Day 1: What
do you take to Belize when you are going for a year?
Late
Start.....
We planned
to get on the road at 6a but at 4am when I was still folding and packing
clothes I went to sleep...exhausted.
When I did get up it was close to 9a and what seemed like a possibility
(leaving at 6a) was now and impossibility and at this point I was pushing for
1p.
Thank GOD
for my girlz!!!! Kesha, Jamila and
Tashia were there and my only request is to get us out of there by 4p.
We packed
the new van...Blessed-(the name J gave) Indigo-(the name I gave)...DOWN! I had to ask "what do you take to Belize
when you are gonna be there for a year"?
Perhaps I was taking more than I needed but I WOULD NOT see that as the
case. I was determined to take
everything and even went about asking the neighbor walking by for help when J
surely beyond frustration went on a sabbatical in the house.
We tugged
and pulled and pulled and tugged until the 6 or so boxes were
"secure". J came back and put
the tarp on and after 50 or so more last minute sweeps we were off.
I reflected
on Tas' words "..and now the memory making begins" as I hear first
then catch a glimpse out of the mirror of the small now needless box flying off
the top of the van not 5 miles into the journey, just before Rosa Parks
Blvd. (I thought it was the box that had
Jaah'z home school math curriculum and books for a sister in Belize but later
found it was a box marked "bathroom stuff"....yay!!!!).
Regroup:
No
tarp-check. Nothing on the top but the
tire-check. Salty-check. Get myself
together-check...quick-check...this is gonna be a long trip...pit stop to Mom's
job...dvd player no remote...sonic...on the road again.
J and I have
truly grown. There was a time when the
tinsiest bit of disorder caused not only chaos but explosion. We are no longer as fragile as we once
were...not him, not me, not us...sad that it comes on the fringe of such
dramatic change...
On the
road? Not quite...as J sees a man and a
child walking on the side of the road.
Worried about the child J turns back to go help. Long story short- 2 men, 1 lady, 2 kids in a
car with blown head gasket afraid to call police for help because they have
warrants on them. When J's pleading
becomes them arguing amongst themselves J decides it's time to go.
On the road
again...this time it's Isaac...not uncle Issac but hurricane Isaac! Can you say blinding rain? So we pull off to get taco bell (you keeping
track? This is fast food spot #2...more
to come on that) and Blessed Indigo decides she wants some fresh rain air as
the driver side window stalls-thankfully only for a few minutes.
Rain. No rain.
Rain. No rain...no rain...
Jackson, Memphis- ez breezy headed to Little Rock the
final destination for the day. What's
this? GPS is taking us where? Must be because of the construction....let's
ride it out! I reminisce of the DARK,
DARK road in NC, looking for the family reunion, just me and the kids and
THANKFULLY a full tank of gas, J says there is a town that looks like this
anywhere in the country you go...you know...back woods..but...oh yeah
ADVENTURE....
So we're
headed through the backwoods town...Calderon if you know it... in Arkansas for
16 miles... As we get back on the highway the no gas light comes on! OH MY
GOD! Where are we? Where is the $!?@+*# gas station? Beyond the bend, before empty, GOD IS THE
GUIDE!!!! GIVE THANKS! Lesson: Never go below 1/2 a tank....
And just
when you thought it was over...
I forgot to
mention we didn't book our hotel until we were in Jackson or somewhere there
about. Truth is we didn't really know
where we would stop but had decided it would be Little Rock as we got
going. "America's Best Inn and
Suites"...sounds FANCY...aint that where we stayed in Johnson
City?...great price!
So we're
driving, and driving, and driving and calling, "where's the hotel? No we're not by the bridge we're in the
hood...ok we're on the way. So we're
driving, and driving and calling, "what's the address? Are you near the home depot? Are the lights on?". So we're driving
and driving and oh there it is but...what's this? Different address...Is that a pimp? Is this a....(Fill in the blank)....guess we
are not staying here...and we don't.
Instead we have a luxurious stay in the Holiday Inn Express in Bradley,
Arkansas...
The end to a
Beautiful Day....
Incantation,
Affirmation, Inspiration:
The ultimate
guide of this journey is God. I expect peace, joy, patience and love to
accompany me & my family. Whatever we encounter will be healed through
God's protection.~by Tasneem "Soul Story"- Tewegbola
Day 2:
Educational Adventure
Part of the
reason I wanted us to drive was thinking about the rich educational experience
it would be for the kids. The geography
of traveling across 3 states and 3 countries, the math involved with regular
highway signs, the character development of being cooped in a mini van loaded
to the hilt with 3 other folks...
