Brotha In Sri Lanka Day 4

Day 4 was uneventful. We were pretty much just about this life here; pool at my feet, lake behind my head:

We woke up late and caught the last few minutes of breakfast. I got SUPER annoyed by the lack of order at the omelet line. I wanted a joint with green chillies, tomatoes and cheese and they were putting me through changes just to live.

Yeah, I know, middle class-ass problems.

Tried not to make up, in two days, for all of the training I haven't been doing this holiday season. But you know I still went hard in the gym.

Watched "Fast 5" and yes, Vin Diesel is still my favorite actor. And Dwayne Johnson is the absolute coolest guy alive. He's had the title a coupla years now and will probably have it a couple more (but I'm closing in fast, no pun intended)! Also watched the latest "Mission Impossible" for the first time. That was pretty damn cool. Did I tell you I watched all of the "Twilight" films right before we left Doha? I actually enjoyed them immensely! I know, right?! Who knew?

Storms roll through every evening and I love it. It's sunny throughout the day, then it comes down. And I like to wait it out right up until it starts to pour. The smell, the light rain and the clouds amongst all of the organisms is worth all of the effort you put into life to get the things you aren't always sure you will. Just that.

I'ma tell you something. I'ma get a li'l personal for a second. I've had an amazing life thus far. I always knew 33 would be a turning point also. It's like a reflection stop for me. I've been very fortunate and lucky. It's crazy that I'm ringing in the new year, scarcely a month since turning 33, in Sri Lanka. Before leaving NY, I kept stating that I had to leave, to find something different. I had nice things and I could've stopped betting. I took calculated risks, mixed it with a little faith and supreme self-confidence to get to a certain point. What some saw as a pinnacle, a crowning achievement, I saw as a baseline, a requirement to put a bigger plan in action for myself and the universe. I started to feel like I needed to go East because, despite loving to "get fresh" and go out drinking and partying and living it up in NY and on vacations and the continued acquisition of things I didn't have and wanted, growing up, I felt like I wasn't living right and I needed to separate myself. So I accepted the position in Doha. It's been amazing, but you can't predict what you're supposed to live. I've been a bit disappointed by Doha's inability to provide the type of spiritual nourishment I felt like I needed. I should have known better though. Just being in a place doesn't do such a thing. I was expecting to find a path with an ease I never do in any other aspect of my life. I lost my way. So I stopped looking. I stayed in the moment, tried to disconnect a little from time and place. A few weeks later I found myself talking to an elephant on my way to a Buddhist temple.

You know my stories, because I'm very public with them. (Though trust me, SOME of the most important ones are in a vault that few have the key to.) I was from nothing, materially, and a movie that would rival "The Color Purple" could be made about my family upbringing. We won't revisit that today because I survived it, it doesn't need to be revived too often. The improbable became my daily life. I've honeymooned in the City of Lights, been paid to perform music and rock stages in front of my closest family and friends. I had an incredible wedding and saw my boys go from growing up in the gutter with me, to having beautiful families and homes far away from there. I've balled out at the casinos (I had no car and decent rent back then, haha), popped bottles in VIP in Vegas and NY, been waited on hand and foot at millionaire resorts and billionaire estates, been flown across the world to make a living doing what it's hard to make a living doing back home, manipulated the devotion of more amazing women than any man like I was should have the privilege of knowing, found a discipline to turn back the clock on my external appearance and internal health and make a living as an academic when a few short years ago it looked like I should just give the college thing up because it wasn't working out.

And trust me, I friggin' enjoyed it. Some of you know better than others, how much I enjoyed it. I'm certainly not above STILL enjoying it. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. It all stays with me, and I won't leave it behind. I need more though, something else. So I went on a search.

And I swear, the smell, the light rain and the clouds amongst all of the organisms is worth all of the effort you put into life to get the things you aren't always sure you will. Just this. No bottles, money, sex, compliments, drugs, threads or beats. I guess that's the appeal of nature. And it's evidence that you will get the things you work for.

