India

I'll be honest.... India was never on my list of places I wanted to visit in the world.

I'd heard nothing but negative things, and really never thought my going there was in the realm of possibility.

Fast forward to earlier this year, when two of my friends who had booked the Dubai trip with us went to lunch one day, then concocted the idea that we would be adding a trip to Mumbai to our itinerary. Now, we all had tap danced around the idea of seeing the pyramids, and ohhhed-and-awwed over the destinations that were so close to that part of the world, but after failed attempts to find cheap tickets and news of terror & bombings in certain countries, kind of pressed paused on the idea...

But back to their fateful lunch date... Over the course of their lunch, and a few dozen text messages later, they had found flights and came up with sites for us to see in India. I can't say that I was thrilled by the idea, but I kind of took a what the hell approach about things and half-heartedly agreed. And then plans changed, and instead of going to Mumbai, we were told that we would be going to New Delhi instead and then Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Ok....

It really took a lot out of me to make myself excited about this portion of our trip... And it was at this point that I stopped referring to things as a vacation, since it had lost the leisure time and had become a jam packed itinerary that came with a laundry list of items to accomplish before we would set foot in their country. We were now going on a trip..

More like an adventure.

Oh, India.... The ticket prices from Dubai to New Delhi were cheap, but we had to apply for tourist Visa and get approval prior to our arrival. Once all of that was accomplished, we were free and clear to journey to India.

Planning. I am a stickler for a plan, almost to a fault. I hate relinquishing control. I like to know the who, what, when, where and why's all the time. But one thing I learned over the course of this trip & planning process was that sometimes you have to let go and let things work out for themselves. Plans are one thing, but like life.. a lot of times things will not go according to plan.

Over what seemed like hours, we finally checked in and made it onto our IndiGo flight into New Delhi... Our flight was filled with coughing, sneezes, and a questionable spray of insecticide before we landed. I haven't grown a third eye yet, so I'm guessing the chemicals that were sprayed on us were harmless... But I digress.

After our soul plane flight, we stood in the customs line & then were told that we needed to stand in another line for individuals entering the country with tourist visas. We waited, and waited, and waited..... And waited. The clerks were slow, rude, condescending and had no sense of urgency. We of course had train tickets for a departure time at 6:00 am... It was almost 5 am by this time..... and we waited. And finally after almost 2 hours of standing in line we were officially in a hurry, but in New Delhi!

Our first encounter with the locals began seconds later when we were bombrushed by 5 men assisting us with our luggage to catch a taxi to our hotel. They were abrasive as fuck, and one even refused to close the door until my friend tipped him. They charged us 90 rupees for a cab ride that literally took us less than one mile to our hotel.. At this point we were so annoyed that we let it ride, because why go to jail your first few hours in a foreign country? Moving along...

We were greeted at our hotel gates by bomb sniffing dogs, metal detectors and heavy security... We rushed to check in and were back out the door in less than an hour to make sure we made it before our train departed...

The ride to the train station was.... eye-opening. For a city with literally MILLIONS of people, the driving is downright horrifying. No lanes, just mass horror and confusion, a cluster of cars, bicycles, tuk tuks, cows, motorcycles and other unidentifiable objects driving as if they all had bumpers on them. Scary as fuck is literally the only way I can describe it.

After being paralyzed in fear on the ride to the train station, we were dropped off in the middle of mass confusion. Thousands of people. Literally thousands, all hurriedly trying to catch the train to Agra.. The train which we were told was cancelled. Yeah, despite the fact that we had purchased tickets in advance, the train was cancelled. We were then detoured to a building about three blocks away where we were told to discuss our situation with the Department of Tourism (or something like that) and attempt to get another means of getting to Agra.

Let's just say, had we stayed in that building any longer, we probably would have almost ended up in jail again for the second time....

Some way or another we ended up in a cab en route back to our hotel... As we were driving, two of my friends mentioned our situation to the cab driver, who in turn offered to take us in his car the 2 hours to Agra for $12,000 rupees.... Let's just say, my spirit was wearied by this whole ordeal. I did NOT want to pay this guy to take us, but everyone else was all for it (or atleast two out of the four of us were) so off we went to Agra....

