can hardly make out our faces.

Here’s what I remember:

  • Twisting my ankle in my clogs on the slippery stairs at the hotel.
  • Going to the movies – why we decided to go to do that escapes me now. Saw La Bruja en Amor, Man with Icy Eyes, Red Devils.
  • Going to Progreso Beach, twice.
  • Roberto and Belgio telling me “Te amo” and falling over themselves to show me around.
  • Having liver and onions for breakfast several mornings at a diner near the hotel. I never liked liver but I really enjoyed the way the Mexicans made it, with lots of onions. I tried to make it the same way when  I returned home but it just wasn’t the same. I doubt I’ve eaten liver since.
  • Visiting Chichen Itza. The highlight of the trip
  • Hearing Love’s Theme by Barry White‘s Love Unlimited Orchestra everywhere. It was a big hit that year.
  • Being invited to the home of the owners of a small restaurant, sneaking away when we saw how drunk they were getting. (I wasn’t used to seeing people just sit around and drink.)
  • Being stranded. According to our itinerary, we were scheduled to leave on a 10:15 a.m flight to Montego Bay. We were up and ready at 7:45 a.m. but when we arrived at the airport here was no 10:15 flight and there wasn’t going to be another direct flight to Montego Bay for several days. We were stuck in Merida with little money left. Thankfully, the agency in Merida found us a connecting flight to Miami the next day and paid for us to stay one more night. (I think we all bunked in the same room.) The next morning, we were at the airport long before check-in time. Our flight on Pan American was the best part of the trip. I think we were the only ones on the flight and they fawned over us.

Looking back, I’m surprised we even made it to Merida and I laugh now at all the problems we had. But when I think of trip, I don’t think of any of that. I think of the ruins at Chichen Itza and how they sparked my interest in ancient cultures. Sometimes, I wish I had better photos but the memory of what I saw is etched forever into my brain.

What was your first trip like?

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Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. located in K...
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Today, April 4th, marks the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I was a young girl living in Jamaica when it happened and I still recall being afraid, even though I was 1,500 miles away. We had heard Dr. King’s message of peace and were saddened to learn of his assassination.

I’m proud to say that Jamaica honored Dr. King posthumously with a Marcus Garvey Prize for Human Rights in 1968.

I’ve often wondered what impact Dr. King would have had had he lived another 10 or 20 years. We can only speculate.

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Soulful Sundays: The “Barefoot Diva” Cesaria Evora

Cesária Évora in conzert (14. November 2009) a...
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I’m listening to one of my favorite singers, Cape Verdean, Cesária Évora. The 69 year old Évora, who has been compared to Billie Holliday, made her first recording in 1988. She has 20 studio albums, compilations and live albums to her credit.

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In this video, Évora sings Angola.

Enjoy!

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