Brotha In Sri Lanka Day 3

We just saw 2 bulls roaming the sidewalk like they were people. Two things:

1.I'm mad as hell I didn't get a pic.

2. I would've been terrified if I was walking near it.

Oh, ok, we are definitely where cows roam the street. Ok. Got some pics. They are actually everywhere. Most of the time in groups.

We unexpectedly stopped at an herbal and spice garden and there was no predicting how AWESOME something so boring-sounding would be. Walking in just felt like healing was happening. We were surrounded by many plants and given an explanation of what they all do by a student.

As we were brought some tea and read a brochure about specific herbal remedies, we were given surprise massages with the herbs. And I mean, these were MASSAGES. Maybe 30 minutes, back, shoulders, arms, legs and feet. It was the best massage I've ever gotten. During mine, I had a mental conversation with a small lizard of some sort. That's private. 

Getting a BOMB massage at the herbal and spice garden.
This was free!
Just cost the price of a donation.

Student at the herbal and spice garden. He was the man.
Friendly, knowledgeable and efficient.

We bought some stuff for joints, skin and oral care. I'm very much looking forward to using them.

Left to right: Sandalwood for skin rejuvenation (Doha climate and diet is HARSH on my skin). Herbal tooth powder for my gum issues. An herbal rub for dermatitis (sweaty nuts rash) and the famous Red Oil from the leaf that contains glucosamine. That's for the joints.

We went to a turtle hatchery which was a place to protect and raise turtles. Kind people doing a tough, often thankless job. We bought some cool souvenirs here. There was an albino turtle with missing fins and one with a beautiful shell. These turtles can live to be 200 years old. 

Clockwise: turtle egg feels like a ping pong ball; albino turtle;
me holding a day old green turtle;
albino turtle missing front fins :( and a healthy adult turtle.

Afterwards was a cool safari I'll share through video.

There's more video but blogger isn't cooperating :(

We were able to see water monitors (GIANT lizards),

birds, I held a baby crocodile

and put my foot in water that had dozens of fish which bit the dead skin off.

It was very cool. I also drove the boat for a little bit.

We ate by the magnificent Indian Ocean but had a terrible time with bad, slow service. That took way too much of our time out. Afterwards was a moonstone mine which was quite boring but my wife did get a ring out of it :)

Btw, before we got here we joked that since the Sri Lankans stare and marvel at her in Doha, a whole country will now. It wasn't a joke, turns out. They tell ME how beautiful she is and that I'm lucky, and ask to feel her hair. Families stare at her while eating. It's the craziest thing. Being African-American is intriguing enough because they don't really see us here, but her hair is of the UTMOST interest. Something about the way she looks in general is completely exotic and magnetic to them.

Our guide in the safari was a young, dark local who definitely tried to use his "darkness" as a bond to hustle us out of money. "I'm black like you...the Europeans, they give a tip if they are happy - 10 dollars, 20. You understand? *smiling*"

"This will be 500 rupees" :)

At this time he was trying to get his man some dough to show us something about cinnamon. I said "I don't have more money. So it's free?" He says "No. I pay and you give it back to me." Uh-uh, lol. I gave him 6 bucks for his 90 min tour. I called that fair. He was being too weird, very very inquisitive about our blackness, Americanness and economics. He did things like feel the fabric of my shirt or ask if we smoke or drink. He thought we were a come-up. Asked for my number. I was like "I don't use this in this country." Because it's expensive. And because you're weird. He was cool enough though. The people are poor and he was trying to get at some rupees. 

We decided to skip the beach and some boring-sounding fort so that we could get the long ride home over with. Sri Lanka is so stimulating it tires me out just by being here. Haven't even explored our hotel, which we always do. Haven't even had a drink! But the touring is outta the way. Now begins relaxation.

Brotha In Sri Lanka Day 2

We are on our way to Kandi. I'm so grateful and humbled to be around so many colors. The buses are colorful. The clothes and buildings are colorful. The structures and lack of major roads and signs of modernity reveal this as an obviously poor place, but I've never felt disconnected from my origins. I'm here as a comparatively "wealthy" tourist but I feel much more comfortable in the slum. Well, I guess that's easy to say when crime isn't a threat (although theft is high anywhere people are poor). Our driver is giving us a ton of good info, from red bananas to the fact that they rarely see a black American here. We can tell, haha. They stare. Hard, long and often.

