My Year in Review: 2006 Blew…

By.

It began with a tropical breeze and will close with the Mid-West freeze. As I get ready to depart for Chicago where I will spend New Year’s and the first two weeks of 2007 I sit here thinking of how blessed I’ve been this year. I was so sure sometime during 06′ that I’d wake up and this never-ending adventure would come to a screeching halt. It never did. Stored somewhere inside my mind I have some thousands of words for every experience, every new person, new challenge or feeling that I encountered this year, but my reflecting on this one year alone could take a lifetime. So I offer you these photos which I hope will speak in a one million and seven more ways than I could ever muster up.

Self-portrait. Pampa, Texas. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Trinidad & Tobago – Carnival 2006

I took off in February for a three week stay in Trinidad & Tobago mainly to participate in Carnival, but all that would not have been possible if it were not for my dear pen pal, Alicia. For 11 years we have exchanged handwritten letters on life, love, and current events. Anyone that knows anything about TnT knows Carnival is always a current event. Photo: Kyron

Carnival booths line the Savannah. In just a few more days half-nude male and female hedonists and Carnival regulars will dance through the streets of Port-of-Spain while on-lookers take snapshots of the revelers in their finest moments. Winin’ uptown and downtown… Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

How I fell for the melodic sound of the steel pan I have yet to discover. On this second trip to Trinidad I had the opportunity to go yard hopping and check out the various steel pan bands, as they prepared for the big pan finals approaching. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Fete – a party. I can’t tell you how many of these I went to or which was the most memorable. The crowd energy is an experience in itself. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

I love the little one totally working the camera. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Beautiful and haunting… This is by far my favorite photo from Children’s Carnival. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Hanging with Darryl and his bro Denzel. We were being persuaded to join a Jouvert band at the time we took this photo. Photo: Unknown

Yes that is me in paint. Karen Walrond joins me for some early morning bacchanalia in a Jouvert band. There is something so refreshing about running around covered in paint from 3am-6am. Photo: Mr. Walrond & Adrienne C. Wilson

After a good scrub down it is time for the pretentious part of Carnival as local Trini painter, Jason Jarvis, likes to think of it… For me I got to wear a beautiful beaded costume and headpiece under island sun. Can you say fun? Photo: Lily Otolorin & Adrienne C. Wilson

Tres muy bonita Poison masqueraders. Photo: Merlana Henry

The President of Trinidad & Tobago joins Merlana and me for a photo. This was only after Merlana uses her tourist friend (Me) as an excuse to get a photo with the Pres. I’m not complaining. I’m just sayin’… Photo: Merle Henry

Ladies of Poison’s Ricco Soldato – Rolling in the Money. Photo: Merle Henry

After all the long hours of dancing in the street to Destra, Shurwayne, Machael, and Allison Hinds it is time to unwind, chill, or lime on Trinidad’s sister island – Tobago. This is moi on one of Tobago’s many soft sandy beaches. Photo: Jackie Williams

The view from Fort King George. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Do I look confused here? Is that water really that crystal clear? Tobago’s Bucco Reef, a must see for all touring individuals. Photo: Dotun Akingbala

Boats in Bucco Reef.

Adrienne, Jackie, Merlana, & Monifa at Speyside. Photo: Dotun Akingbala

Tobago sunset. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Walking my way across America with Steps Across America.

Before my walk across the land really kicked off I had the chance to catch up with some of my very beautiful homegirls Becky and Jaci. As you can tell taking pictures in NY subways is never a tacky activity for us. Photo: Metro passenger

Ready to kick butt and step across America, the beautiful! Can you dig it? Photo courtesy of Edelman.

All geared up for an early morning walk. Photo: Jordan Neistat

After who knows how many steps, my partner Aundrella and I make it to the Arizona state line. One more state to go and our walk is over! Photo: Alina Tan

Aside from stepping along neighborhood sidewalks and county roads we also walked with the youngins. From elementary school to middle school we went encouraging children to take part in the President’s Physical Fitness Challenge. Photo: Valerie Peron

Ken and I chat with school students about the importance of leading an active and healthy lifestyle. Photo: Valerie Peron

Me with my new friend who proudly shows off her Sportline pedometer. Photo: Valerie Peron

Getting my bone density scan at a Wal-Mart in Pittsburgh. What else should I be doing with my summer? Photo: Kam Flynn