Well, actually first we stopped off at the dudes house so he could pick up his paperwork....

Then, we stopped at the gas station where he asked us for $5000 of the $12,000 to purchase gas for the trip....

THEN, he pulled over on the side of the road to pay the "toll"...

By this point, my blood was already boiling...

It continued to boil as he crept along the highway going well below the speed limit...

By the time we had been driving for two hours, my blood went from figuratively boiling to LITERALLY boiling, as his air conditioning stopped working.

We drove another hour in heat.... In India. In the summertime........

I'm pretty sure the cab driver knew we hated him almost as much as we hated each other in that moment.... Like, every ounce of my being wanted to ignite, or possibly murder everyone in the car and just get out and go home...but alas I couldn't do that. In the middle of nowhere in foreign country.

We rode along for another half hour, and finally saw a sign pointing in the direction of Agra.
Our cab driver of course, veers in the opposite direction......

That moment, would count as time number three we almost went to jail...

A short cut he said..

I truly was not prepared for the sights we saw. India is a third world country. From tent cities, to people brushing their teeth with water that had collected in the streets... We saw cows, monkeys, and dogs on every corner..sometimes it seems like there were more dogs than humans.... Just so primitive. **side note, despite how bad things looked to us, the people did not look unhappy. I'm not sure if I should attribute that to not realizing things were as bad as they seemed to us spoiled Americans, or maybe this was just our moment to experience true gratitude for the lives we had been given....

We finally saw a sign announcing our arrival in Agra, as our cab driver pulled over for a 4th time. This time, to get a part to fix his air condition. Seriously? Yes. In real life. He called one of his friends to come pick us up and take us the rest of the way. We went inside a nearby establishment to use the restrooms... which by the way consisted of a hole in ground that you squat over to handle your business... I can scratch that off my bucket list now.

Not sure if it was the hole in the ground situation that was our final straw, or what, but on the ride up to the Taj it was confirmed that we would need to find another way back to our hotel in New Delhi, or else we would encounter our next almost go to jail moment....

Our second driver pulled up to a long alley crowded with people and chaos & told us that we would need to walk the rest of the way to actually get to the Taj Mahal. We tipped him, despite his cries to keep our money and pay him later, and set off to the Taj Mahal....

We paid, were thoroughly felt up searched by security, and then FINALLY laid our eyes on one of the most beautify structures in the entire world...

Taj Mahal was breathtaking. Truly a humbling experience. It's like all of the strife, trials and tribulations seemed minuscule in the midst of that moment.

We were literally at the Taj Mahal. We toured the entire structure, and took it all in......
It was hot, we were exhausted, we were hungry... but it was all worth it to be present in that moment.

And then we had to find our escape route, because yeah it was no way were were getting back in the car with that cab driver...

We took the East Gate exit and trekked about a mile through aggressive salesman who harassed the fuck hell shit life out of us... unfortunately we in no mood for purchases by that time.

We found the meet up spot for the other driver we had arranged and were able to get food at a local hotel while we waited.
Then finally our air conditioned ride arrived and we were headed back to New Delhi.

I only remember half of the ride because by that time we were exhausted and slept the majority of the two hours back..

We got back to our hotel,
& were able to get our lives together for a bit,
then set out to do some shopping....

The hotel set us up with an adorable driver who entertained us as he chauffeured us around New Delhi.

We wanted to go shopping at the Dilli Haat outdoor market, but were first taken to a store by that same name, just as we were warned would happen on Trip Advisor, but fortunately they had good stuff so it wasn't a complete loss.

We then were taken to the actual Dilli Haat, and it was amazing. In retrospect, it worked out that we made it there late. It was closing time, so we missed out on a lot of the crowds and were able to catch some end of day about to close deals...

Our driver then took us to a few other temples, and shopping areas then took us to get food at Domino's pizza... Yes, that Domino's only the menu is extremely different.... Like imagine curry on a pizza, and no beef in sight kind of different... But we figured this option was better than us getting sick..

We made it back to our hotel and slept as if our lives depended on it, then were up to catch our early morning flight back to Dubai.

An action packed 24 hours in India, but enough lessons, beautiful sights and memories to last a life time.