While today
was not quite the adventure yesterday was in some ways it was and then some in
others.
We slept
in. Not your 9a sleep in but one of
those Christopher Williams "Don't Wake Me, I'm Dreaming..." sleep ins
and by the time we left it was close to noon.
Aaaaaawwww....breakfast
in the afternoon! Exciting if you are
like me and can eat breakfast anytime of the day. Pancakes, grits, eggs, veggie sausage,
potatoes, fruit, water (don't laugh! I
love water!) But who really has time when we already slept in. So guess you know where we're headed... Yep...that's right...make this fast food stop
#3. Good ol McDonald's. Now I'm not gonna pretend that I don't eat
Micky D's but I try to limit it and I
CRAVE real food. So the thought
of being on the road for 6 days eating 2-3 meals a day of card board chicken of
the sea patties and over processed sludge is beginning to repulse me. So what do we do? We go to McDonald's anyway but offset it with
a trip to Walmart.
Travelling
lesson #2: Balance the junk with healthy
snack options.
I have also
opted to make this trip as sugar free as possible...*STRUGGLING* seeing as how
I am definitely neck and neck with my 2nd born on the sugar addiction tip
(bragging moment-surprisingly she has the best teeth on the block because her
hygiene at 4.5 is out of this world!).
Anyway we'll see how the no sugar thing goes.
So we leave
Walmart and we are on the road.
"Look at the cows! There's a
horses butt! There's Mega Bus! What's a
ranch? Why are they called cowboys? It's so hot here! Look at the water! Is that where we're going? Is that the Caribbean Sea? Is everybody in Mexico Mexican? Are ghosts real?........."
Heading West
on I-30 to Houston...right? Whew,
whew! This is GREAT!!!! Sang it MJ!!!
"So you wanna be starting something...." "...cause this
is Thriller, thriller night!". I see you back there jamming Jaah'z! Alright J with your hand riffs! Wait...Sir have we passed Texarkana? We're how far from Dallas? Yea I saw the sign but I thought... OK so we are not going to
Houston....hmmm....we're taking the Texas scenic route? "GOD is the ultimate guide..." Ok
then. Dallas here we come!
Which was
great because my cousin Aaron actually lives in Dallas...now that I think about
it so do a couple of other friends of mine but for whatever reason I only think
of Aaron...new dad, 30, in Texas away from the world now for gosh probably
close to 10 years...I get a little emotional thinking about it. Oldest child of my Mom's (Happy Birthday
Mom!) baby sister Aunt Wanda. I'm proud
of him for doing something different.
For choosing a different path.
For being a father and making his family first.
Texting...naw
I gotta call this dude...no answer...texting...he responds and before I can he
calls. He lives in NW Dallas...I'm in
South Dallas..."You driving where cuz?
Thru Mexico? How long you in
Belize? Wow! Let me know you made it...send pics of the
kids- he says, you too and kiss the baby- I say, we say love you and we're
done....
Lord let
this be a time of reconnection and rejuvenation. Renew the bonds of family and let them be
strengthened by the increased distance.
May they know my heart Lord....and me theirs...giving thanks...
Driving...Dallas...Waco-
ya'll remember David Koresh and the Branch Davidians...the Davidians!!!! That's deep!!!! Austin-Kileen! That's where Levada's house was/is! Gotta get gas and eat so...I'm thinking
"no more fast food" J's thinking fish tacos and the kids agree. So after driving to Jalisco's (too
expensive), deciding against Chilli's we find Torchy's Taco's on the (urban
spoon website) where we have salmon taco's, tuna tacos, fried avocado tacos,
bean and cheese burrito, and "queso" and cheese with chips.
Back on the
road...
Big ups to
Blessed Indigo for putting it down on the road!
We have had no problems at all and all is well. Now considering that it feels like a roller
coaster ride as we drive, the shocks or struts will likely need to be replaced
in the not too distant future but right now things are going well.
Almost to
San Antonio! Only 2 more hours after
that if we went on to Kingsville, TX as we planned...which we don't-Thanks
GoGo!...good decision.
We stop at
McDonald's for a bathroom break and to use the free wi-fi to book the
hotel. As I wait for Jaah'z to finish in
the bathroom, J and Je'Mazz are in the front erecting social justice. For those who may not know J is like my GOD
daughter Arieanna. For her it can be me
fussing at Je'Mazz, or homelessness or not including someone in
something....crickets...crickets...but she is at 8 years old already a huge
advocate for social justice and perhaps a future social worker :)...this is as
well J but probably 10 fold. So when a
few guys in McDonalds start making racial innuendos to one of the cashiers and
J persists in giving them the evil eye it ends as you would expect...with them apologizing
to Shaka saying they didn't mean anything by it....GOD love warrior Baba!
