LOUISIANA

OH LORD.

im in hell right now. sitting in the tulane library, writing some emails and surrounded by pure nastiness. To my left is an angry guy who keeps banging on his keyboard and spontaneously shouting out bursts of "fuck!" "piece of shit" and "goddamn!" To my right is a guy who is wearing bright orange glasses and finds it delighful to burp, fart, guffaw and just generally be obnoxious and all around erratic. damn my stupid non-functioning laptop!

So i went to a presbyterian church today and listened to the sermon which talked about a city of broken hearts, broken dreams and despair. it was semi depressing and the message was a bit ambiguous but the jist was that there is little than we can do and we just have to wait for Christ to come to this world for redemption, as God shall "transfigure and not abolish" the hell-ridden world in which we live. hmmm.. interesting.

we went to a pretty delish eatery following where they serve real lousiana food: we're talking gator burgers, crawfish, 'po boy sandwiches and the quintissential new orleans dish, Jambalaya (yes, that deserved a capital). i ordered the latter, but of course, and it was finger lickin' good. reminded me a bit of paella for some reason. yesterday was even better at Camelia's grill- mexican omelette and fucking-so-mouth-watering-good-it-should-be-illegal pecan pie, drizzled over with hot, melted butter right in front of our open-mouthed faces by the snap, crackle and pop jivin', southern-as-can-be top chef Marvin who commanded with exultation, "Buttah love, baby, say it now- buttah love!!"

god, new orleans is fucking spectac. this city is just JIVIN'. there is so much 'tude within these city walls; it teems with life and the people are just about as nice as can be. i can see why people adorn their cars with bumper stickers reading: "New Orleans: Proud to call it home". And the houses are majestic and imposing: just drive down s. carrollton ave, home to the millionaires and billionares of new orleans, plantations, damn near, lined up along the streets with their enormous front lawns and columns reminiscent of greek and roman flying buttresses. cross broadway and enter Magazine St., the brilliant ave flooded with light and smells and sounds, anxious to greet many a happy traveler...

it's pure medieval, in a way, reminiscent of an era far removed but not forgotten- the old colonial South, preserved in its culturally rich embryonic sac of fluid...like it or hate it, new orleans is perhaps the rome of our times, a city built upon another city, an enduring civilization that shall surely rise and fall like the other greats, but will never be any less venerated or cherished...

snap, crackle 'n' pop,
im out like a gator,

j9

ROAD TRIPPIN' USA

Making my way down SOUTH~ Just a few of the highlights....

Look Ma, no hands!!

My life in a car.
Yeah, Kimon!
What it do, Myles!

quick updates

1. i'm going to keep this short and sweet, bullet-note style.

2. im in dallas visiting hero and sylvia.

3. On the way, i got into a pretty serious car accident.

4. my car hit a huge bank of water during a storm, crashed into the center divide and then hydroplaned 4 lanes across the freeway.

5. it was freaky as fuck but i walked away unscathed. another guy wasn't so lucky (3 cars besides my own did the same thing)- i witnessed his car flip over 3 times; he was severely wounded, paramedics rushed to the scene and promptly scooped him up.

6. an incredible couple who stopped at the scene of the accident kindly have been helping me out. my car wasn't totalled but the axels are completely busted out in every which way direction. the car was towed to the kind couple's house and they have been vigilant about calling everyone they know to remedy the situation and help get me back on my feet.

7. there are 3 mechanics who are steadfastly working on my car (all 'hood connections of the guy who stopped to help me out). insurance won't cover a thing. what would have been a nearly $2000 job is being done for a mere $650 bucks, parts and labor all included.

8. my angels are with me. no doubt.

9. i'm waiting to drive back to new orleans, come another day or two.

10. On a more positive note, myself and my roommate, Eva, are VERY close to signing the lease on an apartment, a real marvel with hardwood floors, high ceilings and ridiculous amounts of closet space for me (whoo hooo!)

and...

11. I'm still truckin'.

j9

A smorgasbord of various outings with my lover...

From Tempe to Phoenix, good times in the Valley of the Sun. This post goes out to my hapa lover, Steph Ross. Love you, mama.

Damn right you are!

Rendezvous, shmendezvous...

Okay, well, updates: Kinders are great but I swear, they have ADD up the waz. No matter how entertaining I am, doing acrobatics and impersonations to the nth degree, they still have the attention span of a fruit fly. Good news: We did mid-institute assessments this week, and our kids went from a 41st average percentage to a 76th average percentage score in JUST SEVEN DAYS OF TEACHING. Which is phenomenal and super empowering, by the way. Some kids acheived a growth of 50% mastery in just those 7 days, which is uber ridic. (TFA loves their stats and data by the way, so warning: i may become a bit of a blubbering horse here) It feels awesome we're making strides, but I'm also getting that 'teacher's frustration' that we're still leaving a few kids in the dust. we're taking up monumental speed in the classroom here, but there are still a few kids who can barely count to 20. and it's like heartbreaking to see kids perform such low scores, time and time again. NEwayz. I'm getting a ton of practice and training out here, so come this fall, i'll be read to kick some nanchuck munchkin ass.

last night i went to this place called "dos gringos trailer park". 50 cent coronas after 9 pm, guys! literally, i go up to the counter and the guy plunks down 2 coronas in front of me and goes, $1 please. I'm like whattt??? $1 cover, $1 service fee, which the fuck is it!? no, for my ENTIRE order, biatches. yeah, it's ridic. the spot is super campy and a bit kitsch but it makes fun of the whole trailer park theme. open roof (all u see is the arizonian sky), tons of dance floor, a great circular bar serving up heaps of good mexican thoroughfare and an awesome live band. i went with a few friends and we got our dance and our drink on. it was pretty fun. came back and had heaps of rich, nefariously decadent lemon-chocolate cake (oh go ahead, ladies, drool) to celebrate our friend Em's birthday...and then i got into this amazingly intense 2 hour conversation with Em's 27 year old roommate, aaliyah, who happens to be like one of the coolest people i've ever met. (God just has a way of dropping these love bombs on me when i need it most) She's this rad, brilliant, fast-talking chick who abandoned her dreams of becoming a lawyer in favor of teacherdom. she's done it all, worked at the dept. of justice, done non-profit consulting, played the yuppie bit in D.C.... alla that good stuff. but yeah, she's here, and we just VIBE (radio dial tuned into each others stations)... going through our common battles, questioning of self, etc. etc. In a time when I needed real spit, I got it...

so i'm satiated. for now. but hungry for what's next, what's to come... thrilled about the experiences that are waiting to be had, the continents waiting to be conquered and the people waiting to be loved...all by little ol' ...ME.

j9