So you didn’t make it to the biggest party D.C. has seen in decades and you were hoping to score some juicy details about all the galas and freezing with the crowds of people on the National Mall? Look away then. Look away. What you are going to get right now are the mellow details of my week here in MD/DC during the inauguration. I do think that I am getting old. (Well I am, but…err…)

I arrived at BWI on Thursday, January 15th and had absolutely no intentions of hitting the cold pavement around town. I was still getting my game plan in tact and trying to figure out who I might see in the city and who I was going to miss. Prentice was in town, so he became a strong possibility, where as the chances of seeing Chinyere became decreasingly lower and lower. Ronnie was also in town, but with a large gang of folks from SF. I wasn’t banking on seeing him much. In fact I never saw any of my friends in town, but I didn’t exactly go out of my way to attend all the events on their calendars.

By Friday, January 16th I had my agenda pretty much carved in stone. It would have been like pulling teeth to get me out for anything other than I had mentally prepped myself for and luckily with all the chaos I was left in peace and quiet.

It was Saturday, January 17th that I not only decided to step out of the house here in Gaithersburg, MD, but I actually had to. First engagement was my long awaited booking signing at the Borders Express at the Westfield Mall in Wheaton. The store staff at Borders Express were all super nice and were pretty much expecting me to show. (I love it when they’re waiting!) I arrived a few minutes early to setup my table and set out the Lorna Doone cookies. Just as fast as the cookies were flying the books seemed to be moving too! (The excitement!!!) It felt a bit weird standing and talking about my work for once and not somebody’s hip new cell phone. It felt… It felt… Liberating! And so at the end of the day the staff was very impressed with my sells, although I was hoping to sell them all. (I set high goals.) At least they invited me back if I’m ever in the area again. So it was good in brief. (Mucho thanks to anyone who swung by the store who might also stumble along to my blog.)

Later that day it was off to see Adele at the 9:30club. The show was sold out and her performance was mesmerizing. I mean I was truly mesmerized. I always find it funny how hearing a song live can change the whole game. There were a few tracks that I liked, but didn’t hit me until I saw her sing them live. Now I can’t get Daydreamer out of my mind. That woman is magic!

Photo: NotCot

Saturday had Manifest Hope written all in the galaxy and in my cards. Thanks to the Obama Art Report I was able to stay tuned into several beautiful art pieces over the course of the campaign and continue to see how inspiring President Obama has been to so many. It would have been the creme de la creme to have been able to acquire some of the incredible art at the show, but I just didn’t have the funds to do it.

After purchasing five of the limited edition campaign prints my pockets were tapped and they’ll be even more tapped when I decide to finally get the pieces framed! It was a great feeling seeing Scott Hansen’s Progress print in two galleries in D.C. and knowing that I’ll have it up in my home as well. The joy, but back to the Manifest Hope show… This was incredible and despite the lack of art enthusiasts in the pictures taken by NotCot as a sneak preview – the place was buzzing when I arrived.


Photo: NotCot

This indeed was a trip highlight for me. I bypassed the big free concert in the cold for a smaller crowd of people in a nice warm art gallery.

On the MLK Jr. holiday the city finally saw snow flurries and I wasn’t at all enchanted by the soft white flakes cascading downward from the sky. If I never saw snow this entire trip it would have been a-ok. However, this isn’t the type of snow that created havoc. It sort of came and went, but it gave me just enough reason to stay inside until I had to go out for my training in Wheaton. Instead of peeping the inauguration like the rest of the folk who had flown into town I decided to jump onto a little Meetup.com promotion and make some cheddar.

In short inauguration day for me was full of joy, lack of sleep, and handing out these clever stickers to my fellow Americans.

After working my shift down by the Third Street tunnel where there were some issues apparently for thousands of ticket holders, I was too tired for any further exploration. I hot up a cafe then the metro and when I got back to the house I hit the bed, HARD. I did wake up to catch a little of the action I had missed earlier on TV, but I only lasted two hours before I feel into deep slumber once more.

The next couple of days were uneventful. I stayed in tackling emails and applying to this gig and that gig. Now that all the inaug hoop-la is over it is time to get back to work. I fly into Tampa tomorrow.

Good night all.

In this batch you’ll find portrait shots or candids of the many Ethiopians that crossed my path along with some random tourist style flicks of myself. There are many more where these came from and diverse too. The people of Ethiopia are warm and simply amazing. Dynamic, spirited and quite generous when offering their home, a plate or a helping hand – if there had to be only reason for a future return it would be the people.

