The 1 Month Mark!!!!

So yes, I must apologize to myself and the 3-4 readers that keep up with this blog for not writing in a little while. The truth is I have reached the point that I don't feel like I'm in another country, I feel at HOME. It has being only a month that I've been away from home and somehow it feels like I've been living here my whole life. I have found tricks to not get home sick and so far so good, except for the morning when I found videos my 8 year old sister Karla had made for me and hid them in my computer. I will try to post some of them so you can understand why tears were dropping down my face the second I heard her voice. That day I got to talk to her on skype and felt so much better. I really don't know what I will do in China if the communication is not this good. Here I talk to my family everyday and it feels like I haven't left. I'm going to divide this blog in a few categories and so I can check 1 year from now how things were going a month after being away, so let's try this.

REHEARSAL
With rehearsal everything is going great. Every morning we start the day with a very intense warm up and work out by our amazing choreographer.  No matter how hard it is I find myself laying in the floor on a pool of sweat feeling grateful to be a part of this. I already feel stronger physically and mentally and there's still 14 months left wow!! We have officially finished every dance number and learned all the music. Today we took out first fencing class to get ready to fight Zorro.  Next week we start working with the director on the scenes.  The movement is very fast and challenging because it hits every beat and requires a lot of stamina to sing while doing the fast foot work.  I am one of the gypsies so it is a BLAST to dance with all the passion and flavor that its required.  The music is The Gypsy Kings so its impossible to not feel the rhythm inside of you.  LOVING IT!!!

First Day of Rehearsal

FOOD
This is very weird for me because I literally eat in restaurants for every single meal, and I've lived my entire life accustomed to home cooked meals, but I'm not complaining. I do have the regular restaurants where I know exactly what to order and made friends with the staff. But every now and then I take my bike for a ride until a cute or mysterious restaurant catches my eye and invites me in. Food is not super cheap but is not crazy expensive, plus like I said I got my special places.  Hummus is officially in my life menu from now on. I did get tired of pita and humus so now I switch it up by doing crackers with hummus (Im eating them as I write lol) or salad with hummus or bread with hummus or just HUMMUS.

DAYLIFE
I will admit that I have fallen a little bit into a routine, and Im usually against routines except for the fact that this one includes the beach every single day. I wake up, ride my bike to rehearsal, dance my ass off, come back home change into my bathing suit and bike to the beach to see the sunset, finishing the day with a beautiful dinner somewhere unknown, then going out at night for some social life. Life is GOOD!!! To be honest I never felt more at home, aside from Cuba of course. Im not talking about family and roots etc... but a feeling of freedom that I only remember having in Cuba as a child. Maybe is my bike and riding it in small streets without really knowing where Im going, or not having a cellphone but there is a sense of freedom in the air and the people around, that feels like home to me.

Daily Adventures!!!

NIGHTLIFE


I think I have being given the role of The Party Boy of the House along with my 'hermanito" Mario who is my roommate and who I Love. As the latin boys of the house we find the energy to go out almost every night, even if its for a little. We just ride our bike to the bars or clubs and just go in,  searching for a new fun memory every night. We have rehearsals every morning at 10 am except for our days off which are Friday and Saturday, but this doesn't stop us. Now let's be clear the nightlife It's not or will ever affect our performance at rehearsal. We are the ones to always be jumping around early in the morning and doing everything FULL OUT every single time, just to be clear hahaha. We of course are going out tonight right after I finish writing this blog :-)

    

Night Adventures!!!

Im going to finish this BLOG by saying that my MAMI is coming to visit me in Tel Aviv Sept 9th!!!! Her Birthday is Sept 15 so It is my goal to make this her best birthday EVER!!!!!

Hebrew 101

So I don't know if you guys read it before but I had this idea the first day to record random people that we meet and ask them to say their name, a hebrew word and the meaning. It started as a silly thing but eventually I found myself looking back at the videos to practice my Hebrew. This is also a good way to socialize by just popping out my flip cam and asking for some words and smile.  It also crossed my mind to choreograph a piece or some kind of project with all the videos we'll see what happens after one year.  Enjoy the video!!!!

www.vimeo.com/27568923

Famous people can't do this...

