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Our AP and honors kids got to do a google hangout with former assistant to Chief of Staff McDonough in the Obama administration. Inspiring story for all young people of color. Awesome opportunity for our kids to get to ask questions and talk to a real big timer. (at New Orleans, Louisiana)

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Well Nashville it was a great first visit! New Orleans rfc took home the hardware and I got knocked hard off my vegan streak. I mean.. chicken and waffles y'all.... #musiccity (at Nashville, Tennessee)

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Get. On. My. Level. #veganlife

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Que rico este día, que rica esta vida (at Waveland, Mississippi)

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Que rico este día, que rica esta vida (at Waveland, Mississippi)

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I literally train in the swamp #gulfcoast (at City Park, New Orleans)

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The Southeast sure has its own beauty. Takes me back to when I lived in Florida. Little known fact, everything's black and white in LA. (at City Park, New Orleans)

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Fresh greens laid delicately atop a hearty mixture of roasted chopped jalapeños, Japanese yams, roasted garlic, homemade falafel, sriracha, sea salt, wrapped in a Louisiana-made spinach and herb tortilla. I could get used to this #veganlife. Also I'm one hell of an adult, jussayin. Got responsible cleanin supplies and errthang.. shoot... (at New Orleans, Louisiana)

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How to Tie and tie.

So...Ive been in New Orleans for one week now.  It feels like I’ve been here for a month with all that’s been happening.  It’s been a week of ups and downs.  Amazing coincidences and then plain bad luck.  Then yesterday, I was reminded why I came.

I had just bought a bicycle.  I enjoy riding bicycles and they come in handy when your car has a hard time staying healthy.  On the very first ride I got about 5 miles away and the brakes AND the chain malfunction; they broke.  So now I’m walking my bike back to my spot when I pass this stoop with some people sitting on it.  I always acknowledge the people I pass, even if its just a small smile and nod, and this is what I did towards this group.  There were two middle-aged women, an older man and a teenage boy.  I quickly nodded and kept walking when I heard the old man shout something unintelligible (I couldn’t understand because he had a thick accent and I had one ear occupied listening to NPR).  I sort of glanced back, unsure if he was talking to me as I kept walking, and I saw all four of them looking right at me... Yeah he was talking to me.  “What was that?”  I asked cheerfully.  “Can you tie a tie?”  

I taught myself how to tie a tie at my college graduation.  It was ten minutes before I needed to be inside, and I pulled up to the stadium in my little Nissan Sentra.  Doing my part as a fully fledged millennial, I took out my smartphone and watched a youtube video teaching me how to tie a tie.  I’m still not great at it, I don’t know what the difference is between a double windsor and a.... I guess a “normal” knot is...  Yeah, I don’t know much about ties.  BUT, I know how to tie the one knot I learned the day I graduated college.

I did not anticipate, however, how difficult it is to tie a tie backwards, as in, tie it onto somebody else standing in front of them.  So me and this teenage kid got real comfortable as I stood behind him, practically holding his hands as I guided him through.  It dawned on me that, although this is a skill that I picked up because of my access to a smartphone, I could’ve learned this from any male and probably most females in my immediate or extended family.  Hell, I could’ve learned this from 95% of the men I know, because of where I grew up, who I grew up with, and the professional skills that we learn. They’re taken for granted...they are just there and you just learn them.  I realized though that there were three people outside this house that were at least 25 years older than I am, and I was the only one that knew how to tie a tie.

The kid was pretty shy through most of it, I think he felt a little intimidated.  The other adults didn’t say a whole lot as I was teaching, they were all pretty transfixed, I think they all were trying to learn.  I have mad respect for people who take action when they don’t know something.  They could’ve let me pass right on by and the kid just would’ve gone without a tie the next day, but instead they now all know this simple skill.  It took 5 minutes.

As I left I told the guy he looked sharp, he thanked me and I left.  As I was walking away I heard the kid say excitedly “I know how to tie a tie!”  I could hear the smile in his voice.