All photos taken by Adrienne C. Wilson with the exception of the following: Adrienne in monastery (J. Seson), Adrienne with three Ethiopian women (I. Williams), Adrienne with mortar mix (J. Kheel), Adrienne at Yellow Store (I. Williams), Adrienne with chika hands (I. Williams). All photos copyright of Adrienne C. Wilson except where credit is stated otherwise. Please seek permission before using any photo in this set.

I DO.

I really do. It’s like any other place on the planet in the sense that it is what you make it. Some people say it is too fake, too Hollywood, too weird, too liberal, too whatever… I say it is too cool for school. Simple. Number one reason being my darling, most phenomenal peeps I know I can gel with at any time. Second reason being the insane amount of activity to do at any given time. I’m sorry to do this so list like, but it is the only way for me to focus in on what I did over the last few days and to share some links I think may be important for yourself – the vicarious soul reading.

Wednesday: I played it like I said I would. I successfully gained my Ethiopian visa in my passport for my trip! (Yeehaw!) The process took only a hour and a half which I spent chatting with one of my GV team members, Julian and my close friend Angel. After getting the goods placed in my passport I took off with Angel to run some errands in Santa Monica and eventually made it over to West Hollywood where I would be staying (and presently am staying) for a good duration of this adventure. Prentice was only around for a short moment before dipping out and so I made myself at home, took a nap and grabbed some food from Whole Foods. I finished off the night by watching the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance and used two phones to get my vote in for Joshua. (I found out the next day that he had won the competition!!!)

Thursday: Angel and I met up again to support her friend’s film titled Truth Hall which only had one showing with a Q&A at the Beverly Center during the American Black Film Festival. We arrived late which was not to big of a deal as Angel had seen the film and it wasn’t exactly the type of film I would rush to see anyway. None the less someone out there is doing there thing and in festivals so big up to Angel’s people for getting out their dreams. Afterwards we linked up with Ivory, another one of Angel’s friends and had a straight chill session. I don’t think I ever chilled so hard in my life. Many of you are probably going to think the following is not really a considered chilling, but for myself it was major R&R.

So first we ate at Norms (a chain diner with food that is not horrible and not gourmet). I dove in for the breakfast in the afternoon as did Angel and Ivory went for the daily special which had all you can eat ribs that I somehow managed to finagle onto my plate. (I’m such a piggy.) From Norms we headed over to The Grove. This turned out to be a really awesome move on our part. On Thursdays during the month of August at The Grove there is a Girl’s Night event where several of the stores offer discounts, wine samplings, mini facials and so on… We hung hard hitting most of the stores that were participating on this particular Thursday evening. Ivory immediately became my new best friend (MNBF) on this evening by tossing over the Anthropologie gift card he had been given, but had no use for and like a California wildfire it blazed in my palms until I had managed to kill the flames at the register. I walked away with a nice new perfume. Thanks Ivory!

T rolled in and picked me up and we grabbed Muna at the airport. The night basically wound down from there.

Friday: Muna and I grabbed our morning goods from Eat Well in West Hollywood where Prentice graced us with his presence. Then we headed down to Melrose for a little shopping. We were hoping to find some cheap sneaks for Muna to rock in Runyon, but we managed to get distracted by other stores. We both picked up cute little dresses. (P.S. I’m NOT supposed to be shopping – see Big Adventure planned.) I will be wearing my cute little teal dress this weekend to my cousin’s wedding reception. Do look for it in pictures. From Melrose we hit up jazz at LACMA where the Ernie Watts Quartet played. We hung around inside the museum as well for a bit while waiting for Quar and his friend to show and then outside again upon their arrival. After jazz, Teal came and swept Muna and myself away to the valley for a little karaoke among friends.

Let me make a short note about Teal Moss: He is awesome! Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking differently. I’m glad he extended the invitation to us although I think he did so in part to avoid singing like the rest of us. On the flip side Mr. Moss did snap some photos and made them into the coolest wallet-sized memorabilia. Check out Photo Hard Card if you ever have the chance. At karaoke I sang an assortment of tunes (probably way too many) which ranged from Tori Amos’ Sparks to Luther Ingram’s I Don’t Want To Be Right. I believe I may have sung myself to sleep that night to some old lullaby. Chances are I probably snored instead. Poor Muna… Oh, and she didn’t sing either. Growl!