I went to India, yall. Never in my wildest dreams would I have even remotely thought I would see the Taj Mahal in my life time.

We went through a lot to get there, but it was oh so worth it.

I could insert a million metaphors, and anecdotes on life here and they would all be true.

Sometimes it's not about plans going accordingly. Maybe the rough journey can make you appreciate your final destination even more. Maybe the moments where plans work, are the very ones that get taken for granted. Yes there were moments where I did not think we would ever make it. There were times in that hot car that all I could do was exhale to keep from losing it, but we made it. We came, we saw, and we conquered.

Taj Mahal, Agra, New Delhi. Check.

UAE.....

We stayed up till almost 4:30 in the morning, basically talking, laughing and mapping out our moves for the day. It was decided that we would be up and out the door of our executive suite by 10 am, and surprisingly despite the lack of sleep we were indeed up and ready for our first day in Dubai.

On our agenda for the day was to first off, avoid eating since we had 12:30 reservations for the Saffron Brunch at the Hotel Atlantis.... Sight-see, and try to hit up as many places on our to-do list before our flight to New Dehli that night...

Our first stop was the Mall of Dubai..............

Now, I've been to quite a few upscale malls in my life-time... I've been to the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, the Houston Galleria, Northpark Mall in Dallas, Lennox in Atlanta... but all of these pale in comparison to the Dubai Mall...

First off, the mall smells heavenly. Incense burning, exotic oils and perfumes fill every corner... In my opinion, the mall literally smells rich. Everywhere you turn is luxury, from the sparkling emeralds and diamonds in the display windows, to the elegant tapestries on the walls and marble floor. The Dubai Mall is the epitome of fine design.....

The pictures I snapped on my phone barely do the mall justice.
Everything is just so regal.

We managed to avoid purchasing anything, so as to not have to carry around a bunch of packages before we made it to brunch.

Directly outside of the mall we were able to catch a glimpse of the Buj Khalifa, aka the tallest building in the world. Maybe it was the heat talking or either we are snobs, but we weren't too impressed with the building and declined on the offer to stand out in the 2000 degree weather gawking at it for long...

Shrugs.

Aside from all the high end shopping, the Dubai Mall has an underwater zoo and aquarium which is MASSIVE.... So many fish, sharks and other underwater creatures literally swimming away as you buy your Gucci and Prada...

Finally after canvasing the mall, we took a taxi to the Hotel Atlantis for brunch.

Brunch. Apparently, Friday Brunch in Dubai is a big deal. And by big deal, I mean a 'need all day to be seen, extreme production of an event." This by far was the most I've ever spent on brunch. Almost $125 American dollars... We were apprehensive at first, but upon setting our sights on all the splendor we understood why. This brunch is basically one huge party with all you can eat foods from around the world, all you can drink liquor and desserts...

The people watching, mixed with the DJ blasting oldies, goodies and new music, combined with the mojitos, and daquiris, and shots, and fruity cocktails, and unlimited samplings of dessert definitely made for a good time.

I was so busy stuffing my face, that I didn't take any pictures of the food I ate.

I did however snap one photo of my desserts..

Brunch was amazing to say the least...

After brunch, we decided to walk off some of the calories & explore the outside markets...

It was hot as hell, but visiting the Old Dubai Souks was a great experience. Almost like stepping in a time machine, and emerging in the days of old spice markets, bartering & trading for goods...

We visited the Gold Souks, the perfumes and finally the Spice Souk......

Being in the Souks felt like an out of body experience for me. It was surreal... Just the energy, the people, the smells, the tastes. I genuinely felt like home....

I also bought a shitload few items to take back home, including my new favorite scent Rayeem, an Arabic concentrated perfume that literally smells like everything. It straight up smells like I floated in straight from the heavens on Aladdin's magic carpet, right after genie granted all of my wishes. For real though. But I digress...

We enjoyed our time in Old Dubai.

It definitely felt more authentic than the downtown area, which is very reminiscent of Las Vegas, only hotter and hazier. We walked around a little more, then headed back to the other side of town...

Our hotel was a true blessing.

Not only did they store our luggage while we frolicked all day, they let us shower and freshen up before we headed to the airport to catch our flight.