I caught a coughing fit so we pulled over and bought me water. 89 cents for a liter. 70 rupees. This was outside of the tourist area. I pulled out thousands and I looked like an idiot. But they were just more shocked to see me than anything. Probably one of the morse shocking things to happen to them. Random black American pulls off side of rural road, buys water and bounces. Few minutes later we tried this tasty, exotic (to us, apparently EVERYONE ELSE has eaten rambutan before) fruit. There are many skinny dogs on the street. Vegetables and fruits are plentiful and high quality here and it shows in the appearance of the people.

The elephant orphanage was WONDROUS. Full of rescued elephants. I could say a lot about the humbling experience of coming face to face with one of the most majestic creatures some entity had the imagination to create, but the video of me being apprehensive about getting REALLY close (of course I had to touch it and StarPower in front of it), should tell it all. This wasn't a zoo, btw. It's an orphanage, a park, and only the horny elephants are chained. The rest roam pretty freely. We were in THEIR home: 

From elephant dung to elephant dung paper!

We took a tour of a shop where expensive elephant dung paper is made. That's right, paper made from elephant crap. 

Just passed some trees that looked like they were full of hanging black fruit. But they were bats. I have loved to see them fly away in a frenzy.

From the "rolling room" to the way the herbs look in the paper,
this does not look like it's about making tea.

The tea factory was very cool. We went from the paper shop before this, to the rolling room here, then she showed us the leaves and it looks like she's showing us how to wrap them. Only thing you need after that is that fiyah, haha. 

We visited a famous Buddhist temple. I had to wear a sarong around my waist because I couldn't get it in shorts. There was a TON of people. I loved that it rained when we arrived and stopped when we walked out. The treasures and decorations were spectacular. I've been considering becoming a Buddhist so the info given by our guide, along with the temple experience, provided me with a good bit of foundation for my spiritual journey. Here's some video from the trip:

I just saw a G-Unit tuk-tuk. Crazy. 

The ride home was excruciatingly long and dangerous on the wild, narrow, slick roads. So glad to get home.

Brotha In Sri Lanka Day 1

Everywhere looks like this.

Day 1
No matter what kind of research I do beforehand, it's hard not to feel like I'm getting "got" by the currency exchange. I currently have 18,000 rupees. To give you an idea of what that is, I could get a monthly metro card (I guess I still could) but I couldn't get the newest Jordan's.

The first thing we were struck by leaving the airport was the smell - life. Doha has very little plants so it has no smell. It's one of it's major drawbacks. There are also no signs of Qatari culture in Doha, whereas Colombo's streets are filled with signs of the culture, from tuk-tuks (the hybrid car/bike vehicles used for transportation) to the colourful housing and business decor (color almost seems banned in Qatar). Make no mistake, I'm referring to what looks like very poor areas, but growing up in NYC hoods, they have a liveliness I can appreciate and miss. We've already seen 2 public displays of culture, some military ceremony and a parade/festival. The prayer call is the closest thing to public spectacle in Doha. Coming from NY, I'm used to frequent acts of expression. I miss it, but not enough to want to go back. This rain is everything right now. We're taking an hour ride from airport to hotel and it became dark and rainy on the way in. It's rained in Doha, but the trees and open air here release the tropical feel into the atmosphere I like to absorb when we vacation in Mexico and the Caribbean.
The driving is AT LEAST as crazy as in Doha, which is considerably worse than NY.

There are actually women walking in the street here. Most are driven around in Doha. You pretty much only see Filipinos, and the occasional ex-pat or African chick on Doha streets.

A 40 km ride to our hotel is an hour (it would be 20 min in NY) because the roads are narrow and crowded with different types of vehicles with vastly different horsepower. And it's raining. And now it's dark. It's 6pm local, 4pm Doha, 8am home.