Just so you know this blog has being the hardest one to write yet.  Whenever I get an overwhelming feeling of happiness I have the impulse to write a blog about it just so I can remember it years from now and try to relive it. The problem is that those feelings are constant in this magical city so its impossible to keep up. Those moments of happiness come unexpectedly triggered by the simplest things, like my morning yesterday at the market. There's this market a block away from our house that is the best reminder to myself that I'm in Israel. It's this very narrow and long market where they sell everything you need and where bargaining is welcome even though it hasn't worked so good for me, so I need to get better for China. Yesterday I went there for my daily pita sandwich with chicken, vegetables and of course HUMMUS from this tiny place where the guy screams every 2 seconds DELICIOUS!! DELICIOUS!!  so I had to try it to see if it was worth it for this man to take such pride in his pita sandwiches when there's a hundred places just like this one. He did not disappointed me it was indeed DELICIOUS but what made this place even better was this little corner chair where I sat to have my D________S sandwich. It was literally on the way of people's path but I loved it because I could say "I'm Sorry" in hebrew since its one of the words I know. In all honesty maybe its because I've been just living the moment and so much has happened in 1 week but sitting there I really had time to take that moment in, and register everything that is happening and how fortunate I am. People around me probably thought I was crazy because there I am sitting alone in a corner, smiling by myself and closing my eyes so I could hear all the hebrew around me as this single sun ray is hitting my face. I felt so invisible and completely filled with happiness. One of the random thoughts was the fact that famous people can never do what I was doing at that moment,  and that tickled me lol.



I took some pictures and a small video to share it for you guys, but I really want to wake up at 4am one morning and document what a whole day is for these people that work at the market because It truly is their life. They bring their children to work and they work just as hard. Everything is always set up perfectly and you can't help but wonder what they do when they close at night. So I went around the time that they close, also because I hear is the best time to bargain since they have to get rid of things like vegetables, fish etc.. around 7pm this market transformed into something not as pretty as you see in the pictures and video. Everything is thrown to the middle, so you have to be careful to not step on the fish and garbage they throw away. The smell is disgusting and there are puddles of water everywhere. This might not sound like the best time to be there but it sure is a good time for the cats of TLV. Oh yeah I haven't told you, there are hundreds of cats everywhere on the streets of TLV. They are not normal cats either they look like they have some leopard blood in them, no kidding.  I promise to take pictures of all the exotic looking cats to prove it.  Well I have a lot of other more exciting events to write about like my first rehearsal, our rooftop party, and last but not least my new best friend my BICYCLE!!!

Thank you guys for reading, It really inspires me to write more and take you on this trip with me. If you are curious about anything let me know and I will document the shit out of it, video and all.

I LOVE YOU

Sababa is not just a word but a way of life... its like Hakuna Matata. Means "no worries" "is all good"

Shalom everyone, so here it is, my first blog after arriving to beautiful Tel Aviv. I knew that writing about my adventures here was going to be a task because a journey like this is always impossible to describe in words. The things that happen are too unexpected and reality seems to perfect to be real. I guess i should start by saying that it is 5:30 am IDT Israeli Daylight Time and I'm on the roof of our house where you can see over the Mediterranean sea and hear the rooster wake everyone up except for me, Sababa!!

Needless to say im in serious trouble with Jet Lag but im sure i'll get use to it I hope. So let's get down to the good stuff.  After arriving at the airport where they met us with a sign that said Zorro and we all looked a hot mess, they informed us that when we arrive to China there will be PAPARAZZI everywhere waiting for us so please dress up lol. I don't know how anyone can look paparazzi ready after a 15 hour flight but I'll let you know how that goes. When we got to the house we all had a nervous breakdown because from the outside it looked like an abandoned house and the neighbors house was looking a little sketchy. Turns out, our neighbor Oden is an amazing artist, he took us inside his house to look at his personal exhibition. Our house is gorgeous all over but the favorite part is this amazing rooftop with white floor, a rooster next door, and the woman who smokes a cigarette and watches us religiously.