Saturday: The Getty Center was a must-do on this day. Why? Because as sad as it sounds I had never been the entire time I lived in L.A. I know I am way lame and Muna, who is excused from the lame party, had never been in her previous trips to the city. Right now they are featuring an exhibit of Bernini’s work which was just stellar! Sculpting the way that man did is just something out of this world. The detail of catching people in the moment of sculpting movement. If you have the chance go see it for yourself. Muna agrees. I went to the gardens after Bernini and Muna kept to some of the other exhibits. I don’t see myself spending time planting in a garden, but I do appreciate a nicely placed together bed of roses and so forth.

Later we went dancing at Little Temple. If you take a peek at the pics in the presentation above you’ll see that I am a hot sweaty mess and that means I had a grand time dancing. Muna even delighted us with her rendition of Doo-Doo Brown. Ha! (Didn’t think I would tell it to the world, hmmm Muna?)

Sunday: Crazy as it may be Muna had also never been to Venice beach on her previous visits and that makes me wonder where on earth did I take her before? Anyways we went for a long way down Venice Beach soaking up all the good California sun two brown girls could ask for and soaking up all the good wildness that lives on that beach. Muna purchased a lovely sarong and I got sucker punched into buying two head wraps, but come on! Head wraps are always goodness. We also caught sight of the Arlington West Iraq War Memorial on Santa Monica Beach north of the pier. It was quite a surprise to run into the memorial in the same place where children are bouncing around on pier near the ferris wheel and where tourists are wandering about the sands trying to get the kind of vacation tan that makes all their co-workers envious. Sometimes the world needs a jolt back into reality even if it is right smack-dab in the middle of the beach and possibly the reality you were trying to escape. Remember folks – there is never any running away in life.

Once we got back into WeHo we rested for a short bit before heading out with Dawn and meeting Prentice and Angel for a evening film in the cemetery. The featured presentation was a movie called Phantasm and I must say it was pretty darn cheesy for a horror film. I still have questions about what I watched out there surrounded by the gigantic Hollywood tombstones. At least Muna got the experience and she can no longer look at me like I’m the crazy one. There were some 3,000 people out there with us.

Monday: Muna left L.A. to head back to FLA and I relaxed all day before partaking in a quaint dinner with Angel at Delancey’s in Hollywood. I had high hopes of checking out Melanie at the Monday Night Tease at 3 Clubs after dinner, but we were running behind and I was starting to feel queasy. After dinner Angel dropped me off at the house and I crashed.

Tuesday / Today: Another day of R&R for the most part. Did some work on my computer, dined at Urth Caffe on Melrose and popped into Coco de Mer where Angel and I purchased the same book to read for kicks. I won’t spoil the fun of telling you which book we picked, but it’s nothing too kinky. If you are of an adult age, this too is something I would suggest taking an itty-bitty peep at in L.A. There are only three locations in the world: two in the U.K. and one in L.A.

Aren’t we the lucky ones?
I do hope you enjoyed the slideshow above. It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of those. I debated on the sparkles for a while, but then I just decided to go with it…
Goodnight.

Since the drive up the road to Mississippi for the family reunion my mom has become hell-bent on getting out on the weekends. This weekend she took me to a destination right here in Florida and only 30 minutes away from our place. The historic Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks are located in Pinellas county and house many delicious Greek restaurants and other attractions.

My mother and I started the day off by grabbing a bite to eat. We took the parking attendants’ suggestion and headed over to Santorini Greek Grill. He said it was one of his favorite picks because it sat right on the water and above all the food was scrumptious. As we made our way to our seat by the water we could tell that the food would not only be tasty, but filling. No matter the type of dish all plates seemed to be spilling over with food. For our first-time experience we had a zucchini appetizer and dolmades. For the main course I had a Mediterranean octopus dish with Greek style green beans and potato. My mother decided on the Greek salad. Everything was really good from the service, food and atmosphere. Next time I’ll go lighter on the appetizers and wait for the main course so that I am able to finish it all.