The hotel is one of the liveliest hotels I've ever been in. Luxurious without the stiff pretense of Northeastern luxury hotels or the plantation luxury of the tropical resorts we've stayed at. It's large and has all the shops, restaurants, clubs and facilities you expect, along with intimate touches to the amenities that show that they care about the details. The service is impeccable, our view is nice and the food is the best I've had at a hotel - flavorful, spicy and robust. And oh yeah - cheeeaaap. I dollar = 127 rupees and the room service is cheap. Banging prawns Caesar salad for 600 rupees ($4.27). Mixed seafood of lobster, prawns, crab, tuna, sole veggies and potatoes for 1000 rupees ($8). It's almost unbelievable. There are two weddings going on and the people are dressed to the nines. While traveling the city from Colombo to Kandi, we see that the men are well groomed and the women are beautiful. They wear the traditional robes that show off more of their bodies than the typical American outfit does, and that's a contrast to Doha, where the women are as covered and closed as you can get. Thats actually a simplistic explanation of how Arabic women dress because there is great variety and the women, surprisingly to me, have great sex appeal in the Arabic world, but thats for another blog. The women here look at men, and flaunt their hair and figures in a natural way. Everyone seems to have clear, smooth skin. But you don't really see muscular fellows. There is more of a balance of the masculine and feminine here. I'm sure it's a patriarchal system here like everywhere else, but the women walk around and project the energy of power an strength that isn't common in the Arab or Western world. Low crime is a factor I'm sure, but I've observed this kind of spirit when watching tv programming about the poorer places in the world that are rich in culture, spirit and natural resources.

1 US buck = 127 rupees

Took a ton of footage from the elephant orphanage, the tea factory, and the buddhist temple - stay tuned!

Christmas In Doha

This overseas thing has its challenges. I discovered how sad holidays living overseas can be, and I'm not necessarily talking about me being homesick (it's hard not to miss my people and city, but I really, really don't miss the celebration of Christmas in particular back home; watching it on Facebook makes me thankful that the distance enables me to avoid most of the elements I've come to reject).

A feeling starts to permeate the environment, early in the season, of people who have to figure out vacation plans to feel like they are living a life separate from what they left home to do. Many (like me) cant afford to go back home or choose not to because we'll get taxed on our income over a certain amount of days accumulated in a year back in the U.S. (So don't expect to see us on U.S. soil much at all until 2014, maybe.)
Some will spend their first year not being able to go back to the war-torn country they left to come here (some of the Syrians and Lebanese). Some just wanted to leave here, so they went anywhere. Because it was somewhere. Some stayed here. Very few, but some. And some clustered together and created a type of family unit for the holidays. We all did that at the beginning of the season, sort of as a way to tell each other "We have each other." Then we all tried to get the heck outta here.

My wife and I are probably the last here that have plans to go elsewhere. We didn't run out and I'm glad because I needed the time to not feel like a traveler, or a worker. I keep thinking of this Jamaican mom, who is here only with her young son. Just them two, in a pretty empty building. On Christmas. In Doha, Qatar. We make what we feel are the best decisions, and that doesn't mean they'll feel like they're the best decisions all of the time.
You know, I don't celebrate Christmas. My wife still likes the odd decoration, or to give a gift to a kid or something. But for the most part, we don't participate. That doesn't mean I don't feel the season. Well, there's social networking, of course. There's over two decades of never questioning...anything, especially the meaning of holidays in our society. And even though its 80 degrees here in a Muslim country (and you'd be surprised how much Christmas cheer is here; there is a push to accommodate the ex-pats during the holiday season, and everyone wishes you a Merry Christmas - I'm like, "Y'all are more into this than I am!").

The season from Thanksgiving to New Years has traditionally felt like the season to get off track. Eating that throws off health habits, spending that creates financial concerns, family gatherings that can be unpredictable, reflections on goals that may/not have been achieved the previous year, resolutions that begin another cycle of questionable habits. I find myself choosing how much to act like I'm into it all because of those around me. But I usually just want the coupla months to pass so we all can go back to normal.

