For those who still don't know, I moved from Galt, CA to Louisville, KY. Many people asked why I would do such thing. The main reason: A new job. Still, people asked "WHY?" with this condescending tone because Kentucky doesn't compared to California. This is true, yet, Louisville is much better than MANY places in California, specially anything from Bakersfield to Sacramento, via the San Joaquin Valley. And that means Stockton, were I grew up, Galt, where I lived for a while and even Sacramento where I spent a lot of time. But enough of that, below is the highlight of the move from California to Kentucky and across 10 different states.

Para muchos de ustedes que aún no lo saben, me moví de Galt, California a Louisville, Kentucky. Muchos preguntaron el porque y la razón principal es un nuevo trabajo. Aún así muchos preguntaron de una manera muy déspota como diciendo que California no se compara con Kentucky. Esto es verdad, sin embargo Louisville es un lugar mucho mejor que muchos en California desde Bakersfield hasta Sacramento por ruta del Valle de San Joaquin. Y eso incluye Stockton donde crecí, Galt donde viví por un tiempo, y hasta Sacramento donde visité por mucho tiempo. Pero basta de eso, abajo presento algo del viaje desde California hasta Kentucky y los diez estados que crucé.

The first state we pass (after California of course) was Nevada. Other than the surrounding ares near RENO, Nevada is dry and very ugly.
After Nevada, came Utah. We like this state a lot.

The Great Salk Lake just before we reached Salk Lake City Utah and decided it was time to go to sleep after driving ONLY 673 miles.

Next came Wyoming. This state was green and rocky. Once we saw buffalo but weren't able to take pictures because we drove by too fast.
From sunny California, to dry Nevada, Rocky Utah to weather changing Wyoming. That's right that's those were the clouds as we drove by.

Then came the state we decided was the most beautiful of all the states we were passing by: NEBRASKA. Green and rivers all over the place. We really like the scene. We also passed by Iowa but that was just a very short distance (say 10 miles?.)

We passed by Kansas City at night and we got lost. Good thing it was already 12:50 am. Hardly any traffic. But once we found our way, we ended up in Independence, Missouri. By now, we had driven another 1,083 miles to our trip. This second day was very successful and also very enjoyable.

Thursday morning we were ready to keep on going. From Independence to St. Louis, Missouri where we had lunch. and then straight to Illinois, then Indiana and finally Louisville, Kentucky.

After lunch we drove through Illinois, which had corn fields galore.

Indiana was yet another very green state, just like Nebraska, pretty sights and lots of water lakes. We crossed Indiana into Kentucky and by the time we got home, we had driven another 506 miles. In total, 2,500+miles and three days with two sleepover nights.
Yeap! This is Kentucky.

We arrived in Louisville around 3 pm on Thursday, July 17. The last 100 miles of this 2,550 mile trip were the longest.

Another view of the of city.

And yet, another view as we almost finished crossing the bridge.

Two days later, my mother, Miguel, my nephew, the dogs, and I went walking on the Riverfront. The photos below are more about the background than the people in them, hence the dark silhouettes.

The bridge on the back is the one we first crossed when we arrived. It is located on highway 64 from Indiana into Kentucky. The one closer, connects downtown Louisville, (on the left) with Indiana.

Do not tell me it isn't a beautiful sight. I tell ya, the sunsets are incredible.

This is yet, another bridge (there are four in total between the Indiana and Kentucky states, connecting two cities in the Ohio River. Another beautiful view from one of the bridges. (I still don't know the names of each, but I will soon enough.)

Steamboats take people on sight-seeing tours, for lunch or dinner and dancing. Pretty cool.

The Riverfront at about 9:30pm. People are still swimming ('cause it's hot) and we are going home to sleep ('cause we're tired.)

The house I got is a 3-bedroom, 2-story high white place, right off a main street known as Newburg. Our place is located on Deerwood Ave, almost on the corner. The first picture is the house from the edge of the front yard.

This picture is from across the street.

This picture is from the back porch onto the back yard (small garage on the right side.) I love the small fountain on the back and the shade under those huge trees, which are part of the back yard.

This is a view of the house from the small garage onto the back of the house and the back porch. You can see my car on the left side, park on the drive way. Oh, yeah, and the dogs Arruguitas and Frijolito.