Our yummy plates from Santorini. Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson

Once we finished eating it was time to walk it off. There is an enormous amount of recreation, culture and shopping to soak in at the docks depending on your interest. With most shops selling a variety of multi-purpose sponges you’ll more than likely be tempted to pick one up to use for your face, car or even as a pot for a plant. Pick up and sponge and let your imagination soar. I didn’t buy a sponge on this particular day, but my mom and I each treated ourselves to some of the handmade soap found at Getaguru. Still – soap seems so incomplete without a sponge from Tarpon Springs. An excuse to visit again in the future? Maybe…

Sponge Capitol of the world!!! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

The monument honors the spongers who dove into the deep waters for sponges in the Tarpon Springs area. Many were from Greece as they had much experience in the biz of sponge diving. Then there is a bit of tourist posing on my part. Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson & The Mothership

Sponges for purchase! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Things to see at the Sponge docks… Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson

To be more specific about the activity my mum and I filled our time at the docks with let’s just say someone had a sweet tooth and it wasn’t me. We headed in to get fudge and later found a shop that sold all kinds of trinkets and munchies like pineapple licorice. We strolled pass the many shops in the Sponge Exchange and simply enjoyed exploring a site close to home right here in Florida. Did it feel like Greece? Just a pinch, but I’ll have to visit the country first and report back on that one. In the meantime I’ll surely make more trips to Tarpon Springs for my Greek food fix and on the next go I’ll even be sure to buy a sponge and take a boat ride.

If your vision is good enough and you can read the tiny words on the marker in this shot then please do so! Such fascinating history on this industry. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

All this and much, much more at the Historic Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks. What are you waiting for? Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson

After a long 4th of July weekend… I’m pooped. I’m sitting in the hotel now trying to get this update out of the way before the busy week filled with priorities rolls on in. My mom is chilling in the room with me, transfixed on Vh1 and watching “Drumline” for the umpteenth time. A minute ago she was tired and now she’s wide awake. What gives, right? Anyhow, as I mentioned earlier I came up to the Gulf Coast for a fun filled weekend with family and friends so not a tremendous amount of sightseeing or casino hopping. Good thing about missing the casinos because I don’t like them anyway. I’ve done my share of tourism in the area and I was in Biloxi not too long ago for the Keith Urban concert so channeling all my energy towards friends and family wasn’t too difficult. Besides, they’re pretty awesome people anyway.

Before I dive into all that, I did get to see the Katrina Memorial off of Beach Blvd near the Hard Rock casino and the Biloxi historical marker seen below. Aside from that there was the huge group of motorcyclists on the 4th driving down Beach Blvd. Also, the beaches were packed and just before taking off mum and me took one last glance at the beach filled with the debris from the previous nights fireworks.

Top R&L: Katrina Memorial. Above: Biloxi historical marker. Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson

Kristen the beautiful. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

On the first day in I swung by to see my pal Kristen in Ocean Springs for a small birthday gathering. She celebrated her 26th and doesn’t look a day older than the day before. While I wished to spend the evening partying it out with my good friend I had to return to the family for the weekend, but that was cool too. It was good seeing her folks as always and I know we’ll link up again sooner than later.

Top R&L: Kristen & cousin. Adrienne, Kristen and Mrs. Windham. Above: Moi and Kristen. Friends forever! Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson & Mr. Windham

The next two days were dedicated to family. My mum and me ended up meeting several individuals/cousins we never knew existed and made sure to exchange details so that we could keep in touch. Some of these people were 2nd cousins to my mother and 3rd cousins to me. I get real geeked out meeting people as it is, but meeting someone who shares close DNA to you is always amazing. I won’t go bonkers on words that express feelings and strange emotions, but I will leave you with some photos from the weekend below.

Abena and Mamie start sorting out the tee shirts for everyone. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

My mother introduces us to her little friend. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Cousins share a hug! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Everyone gets ready for the photo. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Mom waits next to her 2nd cousins from Fayette to take the family photo. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Cousins. Photo: Triplett Photography

So that was my weekend at a glance. There is always so much more to say and I know I’ll share it one way or another, but that’s all for now. I’m wrapping this entry up all the way back in Tampa, FL where I am now. Biloxi yesterday, Tampa today and you still need not come looking…

I’ll be off on another adventure soon.

Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

“Little…”

This is the shout you would have heard coming from our Verizon Wireless setup this weekend had you been at the Riverfest here in Little Rock. Riverfest is an annual music, food, and arts festival held on two sides of the Arkansas River during Memorial Day weekend. It is the largest festival in Arkansas according to the official website and according to our event contacts there was a record number of people in attendance. Could it have been Chaka Khan or Z.Z. Top bringing in all those folks? Maybe it was aroma from all the BBQ, shrimp, and funnel cake luring them towards the river bank. Do I dare say it was the ringing of one of our event site cell phones pulling in a crowd?