I'm gonna be in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which once sounded extremely exotic but now just sounds like a cool, exciting place to visit, similar to Philly or the Carolina coast. The difference is that the culture will be very unfamiliar, but I know a good handful of Sri Lankans, and with the way my world has shrunk, not much seems too "out there" anymore. Guess that's why I've been visualising Felix Baumgartner's jump so much recently. Or wanting to research what internal thought processes, and external variables lead us to new places in our mind. Because, as much as physical travel can be exciting (and I haven't done a whole lot), at this point in my life the intrigue only extends as far as it can facilitate my internal journey. If my next trip doesn't take me to the edge of the atmosphere (forget inner-earth travel - I ain't with deep sea exploration, caves, or any other internal earth trips, haha), it must take me to the edge of my consciousness.

Anyway, I'm gonna continue watching the Knicks (11pm is the earliest I've ever caught a game - live stream of course) and I'm gonna eat my last Magnum ice cream. Yum.

National Day and Thoughts on Self-Expression and Sandy Hook

The day after tomorrow is National Day! They get it POPPIN' for this day. Not only do folks bring out their Beemers, Benzes and Bentleys, but they also trot out their camels, falcons and donkeys (and eagles and tigers). They feast and make merry.

I'll definitely ask someone to let me hold one. With my bare hand. And if anyone asks you how I roll, tell them like that. Barehanding a falcon.



"Catch me convincing Qataris to ghost-ride the whip on National Day..." #bars

This is just...ill.

According to Wikipedia:

"Qatar National Day (18 December) is an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the actions of Qatar's forefathers who endured severe hardships and paid a dear price for the unity of their nation. Qatar National Day also emphasizes the identity and history of the country, embodies the ideals and aspirations that the country was founded on and pays tribute to the men and women who participated in building the nation, especially the Al Thani family, the current leaders of Qatar."

It also means that tomorrow (the day it's celebrated in school), the kids come dipped in their best threads, food is plentiful, there will be performances, a few animals on campus AND the kids are dismissed EARLY!


And of course, we are off on Tuesday!








Friday, I will be having a traditional Iraqi dinner with the family of one of my students! Fish - YUMSTERS! Maybe this? -

Omega 300s

Apparently, if we mistakenly teach geometry by drawing a 6 pointed star (i.e. Star of David), we could be in HOT water. You know why, don't you? Of course you do.

"And this, kids, is a dodecagon. Relax. Not a Jewish one. It's non-denominational."

The school improved the wi-fi connection at our apartment building, which we all find very exciting because Skype is infinitely more major here (at least to us) than it was at home, and you need a good connection to really live. And I don't get the unlimited data love like I had back in the States so 3G (no 4G here yet) isn't an option I wanna take advantage of.

Who am I kidding - I don't Skype, call, text, email, any of that. They STILL haven't made communication easy enough for me. I'm waiting for y'all to catch up to my telepathy.

Did I tell y'all that my building is a converted hotel owned by the brothers who own my school? They also own cable, jewellery, car rental, department stores and a bunch of other businesses.

Individuality is not so encouraged at my school. I think it's an extension of the British instructional standards that the school used up until this year. A teacher asked if the students could at least wear colorful socks to show individuality and the response from admin was, "I don't see why they would need to wear that." If you know me well enough, you know what my daily response is to the suppression of self-expression.

I'm showing "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," there's a long church scene with crosses, priests and communion, and I don't know if I should fast-forward the movie or not.

The Knicks are so real. 21-1 at home for any stretch of time is magnificent. Quarter of the season done and we are elite. We look like this at the break and call us contenders. I already do but I understand your hesitation.

Man, how SAD is it that protecting your students from gunfire is yet another VERY REAL possible requirement that isn't in a teacher's job description? Talk about a hero. Hard to find any peace with this kinda stuff man. And let's not ever say that this stuff only happens in the boonies. Connecticut hits so close to home. It can happen wherever there are people and guns. And please let's not turn everything into a self-serving debate. I hope we all can at least agree that we are anti-the-person-who-had-the-gun-who-did-this. He used a dangerous weapon in the worst way, that's a fact and that's a statement about dangerous people and access to dangerous things HOWEVER you want to look at it. A living breathing pro- or op-ponent of gun control shouldn't feel smugly satisfied by being able to argue and/or prove their point regarding the issue. Ok, you're right. Or wrong. Over 20 still died. And this feeling I have about these victims is no stronger or weaker than the feelings I've had about the lives that have been lost that I've heard about my whole life growing up in the hood. It's all just...it's tragic.

