My 2011-2012 BHAGs: Curacao, Bonaire, NOLA, Egypt, Cambodia, AUS!?

BHAG = Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Thanks for the inspiration, BootsnAll! You have just made me realize what’s my real last name 😉

Alo! I’m super excited to share some great news on this lovely Travel Tuesday night with ya! 😀 As you already know, I’ll be visiting Curacao for the first time in November. However, what you didn’t know yet is that I’ve added Bonaire to the mix! After speaking to other travel bloggers that have been to the ABC’s (Aruba/Bonaire/Curacao), I was told that it is wise if I were to spend 2-3 days on each instead of the whole time in just one of them. And since I’m trying to visit all countries in the world…this would be a perfect opportunity to cross off two at once 😀 after some debate, I decided to stay longer in Bonaire (3 days), as I wanted to visit the least crowded island with the most unspoiled nature for better diving/snorkeling. Then, I will fly back to Curacao and stay for 2 days to soak in the night life and possibly cycle around instead of renting a car *fingers crossed* I’m excited to have a taste of the Dutch Caribbean! Oh and in case you were wondering why I have left Aruba out? I already visited back in 2002 😉

Aruba Natural Bridge

Aruba's Natural Bridge, which collapsed in 2005 - I went there just 3 yrs earlier!

Now, how the HECK were NOLA, Egypt, Cambodia, Thailand, and even AUSTRALIA thrown to the mix!? Let me begin by saying that they are not all on a one-way RTW ticket (although that would have been pretty epic)…

French Quarter, New Orleans

French Quarter, New Orleans at night (Photo: Falkue at de.wikipedia)

NOLA, aka New Orleans, aka the “Big Easy” was an impulse buy from yours truly during a ridiculously-beautiful AA sale – snatched a RT ticket, direct flights, TPA-NOLA for just US$160 including taxes (I know, I’m a baller). I’m excited because the first and only time I’ve been to NOLA was to volunteer and help victims affected by Hurricane Katrina. Meaning? That time I got to be a part of something big for people, now this time I will be part of celebrating their recovery, BIG, with them! 😉 shall be a blast! This is happening on a long weekend in December, by the way.

And now, I shall describe the biggest event of this post. Band, drum roll please! *drum roll*

Hint: Plans A & C

Hint: This shall involve Plans A & C

Hint: Plan B

Hint: This shall be Plan B

My Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) for 2012 is to work, live, travel throughout the Middle East again or hit SE Asia for the first time in my life!

*rings cowbell loudly* YES!!!!!!!!!!!

Omg, you have no idea how excited I am, my fingertips just keep doing a happy dance across the keyboard every time I type about that! Soooo! What’s the plan you must be wondering!? Since I basically have it all planned out from Plan A to C to D, I’ll tell you all about it on a tentative timeline I’ve outlined below!

 Nov – Dec 2011 * Curacao & Bonaire (Dutch Caribbean); Miami & Tampa FL (USA)

Dec 2011 * New Orleans, NOLA, the Big Easy

New Year’s 2012 * long weekend where? Hmm…Tampa? Canada? Miami? Times Square/NYC again?

Jan – April 2012…

Plan A: Apply for jobs at US Embassies around the world, preferably in the Middle East, most preferably in Egypt. I want to improve my Arabic, get ready for a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Arabic, Track II at U of Maryland (close to DC!), studying abroad in Egypt again for the 2nd year of my degree (!!!)

Plan B? If by Feb-March I got no promising job offers on my table, start looking for jobs in Australia as well! I got a contact (if you wish to be named, you’re welcome to move forward mister!) that will help me find a job in the tourism industry there. Tour guide? Interpreter? Both? We shall see! 😀

Plan C: Really I got one? Indeed 😀 apply to become a flight attendant for a Middle Eastern airline, preferably Emirates or Qatar Airways. Travel the world while having a base in the Middle East and improve my Arabic in the process? Why not!?

Plan D (aka worst case scenario): Stay in Tampa FL a bit longer, until any plan from above happens. because you know, Maria Alexandra makes things happen!

