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. 

"A little bit more..." The Unofficial Beijing Sport

So here's the thing, as I start thinking about packing I realize that I have a limit weight for my luggage. If you take into consideration all the different climates I will encounter traveling 25 cities in Asia this is an impossible task.  The solution will be spending all my checks SHOPPING which you can probably imagine how upset that makes me feel lol. As I do my research I see what I'm getting myself into, BARGAINING!!!.  I need to prepare myself mentally and physically for this "Beijing Sport". I am determined to win all my battles in the famous Silk Street Pearl Market, not only because I need cheap clothes but for my integrity as an athlete.  They don't know all the secret tools I have in my pocket.

First of all, I will use my ACTING skills  BANG!!!, I will cry on cue when they type a price in their cute calculators that Im not happy with. If they start screaming in chinese I will scream louder in SPANISH and CRY at the same time. I will use my LATIN LOVER skills to flirt and make them feel more loved then they have ever felt in their life, once they fall in love I will take advantage and Bargain for my desire price $$$. WINNING cheap clothes with every scream, tear and broken heart.

Other Useful tools...

I love you  =   我爱你 (Wǒ ài nǐ)

Too expensive!   =   Taiguile (Tie gway luh!) 
A little lower   =   Zai pian yi yi diar = (Zai pee-in ee ee dee are) 
Thank you  =   Xie xie (she-eh she-eh)

I'm going to cry - 我哭 (Wǒ kū)

I will be known as Carlito's Price!!!!

Jumping Off The Cliff, Hoping I Can Fly...

       So I guess in order to make a Blog I have to start writing, so here I go. But because this is my first one I guess I should prepare anyone who is going to follow this, which might just be my mom in which case I should be writing in Spanish but whatever.  I've always being afraid of blogs which is why I've never made one. I feel the pressure of writing proper english and be careful with my grammar which is going to be impossible. Then there's the need to be entertaining and yet to the point so people don't waste an afternoon reading a long ass blog like this one right now. As I'm writing this I'm thinking of what's really the purpose of this and how committed am I really going to be. The honest truth is that this is mostly for myself. To be able to read all the blogs after 1 year and hopefully not regret any of my actions, and relive all the amazing things that are about to happen.

As a senior trip at Montclair State University where I graduated from, me and some of my closest friends took a cruise trip to BERMUDA. The adventures we had there might not be appropriate for a blog lol but one that might be good to share is my cliff jumping experience. The picture above is my friend Tony jumping with no fear into what it looked like the grand canyon, at least for me.  At that moment I wanted more than anything to jump off with the same freedom. I climbed the cliff and was up there for 45 minutes trying to find the courage to jump. After my friend Liz (also known as a GODDESS) jumped off to help me see it was ok, I had no other option but to jump. The feeling I had the second I hit the clear waters was unreal, a sense of accomplishment and growth with just a simple jump.

Now I have arrived to a bigger cliff that Im afraid to jump from, but the desire to do it is even bigger. After signing with my agency Bloc I have gone to quite a few auditions, including 3 major ones where I made it all the way to the end but it wasn't my time to book them. First Bill T Jones workshop of his new musical Super Fly, then Usnavi for In The Heights the National Tour, and finally Zorro the Musical International Tour to Israel and China. Well now I'm happy to say I did in fact book Zorro and will be leaving to Israel in 8 days and will be away for 15 months.

This cliff might seem so easy and excited to jump from to most of you, and even though I feel the same the fear it's still there. Fear of not being able to survive without the hugs and kisses of my 8 year old sister who I've never being away from for over 2 months. The love and support of my parents and family who call me every 2 minutes to say hello. The food that I can't leave without cooked by the best chef my mother. And of course all the amazing friends that inspire me and make me laugh everyday. Maybe its a cultural thing but I have never left my family for this long. Last time this happened was when i went to work in a play in Cuba for a month, and my mother and my best friend flew there to give me the biggest surprise of my life.

Honestly I know that love will always be there, which is why Im ready to JUMP.  Im going to a country where I don't know the language, or have any friends or friends of a friend. I am soooooo grateful to have the opportunity to work in such an amazing show with some amazing talent right after college.  I know I will change, but no doubt in my mind that it will be for the good.

I wasn't lying when I said you will waste an afternoon reading these blogs haha. I promise they will be shorter, less metaphorically and much JUICIER, so keep posted.