T-L: Riverfest flags on poles seen around the park. T-R: Wooden roses for sale. B-L: Quapaw carving. B-R: Gator head as seen at Capt’n Dave’s across from our event site. Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson

This weekend officially made for the longest week of my life. Tornado sirens in Roswell, lame birthday and the humidity and rain from this weekend is a lot to soak in one week. Not to mention the everyday sort of stuff one must endure. By the end of each day my feet were on fire, throbbing and stinking. I couldn’t stand myself. My feet couldn’t stand me. I felt like I couldn’t stand anymore. And these aren’t complaints. I am just speaking on behalf of my feet. You know how chatty they can get. After all they are the ones taking me on all these great adventures. Like, I was saying though I was at Riverfest as a vendor and not for leisure. My co-worker and I worked with other VzW staff and we had some day-staffers help out as well. Overall I’d say we were pretty successful in making everyone have fun with the exception of Capt’n Dave and his crew. They probably wanted to walk us right off a plank into the river because of the large crowds we kept drawing in. Oops! Sorry. That’s my job. Like most other events we gave out free goodies and engaged with consumers and had dance contests and saw many freaks and weirdos.

We even had a chance to get in a photo-op with a NBA star! Well I didn’t, but my co-worker did. I didn’t even know who the guy was and since I don’t watch basketball AT ALL for all I know the entire NBA could have walked by without my knowing. Here’s a picture of him and Joe Johnson who happens to be from Arkansas. I had to call my co-worker just now to get his name again and I’m placing the picture here because he is famous so I’m obligated or something, right? I’m such a snob. Geez. Okay, so famous B-ball player at the Riverfest shot is what I was saying…

Germ and Joe Johnson. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

I opted to have my photo taken with the Riverfest creature. And just when I thought it was all about me, me, me – some kid jumped in and tried to steal my shine, so I covered his face with a pink square. His parents would probably appreciate that anyway. Photo: Germany Mayfield

To say the least festivals are pretty great places to be to watch people and to be watched. There were some scary people, confused people, young people, old people, middle-aged people, people who should have put more thought into their outfit, people who should have had on more clothing and so forth. Everyone kept talking about one guy who was walking around with the official Riverfest buttons hanging off from his nipple rings. I finally decided to ask him what that fashion statement was all about and whether it was painful. He said it hurt a little, but he liked the shock value. Poor guy.

And then there was a guy (very scary in fact) who had the two teardrops tattooed by his eye. Germany pointed out that he had murdered two people. I’ve heard this before so that wasn’t new news, but he didn’t have a shirt on and so I saw every tat on his flesh from the waist up. There was a rather large one of what looked like a mom and daughter. I hope those teardrops weren’t from them. GULPS. Isn’t something how the imagination gets away from you?

Lastly there was some 18 1/2 year old boy who attempted getting my number so we could talk sometime. Um, yeah – I don’t think so. He and his pals were something else and asked to have their picture taken. I warned them that I would post their picture on my site and so you can see it below beneath the fireworks. I noticed only through my viewfinder that several of them were wearing a lot of green. I decided to act naive and ask why all the green? I wanted to see where the young men’s heads were at… One of them said…
“I don’t know about them, but Paru…” Or something of that nature. It didn’t sound familiar or like a frat or even a church group, but I decided to play dumb more. Here’s my response, “so what’s that?” They told me to forget about it which told me it wasn’t anything too amazing, but if it were a local gang I hope this young men decide to drop it sooner than later and opt for a variety of colors and prints in their wardrobe. A friend of mine warned me that they were still bangin’ in Little Rock and to be careful. I guess – now I know.

I did meet some pretty awesome people too. Weirdos just tend to stick out. Shout outs to John Mcgauhy from Memphis and Zee from Columbia, S.C.

Here’s some shots from the fireworks over the Arkansas River and some taken in my rear view as the crowd begins to call it a night and head out.

All photos: Adrienne C. Wilson

Hope you all had an interesting Memorial Day weekend and a safe one too. May we remember all those lost in service and to those still out there on the line and in the battlefield. GET HOME SAFE!

Strength.

Tomorrow will be another fun filled day at the Raleigh Keith Urban show. I can’t wait. I can’t wait. Yes, I can. Must sleep. Need laundry done now! NoW! NOW.