Aundrella, Adrienne, Jaime and Tanya hold up the SAA Proclamation for Grove City, OH. I had just read it moments earlier to the local news crew. The feeling of being on TV was just exhilarating! Um, yeah. Photo: Charlie Smith

The walkers watch and hang around as some of the others gear up for a fun round of sumo at Mike’s Pub. Photo: Unknown

Don’t mess with the birthday girl or she’ll crush you!!! Celebrating my birthday in Olney, IL in a sumo suit. I had a blast! Photo: Unknown

In Pampa, Texas we discovered a carnival right outside of our hotel and very strong winds. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Running like mad. Running free in Quartzsite, Arizona. Photo: Richard D. Johnson

Desert rude gyal! Site! Photo: Richard D. Johnson

When all the sightseeing, educating and hanging out with the spectacular sponsors it was time to bring the walk on home to California! Our final destination was the Santa Monica Pier. Photo: Unknown

And the final number of steps taken across America are finally revealed. No more how many licks to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop… Think how many steps to walk across America! Photo: Prentice Sinclair Smith

Habitat for Humanity Global Village Build: Dushanbe Tajikistan

I think Richard is pretty groovy and I think he feels that I’m equally groovy if not more groovy than he is… Here we are as I prepare to depart to Istanbul out of JFK. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Askin is a friend of a friend who was kind enough to scoop me up from the airport in Istanbul and escort me around the city during my 5 hour layover. It was rainy and cloudy, but Askin still managed to show me almost all the major attractions. I still have to go back. Photo: Tourist

Istanbul city shot. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Our global village mission begins! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

The team works under the hot Central Asian sun at the second worksite. This is going to be the home of a doctor, his wife and their 16 year old son. Photo: Fanny B.

Still shoveling and filling buckets. This was the type of task we did on most days and while it seems like only a little – a little goes a long way. Considering our team was composed of 7 women and only 2 men, we did manage to impress the Tajiks by showing them women are hard workers and can handle heavy mud filled buckets. They say in Tajik culture women never do this kind of work, but one has to wonder if they wouldn’t mind picking up a shovel occasionally. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

A posed worksite shot with Nats (Team Leader), Me and Ann. Photo: Unknown

Making concrete was one of the hardest tasks bestowed on the team. This truly worked my arm muscles and my back. By the end of the day I was sore to the core. Photo: Christina Bridger

Ann shoots, Christina goofs and Khurshed tosses up the peace sign. I love this picture! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Towards the end of our build the women of the third household were wonderful enough to make a dish known to Dushanbe and not so much to other parts of Tajikistan. This is Kurtob and it is absolutely delicious. I have the recipe, but there is an ingredient that still puzzles me. I am not sure of the English word for it. Photo: Fanny B.

Here Allie, Khushvakht and Nats work the upper bucket line. The buckets were filled with a mud mixture that would placed on a pulley and taken up to the roof where it was then smeared across the wooden boards and cardboard. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

GV girls rule! Christina and I pose in the doorway of the third home during one of our breaks. Photo: Unknown

The first Dushanbe GV team: Top (L-R) Ann, Allie, Fanny, Nats, Saiali, Kate, Khushvakht, Adrienne, Diego, Khurshed. Bottom (L-R) Furkat, Michael, Godfrey, and Christina. Photo: Unknown

Local Tajik children swing by the worksite to giggle and laugh at the strange American & European GV builders. They were so terribly adorable and friendly! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

On one of our R&R days we went out to the Romit Valley to relax by the Romit River, play soccer and spot wildlife. This vibrant flower is only a small sample of things to see in Romit. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Dushanbe’s only mosque and one of the largest in Central Asia from what I understand. For a Muslim country the people are very relaxed and don’t pray five times a day as many people think of all Muslims. Just after I had taken this photo a young boy (a budding comedian I assume) runs down the mosque stairs to tell I am not allowed to take photos of the building. I turn around and point to one of the clerics who had just given me a nod of approval to photograph. The trickster was disappointed and later tried pretending he was poor and without food. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

September 9th is Independence Day in Tajikistan. To celebrate we went to the stadium where our presence (especially mine) generated a lot of looks. Women wanted to take photos of my hair and many people assumed I was African (Ethiopian mainly). These teenage boys were just a few who wanted to snap away with their camera phones. I told them I was Alicia Keys and the rest of my team nearly died of laughter. No one in Tajikistan knows Alicia Keys. She needs to build her fan base to reach Central Asia. My pretending can only go so far. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Our visit to Hissar Fortress was one of the last as a full team before Fanny and Diego departed. This is a popular location for weddings. It was wedding season while we were in the country and there were at least 4 weddings during our visit to Hissar. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