We caught a taxi,
and headed to Dubai International Airport for India.

Oh, India.

An Adventure........

ad·ven·ture
adˈven(t)SHər,ədˈven(t)SHər/
------------------------------------
1: an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks; the encountering of risks
2: an exciting or remarkable experience
3: an enterprise involving financial risk

My visit to Abu Dhabi, New Delhi and Dubai has come to an end, and not only am I left with jet lag...but also memories that I will literally cherish for a lifetime. Thinking back, I would say that we definitely had more than a vacation... We had a trip, better yet an adventure.

It felt good to see all those months of planning, worrying, preparing, relinquishing control and finally execution come into fruition. The events that led up to our trip, definitely set the tone for the scene. It took a lot to get us there, and our week falls short of nothing but pure grace.

Act I

By the time last Wednesday rolled around, my nerves were pretty much shot. I was so worried that something would go wrong that I could barely sleep the night before. I had packed days before so I knew I was not forgetting anything, but still... I just felt nervous. This trip was my first international flight overseas. I have left the country before (Mexico, Jamaica, The Bahamas) but never have I went anywhere that required a total flying time of more than six hours. To reach our final destination we had to fly out of Houston, to JFK in New York, then take a direct 12.5/13 hour flight into Abu Dhabi. That puts us at about 16 hours in the sky to reach the United Arab Emirates...

Two of my friends have flight benefits, so they were flying standby to New York and meeting my other friend and I there prior to departure. Simple enough, right? Of course.

By the time my flight out of Houston started to board, the friend who was heading to JFK with me was no where in sight. She had gotten stuck in traffic due to a wreck on the freeway and was greatly delayed. I told the gate agent to expect her late arrival as I walked through and found my seat on the plane. As my anxiety levels reached the boiling point, she finally texted me that she had made it through the security line and was about to get on the plane. Crisis diverted...

Our flight to JFK went smooth, and we roamed around JFK for a while then finally stored our luggage so we could frolic about the city until our flight that night. We took a taxi to the Green Acres Mall in Queens, and en route there got a text saying that only one of our friends was able to get on a standby flight to NYC from Houston. The other was still waiting....

As we window shopped the sales, text after text kept rolling through updating us of our friends travel status. She made it on one flight, but that flight was delayed and by the time we had walked the ENTIRE mall, she was still sitting on the runway in Houston. At this point in time, the sinking feeling started to set in that she was not going to make it in time. By this time our other friend had landed, and was battling LaGuardia Airport who was now refusing to turn over her luggage (which happened to beat her to New York) to him. Okay, so if she makes it, she just won't have luggage.... As our thoughts went into the abyss, we remembered that she always leaves a copy of her passport at home with her family when she is abroad... A few Facebook messages later with her little brother, and her luggage was finally on the way to JFK with our other friend.... But where was she?

By the time 9'o clock that night had rolled around, we still had not heard from our friend until finally a text that she had landed and was en route to JFK. We proceeded to check into our Ethiad flight only to find out that they had upped our boarding time and would be locking the gates in the next thirty minutes....

Insert explicits

As we all had our mini-melt downs, the realization that she was not going to make the flight began to sink in even further.... We prayed. We stalled the line. Prayed some more. Gawked at Donatella Versace. Prayed again. Then, finally just said it was out of our control. My friend went ahead and did the ceremonial tagging us in at the airport and included our missing in action friend in the check-in... Putting it out in the universe. She had to make it! As we made it to our seats, we could barely contain our anxiety. We discussed other flight options for her, maybe she can just get on the Friday flight and meet us there...we already have her luggage.... We just needed her. As the crowds began to thin, finally we could breathe. She had made it. We don't know how, we didn't care why, but she had made it....

Literally.minutes.before.takeoff.

The energy and endorphin's kept us up the first few hours of the flight...
Then, I was drugged...
I slept 8 hours,
then woke up and read the remaining couple of hours before we landed.
Until finally we had made it.

Welcome to Abu Dhabi International Airport.... The stifling heat hit us at the door. We breezed through customs, survived a bus ride to Dubai, checked into our hotel and finally set off to experience our first night in the city...