La Isla del Encanto, Puerto Rico

A beach in Vieques, Puerto Rico

April – Aug 2012 * If either plan A, B or C from above happens, I’ll move back to La Isla Del Encanto, Puerto Rico (HOME!) and live with my family for a few months. It’ll be wonderful, because my first nephew is coming to this world in Feb 2012, so he will get some serious fun time with Titi Maria before she jets off to live in another remote country! (I wish he was old enough to teach him how to Skype already…)

Worst case scenario: Still in Tampa FL, job searching (aka still working on Plans A, B & C from above)

Aug 2012

Plan A: Living (and working) in Egypt again!

Plan B: Last week of Aug, head to Southeast Asia, travel through Thailand (for the first time!) for a couple of days, then head to Cambodia to volunteer on a house build through Habitat for Humanity. Afterward, tubing (and much else) in Laos. And “finally”? Travel job in eastern coast of AUSTRALIA!

Plan C: Become a reincarnated PanAm dream (umm, flight attendant) for Emirates or Qatar Airways, living in the Persian Gulf, but FLYING often around the world!

Sept 2012 * living and traveling either throughout the Middle East, Asia and/or the South Pacific!

And…what if all of the above fails due to some major mystery of the universe? Well, I’ll just stay right here, in Tampa FL, working as a translator and social media manager, still searching and waiting until a promising opportunity crosses my path. I know God has a plan for me, and while I do possess the gift of free will, He also helps me by guiding me in the path that best suits my abilities and all the love and talents I have to give and share with others. I’m such a people person, got so much love and great plans to share and spread around the world, I know what will make me wake up ecstatic every morning will show up eventually 🙂

Until then? I got my timeline to work on! And…

My pool in Tampa, FL
…a great view + pool at my apartment complex to enjoy in Tampa Bay, FL

This post may have been a little tedious for some of you to read, but I am the kind of person that needs to write (errm, type) plans out in order to focus, tackle, and WIN. I’m absent, scattered minded, so time lines like this one have previously helped me achieve some of my biggest life goals. And so this shall be my proclamation, my inspiration–the sticky note I will read every day until my wildest dreams come true!

MOREOVER, I am challenging YOU right now to proclaim your own. Write down your dreams, travel plans, BIG GOALS for the next year already! Come join me, let’s take this journey together!

In response to 30 Days of Indie Travel, Prompt # 1:
What travel goals do you hope to accomplish this year?

How I was welcomed to Morocco: A travel tale

My first Morocco tales, dated on my travel journal Aug.28th.09

Al Akhawayn University Morocco

Destination: Al Akhawayn University. But not so fast!

I did a crazy trip en-route to Il Maghreb: San Juan (Puerto Rico)-NYC (2-night stay); NYC-London (3 nights); London-Madrid (6 days); aaand in just one day: Madrid-Casablanca, Casablanca-Fes, Fes-Ifrane. See, the means of transportation I had to use in the last “legs” of my trip were…interesting…

First off: I met a Moroccan lady on the plane (Madrid-Casablanca) that lives in Spain and visits family in Morocco often. We spoke about cultural differences, as I tried to use most of the Arabic I knew. She tried to respond in Egyptian Arabic so I could understand, which was AWESOME. My Arabic should be better than it is given to the program I completed in Egypt, but because of circumstances, well…still, it was better than I thought it was after I felt I failed an oral test miserably last month! And we will get into that…

So this sweet Moroccan lady actually went all the way from the airport to the train station with me and bought my tickets all the way to Fes, which I greatly appreciated. Then I got off at Voyageurs (?), one stop BEFORE my Moroccan lady. So we said goodbye and there I was, off on my own. First REAL (by that I mean for need to survive) attempt at using my Arabic was “I want water and food. Where can I get them?” I of course used the only spoken Arabic I can survive on (Egyptian), in addition to a funny kind of wording (Ana ayza ashtarii mia wa ta3m. Mahal feen?). Workers just laughed and looked at me both funny and cute. Or maybe just funny. I don’t know. All I remember was repeating myself until they finally understood. There I found Fayrouz pineapple (the best drink in the world) and my water. Then I remembered it’s Ramadan, so I was discretely hiding my stuff and taking on weird positions to be able to drink my ice-cold Fayrouz (again, best drink in the world). After my refreshment, I began to ask “where is my train?” There was a clear board that said my train should have been in the platform I was in…it was 3 o’clock and my train was leaving in 15 mins…I was like where where, trying to explain to people how I only speak Spanish, English, and very limited Egyptian Arabic. They just giggled and tried to explain to me (which you know it means sending me to different places EXCEPT the right one). AT ANY RATE, I finally made it to the train, which happened to be AWAY from the ACTUAL station, a bit of a walk in a random rail that seems to be out of order (?).

