Tijuana Orphanage Trip

I am not sure what to expect this morning but one thing I do know, damn
this is early!

We are going to the Sion orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico as part of the
Corazon De Vida program that supports this and other orphanages of Northern
Mexico. I learned about it through Kim from my New Beginnings MeetUp group.
We started the day sitting in the parking lot of an Irvine office building
at 6:15 am waiting to catch the bus that will take us to the orphanage.

6:20. Where is the damn bus? I could have gotten 5 more minutes of sleep!
Which would have been good because it was a late night (well early for me,
but later than it should've been for someone who had to get up at 5:15
am!). I watched the movie 'Precious' last night. Guess that launched the
weeekend off right. A movie about a young girl who managed to survive her
shitty parents and awful existence and begin to learn to take care of
herself - and her own 2 kids. It was sad, disturbing and hard to watch. If
Heath Ledger succumbed to the darkness he had to go to for his character in
Batman, then I don't see how Mo'nique could escape the world of her
character. She put on one of the most impactful performances I have ever
seen. Truly evil in a real and personal manner.

And now I am off to visit with kids who don't have any parents - evil or
otherwise - in their lives. I don't know which would be worse - horrible
parents or no parents?

From the tales of the folks who are making this trip for umpteenth time,
it sounds like the value the kids get from this experience is surpassed
only by the value these volunteers get. After my experience in Kibera I get
that. Many of the people on the bus are supporters of the CDV organization
and are coming down to see the kids they support. There is also a group
from an elementary school - parents/teachers, as well as kids. There are a
few church related folks as well. There is a diverse mix of people -
Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian and European. I think it will all make for an
amazing day.

And Another Year Begins

And so it goes. My travel hiatus has come to an end. While last year I was
able to avoid Russia in January, this year finds me starting my air travel
bound for Bucharest, Romania where the weather awaiting me is going to be
u*g*l*y! Its been a long time since I dealt with single digit temps, heavy
winds and snow up the wazoo.

It will be cool to visit a new country and the great thing is I get to
notch another Hard Rock Cafe! I need to go back and count but I am sure I
am at over 56 different HRCs around the world. Crazy!

Well, the doors are about to close and time for me to assume my normal
position - asleep! Gues you cvould say, like my phone, I will be in the off
position for this flight!

Not an Everyday Occurance

I was sitting in the hotel lobby waiting (3-1/2 hours!!) for my room to be ready. The lobby if filled with band and production people from the concert event, Maquinaria, last night. One guy is sitting off in the corner by himself and is talking on a cell phone. He starts talking about how some people ran up to him and "Beth" and "Daron" at the airport screaming "Josh, Josh" He informed the person on the other end of the phone that some one had a video camera and it was on YouTube now. He went on to explain how he is big in Brazil.

Bored, with nothing to do but wait (did I mention the 3-1/2 hours?) I decided to Google this Josh and his friends. "Josh, Amy, Sao Paulo, November" Definitely turned up the video, but still didn't know who he was. Now with this video thing I really wanted to know. Turns out he is Josh Hartzlet, songwriter, therapist, and most famsously, the husband to Amy Lee, lead singer (and lone oringal band member) of Evanescence. The good news is that my room became available soon after that. The bad news is I never saw Amy Lee! Drat!

Gotta admit though, this Internet thing has some power and instantness (that a word?). Sitting in a hotel lobby overhearing a guy on the phone talking about fans capturing cell phone video of him arriving at the airport the previous day, Googling him and then seeing nthe video - all while he is still on the call 10 feet away from me. And now I am posting on my blog for my friends. Waaay cool. Just wish it would have been a more relevant celebrity! No disrespect to Josh, of course!! ;)

In casre you are interested, here is the video of Josh and his two friends (whoever they are) arrving at the airport in Sao Paulo.

5th Continent in 5 Months

I never thought I'd do something like this. Since the end of May I have
been in Africa (Nairobi), Europe (Berlin, Budapest, Warsaw, and Prague,
with pass throughs in amsterdam), Asia (China, Korea, Japan), North America
(Chicago, South Bend, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Las Vegas, Santa Barbara & Los
Angeles) and now South America (Sao Paulo). Hell, I am tired just typing it
in!

Jeff Ballard
Global Business Development Program Manager
IBM Software Group
Enterprise Content Management
P: 714.327.7725
C: 949.378.9130
E: JBallard@us.ibm.com

Healthy Travel Plan Delayed

Ok, bonehead packing error is delaying the start of my new weight loss
program. Kind of hard to take supplements when they are packed in your
suitcase! I was so focused on making sure I had my new supplements for the
trip I forgot to set some aside for today's travel! That's alright I wasn't
too sure I wanted to deal with the start of this while I was on a plane
anyways.

My goal this trip is to make it the healthiest one I've ever done.
Accomplishing that of course would not take a whole lot of effort. I have
not exactly set the bar too high when it comes to healthy travel. I tend to
enjoy the local cuisine, beer and culture at the expense of eating right,
working out and getting plenty of sleep.

The frequency of doing this over the past 6 months, coupled with an
upcoming trip to meet 'the family' as it were, are increasing the need to
reverse my backward slide into blob-dom. After the separation last year I
had dropped nearly 30 pounds. Sadly, an altered lifestyle since ... oh,
let's just say January 14, 2009 (and you know who you are!) ... has meant
less gym time, more dining out and far less sleep. This new pattern
started to erase the gains I had made physically up to that point.

So, now it is time to pay the piper and work to get back on the right
track. Why does it have to come when I am in Brazil?! Well, I guess if
travel were an excuse I'd continue to blob out. So I need to overcome that
at some point. Now is as good as time as any. Besides Thanksgiving looms on
the horizon!

But before that it is on to Brazil. The plane door has now closed. And so
begins the air travel portion of my 17 hour journey to Brazil and a renewed
journey back to a more healthy form!.

Jeff Ballard
Global Business Development Program Manager
IBM Software Group
Enterprise Content Management
P: 714.327.7725
C: 949.378.9130
E: JBallard@us.ibm.com

Blame it on Rio...or in this case Sao Paulo

Went to the Brazilian Consulate in Beverly Hills yesterday. I can tell you without a doubt that it sounds a whole lot more exotic that it was - in spite of the fact it was in the Larry Flynt Publishing building. Very tiny room. Very crowded with people. It was kind of a pain in the ass.

Apparently, though, they are doing a good job of 'returning the favor' for US citizens looking to travel to Brazil. In reponse to the US's visa and immigration laws enacted since 9/11, the Brazil government has done all it can to provide US citizens with the same experience Brazilians have when they come to the US. As noted on the consulate web site, "US passport holders must pay also a processing fee of US$130.00 in reciprocity for an identical fee paid by Brazilian citizens who apply for a Visa to the US."

This will be an interesting trip!

There Really is No Explaining This. Parental Advisory! For Mature Audiences Only!