The beach is to die for one of the things I mentioned that will be impossible to describe. We live a block away from there so you will be seeing lots of pictures. First night, we went to an amazing dinner overlooking the ocean and were served by shabe(gorgeous) Israeli man. I really want to speak Hebrew or at least learn as much as I can, even tho I will  forget it in China. Im recording every single person we interact with and ask them to say their name and their favorite Hebrew word and meaning. We have found that this is not only a great way to learn the language but also to meet people. Some of the words so far are to da- thank you, shabe(a)- gorgeous, ca ma- how much is it,  ma sha- what time is it, lur cud- dance, and quite a few more so im doing pretty good learning and putting them to use. For example I know how to say " Do you want to dance, gorgeous?" I think that should get me through for a month.

As we were walking back home by the beach we see hundreds of families just having picnics at 1am, kids in the beach under the moon, while their mothers just lay on their blankets looking at the stars smoking Hookah. This is was a lot of arabic people from what I gathered. Meanwhile the man had music gathering by the ocean singing and playing their flute, something that sounded like an Aladdin song when the snake dances to the sound of the flute. We joined one of their groups by approaching them and clapping. Next thing you know Im in a kick-line with arabic man repeating every single word they scream in celebration and not knowing what it means. It was a dancing group formed by only man while their wives watched us dance the night away. Two of the cast members that were girls were hesitant to join because they didn't know it was offensive or something but out of nowhere they were literally being tossed in the air and dancing.  This was our first night so the bar was set very high. 

Last night we had the best dinner with the producer, director, choreographer and everyone else. The restaurant was called "The old man and the Sea" when we got to the table it was covered with food, plates laying on top of our menu as if we needed to ask something more. Then we hear this was just appetizers. Nothing looked familiar, it was my first challenge of this trip. But the good thing is that im always scared to order something i can't see until they bring it, so having all this option on the table was perfect. I decided to try everything and I was doing pretty good until I felt way to comfortable and ate a spoon full of the spiciest shit ever, and of course I had ran out of lemonade. After that I was a little bit more careful.

Well I have left out a lot of information like our beach experiences, the first beach party, and other random things but I think is time for me to wake up with Tel Aviv. Im going for a run down the beach right now at 6am since is already light out and apparently I won't sleep. 

To da and Sababa!!!

Love Carlos

Im really bad at saying goodbye, so lets just pretend we're playing hide and seek.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH ITS HAPPENING!!!!

Saying goodbye it’s never an easy task for anyone, and even though this is not a real goodbye since I’ll only be gone for 15 months, it sure felt like one.  Yesterday was officially my last day home and of course the entire family was there all day long just drinking coffee, cooking and just enjoying a day together showing all of their love and support.  Tears were also part of this last days, but not from me. Somehow I had managed to not fully register the full impact of this trip and even though the excitement and emotions were there, I was treating these last days like any other.  My little cousin Vanessa who is 6 years old was away in Miami for vacation and almost didn’t even get to say goodbye to me. She knew I was leaving and she was completely fine with the idea or so I thought.  At the end of the day, she says with her biggest smile and excitement “Pipito (me) tomorrow I want to go to the pool with you!!!” my sister knowing that I won’t be there, replies “ Vane he’s gone tomorrow.” In literally 1 second Vanessa started crying hysterically and jumped on me to hug me, needless to say my tears were now pouring down my face.  My sister looks at us recording us crying and says “Pipito Im very very sad inside, but outside I’m really happy, that’s why I’m not crying.”

