Life Is A Journey
NEW ORLEANS
It was on a cold, windy Monday night, a few days after carnival, and three days before the leap day, that i was born in New Orleans, LA. It was 1968, a year of many memorable events, of which my birth was certainly one. :-) The sun was travelling through pisces at the time, a fact that I find very...pleasing.Though I did not grow up exclusively in New Orleans, it is my home. It's where I'm "from", where all my family is now, and a place to which I feel very connected. Growing up, I spent most of my summers there. New Orleans is a city with an interesting and rich cultural blend, and a unique history. It is the birthplace of jazz and the home of creole cooking. Ah...great music and great food, the perfect combination. That's why you'll always find me down there during The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, one of the best jazz festivals in the world, and probably the one with the best food. I primarily hang out at the Jazz Tent, eating soft shell crab poboys, drinking Rosemint iced tea, or consuming snowballs.
LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles, CA is the city where I grew up. I don't get back there much, mainly because I'm not a fan of the city. Great weather, though.CHICAGO
Looking for a new adventure, or just a change of pace, I ended up in the Midwest and went to school in the windy city. In spite of the horrible...I mean uh...challenging weather, I grew to love the city. Among many things, it is known for its historically significant architecture, and has a great music scene and several fabulous restaurants. (YES! I do have a thing about food and music.) I grew very appreciative of the local jazz scence, which included many musicians associated with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.France
While attending college at The University of Chicago, I got a chance to travel abroad and I spent 12 weeks in France, a country which I had long desired to visit. I lived in a small town in Normandy called Lisieux. I had a fantastic time, and of course, loved the food. I got to travel (well, hitchhike actually) to the south of France and even visit Spain for a weekend (in the breathtakingly beautiful Basque Country). But by far, my favorite place to go while there was Paris. In as much as one can fall in love with a city, I fell in love with Paris. The foliage looked greener and more vibrant, something interesting and exciting was around every corner, the city seemed to provide me with an endless array of things to learn about and experience, and I wanted to give myself to it. :-) In a lot of ways, the city reminded me of New Orleans, especially Paris' Latin Quarter on the Seine River, which called to mind the French Quarter on the Mississippi.
Iceland
On the way back to the states, I got off the plane and stayed in Iceland for a week. A friend of mine was living there at the time, so I decided "What the heck, it's a new place to visit..and how many black people can say they've been to Iceland...how many people can say they've been to Iceland?!" I enjoyed my stay there a great deal. The land mass is pretty young geologically, and I got a chance to visit some very interesting and beautiful land formations. I also had this wonderful dish at a restaurant there, and to this day I don't remember what it is. It was dish that contained a variety of seafoods, served in a sauce over rice and, if I remember correctly, covered with a layer of cheese. It reminded me of jambalaya or paella in concept, although kinda soupy like gumbo.
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
In 1991, after school, I decided I needed another change of scenery, so I moved to Washinngton, DC, colonized territory of the United States. [The citizens of DC are taxed without full representation in Congress, unlike Puerto Rico, Guam or any other U.S. state or territory. Learn more here or here.] Despite these unjust conditions, Washington is a great city in which to live. The metropolitan area has both more performances per capita than any other US city and more parks too, not to mention the world's largest museum, the Smithsonian Institution (FREE!) which includes the recently added National Museum of the American Indian (my thoughts on that here). This makes for great places to go hiking or just take a walk, as well as a large variety of cultural events to choose from.Sparing you all the details off my professional profile, I’ll summarize: I’ve spent the last 14 years in DC working mainly in the field of public health, primarily HIV/AIDS, with experience in non-profit, corporate and government environments. Along with my various community activities (ranging from board member of The Washington Peace Center to executive committee member of the DC Coalition of Black Lesbians, Gay Men and Bisexuals to co-convener of The Black Feminist Discussion Group) I’ve had a range of experience that includes community outreach, community organizing, cultural advocacy, proposal and grant writing, public speaking, information systems management, and group training and facilitation. Blah, blah, blah. LOL. It’s been real. No…really. :-)
So, in December, I decided to take some time off and travel…
GHANA
On March 9, 2005, I boarded a plane headed for Gha…uh, Holland actually, because the flight connected through there. :-) But after a few hours in Amsterdam (where I soon intend to return) I boarded another plane to Accra, Ghana. My first journey to Africa was the inspiration for starting this blog. My initial aim was to let folks that knew me what I was up to while I was out of the county for two months, and subsequently entering a new phase of my life. Somehow, posting about my experiences became much less off a priority than having the experiences (LOL), so I posted less often than I expected. It was, indeed, a wonderful experience, and the posts I did make are here. And here is a gallery of photographs from my trip (coming soon). I also wrote an article about the experience (coming soon).