Needless to say, we were exhausted and just wanted food... We had a taxi drop us off not too far from our hotel & we agreed upon a restaurant called Chic-Sea in the Satwa Roundabout. Pretty much everything on the menu reminded us of chinese or thai food that we would've ate in the US.

We devoured our food, tipped the waitress to her surprise & delight, made our way back to our hotel and stayed up entirely too late mapping out our plans for the next day.

This would be the beginning of many delays that turned into deliverance, and sleepless nights that turned into mornings filled with tired laughter and stories that will live far beyond our 5 days in town.

-End Scene

Take Off....

It hardly seemed like reality, as I sat in the corner of the couch at my aunts house, trying to find a signal on my phone last Christmas. My reception never worked well in Mansfield, Louisiana and some of my fondest Christmas memories will forever be me standing in the bathroom of my grandmothers house trying to find a signal.

But back to last Christmas..... As I spent what will now always be known as the last Christmas I'll have ever spent with my grandmother... In the middle of the country.... With no distractions or cell phone.... My friends, who were all in civilization for the holidays that year were busy plotting and planning. You see, while I was in Louisiana a glitch fare was posted advertising flights round trip from New York City to destinations such as Mumbai, Abu Dhabi and South Africa for virtually nothing.... 

By the grace of God or some powerful forces in the Universe, my text messages started rolling through at warp speed...

Should we, should we not? To fuck it, let's pull the trigger & before the night was over my friends not only had purchased tickets for themselves, but my good friend Noelle had booked a flight for me as well since technology had me shackled in small town Louisiana and I couldn't purchase from my position on that couch.... So she did me a solid until I could get back to Houston to pay her back. That reminds me, I need to thank her again for that. She always comes through in the clutch... But I digress. 

Needless to say, by time I made it back to Houston, I had a trip booked to visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai in September of 2015....

Which brings us to the present.... And that trip is slated for take off tomorrow. To say I'm excited is an understatement. 

Life truly has been a whirlwind since last Christmas and I genuinely thought this day would never get here. The night before our journey to the Middle East, which also now includes a stop in New Delhi, India. 

I've dreamed of moments like these... To just be carefree and explore the world with some of my closest friends. Although life will only take pause for a minute, and I will return to my current reality once this trip is over.... I'm just grateful for a moment away, to clear my thoughts, explore, and hopefully find my center. 

I'm ready to travel. I'm ready for take off.....

Daddy.

People always say that losing a parent is one of the hardest things in the world to deal with. I can fully attest that losing a parent who is physically still here with you is just as hard.

Watching someone lose themselves, the love, the trust, the memories, every piece of everything that makes them, them..... The frustration, the confusion, the bewilderment of not knowing where you are... The paranoia, the blank expression that used to be filled with love and admiration from daddy... Fading away.

Glimmers of you peak through, but the you in "you" dulls as each day progresses. The anger, the sheer moments of painstaking rage.. You were so much in control of taking care of us, that it kills you to have these roles reserved. You were strength, you were my hero, my motivation, the one who kept me on track, who pushed me, inspired me.... but today do you even remember my name?

Sickness robs you of your sanity, your reasoning, your wit.... your cool demeanor, the charming personality... the man who without failure always told me I was beautiful and encouraged me to do my best.... every. single. day. A father, constantly involved... Make daddy some A's... You're beautiful, your're smart, you're my world. Truly daddy's little girl. Spoiled.

Spoiled by him, and it is literally killing me to see him disappear each day. Memories fade... Moments disappear. Time frozen, but in a time before I existed. The past. Long term memories. The yesteryears. You remember the past, but not the part that I was a part of.

A time before daddy's little girl stole your heart. Moments of remembrance are fleeting. I long for that bond. I yearn for the moments taken for granted.

And while they're leaving you,

I still cling to the memories of,

Daddy.

It's hard watching someone you love disappear right before your eyes.
Not all diseases are physical and take a toll on your body.
Some diseases creep up on you in the form of misplaced keys, forgetting where you parked, paying that bill twice, struggling to say the right word....

That leads to anxiety, stress, misdiagnosis....
Confusion.

Slowing down of cognitive functions, until it's too late to slow down the progression.

There is no cure.

Alzheimer's is a despicable disease.