So… Let’s see… I’m in Raleigh, which is in North Carolina and makes for the 48th state I’ve visited. I once flew through Charlotte, N.C. on a flight to somewhere, but my layover was so short I couldn’t count it as a real visit and I don’t like counting trips in an airport as stops anyway. I’ve got one full day off on Sunday here that i’d like to use to do some exploring, but I’m only checking free attractions right now which there is a whole list here. Anyone in Raleigh or North Carolina have any suggestions?

The clothes have stopped tumbling. It’s time to get some rest in Raleigh.

Night.

Happy clovers and little green leprechaun day from Austin. Have some Guinness or brew of choice for me. I’ll be here in my Extended Stay of America drinking Smart Water and listening to Ghostland Observatory’s latest and previous (just purchased). Worry not though because, I’ve got a yee-pinch of green on and a lucky lickle 4-leaf clover tatted on my wrist. Yes, Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

So, I feel like I’m on another planet. No longer do I totally, utterly, dislike Texas which means all the residents of this massive state can breathe a HUGE Texas size sigh-of-relief. You did it Austin! It’s all you! Austin is a very swell spot. I would say SXSW played a big part in all the groovy feelings I now have for Texas, but I did get out and about some for other work related reasons that allowed me to see the city. If all works out I’ll even go have a walk down by the river today before we leave tomorrow. What’s the name of that river? In short Austin appears to have the package deal: Good food (I have not even tipped the iceberg), Natural attractions/outdoor recreation, Good music and a pretty affordable housing market from what I hear. Yet, I don’t know that I could live in Texas off of Austin alone.

Let me tell you about the work week past and how much of SXSW I actually had the chance to enjoy. I have some highlights and I have some lowlights. My VzW street team partner, Germany and I worked with KLBJ at Maggie Mae’s Pub the entire time. From the moment we arrived we’d heard nothing, but great stuff about Maggie Mae’s and it almost lived up to them all. If you’re a visitor just coming to check out some of the daily performances then you should have no worries. If you’re working folks like us then you might have to watch for the sheep’s wool being pulled over your eyes. In a nutshell our event could have been better, but we made due with what we could and created memorable experiences for VzW. Our mission was to hand out premiums and SXSW/VzW related swag along with these really cool ScanDisk memory cards for cell phones. They were very much head-turners and great conversation starters.

Sorry, I should back track so that I don’t lose anyone. SXSW is one of the largest music festivals in the South Western U.S. and music lovers, bands, and fans travel from all across the world to be apart of it one way or another. It is a photographer’s dreamland if the type that likes to snap character shots. It is a place to nab a ton of free goodies from all sorts of brands dying to get their goods into your hands. (I.e. Dentyne, Protein Zone, Cha Cha and beyond) Ultimately it is a place to hear your favorite bands and discover new ones. A badge gets you into any concert, a wrist band gets you in if there is a capacity and God plus a cover can only get you into some of the hotter select spots after that. While I had a list of peeps I wanted to check in the beginning I learned that work would prohibit me from checking out the main one’s I wanted to see (J*Davey, Nouveau Riche, Ice Cube, and some others I am sure.) I did get a chance to see J*Davey in passing, but a live show would have certainly done the trick considering it has been about four years since I caught a show in D.C. (Where does the time go?) On the last night of the festival I went to see a reggae band called Rootz Underground at the Flamingo Cantina on 6th. I urge you to check them out. Like most participants I was able to get a lot of free music from upcoming artists on the streets and one really good one I have had the chance to listen to so far is Adam Chaki’s Snowcite. I encourage you to listen to that one as well. If all else fails or I have failed in providing you with a reasonable of list of music you should be downloading from this event or in general – I’m really not sorry for you.

Maybe you should try harder to be there next year. Find a job with one of those promo companies, recruit some of your friends and better: make some music of your own. I’ll be listening for you. If you were there and you happened to see the chicken or myself around 6th – please leave me a comment. The only real lowlight I have was seeing this dude’s massive tangle of pubic hair pushing up from behind the denim for the world to see. The world didn’t need to see it. I didn’t.
I exit listening to Snoop Dogg’s Ego Trippin’.

P.S. If in Austin, you can pass on dining at Cuba Libre. The food was edible at best, but nothing fantastic or closely related to Havana other than the plantains. I cashed in some of my frequent flyer miles with United to get a restaurant GC and used it at Cuba Libre. If I hadn’t had the free $25 dollars I would probably be one hot tamale. And that’s not Cuban either.