After building with the team I took off down to Khorog to meet with Teo who would lead me into Tajikistan’s Wakhan Corridor. On our way into Ishkashim (a Tajik & Afghan border town) we road down a dirt road next to the Panj river which separates Tajikistan from Afghanistan. Across the river you could see many Afghan homes like this one here. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

No, I am not a hostage. The Czech people who had joined us wanted a photo with these Tajik soldiers checking passports and I followed suit by requesting one of my own. They were bored and quite nice even if their guns seem otherwise. Photo: Teo Kaye

A Pamiri villager from this group offered to take our photos with the rest of his group. My guide Teo is to the far left and I am the one sporting the “Bob is my Hero” hoodie. I know how to blend in so well. Photo: Villager

The women pictured here were kind enough to let Teo and I crash at their home after wandering up and down the mountains that day. We arrived after dark and even then they were so welcoming. They also had some of the best (least oily) food in the entire area. Photo: Teo Kaye

Guess where I am? Photo: Teo Kaye

Young girls tend to the sheep as they run down the mountain. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

A walk through the Botanical gardens in Khorog ended up being surprisingly nice! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Road Trippin’ with Richard: Midwest to Northwest

NOTE: As of February 14, 2007 Richard and I are no longer on speaking terms. It is not in my nature to go back through each entry and delete him from my life as though he didn’t exist, but in moving forward he is nothing more than a dark memory. He is nothing important in my life anymore.

When Richard asked me to go on a road trip with him around the Midwest and Northwest I thought he was out of his mind. I told him real-life was waiting for me, but real-life ended up being on the road. It always seems to land somewhere out yonder. We wanted to explore parts of the country neither of us had really seen which included Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Seeing it in person as opposed to my grade school texts was an awesome experience! Photo: Tourist

Visiting the Badlands in South Dakota was by far one of my favorite stops in the entire state. The landscape is unreal! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Visiting the birth site of Malcolm X in Omaha, Nebraska. The historical marker is the only thing really there right now, but stay tuned for future developments. Photo: Marshall

Persian Cornflower in the Omaha Botanical Gardens. Omaha, Nebraska. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Checking out Jackson, Wyoming. This was the first time we’d really seen snow on our excursion. Photo: Richard D. Johnson

A cloudy day in Teton National Park, Wyoming. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

I wasn’t ready, okay I lie. I was born ready. Photo: Richard D. Johnson

These are things people like to do in Vegas. These are also things I casually stroll by, snap a photo and keep on truckin’. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

From Vegas we took a quick detour by flight to Detroit where I successfully completed my first marathon. I ran a time of 4:34:50 in the Detroit Free Press Marathon. This is a shot of Detroit as seen across the river in Windsor, Canada. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

The Ambassador Bridge was on the course of the run and connects the USA to Canada. Running over the bridge was fun, but running in the tunnel was better! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Windsor, Canada as seen from across the water in Detroit. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Oh, and here is a photo of me crossing the finish line about to die as the 77 year old man trails me and Richard prepares to check his watch for the results. Not a great photo, but you get the point. The finish line is at the Ford Field in Detroit. Photo: Unknown

After we returned from Detroit we hung around Vegas for another day and took off for Utah. Here in Zion National Park I look in awe over water drops on leaves. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Red rock in Zion. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

A bird in Zion. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

In Boise, Idaho we made a stop at the Human Rights Memorial and got a dose of some very inspiring quotes. The Anne Frank memorial isn’t huge, but what is there is worth visiting by all means. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Seattle’s famous Pike Place Public Market. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

The biggest tourist attraction of all is the fishmongers and their very big catch. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Then I stopped to enjoy the very simple joys of life, like sweet, fresh fruit… Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

The Present: Working on the road with the HP Colorworks Tour!

Once driving around the country with Richard came to a wrap it was time to get back to semi-reality, get a job and high-tail it to the Northeast where I’ve been working since November and will continue working until end of April 2007. Look out for me on the road. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

This year has been a real blast and as I make way into 2007 I can only pray for more memorable moments. I hope too that all your days be merry and extra blinding sorta bright in 2007! Rock out, have fun, be healthy, stay safe, behave, be bad, do new things, take comfort in the old, make new friends and keep in touch with those you already know. 2007 is yours and mine both so put your foot on the gas and let’s GO! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

With Love, Adrienne