This past March I was in Austin, Tejas attending the National Association of Chicana/Chicano Studies Conference. It was a full week of expositions, chatter, gossip, panels, and drama, drama, drama. I had a lot of fun, specially during the presentation of my latest work: Vaqueeros.

El mes pasado, Marzo, estuve en Austin, Tejas participando en la Conferencia Nacional de Estudios Chicanas/Chicanos. Fue una semana completa de exposiciones, pláticas, chisme, paneles, y drama, drama, drama. Me divertí de lo lindo, especialmente durante la presentación de mi mas reciente trabajo: Vaqueeros.Here is a photo of the people who participated in my Vaqueeros presentation. It is one of most recent favorite pictures.

Aquí esta una foto de las personas que participaron en la presentación de Vaqueeros. Es una de mis fotografías favoritas más recientes.

I just arrived from a visit to Bellarmine University, which is in Louisville, Kentucky. The university is so beautiful, and the people are so nice. I truly enjoyed my visit. I hope I can go back.Acabo de llegar de visitar la Universidad de Bellarmine, que se encuentra en Louisville, Kentucky. Es un lugar hermoso, y la gente es muy amable. La verdad me gustó mucho ese viaje. Ojalá y pueda regresar.

It's been a long time since I posted. I've been busy. But, I have kept track of my trips. I recently went to Lawrence, KS. I participated in a Latino Studies Conference. Fun? You bet! Cold? You bet! Me ready for the cold? NOT!!! I had to buy winter clothes... sad... but hey, here it is me, at the UK Student Union, standing next to the University mascot.Ha pasado algún tiempo desde que escribí en mi blog. He estado ocupado, pero se donde ando. Recientemente estuve en Lawrence, Kansas, participando en una conferencia de estudios latinos. Divertido? Claro. Frío? Claro. Yo preparado para la nieve? NUNCA!!!! Tuve que comprar una chamarra... locura, pero miren, aquí estoy en el centro estudiantil, parado junto a la mascota de la Universidad de Kansas.

And here you see me standing on the snow...
Y aquí estoy parado en la nieve...

Here is me! And behind, posters of my two new favorite musicals.

Aqui estoy, frente a los posters de mis dos musicales favoritos del momento.

A week on Broadway, visiting friends and watching shows, what else can I have for the new year!!!

Una semana en Broadway, visitando amigos y viendo obras de teatro, que mas puedo pedir para el año nuevo!!!

The movie "Xanadu" was a bad movie so I didn't expect much from "XANADU" the musical. However, I was shocked! The show was funny and very well done. Cheyenne Jackson was, well, he was "all that and a bag of chips." Kerry Butler was amazing. However, Mary Testa and Jackie Hoffman stole the show.
La película "Xanadu" fue un desaster, así que no esperaba nada del musical "XANADU." Sin embargo, quedé anonadado! El show es chistoso y bien hecho. Cheyenne Jackson es, bueno, es un deleite de los dioses. Kerry Butler estuvo estupenda. Pero Mary Testa y Jackie Hoffman se robaron el show.

Curtains was fun. Not as excited as I expected to be but it was fun. David Hyde Pierce was, of course, incredibly funny. And so was the rest of the cast: Debra Monk, Karen Ziemba, Jason Danieley, Jill Paice, and Edward Hibbert to name a few.

El musical "Curtains" fue algo chistoso. No lo que esperaba pero entretenedor. David Hyde Pierce estuvo, por supuesto, excelente. Y también el resto del reparto: Debra Monk, Karen Ziemba, Jason Danieley, Jill Paice, and Edward Hibbert entre otros.

Of the 39 Broadway shows playing, the one I really wanted to see was ‘SPRING AWAKENING.’ Thanks to Kelly, whose roommate is a Broadway actor, I got tickets. The show is unlike anything I have seen in many years. The last time I had a “theatre life experience” was when I saw “Angels in America.” Since then, nothing I had seen was as powerful as Rudnick’s play. However, such dry period ended when I saw “SPRING AWAKENING.” Except for the choreography, which didn’t deserve to win a TONY (the show has no choreography but ‘stage movement’) the musical is an incredible, illuminating, educational, and elevating experience, something not seldom seen on Broadway.