Now I was off to Fes. Yay. I met the sweetest Moroccan lady with her cute, SUPER hyper kid. After about half hour of a very broken, yet kind of cute, conversation in Arabic, she told me she actually spoke a bit of English. Ok. She must have been entertained. Her English was good enough to hold another conversation. But I insisted in using Arabic. So we just tried to speak in Arabic with her using English if I absolutely did not get it (meaning, MANY times. Haha). The most hilarious part must have been when her little kid yelled “You’re crazy!” to her mother in Moroccan Arabic (because she was speaking English and the kid thought it was gibberish). Or maybe when I left my purse in the bathroom and the lady reminded me of it. *coughs* My mind is way out there. Then I passed out and woke up RIGHT before my stop in Fes. Whoa, that was close. And there is where the REAL fun began. I got off with all my luggage, struggling to make it into the main “meeting place” (Latina + a semester abroad. You do the math).

Theeeeen…guess what happens? Yup, my “arranged transport” from Al Akhawayn University was not there. Beautiful. I thought maybe I didn’t look well enough, so I ignored the ragul (man) by a shared taxi yelling “Atlas!” (Where Ifrane is located). So, the ragul left and I end up completely stranded, I figured after 15 mins. Thankfully there was a hotel nearby. I checked the Internet. An email sent last minute by the university telling me to confirm my arrival. Dude, if I send you my flight info shortly before my arrival, it means in fact I WILL arrive. But, NO. MOREOVER, there was NO emergency phone number listed in the email. It was 7 o’clock by then. University offices were closed. GREAT. Mind you, here I am starting to freak out. A little. But then the ragul at the maktab al-istakbal (reception, and if I typed it right. Ha) told me there is a grand taxi coming out right in front of the hotel that takes people to Ifrane (Atlas. I KNEW THIS!! Grrr…). I was like, yay, solved! But not quite…

Fez Morocco train station

Fez train station by Davide Cesare Veniani

I went outside and what happened? It was time for iftar, or breaking of the fast. During Ramadan, the holiest month of Islam, Muslims do not eat or drink ANYTHING from sunrise to sunset every day. Then, as soon as the sun is down and the call of prayer hits, poom, BUFFET TIME!! Meaning: NO ONE is on the street…NO ONE. So, I was stranded for another hour. Then 8 o’clock hits. Nothing, except for a man trying to charge me 300 dirhams or $30 to take me to Ifrane “direct.” Ermm NO THANKS. Half an hour later, a family walked by, the people looked “reliable.” Again, in my broken EGYPTIAN Arabic I asked when and where could I catch a grand taxi (shared cab) to Ifrane. No answer. Just a bunch of Moroccan Arabic I didn’t quite get. But by their faces of indifference, I figured they didn’t know anything (Thank Lord for body language). However, someone “eavesdropped” my discrete conversation…so when I least expected it, a horde of ten men or so approached me like hungry tigers. Oh no, oh no…

They all tried to tell me that I was pretty much screwed and wouldn’t find any shared taxis at that hour, that they were all “done for the day.” So, basically, “I had no choice” but to pay anything between 300-500 dirhams for the ride (depending on the driver, of course). At this point I was just so tired, so frustrated because they were trying to explain to me other methods of transport (which were too complicated for me to understand and too expensive ANYWAY). I understood nobody, as everybody is spoke to me at 483564837 mph. Then I just broke out. I started to cry and sob. I heard several “aww!”s and such, then I say, or yelled, very frustrated: Mafish feluus! Wa laken ana laazim aruj ilgamia3! (I have no money! But I must go to the university!) over and over again. I honestly had NO money at that point. I forgot to mention to you I had (well, STILL HAVE) Egyptian pounds worth up to $200 USD…just to find out they are not exchanged in Morocco, khaaalas! (like AT ALL, done, finsihed!). Sooo, I only had like 135 dirhams left because I could not even see the balance of my Puerto Rican card and didn’t want to overdraft at the airport. Anywayyyyyyyy…

