]]> http://www.districtsoul.com/avery/archives/2006/07/citgo_chvez_1.html http://www.districtsoul.com/avery/archives/2006/07/citgo_chvez_1.html general Tue, 04 Jul 2006 10:06:46 -0500

NFL, Coliseum in preliminary stages for return to L.A.

by Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue emerged from a closed-door meeting with the mayor, stood on the steps of City Hall and announced that a preliminary agreement had been reached to finally return a team to Los Angeles.

(Via espn:nfl.)

It's been many moons since my last email to all my friends. Much has transpired since last fall. I've traveled to the Middle East (Doha, Qatar) and drank tea with Arabic modern day nomads on the border of Saudi Arabia. I've been to the underground cities of the ancient Ottoman Empire in Turkey. I've traveled to the temple of the Sun and the temple of the moon where both Mayans and Aztecs once thrived. Currently, I'm in a city I never knew of and had quite a time pronouncing the first time- Ouagadougou (located in West Africa in the country of Burkina Faso). However, the most amazing thing which has happened to me, which some of you already know, is that I'm now engaged to a wonderful woman from Guadalajara who's captured my heart. Our wedding is scheduled for October of this year in Tequila, Mexico. It's an amazing step in my life but a very welcomed one indeed.

Since I know many of you enjoy keeping up with my travels and haven't heard much from me in the past few months, here are some links of my online photo albums and my blog:

Photos: http://www.districtsoul.com/copper/
Doha (Nov-04)
Turkey (Dec-04)
Mexico (Mar-05)
Journal: http://www.districtsoul.com/avery/

Currently, I'm in the midst of a three trip swing which starts in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso then takes me to London, England for almost 2 weeks, then on to Guadalajara, Mexico for over 2 weeks. It's a bit exhausting but very welcomed. Below are a few photos from my past trips.

(Via wp - Redskins.)

Well, well, well….it’s been a day or two since I had an entry.I made it back safe and sound from Bolivia, hung out back home for a month, had a weekend extravaganza in New York, met a cool new friend, caught up with my homies, spun at quite a few events, finally made a new mix I’m proud of, spent a day in Frankfurt, and am now in Johannesburg, South Africa for ten days.I have some new pix I’ll be posting soon from back home and from my South Africa travels.

I’m happy to be on the road again….I’m feeling good…..more to follow.

Sunday….the day I encroached upon death several times.What an experience…

I went on a mountain bike ride down the Andes through the jungles of Bolivia that consisted of starting at La Cumbre (15,400ft above sealevel) and ended at Yolosa (3,600ft above sealevel) spanning a 40-mile distance between the two.Two thirds of the trip was spent on the ‘World’s Most Dangerous Road’.This road was simply that…a one-lane dirt/gravel road with no guard rails and cliff drop offs of thousands of feet.Honestly, there were at least 3 times in which I thought to myself, “This is it…I’m gone”.Luckily, instincts kicked in and I survived, but I have to say that riding for 5 hours at a high rate of speed with the possibility of death around so many corners was an amazing experience.Oh yea, there were also caravans of HUGE trucks coming up the mountain because a recent road blockade had been lifted.Many times throughout the decent, we would have to dismount and stand on the edge of the cliff as they passed because on this road, traffic going down the mountain had to be on the outside part of the road so the driver could see exactly how close he/she was to the cliff edge.Standing there as a truck whipped past you on the edge was quite an experience in itself.At one point, I had an SUV behind me waiting for a huge truck to pass, but once the truck passed, I had no room to move forward and was stuck.The SUV had positioned itself into a place where it couldn’t back up, so I had to climb over the hood to get to a safer place…if I fell a step back…I was gone…

In the end, I arrived safely with sore legs and arse but in one piece.

Well, not much more to say right now except that I’m really enjoying the Bolivian culture. You can check my photo album or here’s some pix of the Sunday adventure:

The end of the road

Me at the top of the World's Most Dangerous Road

i've made it safe and sound to la paz bolívia.  the trip involved me setting foot on 4 continents in 36 hours (40 hours door to door).  lomé to paris to miami to la paz....i'm a bit tired but a-ok...i now have links to my pakistan and england trip as well as my togo pix...just look at the links on the left side of the page....

i'll have more to write tomorrow...i think now i'm going to rest and try to get used to the thin air here...i'm almost 3 miles above sea level right now....