I didn’t understand why Vane was fine one moment and the other this idea of me leaving was something unbearable. This morning I knew the feeling. After pulling an all nighters with my Goddess Liz it was time to wake everyone else up at 5:30 am to head over JFK.  Going to the airport was Laila, Lizzie, Papi, Mami, Grandma, and of course my princess Karla. In the car ride I was completely fine until my dad put the car on parking outside the airport. This ball of emotion that was stuck somewhere in my body exploded the second I gave my dad a hug. From there on you can probably imagine how intense this picture got.  It was scary to give the last goodbye and walk into this airport by myself not knowing what awaits me.  There was a huge sense of solitude and yet so much room empty for new memories. My head kept turning back and tears kept coming at random times which made my eyes super red and made security very suspicious lol.

NOW I’m currently flying over Italy, we have being on the air for about 9-10 hours of quick naps, lots of conversation, and of course HUMMUS yay!!! The energy in the cast is already perfection, everyone taking a big breath after seeing how amazing and friendly everyone is. You could tell this morning that everyone had just said goodbye to someone very special in their life but little by little we were feeling the warm and satisfying comfort we were giving each other without knowing each other’s names yet.

Bullet points!!!

• -       Should we sleep when we get there at 3am or go to the beach see the sunrise
• -       There’s apparently more than one house where we’re staying.
• -       Watching movies in the plane in Hebrew just to pretend I understand
•      We still have to meet 10 Israelis that will join the cast!!!

Party!! Fiesta!! מסיבה!! Yīfāng!!

In these last couple of days a lot has happened which is why I haven't written anything. It is going to recap all the details cause I don't remember them :-/ But I have had sooo much fun that it will only make me more homesick when Im away from all these amazing people. No doubt in my mind that I'm about to  get to know some pretty amazing people that will make it impossible to say goodbye to at the end of this journey. 

My mother and I have gone non-stop partying and getting the most out of the time we have together. This girl is my best friend standing next to me even at the most embarrassing moments. Thursday before leaving to the club she says "Tonight Im not your mother so don't judge me lol" she was right, she was my best friend as always and she was the one to not judge me for drinking a bit much lol. The truth is that seeing all my friends together and meeting 2 of my new family members ( cast of zorro) Adam and Ryan who were so sweet!!! It finally hit me that I was going away. 

Last night we had the biggest party we have had in my house in a while and thats coming from a house that every weekend there's a party. People were thrown to the pool with clothes on, and others were jumping in before they were thrown (me).  I will be posting some interesting fun videos that capture the essence of this crazy party so keep posted. 

Tonight the party has not stopped, so a group of us are going to take over GreenHouse for the night. I hope I can write another blog just about this night. 

Last night my friend Lisa gave me the biggest scrapbook I have ever seen, with a collection of objects and memories that highlight some of the most amazing moments in my life. Thank you Lisa I will always love you and this book will kill me if I take it to China so I will keep it here and cry when I come back. 

I also got a Flip Cam so now I will definitely document everything about this journey.

4 days left!!!

Laughable...

               This picture has nothing to do with what Im about to write, except for maybe the fact that my mother is laughing just as hard at me, when she sees how easy Im taking my last few days here.  So easy, that I haven't even started packing, as a matter of fact I don't even have luggage at the moment. "I'll do It later, I have time". Truth is, that I don't have much time anymore. The countdown is now 6 days and 2 of those days are scheduled to PARTY!!! which means that the day after those crazy nights I will be useless, leaving me with only 2 days to do everything. 

It does seem strange even to me that I'm not getting my usual pre-traveling symptoms. You see when I'm about to travel somewhere I get this funny feeling in my stomach every 2 seconds and I start acting EXTRA silly around the house. One of the side effects I get when Im about to depart, is finishing every sentence with "oh SHIT I'm going to..." For example, Hey dad can you pass me the salt, Oh SHIT I'm going to China.

Instead of these typical silly things which I'm sure everyone around me is happy that they're not happening, Im extra relax.  Today I spent my entire day laying in bed with my sister watching old VCR Disney movies, eating chocolate ice cream cake, and reading my new obsession Eat, Pray, Love, which I will talk about later in this silly traveling blog.

Now I will go get ready for Party #1, tomorrow I might not even have energy to write anything.