Y'all have a great day. I'm gonna go make mine greater, because I've been off for 25 minutes, but I'm blogging off of their ethernet game - you know how I do! Peace!

Sri Lanka For The Holidays!

I'm going to Colombo, Sri Lanka for the winter break and the COMBINED cost of air and hotel for my wife and I over a week is HALF the cost of one plane ticket back to the US. I'm hoping to ride an elephant, climb a holy mountain (whatever that is), and not get up at 5am.

Who am I kidding, I'll still rise at 5, but at least I can lay around and scratch and play with my phone until I'm ready to get up and...further lay around and scratch and play with my phone.

We asked our driver to hear some music in the morning, and there was none available, just prayer. I can't understand it, and I don't necessarily prefer it, but I could always use some.

I keep this in mind: "No one anyone does is because of you."

It's a projection and reflection of their own reality.

We're supposed to be in our car by 5:55. I get up a little after 5 and it's difficult. I go to bed pretty early but not 9pm, and I probably won't. In the past I'd just assume that I have to be more disciplined and accept the misery of rising even earlier. But rising at 4:30 am to get to school that is 10 minutes away and doesn't start until 6:45 just doesn't make sense for me. Not if I'm miserable because of it, and I'm not getting anything done in particular during that time. I do it because I didn't get a driver at the beginning of the year so I ride with other people, people who want to get to work early. That's what happens when you don't plan ahead. My issue, not theirs. So it's on me to fix it.

The school maintenance workers look so weirded out when they come into my classroom after dismissal. I don't blame them. They don't know if I'll be blasting gangsta shit, singing loudly along to George Michael's "Last Christmas," or doing dips in between two tables they're getting ready to clean. Maybe they come in while I'm "liking" some weird pic that Mario "liked" on my newsfeed, or using a meter stick to hang every anchor chart at the exact same amount of inches from the whiteboard chalk ledge. Either way, they usually nod and smile while their eyes look like they're saying, "Just one day I'd like to dust without you weirding me out, you freak." Haha. Too bad I can't get drunk with them like I did with the maintenance at my old school. I suspect they are infinitely more interesting than the teachers here.

Then again, I've never heard ANYTHING like the kinds of things that came outta the mouths of the teacher I played the drinking game "Never Have I Ever..." with on thanksgiving. My goodness, the stories these international teaching veterans have.

There are like, hardly any garbage cans in Doha. But the city is quite clean. Because there are workers ALWAYS cleaning up after people. There aren't any trash cans in most Burger Kings or McDonalds; people just leave the trays on the tables and someone cleans up after them. That's pretty much how it seems to work here.

I start tutoring next week. Single mom, difficult kid, it'll be an adventure.

When it gets chilly here (70 F), people wear jackets and scarves. Back home, 70 F meant short sleeves for me. But I must admit, 70 in the desert feels like maybe 60 back home.

Some people talk a lot probably because they can't stand the sound of their own thoughts. But they shouldn't invade yours because of it.

You want a natural rush? Make a cup of green tea with two bags, let it sit until it's just warm, and gulp it down fast. It'll mess with you. I first started doing this with coffee, but I've switched it up because the tea is natural-er. I thought I wasn't too sensitive to caffeine. Not the case. I know, I know, this is all too fascinating for you to bear.

My wife got mad at me because I was very tired and fell asleep during the second movie we saw at the Doha TriBeCa Film Festival. I'd be mad at me too. The star and director was right next to me. My body was like "off now." The films I stayed up for were pretty darn good though. Especially the last one, "No Place For Men" was the title, I think.

It rained this weekend and it was beautiful. That isn't common. And it was appreciated.