So, I’ve settled into a new one-bedroom apartment in Downtown São Paulo. The place has character: huge rooms, high ceilings, French doors leading out to a small terrace where I can sit and write (theoretically), with my feet being massaged on top of the clothes dryer. My street is one of those formerly-grand boulevards gone […]
The View from the Crib Read More
First, I want to start the new year giving thanks to you, my readers, for traveling with me this far. I know I’m not very communicative via the comments section, but I sincerely appreciate every person who looks at my blog and takes away even the smallest bit of inspiration – be it to travel,
A Thank You and a Goodbye Read More
8:00am Wake up after having gone to bed at, oh, 3:30am. 8:15am Run out the door of your friend’s apartment, down five flights of stairs with two large carry-ons and a briefcase, and down three blocks to the U-Bahn station. 8:24am Board the subway at Hermannplatz, pushing your way through the morning commuters to grab a
Berlin to Brazil: A Suggested Itinerary Read More
Over the past couple of days, two very writerly young ladies interviewed me about my travels and life in Brazil: DC-based Lisa Schamess of the monetarily non-conformist blog, CheapBohemian, and Cathy Brown, editor of Expat Daily News South America, who runs the site from beautiful downtown Buenos Aires. Both interviews went live today and below
Fly Brother Profiled in DC and BA Read More
Flaneur – (n.) from French. One who wanders aimlessly, who roams, who travels at a lounging pace. Aimlessly? “What I required was not exactly solitude, but the opportunity to roam around freely, meeting people when I wished and taking leave of them when I wished.” -Gérard de Nerval “…it is exile that evokes the sensitive
As an educator, fighting ignorance is my job. As black man who is also an expatriate educator, fighting ignorance can be an all-consuming yoke around my neck. Even some of the most highly-educated people, with many years of traveling to the US reflected in their passports, have no clue about the black experience in the
Fighting Ignorance with Film Read More
Say, “I’m moving to Brazil, dammit!” Find a friend who has just passed on a teaching job in the Brazilian capital, not your first choice of cities, but only 90 minutes away by air from your first choice of cities. Interview with your prospective employers via Skype from San Francisco. Respond with a resounding “yes”
Moving to Brazil in 21 Easy Steps Read More
You’re new to a city. You’re like Bo…you’own know Diddly. What do you do? You log onto CouchSurfing.org, that’s what you do. A social networking site that’s actually built around facilitating live-and-in-the-flesh human connection, The CouchSurfing Project puts world travelers and other worldly folk in contact with one another for interaction as benign as a
A House-Warming in Brasília -or- Why CouchSurfing is the Greatest Thing on Earth Read More
New World in the Tropics is the title of a book written in the 50s on modern Brazilian culture by famed Bahian anthropologist and scholar, Gilberto Freyre. It’s also the theme under which I embark on another journey, begin another chapter in my life. I started writing this blog as my four years in another
New World in the Tropics Read More
You’ve got 26 days left in Colombia; here’s what you do: Rip all bootleg, copied, burned, and otherwise unoriginal CDs to your computer. No need to carry home all that plastic (and the joy of this is rediscovering old tunes and artists who hadn’t crooned from your speakers in a while…some good ol’ Donny Hathaway,
How to Reduce Four-Plus Years Into a Box, a Suitcase, and a Carry-On in 12 Easy Steps Read More