De las 39 obras en Broadway, la única que yo quería ver era "SPRING AWAKENING." Gracias a Kelly, la cual tiene un compañero que trabaja como actor en Broadway, conseguí boletos. El musical es algo que no había visto en mucho tiempo. La última ves que tuve una experiencia tan iluminante en el teatro fue cuando vi "Angeles en América." Desde entonces, nada de lo que he visto se compara al poder de la obra de Rudnick. Sin embargo, este periodo "seco" terminó al ver "SPRING AWAKENING." Excepto por la coreografía, la cual no se merece el TONY que ganó (el musical no tiene coreografía sino movimiento escénico) el musical es increíble, iluminador, educacional, y una experiencia religiosa, algo que no se ve en Broadway todo el tiempo.

One of the shows I was “YELLOW FACE” by David Henry Hwang. The production was superb, but of course, the writing was excellent. What a show!!!

Uno de las obras que quería ver fue "CARA AMARILLA" (La verdad no se como van a traducir el título) de David Henry Hwang. La producción fue estupénda, pero la escritura de la obra fue lo mejor. ¡Qué obra!

The first show I saw was “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The costumes, the lights, the sets, the acting, and everything were incredible. The theme of show, of course you might know by now. And except for the cheese Christmas songs sang by the “WHOS” I was entertained, so now, I don’t want to hear or see another “WHO”… ever again.

El primer show que vi fue "Como el Grinch se robo la navidad." Los vestuarios, la iluminación, el escenario, la actuación, y todo fue increíble. El tema del musical, me imagino que todos lo conocen. Y excepto por las canciones navideñas cantadas por los "WHOS" la obra me entretuvo. pero ahora, no quiereo ver o escuchar a otro "WHO"... por el resto de mi vida.

One of the surprises during my visits was seeing one of my ex-students, Kelly. She now owns her own comedy group, which performs all over the NYC.

Una de las sorpresas durante mi visita fue encontrarme a una de mis ex-alumnas, Kelly. Ella tiene su propio grupo de comedi, el cual se presenta por toda la ciudad.

Most of my night time was in Manhattan with my friend Todd. He lives in Harlem where I spent one night. We saw shows; we drank beer; we ate food.

La mayor parte de mis noches estuve en Manhattan con mi amigo Todd. Todd vive en Harlem donde estuve una noche. Vivos musicales, tomamos cerveza, comimos todo el tiempo.

Most of my day time was spent in Brooklyn with my friend Brian and his wife Loraine.Their house is just beautiful. We ate, we drank lots of wine and we partied.
La mayor parte del mis días estuve en Brooklyn en la casa de mi amigo Brian y su esposa Loraine. La casa es hermosa. Comimos, tomamos mucho vino, y nos divertimos a lo lindo.

For a week, I was in Montreal, Canada, participating in the (Latin America Studies Association) LASA Conference. I must say I found Montreal the most beautiful city I have ever visited. And of course I enjoyed myself.Por una semana estuve en Montreal, Canada atendiendo la Conferencia de Estudios Latinoamericanos. Les digo que Montreal es la ciudad mas hermosa que he visitado, y claro, me divertí a lo lindo.

The Conference took place at The Queen Elizabeth-Fairmont Hotel and at the Hilton. Next to the Le Reine Elizabele Hotel, is an incredible church known as the "Basilique Marie-Reine-du Monde Cathedrale."La conferencia se llevó a cabo en el hotel Reina Isabel-Fairmont y en el Hilton. Junto al "Le Reine Elizabele Hotel" hay una iglesia increible llamada "Basilique Marie-Reine-du-Monde Cathedrale."

Just 1.8 kilometers from the hotel, I was staying at a Youth Hostel on RUE RENE-LAVESQUE OUEST.Solo a 1.8 kilómetros del hotel, yo me albergué en un Hostel para adolescente en RUE RENE-LAVESQUE OUEST.

One of my favorite pictures was taken at the boardwalk in Old Montreal. I tell you, it is the most beautiful place to be.Una de mis fotos favoritas fue tomada en Old Montreal. Les aseguro que es un lugar muy hermoso.

And this picture was taken right Centre-Ville (downtown). The street is Rue McGill College and in the background McGill Universite.Esta foto fue tomada en Centre-Ville (Centro de la ciudad.) La calle es Rue McGill College y al fondo se encuentra McGill Universite.