Is 2009 Over Yet....

I know I know I have been horrible at keeping my blog updated. Its just that for the past couple of weeks I haven't had the urge to write and I have been a little busy with something else.

Some changes that have happened have been the move. I decided that I wanted to live on my own and not have a roommate. I prefer to have my own space and walk around in the nude and make as much noise as I want and not have to worry about anyone else. Also I feel like more of an adult with my own space. The problem with moving on your own is just that everything is now on me. I have to furnish the apartment, pay all the bills, clean and everything else on my own.

The first week I was here I did most of the painting (on my own). Not crazy about the color but I feel to lazy to do it all over again. I have furnished the place from scrap. I mean the only thing I owned was my bed mirror and TV. I had to get everything else over the past 4 weeks. Not done just yet but soon enough.

I had my first dinner party just last week. I had Brandon, Cornell, and Miguel over. I got to use the new plate set I got from Cornell which I love.

I spent Christmas with the family even thou I wasnt in the Christmas spirit this year. NYE I will spend it with them again and NYD I am going out dancing after I wake up from my full night of sleep.

I think I can say that 2009 wasnt the best year of my life, but 2010 will be a totally different story. I expect a lot of positive changes. After such a low the only direction next is UP!!!!

Happy Holidays

Jonathan

P.S Picture of me checking out my muscles. Been hitting the gym a little harder. Hope you can tell too

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Good times over the rainbow

So I am trying to think what to write and all I can do it smile. A little over a week ago I went to this cute little resort in PA called Rainbow Mountain. Its only 1.5 hours away from NYC and the place is just a great getaway from the hustle and bustle of NYC. Unfortunately i had missed the changing of the leaves color but it was still wonderful to get a little bit of nature and breath some fresh air.

I was invited by Angelo the resort owner to come and dance for there "Mens Weekend". They also had asked if I would come and join them for the singles table and mingle with the guest and can I say I had the most amazing time. Everyone was just so friendly and nice and most of all FUNNY! They had me laughing with food in my mouth almost every other minute. The food was nice as tasty as well. The guys would ask me tons of questions and its really funny when they kept calling me Jonathan Vargas. I have always just been used to be calling just plain Jonathan. I get JV from time to time but not so much the full name.

A funny story on my first night there was that when I was getting ready to go to the main cabin for the singles dinner it was already pitch black outside and my cabin was up the hill. Angelos Bf was telling me that he has had a few bear encounters but nothing crazy. Anyways here I am in the cabin looking outside and I am freaking out. What would I do if I saw a bear? I am little they could eat me in no time. Lucky the Cabin was near the main road so I waited for a car to come by so I could use the head lights so I can see. When that car came by I jetted as fast as my little legs could and half way there I hear someone yell "JONATHAN VARGAS" I stop I looked up and said "yea". They said that they were sent up to come get me and why was I running? I told them I was running from the possible bear be-hide me and the just chuckled a bit.

anyways to me it was a funny story you might not find it that thrilling. During the day I went out and explored and It was good to be with Nature and leave the skyscrapers behind. The night of the party was so much fun as well. I did my little dance routine and people seemed to have had a great time.

If your thinking about a great getaway spot you should really considering going to Rainbow mountain. The staff is really friendly and its just a good relaxing place to be. I could only imagine how much fun it would be during the summer time as well since they have a nice big pool

anyways thats all for now

Jonathan Vargas

Quickie Blog

This is my cool new hat from Peru. Its seems like no one seems to like it which isnt really my problem but I just wanted to say that I think its cute. I look funny in the picture but I didnt want to spend more then 1 minutes taking a picture of myself with my hat. Out of the 3 pictures I took this is the one I liked the most because I looked silly. As for the movies I have seen here is my review. I made it simple so that everyone could understand



Hope all is well

Jonathan Vargas

Mi primera ves en Peru

Where to begin with Lima Peru....... Like any country or state you visit you have your nice and not so nice areas. The majority of Peru is poverty stricken. Many areas have dirt roads and incomplete houses. The walls are covered in graffiti and many areas are just very run down. On the other side of the spectrum you have your beautiful neighborhoods that have scenic views of the pacific ocean. I was lucky enough to be staying in Miraflores which is one of the very nice areas of Lima.

I went to Lima for a business project that I am working on. I dont want to say just yet what that is, but I needed to come down to learn about the industry and to check out some of the materials needed. The first 3 days I can say I was extremely busy and even thou I don’t think I made the progress I wanted to make I still managed to get an experience and learn something from this experience. I just needed to learn in a less expensive way!

Some interesting fact about lima is that it never rains. I was here for 4 days and they are in the overcast season. I barely saw the sun out since it was nothing but clouds but believe it or not they tell me it never rains. There are always clounds but no rain. They get more rain in the desserts then they do in Lima. When I arrived I thought I would have nothing but sun and maybe have some time to build on a tan but NADA!!!!

Also if your planning a trip to lima I hope you have nerves of steel. THEY DRIVE LIKE LOCOS!!!!!!!!! I dont think of myself to be a nervous wreck but OMG I felt like I was going to die every time I got in a car. I was on a highway on a way to a party for a couple who were celebrating there 12 year anniversary and we must have gone aginst traffic 3 TIMES!!! EVEN A TRAFFIC OFFICER TOLD US TO GO AGAINST THE TRAFFIC TO GET ON THE MAIN ROAD!!! There aren’t many stops signs or traffic lights and people just drive any way they feel like. NO FUN

On a positive note I really enjoyed the coastal park in Miraflores. I also liked that they had a mall built into the cliffs that overlooked the Pacific ocean. I also got to go to a 12 year anniversary party for a gay couple and there friends. There must have been like 8 couples there that were together for 10 plus years. The food was delicious and dont get me started on the fruits and vegetables so rich and tasty. The people in lima were just as sweet!