In what possible way could this mess turn into something…productive? A random man just stood up in front of the pack of wolves, Obama-style, calmed the crowd and delivered a speech. It was lovely to hear him speak. His rate of speech was lovely. His basic (VERY, very basic) selection of words was almost musical. I was understanding word by word, meia meia (100%). It was absolutely wonderful. “You need to get from here to Ifrane, right? And you have no money for small taxi, right? Ok, just come with me.” Yes, I did go, along with random driver, or sajbak as he said (his friend). Am I out of my mind? Probably. But guess what happened? I was taken all the way to a random spot in town, about 10 mins away from where I was, then they found me a big lime-coloured Mercedes Benz which served as grand (or shared) taxi, paid that driver, the petit taxi driver (or sajbak), then gave me 100 dirhams back. So? The whole deal ended up being 35 dirhams or $3.50 I was mabsuuta awi awi (very very happy)!! However, I had to wait for the Mercedes to get full, meaning I had to be in this part of town, full of only men, for like an hour more. I took the opportunity to buy a yummy sandwich since I only had a Fayrouz and bottle of water in my system. I read the menu: French and Arabic only. Meats…meats I had never heard off. I looked at them. Hmmm. “Steek” looked pretty legit (yes, it was spelled that way, both in French and Arabic. Hilarious). Paid the whopping amount of 20 dirhams (about $2. HA!). Delicious DELIIIIICIOUS, hearty, thick whole-wheat pita with the best seasoned steak. Ahhhh. Maybe I was too hungry. But it’s been 2 days and haven’t had ANY tummy problems. God is GOOD.

Soooooooo then I was in the lime-green Mercedes. After an hour I finally got to the university. It was 10 o’clock. PM. I was exhausted. The guards just looked at me like “EH!?” I mean, imagine a 5’4, 103-pound girl that looks 16 tops, arriving at 10 PM to a college campus in a car with a bunch of men, looking like crap. Umm YAH. Afterwards, the guards looked me up in the system. I showed up. Thank you Lord. But theeeen I had to wait like 20 mins. for an “official university car” to take me from the entrance to my dorm. While I waited, I explained to the guards, a young lady and a man, my odyssey. Entirely in Egyptian Arabic. I’ve never seen an Arab laugh so hard in my entire life. They kept asking me what did I say. I would repeat it, act it all out as desperate/frustrated as I was while stranded in Fes. They almost fell from their chairs. I made their night. I’m a bawler like that.

Al Akhawayn University Morocco

*phew* that's the next day btw...lol...

And that was my first day in Morocco!! *hears weird noises in background* I know, I know. You all must be SO proud… lol…

Have you been to Morocco? Got any crazy stories for me!? Comment!

Egypt and the Middle East: My POV

The Middle East: My POV

Philae Temple - Aswan, Egypt

Egypt and the Middle East: My POV. I remember the initial fascination I felt seeing a picture of Nefertiti in a history book when I was in fourth grade. Across the years, that interest morphed into a fascination with Egyptian culture. In 2008, I finally got to visit Egypt, and my interest was thrown into modernity. Seeing no Nefertitis outside of the Egyptian museum, my interest in Egypt matured in the same way as Egyptian history did: From antiquity, it grew into something more complex and contemporary, with a deeper understanding of the political, economic, cultural and social issues that affect the country.

Of course, it was not all Nefertiti! In addition to living in Egypt, I wandered extensively throughout the Arab world and studied abroad in Morocco as well. Follow me on my new venture & read more about my experiences living and traveling throughout the Middle East. TravelTheMiddleEast.com is my new niche site, where I will post anecdotes, insights, tips & guides about all things Middle Eastern (or Arab for that matter). Hope you enjoy it!

What’s your Middle East POV? Do you plan to visit the region?

Long-term travel & college: My digital scrapbook

Hey guys! Last night (and errm, today) I spent several hours working on a digital scrapbook, as a Shutterfly promo I got through Tripadvisor to get $30 off a photobook was about to expire. So! Since I’m very proud of the product (and can’t spend any more energy in front of a computer typing), here it is! It basically summarizes (some of) the most memorable moments of my 5.5-year college stretch. You may ask, how did I manage to travel extensively while pursuing so many degrees? The short answer: Study abroad, low-cost airlines & Couchsurfing! I plan to write an entry about the specific steps I took in order to be successful both in school & in life later on.

Part 2 (including trips to Israel, Spain & Iceland) coming soon!

Click here to enlarge the digital scrapbook