First, Happy Belated Valentine’s Day to all. Let love continue to engulf your world all 365 days of every year.

This past weekend I was out in Americus, GA, where I attended a Team Leader training for Habitat for Humanity International. After two Global Village builds in the past I decided I’d like to one day lead interested volunteers into life-changing adventures of their own. The two-day training was an awesome experience in that I got to be surrounded in a room full of people gathered together for a common cause to help serve Habitat globally and locally. I learned a tremendous amount about team leading (that which is specific to Habitat) and I can’t wait to get the process rolling to help construct homes and/or whole villages in Africa. I’m eying Ethiopia towards the year end and you can be sure I’ll provide more details as I get them.

Future GV Team Leaders take a glimpse at shanti style homes. A light bulb hanging in a shanti which has no electricity, signifies hope that one day they might. Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson

During the weekend time period I also had the chance to visit the GV Discovery Center. This is a cool site for anyone passing through Americus to visit because you can actually get an idea of the kind of decent shelter Habitat builds in various countries. You can even walk into the homes! The only event I didn’t have the chance to experience was Sunday School with Jimmy Carter. I had to hurry back to Atlanta to catch a flight back to Houston. I’m sure there will be other opportunities to meet Carter – at least I hope.

Habitat brick! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

To learn more about Habitat and how you can get involved you can visit their website by clicking here. If you missed the details of my previous GV build in Dushanbe, Tajikistan you can still read all about them on Gadling.

Model Habitat homes from around the globe. Africa & Asia / Pacific. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

When off teetering around in some foreign place I do my very, very best not to do something to shame my fellow American citizens.

I may have failed last year.

While hanging out in Khorog, Tajikistan last year at a restaurant with my guide/translator and some Czech people we had met a few days earlier, I noticed some mold on the bread I was about to dig into. After hiking up and down the mountains the last few days I was the walking definition of famished. So I wanted the bread, but I couldn’t possibly eat bread with green, mossy, fuzzy stuff lining the crust. I had my guide send it back for some fresh bread. This type of behavior surprised our Czech tag-a-longs. Sending food back no matter how good or bad was just something they expressed was not too commonly done in the Czech Republic and they had to get used to American’s ways. (Not exactly how their comment went, but something along that line.)

“BUT,” I said. “The bread has mold on it.”

!MOLD!

M-O-L-D!

M for Mold
O for Old
L for Late
D for Decay

“We can’t eat that bread,” I finished.

I truly thought I had done nothing wrong. I wasn’t rude or over the top. I just wanted fresh bread. The waitress didn’t seem offended. What if it had been under cooked chicken? Everyone knows you can’t eat under cooked chicken. It could kill you!!! I would have sent that back too. No second thoughts either.

Well last night when I was out having conversation with a nice gentleman from Finland who is presently working in the Tampa area for a few months, I recounted this experience because it struck me as odd. He basically told me it would also be very Un-Finnish to EVER send a plate of food back to the kitchen. Excuse me? In fact he told me that in most cases if you didn’t like your meal you would just push your plate aside and tell the waiter YOU’RE SORRY, but you just can’t eat it. You would kindly thank the waiter (I guess for bringing the dish out), apologize more (I guess for getting a meal you dislike or that isn’t prepared properly) and then if you were still really hungry or whatever you could try to work something out in regards to getting another better prepared dish or a different one. I completely understand working something out with your waiter, but I wasn’t totally clear as to whether you still have to pay for the first dish if you ended up sending it back. Perhaps I didn’t get a clear answer because my Finnish guest had never sent a meal back.

So my question: Was I an “Ugly American?”

Seriously, I mean it when I say I’m not picky or a picky eater. If I were a guest in someone’s home I would try to be as delicate as possible if it were something I COULDN’T eat. In a restaurant in Tampa, Turkey or Tajikistan – I’m a paying customer. I want food I can eat. I am paying for it. This isn’t eating me up (no pun intended), but it just makes me wonder is that a European thing? Luckily, I have only sent two or three meals back between the U.S. and Central Asia, but what do other cultures do?

Is it rude to send a dish back to the kitchen in say, South Africa? What about Korea, China, Yemen, Australia, Peru, Italy, Nigeria or any other country in the world? Has anyone out there ever had a similar situation?

Food for thought?