Anyways its time for me to get some rest, Sorry I didnt take many pictures but my focus was on other things and I didnt really get the chance to be a tourist.

Jonathan Vargas

Marching in Numbers

Its a shame that I live in a country where I cannot marry the person I love. That I can be evicted from my home or lose my job because of my sexual orientation. Its a shame that thousands are harassed and discriminated and aren't protected under the law.

Having said that, my friends and I thought it would only be fair that we stand behind the movement and provide support for the Equality March. On October 11, 2009 we marched with 200,000 other members and supports of the LGBT community. Letting everyone know in Capital of hill that we are no longer going to wait around for them to take there time with our issues. That we are only asking for the rights that everyone else has in this country.

"A free and equal people do not tolerate prioritization of their rights. They do not accept compromises. They do not accept delays. And when we see leaders and those who represent us saying 'you must wait again,' we say No! No! No longer will we wait!" Cleve Jones

I think what we did by marching was amazing but if you were to ask me what we should do to really get there attention I would tell the LGBT community to stop paying there TAXES!!! I am more then sure that Washington would read the message loud and clear and they would changes the law in minutes!!! but thats just my opinion and don't necessary know if that would work.

Keep on Fighting

Jonathan Vargas

Memoirs of an American Samurai

Yahoo.... I finally made it over to Tokyo Japan and so far the experience has been amazing! I find the people, the country, the streets just to be so intriguing and fun.

Let me start off with the things I love

I love the Japanese toilets!!! I can not believe that we dont have these all over the US or anywhere else in the world for that matter. After letting go of your dark nuggets you can have this little squirter shoot water on your bum. I felt alot cleaner then when I just use toilet paper. You can adjust the pressure too! I ended up going to the Toto showroom which is the creator of most of the worlds advance toilets.

Tokyo has 25 million people living in this city that is more then all of Australia. Shinkjuku Station alone has 3 million people passing through it each day! And the best part is that its SPOTLESS!

Building here are so unique and so interesting. My favorite building so far is the cocoon building and I found out that its actually holds 3 universities. The only thing that I am not crazy about are all the advertising they have on some of the building’s. I am very impressed by the creativity of it all.

I love Japanese women style. Its not just there clothing but the way they style there hair, make-up, and accessories. Its just off the hook!!! Very feminine and unique.

So far I have walked all around Shinjuku, I have gone to like 6 shrines both Shinto and Buddha Shrines. I have gone to the Fire museum which was really interesting. I walked around the different shops and tried some of the different food. I got to smell smells I have never smelled before. I met a fellow American who has lived in Tokyo for 11 years. He took me around the bars and did a little bar hopping where I met other Americans. I have also gone to the Shinjuku gardens.

In the early morning I have gone jogging and I have amazed by how the elderly still manage to wake up and get a quick workout in the near by parks. They seem to keep themselves physically active as often as possible.

The other day I had gone to Kamakuru which is a small town about an hour away from Tokyo. I got to see the Buddha statue of Amida Nyorai. I also went on a hiking tour where i got lost all by myself for about 30 minutes. Very excited but a little scary. I finally found a couple who guided me back on the right path. The town was small and cute with little shops and boutiques.

Food here has been a very hit or miss. I am very particular with food and some of the things here have made me gag while other things haven been surprisingly good. I love the different types of steam breads and desserts. I had a very unique blend of nuts here too which were delicious.

I also went out to party one night. Since it was a long weekend here in Tokyo I got to go to the biggest gay party of all of Asia. The club is called Ageha and the party is called Shangri-la. The space was enormous and the music was insane. I brought my camera but they didnt allow them inside the club so I had to put it in a locker they have outside the club. I met a few Australians and Canadians while I was there and danced for a few hours. They had gogo dancers on boxes painted in a cool design which could only been seen when under a black light. They also had a small area just for food which was a great idea. I left at 5am since I was wiped out and luckly they had shuttle buses back to Shinjuku.

My favorite area of Tokyo has to be Harajuku. The place puts all of Soho New York to shame. The neighborhood is beautiful with all the shops and tall building’s. The main street is filled with all the high-end shops and on the side streets is where you find the boutique shops mixed in with bargain shops. I found myself getting frustrated because I thought there was no way I can see it all and I so wanted too.

On the last night I met up with New, who I met via Theo. New took me to this neat underground theme restaurant. It was a jail theme and would have been really exciting, but we missed the show time and decided to hit a roof top burger joint instead. The Burger place was delicious and the Milk shake was to die for. Then we walked around Shibuya while New filled me in with interesting Tokyo facts. Did you know that Japan has had 30,000 suicides last year alone!!! Thats about 82 a day! I also find out why the Japanese never cross the street during a green light...... You get a ticket!!! Here I thought they were just really patient. I am lucky I wasn't caught.

I have had a wonderful time in Japan and I cant possibly remember it all but here are a few pics

Enjoy

Jonathan Vargas