I made a lil 5 min slide show of all the togo pix right here.  right mouse click and save as...you need quicktime to view...below are a few of the pix:


random lizard


sign behind my hotel


makes you wonder....


my crew of party kids


this is what most of the roads are like

Morning time has come once again----and my good mood has continued. I’m feeling more and more recharged as this trip progresses. As much as it has been boring in terms of things to do in Togo, I’m beginning to see the reason for it. I needed to have time to myself to reset so to speak.

Bolivia is just around the corner and I’ve been trying to get mi español improved for the trip. I’m really hoping with spending most of June and August in Spanish speaking countries that I’ll finally make the leap into speaking the language close to fluent. I guess it’s a matter of really applying myself once and for all.

Well the weather is gray and overcast here in Lomé. We had some serious rain a couple days ago so a bunch of new bugs have hatched. Moths, mosquitoes, and dragonflies (OH MY!). The African mosquitoes have been TEARING me up with a vengeance. NEVER before have I been bit on the PALM of my hand. Not only are they relentless, they are furious, slick, and real strong. Do you know how many layers are on the palm of a human hand? …especially those who work with their hands every day. STUPID MOSQUITOES!!!! <insert homer simpson voice>

3 more days of work…hooray. This weekend should prove interesting. I’m going to try my luck at some local Togolese markets. I have a local friend doing the negotiating for me so I don’t get run around the block. I generally don’t because I take the car buying approach. I ask the price, then usually offer less than half (with a top price in mind) and if they come back with something stupid, I just walk away. Many many times they’ll come chasing me trying to play, “let’s make a deal.”

I’m also hoping this weekend will bring pleasant weather so I can play Japanese tourist with my camera.

I figured out my travels up through Sept 1:

Togo 5/17-6/3
travel 6/3-6/5
Bolívia 6/5-6/25
home 6/25-7/5
travel 7/5-7/7
Angola 7/7-7/23
South Africa 7/23-8/4
travel 8/4-8/5
home 8/5-8/8
Guadalajara 8/10-8/31
travel home 9/1

MUY DIVERTIDO! Me gusta mucho

it’s amazing what a good night rest does for me. i woke up 6am before the alarm and in amazing spirits. i’m happy and ready to face the day. how cheezy does that sound? but really, i am happy and recharged. this morning there was ONE helluva storm going on over the Atlantic ocean. the palm trees were dancing, the water was churning, wind was howling, and the wonderful thing was it didn’t wake me up until i needed to get up.

again, i’ve been reminded of the powers of writing. not only by committing to writing in my journal but writing my friends, i’m able to let go of residual stresses that build up over time. it’s a self-cleaning cycle so to speak. it’s as if when the words work their way from my brain, down my neck, through my shoulders, into my arms, and finally manifesting from my finger tips that it’s their exit from my being. more often than not, i’m one who will ponder/pontificate/obsess on concepts, feelings, ideas until i’m genuinely satisfied with an answer of sorts. the problem with that is i more often than not have an easy resolution right away but continue to waste energy by not letting go of water things reside.

on another note, thank goodness for iTunes. thank goodness for my powerbook. i am able to bring the equivalent of 300-400 records along with me everywhere i travel. it’s like a mini version of my record collection at home. although what’s really scary is that i’m pondering the idea of trying to electronically backup my whole collection. 10,000+ records is going to be quite an endeavor to record. i wonder how long it will take to do it all. considering the fact that over 60% of what i have on my powerbook is stuff i ripped from CD. all of that would have to be recorded realtime. jeez i just figured out that if i wanted to record it all and averaged 10-15 per record i’m looking at 1600-2500 hours of recording that’s about 65-100 straight days of recording. UGHHHHH! well this looks like something that’s gonna take a long term effort.>

well, it’s 7am and time to go to work....bueno!