Holiday Inn-
Downtown San Antonio-Market Place here we come, there we rest...
Hasta
Manana! Vamos al Mexico! Or for those who like me have limited Spanish
proficiency: See ya tomorrow! We go to
Mexico!
Day 3: Nerves of a Noodle (Uncooked)
What a
day!!! Easy to start at the end as it
was so dramatic! Visualize I AM Legend,
meets Limitless, meets Dusk to Dawn.
This is how I felt as we raced to get to the hotel by dark. Limitless- I don't where or how I knew the
things I did but it was like anything I had ever seen or heard came to the
forefront of my consciousness..."Why is the cop stopping me? Oh that's 100 kilometers per hour not miles
which means that it's 200 km to Cuidad Victoria...ok quick conversion...5k is
about 3 miles so 200 divided 5 times 3".... I AM Legend/Dusk to Dawn- remember what
happened when the sun went down? Yes
that's the scene I see in my head...mind you J is talking about some mythical
big foot like creature native to Mexico...and did I say I was driving?...for
the first time the whole trip!!!!
Well after
going to the grocery store to get directions to the hotel and feeling like
"I'm American...can't someone just escort us to the hotel"? Then driving in circles (and stopping for
pizza at Little Ceasar's (I know right!) we finally get to the HOLIDAY
INN-Cuidad Victoria!!!! Beautiful!
But before
all of this excitement we had a pretty smooth start. Did the usual dance of food, gas, hittin the
road. J started the drive as he had
everyday we'd been on the road except today he LET me drive.
So I took us
in to Brownsville pumping Badu-Mama's Gun.
On to Sanborn's for insurance...smooth...on the border but where is
it? Left? No.
Calling the travel experts the Tewegbola's! "Uhhhh (Bill Cosby speed)...I
think...-Zu- what street are you on? (me thinking Zu you know it aint no street
signs! Oh sorry...we just can't read signs outside Nashville...ok so a bit of
an exaggeration but herein is Travel Lesson #3:
LEARN GEOGRAPHY!!!! and remember that most if all other countries use
the metric system...
I'm talkin
reading maps in case GPS goes under or google maps forgets that you're not int
the US and knowing how to tell which direction you are headed by the position
of the sun and again maybe a bit much but all of this would be aid in travels.
We get to
customs and it goes pretty smoothly.
Passports-check, visas- check, registration for the car (not title mind
you which I had discovered only days before about this and in a nutshell what
this means is we probably could've taken the Equinox but EVERYTHING happens for
a reason... So we get the vehicle permit and we are off...or so we think but of
course they wanna check the van seeing as how we are loaded down.
We explained
in our broken un polished Spanglish that we are moving to Belize for a year,
that it's mostly books, toys and our household stuff. After opening a few boxes and pulling out
others we are free to go but need to stop at the 2nd inspection at the
light. We say bueno (ok), gracias (thank
you).
We proceed
to leave a little over an hour later, looking for but not finding the 2nd
inspection (oh well) and we're off.
After
driving for a few in the wrong direction,
then another few in the other wrong direction, we get quick directions
and get back on course.
Now our only
"fear" is the sun or the lack thereof. I must say for me this day of all the days
between Day 1-Day 5 was certainly the most fearful.
I think just
the idea or the speculation you get from people about driving through Mexico
puts you on 12 automatically. In truth
we were so ready to get out of Matamoros/Brownsville (I can hear the Gangland
narrator in my head as J reports Uncle Issac just saw Brownsville/Matamoros on
Gangland) we didn't take pictures there or anything we just left.
We raced
down the highway and couldn't get to Cuidad Victoria fast enough. I couldn't really tell you about the scenery
or much else in Mexico on that day.
I do however
know for sure that I will become fluent in Spanish and I will require it of my
children. That I feel good about this
decision despite my moments of ambivalence which I read is much more common
than 100%certainty. I feel blessed to be
on this journey. To have one more chance
of a lifetime. To be in a moment of
change...
Obedience to
the song of the Spirit is Bliss. A
Joyful dance between head, heart and soul.
Alignment aligned, O Mighty Omnipotent Me Being. The service of worship Divine. Lifting up, up, up in total Praise....
Day 4: Tampico,
Cuidad Madero, Tuxpan, Veracruz, Boca del Rio....
We get out
in decent time to head to Veracruz getting better at understanding directions
and getting out quicker.
