When the Ottoman Empire began recruiting young men to fight in World War I, my grandfather, along with thousands of other Syrian and Lebanese Arabs, packed up and left for South America. After 15 years of peddling fabric across Argentina and Brazil, he moved back to Damascus and started his textile business, which stands in …
A Bailar en Buenos Aires (Dancing in Buenos Aires)
The one caveat of Couchsurfing is that often times, you can't just arrive to a city and show up at their door. People have work, things to do, places to see, etc. and they might not be home to receive you until a certain time. It happened in Montevideo, and it happened again in Buenos …
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Two Days in Montevideo (Lesson: Always Do Your Research)
Uruguay must be pretty darn special because A. Before this trip I had never met a Uruguayan (which means they must never leave the country) and B. they don't let you into the country if you don't have a flight or ticket that shows that you're leaving. Which I did not know about when I …
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Three Months in South America: A Packing List
What do you bring on a 3-month backpacking trip going through dozens of different microclimates? Unfortunately I don't know.. I haven't been yet. BUT after much research and drooling at the REI Labor Day sale, I think I've got a good idea of what to bring. I'll update you after I come back about how …
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I Bought a Flight!
Montevideo, Uruguay, here I come! Wait, what? Yeah, you heard me. Montevideo. Don't you know it? Capital of Uruguay, home of the first World Cup, the first country to legalize marijuana...the list goes on...I think. (It does. I simply don't know about it at this point.) So why did I buy a ticket to Montevideo …
Making Decisions: Why I’m Leaving the Bay
I was going to go back to Madrid. When I came back from Spain last July, I gave myself a year to get my shit together. In one year, I would either get a job that made enough to allow me to move out of my parents' house, or go back to school, or something. …
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