You already stole one grandmother,

& now you have come after Daddy.

Mood.

And then, all of a sudden it was August.

Yet, despite the fact that time has been moving at a rapid pace, I feel like this has been one of the longest summers ever.

And I am over it.

Things haven't been all bad, and I am beyond grateful for that. But the bad, has definitely been bad.

But I digress.

The good...

I recently got a puppy.

The bad: him.

Introducing Pepper, my miniature schnauzer. He was born the same day my grandmother passed away, and from the moment my friend posted a picture of him and his siblings, I knew he had to be mine. His brother, Cosmo, also came to join the family & is with my goddaughter.

Having a puppy around has been a nice distraction from all of the everyday happenings, but it is hard. He is a furry ball of naughty mischief. How something so small could have so much personality still baffles me, but I look forward to watching him grow out of the stage he is in now into becoming a man smart adult dog.

He's super adorable, but definitely bad.

But I love him nonetheless.

Planning: My friends and I leave for Dubai/Abu Dhabi/New Delhi, India in less than one month. The planning is.... a lot. This is my first trip over seas, and I am not only nervous about being so far away, but also trying to figure out everything I need to do to get ready for our trip.

Coordinating amongst the four of us who are going, has been interesting & I am looking forward to our trip finally getting here.

The anticipation, coupled with the preparation has me on edge. I'm just ready to go & enjoy at this point.

Feeling: Stressed.

I've tried to battle the feelings of anxiety and stress coming over me, but it has truly been hard. I have to literally tell myself to calm down, so I won't completely lose it. And so far, so good.... but still. I feel like it won't take much at this point.

Praying & meditating. Trying to make a conscious effort to control my thoughts and emotions.

I feel like life came at me so hard, that I backed away from being faithful & praying like I used to.

I've slowly but surely come around. I feel more confident that things will work out for my good...for all of our good, but alas my humanity has been strong, thus weakening my spirit.

I'm getting back on track though.

Reading... Has kept me calm. Book club meetings have provided an outlet. It's easy to escape your reality when submerged in someone else's....


My mood: Random. All over the place. Grasping for balance. Forcing myself to smile, even when my heart is crying loudly from the inside and my brain is yelling obscenities from within my head. Trying to find an outlet. Trying to focus on bettering myself....

But we are going to be alright. I am going to be alright.

And then one day, August will come around again & I'll be in a much different mood.

& the right now won't seem as bad.

It will actually be better.

Adjustments.

Adjustment: a small change that improves something or makes it work better; a change that makes it possible for a person to do better or work better in a new situation.

ie. Me currently.

This summer has been interesting.... I wish I could say it was interesting in the new love, excitement, sunshine--lollipops and rainbows everywhere sense....but alas, that has not been my existence. This summer has been filled with life lessons, loss, change and adjustments. This has been one of those facing reality, growing up even when you don't want to seasons. I'd be lying if I said I was enjoying it, because I have not... but in the greater scheme of things, I've had no choice but to embrace it and face each day as it comes the best way I know how.

I've made a lot of adjustments.

I've tried to stay positive, and focus on moving forward.

I've tried to forget the pain, but I've come to the conclusion that maybe I'm not supposed to forget it. It's okay to have moments of sadness, but instead of letting them consume me I've tried my best to let those moments empower me. Motivate me to uphold the legacy, do big things... carry on.

My recap from the last month is a blur of work, sleep, deep thinking, extreme Houston heat & whatever else it is I have been doing to bide my time. Nothing too exciting..... This past Sunday, I did manage to remove myself from the center of my bed & ventured out to Houz of Ink to get a tattoo of my grandmother's signature on my shoulder....

I always loved her signature... It was nothing too fancy or elaborate like some signatures are, but to me hers always meant something. It resonated with me. Simple, yet embodying so much class, with a dash of innocence mixed in. The tattoo artist was able to make a replica of her actual signature from a document we found that she had signed. It didn't hurt as much as I remember from my first tattoo, so I am glad about that. I think it came out nice, and it makes me feel good to have a part of her with me (literally) forever....

Aside from that, I've really just been focused on getting back into the swing of things...

Making adjustments, and trying my best to stay positive as I adjust to my new normal.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Just adjusting.