Before we
leave we have a chance to sample a local breakfast- eggs, beans, tamales,
fruit, toast, yogurt, cereal, juice, (and then the things we don't eat like
bacon for all the meat eaters out there!).
J is back at
the wheel and has been an awesome pilot.
It's pretty
much been an easy route with no hiccups from Cuidad Victoria to Tampico. The scenery is BEAUTIFUL! Lush grasses that wave to us as the truck in
front of us zooms by, trees of all sizes leaning, twisting standing tall,
rolling hills and mountains and mountains and mountains.... I wonder what mountains they are, has anyone
hiked them?
Cows and
horses and horses and cows. If you eat
beef this is certainly the place to get it because the cows here are eating
grass and there's lots of it. Ironically
these are some of the skinniest cows I've ever seen...which is quite the
paradox because it makes you wonder are the cows here under fed despite their
constant and never ending supply of grass or are the cows in the US over fed
with their fat, full of grain bellies???
We arrive in
Tampico and unknowingly enter the CITY.
I mean you name it from VW dealerships, ballerific houses, Sam's,
Walmart, Burger King, McDonald's and everything in between.
We find our
way to a shopping plaza which we find out is in Cuidad Madera, all the while
feeling like we're going the right way. We take a bathroom break and I venture to a
neat children's educational toys store (HEAVEN) for precise directions. I restrain from making a purchase and further
junking up the van...
In the toy
store I work with the lady working there to piece together directions with our
Spanglish, and we think we are on the way until we start going through the
hood...
So we're
thinking this is not the way and J says, "maybe we should ask one of the
taxi driver's which way to go" and no sooner than he says it, one pulls up
to the car...Is this the Celestine Prophecy or what?
"Where
are you going?"-he says in his quick, choppy incomprehensibly fluent
Spanish..."to Boca del Rio-Veracruz" we say intuitively knowing this
is all he could be asking and picking up on the Va (going) in his question,
"Sigame!" He says as he darts off and begins to guide us through a
maze of new old buildings, shabby chic dwellings, blowing his horn with his
stiff arm out like this is the Super Bowl and he's blocking us through to the
touch down! Amazing!!!
Where did he
come from? How did he know we needed
him, needed help?....
He guides us
out of the city and onto the highway with a quick wave as we pass him by...a
character in the great journey and amazing adventure!
We continue
South inching closer to Veracruz and therefore Belize. We unconsciously yet meticulously avoid going
through Poza Rica and finally begin to see water!!! Exciting!!!!
Water for as far as you can see!
And the hotels and houses (some) on the water...whew!!! Beautiful!
We are in the tropics! And we
thought we had seen the mountains but THESE mountains are astounding...
Just a
little further...no stopping us now but wait!!!
No sun! Please don't leave us
again!!! And yet again we find ourselves
racing against time to get to the hotel before dark...
It seems
like forever getting to Veracruz. Our
longest drive yet clocking a whopping 11-12 hours!
Travel
Lesson #4- If google maps says it's 9 hours add 3 hours (in Mexico)....
These
directions that we got from google maps have been virtually worthless. But for GOD, the kindness of the people in
the country and the Michelin Road Atlas (2013 version) we would be in San Diego
via Mexico! (Somehow I feel like this
was the lesson another day as well)...
We FINALLY arrive
at the Holiday Inn Veracruz (which looks a little seedy) and get directions to
our hotel the Holiday Inn-Boca del Rio which in contrast overlooks the water!!!
I get out to
check into the hotel. We go in, lay our
bags down and scavenge for food. After
deciding against the hotel restaurant (nothing for kids to eat besides not
really felling the vibe of some of the staff) we head around the corner to
Chilli's!!! Not too exciting but the
fish enchiladas are tasty and the waiter and host are very friendly. We end dinner with one of my all time
favorite desserts- Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie....I know, I know I said
but.... J takes the kids out as I wait
for the bill. The waiter (who could be a
Latino Elvis impersonator by the hair) comes over and says (in English),
"excuse me Ma'am, your husband, does he play baseball"? Me (slow with uptake) says, "no he plays
basketball"! Oh well...missed that
free meal!
Veracruz is
Beautiful! Can't wait to see it in the
light of the day.
It is amazing how quickly a year goes by. Even more so is all that we fret about when we consider giving something up or making a change for that amount of time (or any amount of time for that matter). 
In the end things went better than I could have expected, had I had any real expectations. In the end, degree done, internship complete and a year with my family in the Caribbean down, I still feel the same mixed bag of joy, fear and uncertainty returning home in the next 32 days that I did on the days leading up to my voyage to Belize.
