The Route Continued (Mexico)

The map here posted is marked with the tentative route that we will be following through Mexico. The major destinations include: San Cristobal de las Casas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Mexico City, San Luis Potosi, and Saltillo.

Although I have traveled extensively throughout Mexico, the metropolis of Mexico City has eluded me. Finally, I will get to see, feel, and smell all of what I have been told exists in what used to be the capital of the Aztec Empire.

Also, Saltillo is the city of our family's origin and it will be the final stop before we enter the United States by way of Reynosa, MX.

I just arrived in Houston. Max and I will shop tomorrow for any items we have not yet gathered. I think I'm supposed to start taking my Malaria pills sometime soon. I picked them up yesterday and if anyone has any suggestions on how to swallow bricks please let me know.

Tha' Carter...High School

In a few minutes I will drive to Carter High School for the last time as the facilitator of the Academic Success Program. This notion leads me to post a few words about my students.

Yesterday, we said our goodbyes as we all head in a different direction toward a new beginning. One will go West (Occidental College), one will go to the Midwest (Illinois Institute of Technology), some will go to the Northeast (Babson College, Syracuse University, Dartmouth), and some of us will stay local (SFA, UTA, The University of Texas, Texas Law).

These students have risen above expectations to accomplish their own personal goals. The strength and resolve they have shown compels me to continue following my dreams as well.

My trip to Central America is in many ways inspired by and for my students at Carter High School.

The Route

Over the last few days, in between running an SAT camp and transitioning my life to Austin, I have been excitedly planning out the tentative route we will travel through Central America.

We will begin our Journey in Panama City, Panama and walk across the border at Reynosa, Mexico into McAllen, Texas (The birthplace of our fathers).

The route will pass through every capital city in Central America. Sights will include: The Panama Canal, Costa Rican beaches, lakes of Nicaragua, Copan (Mayan) ruins of Honduras etc. I will not expound upon every highlight here as I will do so following my visits.

Of course, this route is subject to change. Time, weather, money, and social climate will all be factors in our ability to stay on course.

I will soon post a map that will include our route through Mexico.

Central America Trip Preparations

As my first year of post-college work does a cool-down jog toward its conclusion, I am preparing to taste freedom in a way so that the sensation might linger well into the next stage of my life. 

On July 1st, my cousin Max Garcia, and I will embark on a journey  fit for a Sundance script or the chapters of a dorm room novel.  We will fly one-way to Panama City with the intention to traverse land and sea to reenter the United States of America on foot.  

Following the advice of family and against my stonewall position toward drugs of all kinds, I was inoculated against Tetanus, Typhoid Fever, and Yellow Fever.  So although my skin, according to my observations in Houston, has served as a natural repellant against mosquitos I should be safe against their chemical warfare.

I have recently moved out of my Dallas apartment and into my new one in Austin.  Over the next week I will finish my preparations in Houston - from which I will be departing.

I plan to update this blog on a close-to-daily basis.  Please leave comments so that I may know who is reading.