Without making too many assumptions, and with genuine goodwill towards this boy and his family, I hope he gets the opportunity to tie his own tie on his college graduation day.

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What is possible?

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Respect for this man.  

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Headed back out for another week

Well, my training week is over!  I am officially a Trailwalker for the ANASAZI Foundation in Mesa, AZ.  The first week saw a lot of ups and downs as I walked the back country of Tonto National Forest with 6 Youngwalkers, or kids of 16 and 17 who have come from very troubled backgrounds.  Kids from the hood, kids from very privileged backgrounds with very religious and strict parents...  Many have had drug addiction problems and worse.  

With this explosive mix of personalities, you might imagine we might have our fair share of awkward moments.  You would be correct.  However, just as I have learned with every kid from every country I have visited; kids are kids.  Some have way more experiences that affect their behaviors than others, but they want the same things.  These kids have striking similarities with the very privileged I have worked with at camp, the very underprivileged I have worked with in Mexico and The Philippines, and everyone in between.  They act out in different ways sometimes, but when you see the heart behind the occasional undesired behaviors it’s easy to forgive.  

I have no idea who I will be going out with tomorrow.  I show up at the office at 7am, and they tell us the age of the kids, the gender of the kids, and how many kids we will be accompanying and trying to positively impact that week.  

The not-knowing is both exciting and nerve-wracking.  

I live in the wilderness for these 8 days; Wednesday to Wednesday.  I have a sleeping bag and poncho that we make into a pack with para-cord.. however you spell it.  We start our fires, and when I say that I mean the kids start the fire every night, with materials that they have gathered from the desert.  We cook all our rice, lentils, tang, oats, macaroni and cheese, etc in a sterling silver cup.  I was gifted a knife and a length of deer hide to make a gatherings bag out of.  

And we just walk da earf, like Cain in Kung-Fu.

I’ll holla after I get back to civilization.

Luh ya.

Conor

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I am inspired

Water flows into my heart.

Forever thirsty.

My heart is a vessel,

it shrinks, it expands.

Sometimes, it gets too big.

Sometimes, it expands so large that it no longer fits in my chest.

In these moments, the dam breaks and the water of my heart spills forth through my windows to the world.

I wipe it away.

Sometimes I hide it.

In vain.

The water evaporates from my fingertips and cheeks, 

is caught by the breeze,

and continues searching for another heart to fill.

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The Making of a Walking

Desert.  Wilderness.  Relationships.  Pain, both superficial and very real.  The light is shining on my heart brighter than it ever has.  My heart is so full, yet it feels so light.  I feel I can’t express this through casual conversation.  I must write it.  I must translate the feelings that have been imprinted on my soul.  

Hope, nostalgia, appreciation and childlike energy fill my days.

I’m heading back out there soon :)

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Fine time to have left my big warm awesome yacket in Dallas!

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Everything is coming together nicely.  This week has been heavy filled with school presentations, meetings with community leaders (including three mayors from surrounding cities) and interviews.  We are promoting as far away as Nogales and hermosillo and have been able to do interviews on stations broadcasted all over the state.

I spent the day in a town called Cucurpe.  To give you an idea of the size of the cities we are staying in, the people of Cucurpe have to drive like 20 minutes to Magdalena de Kino in order to get gasoline.  Their children have to take a bus every day to go to school in Magdalena (for high schools, they have one middle school and one elementary school).

Magdalena is starting to feel like a big city, and even the people here have to go to Nogales to catch a movie in a theatre or buy nice clothes.

Very interesting living in a tiny town.  Makes most things go a lot smoother and our sponsor and everyone is stoked to have us here.  We have already sold over 3,000 tickets to the show which will hold 4,000 people (Ok, I lied, two shows with 2,000 people each).  

One week and two days till the cast gets here.  One week with the cast and then back in the good ole US of A.

Can't wait.

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As I was filming this little introductory video, this random woman walked past and was amazed with Jubrandly, haha.  Just a little touch to make sure he was real, a little compliment and away she went... Mexican's are not shy.