"LIFE" in Salvador...Pt. 10

Wow, what a busy week this has been. A good busy. The showcase is really coming along. It's going to be so good. Please, come out and support if you can. I will post the flyer to the site shortly. Again it is Monday, May 22 @The Triad on 72nd ST(btwn. B'way&Columbus)....showtimes are 7PM&9PM. Please come support me and my fellow University of the Arts/NYC bound newcomers...Kaitlin, Laura, and Scott. They are all extremely talented and are excited about this project. Also, look forward to many upcoming series that I will be presenting and performing in. I'm developing some cool projects with a great team of musicians, promoters, and other artists who all believe in my ideas, and are very excited for the future. It feels so good to have a team of people who believes so much in you. It really helps. It's a support team, and I know we all can use it in our lives. So be prepared, my vocal showcase and theatrical showcase are all in the works. Just continue to send out that positive energy. I can feel it YA'LL!!!

I have to send out big big big "HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY" to my Aunt Edwina!!! She goes by Mary Woodley, but the fam' knows her as "Aunt Edwina." "HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!"

Well this is the final Journal edition for "LIFE" in Salvador. Thanks to all who have been following along. I have received numerous emails, and phone calls. It means a lot to me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Just know that, this is my last journal entry about my time in Salvador, but not the last of me blogging. I will now go on to blog about current events in my life. and I will begin to start a food for thought( which I have sort of done with the quotes), I will post poetry online, and whatever inspires me. I would love to hear your feedback on my poems and lyrics, and also I would love for you all to begin to express yourself. It can be through poetry, song lyrics, haiku, prose, quotes, questions, or just train of thoughts. I will post in my weekly updates to share with everyone. So get your LIFE!!! Also check back for photos as well. I will be downloading more photos to the site throughout the week.

Journal Entry 2/27/06

I am very sad. I really don't want to leave. I have that feeling I got when I was kid. You know that feeling, of wanting to stay, not wanting to go home. Man, I wish I was given that extra week. I really like it here. Next year I will definitely stay longer. Bahia....Salvador, is so beautiful. So many gorgeous black men and women...my people! This is amazing. I mean, the people here, remind me of, my people I see in the US. I can see it in the features and the mannerisms. I know for a fact that we are all apart of the same lineage. I swear some of my black people, here in Salvador, can pass for my members in my Jones and Anderson family tree. I didn't expect to see this. I didn't know what to expect. I was told about the culture and the African descendants in Salvador, but never did I imagine this. It was like looking at my brother, my sister, or my best friend. Wow! I am really going on and on about this. I am just so amazed by this experience. I am flipping out. What a lesson!!! I'm making a vow with myself to continue to learn the language. I will be fluent. Just give me a couple of years. I'm learning so far. I've gotten pretty far as well. I can carry basic conversations. I must say, I'm proud of myself.

Well I didn't meet the love of my life, but I met some really really nice people. Whom I'm sure I'll keep in touch with years down the line.

I just recently found out that the kids at CAASAH will probably only live until they are 16. 16???!!!?? That's not a long life. Aw, that hurts my heart. They won't even have a chance. "C" basically has about 2 years to live. "M" has about 4. That was so heartbreaking when I heard that news. "C" has lived at CAASAH all her life. If I'm correct, she came when she was a year old. She was the first child there. I mean, all she knows is CAASAH. She has lived in that smelly, unsanitary, and cumbersome hospital all her life. What kind of life is that for a kid? For anyone? And, all she's known all her life, are drugs and antibiotics. Just being around a lot of HIV and AIDS patients, I can tell how the drugs have affected her physical shape. She's still beautiful though. All of the little ones look up to her. She's like Mother. And she loves them to death. Hmm...I don't know what else to say.

I'm going to miss it here. Those kids need so much. I want to be the one to do something special for them. Yeah, when I come back I will have new clothes, shoes, and bed linen for them. I wonder who will still be here, when I return...? I mean, I am so blessed. I mean I have so much, and Yes I thank God for everything. The culture here is calling my name. I will return. I will do more research back home about my family lineage. I will share what I learned here with everyone I know, and come in contact with, in the States. I am so FULL.

A few hours later at the airport:

So here I am in the airport, already going through a little withdrawal. So I stop in this store to make one last souvenir purchase. Faintly, in the background, I hear a CD playing. The sound gradually gets louder, and I hear the group Afrodisiaco....ahh...I started to tear up a little...I began to relive my trip...all the memories, the CCS staff, the volunteers, some local friends I made, and the kids at CAASAH....ahhhhh. Ok, pull it together man. It's going to be alright. Everything is good. Peace Ya'll....

"VAI COM DEUS."

"What's Stopping You?"

-Cornelius "Life" Jones

(theme from the upcoming cabaret featuring new talents Laura Catlaw, Kaitlin Rose Mercurio, and Scott Page...with Cornelius Jones Jr.)