Last Vegas Evo 2022



## Background - Friday, July 15, 2022

While coworking with my friend Andy at EQ a coffee shop in the Heights he was
telling me about a trip to Chicago he was planning to calm some mental
turbulence.

With a craving for wanderlust, I inquired about joining the journey. It was
decided to leave the next morning, the departure took place after lunch at
Govinda's.

## Getting Into New Orleans - Saturday, July 16, 2022

The trip was uneventful with the only notable stop being Lake Charles. We found
our way to an [AirBnB](https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/10068423) we booked unloaded
the car, put on some fabcuer clothes and went on the hunt for dinner.

### Dinner at [Cafe Carmo](http://cafecarmo.com)

<Image src="IMG_0579.jpeg" alt='Plates of food a cafe carmo'  />

Cafe Carmo had a nice mix of vegan (Andy is vegan) and non-vegan options. The
menu was comprised of all sorts of Latin American drinks and dishes.

I had the Rico which had boar (pulled pork almost) on top of grilled plantains.
We also shared a vegan flatbread with cheese and other goodies. For cocktails
Andy ordered a Cajarita which felt like a bit of a play on a margarita and I
believe I had a Caipirinhas, both very refreshing drinks perfect for the summer
or a beach.

After the meal, we talked with the bartender and the two other waitresses. The
bartender had just moved from Portland and one of the other waitresses was from
Turkey!

I jokingly asked had the Portlander already made questionable decisions in Heras
and the Turkish lady laughed and told us how she was super up and then lost a
bit of money.

We enjoyed our jib on the way back to the car and did a bit of driving to get to
the [Allways Lounge](https://theallwayslounge.net) which we couldn't get into
because we where missing one of our wallets.

## Sunday

initially, the plan was to keep driving but quickly realized we had a ton of
stuff (and work) left to see and booked another day

Sunday we started the day by getting lunch at [Ital Garden](italgardennola.com)
which was proper vegan soul food. We ordered just about everything on the menu.

<Image src="IMG_0586.jpeg" alt='Plates of food a ITal'  />

- Cajun Pasta
- Quona Jumbala
- Gumbo
- Fried Cauliflower
- Golden Potatoes
- Jackfruit Ribs

### French Quarter and Jackson Square

<Image src="IMG_0597.jpeg" alt='Andy taking a photo in the french quarter'  />

<Image src="IMG_0599.jpeg" alt='The a street in the French Quarter'  />

After lunch, we were on the hunt for coffee and a place to work.
[CC's coffee house](https://www.ccscoffee.com) on Royal street is where we had
originally planned to visit.

I mentioned that Andy had to do a bit of walking around the French Quarter and
more specifically
[Jackson Square](https://www.neworleans.com/listing/jackson-square/32150/) .

Quickly though we found the heat to become unbearable as we both wore jeans and
button-ups (which I suggested against, but became appreciated later).

We had hoped to find a nice place to get a coffee and do some work but
eventually, the original destination CC's Coffee house seemed like a better
idea.

### Coffee Shop, Hookah, Locals and The Argentinans

While in CC's I offered a dad who had been mentioning his phone was dead while
his daughter used the bathroom. This is when two beautiful ladies walked in and
sat at the same table as me.

I asked them had they already done all the touristy things which they had and
were relaxing until their plane ride home that night? Turns out they are both
from Argentina and met through an agency that places young women with families
in need of live-in help.

Three more women walk up to the table and start a conversation (and they also
were in need of phone charging).

After learning they are locals, we ask about Hookah places and they suggest
[Haifa](https://haifacusinenola.com). We all decided to go, we get a bucket of
beer, and snacks while enjoying some hookah.

We then ask if they smoke at lake Pontchartrain near our Airbnb.

The walk along the river has us admiring the people fishing, baby ducks,
throwing fish back in the water, and even had Andy show us how to dance Salsa to
one of the fishers boomboxes.

Afterward, we go to a bar near their hostel and they split and I notice a guy
with chef knives. We split after this

## Monday

Again we decide to stay in New Orleans and do some work.

### Breakfast at the [The Vintage](http://thevintagenola.com) in the [Garden District](https://www.neworleans.com/plan/neighborhoods/uptown-garden-district/)

<Image src="IMG_0619.jpeg" alt='The Bar at the Vintage'  />

<Image src="IMG_0620.jpeg" alt='Beignets at the Vintage'  />

The local ladies we met previously recommended Beignets from the Vintage.

We ordered a traditional and a raspberry-filled beignet which both were amazing.
I also ordered some egg bites. Andy amusingly couldn't take a bite without
inhaling powdered sugar.

The espresso machine stopped working after our first order of coffee, I always
wonder if this happens to stop people from spending all day working. I saw they
had cucumber dill gimlet (I love gimlets) and ordered one with Ahi tuna which
was an amazing protein snack.

### Lunch [Killer Po Boys](http://www.killerpoboys.com/)

<Image src="IMG_0626.jpeg" alt='Po Boys at Killers'  />

After this Andy had not eaten and I had to make sure he had a Po Boy before
leaving New Orleans. He had a Thai BBQ po boy and I had the beef which had
pickled green beans and horseradish and was quite tasty.

Then we had to get a Po Boy for Andy and Killer Poboys had three vegan options.

### Mid Afternoon - Working at the [Irish Cultural Museum](https://www.neworleans.com/listing/the-irish-cultural-museum-of-new-orleans/30407/)

<Image src="IMG_0639.jpeg" alt='A glass of Guiness, Powers Whisky Bottle and glass of Whisky'  />

Andy found a coffee shop inside the Irish Cultural Museum. Fun fact in 1800s New
Orleans the Irish population was 1 in 5. The Irish coffees are said to be great,
though we didn't want to start drinking so early.

I chatted with the bartender about tasting a reasonable whisky. My friend Chuck
said he wanted to try [Red Breast](https://www.redbreastwhiskey.com/) but they
only had 123 and 173 a glass.

After he listened to my preferences (less sweet, no fancy barrels) he
recommended a
[Prowlers John's Lane Pot still](https://www.powerswhiskey.com/en-us/product/johns-lane)
and a pint of [Guinness](https://www.guinness.com/). He told me this pairing of
flavors was something they would be drinking 150 years ago in Ireland. I spoke a
bit about my Mexican Irish heritage and he told me all about the name Irish
Mexicans.

While I was waiting for him to finish I walked next door and ordered a double
well whisky at the
[Three-Legged Dog](https://www.neworleans.com/listing/three-legged-dog/33371/) ,
a much seedier local bar that had quite the cast of characters in it.

### Dinner [Sneaky Pickle](https://www.yousneakypickle.com/)

Almost everyone we asked for vegan options recommended Sneaky Pickle and finally
got to try it. We talked to two ladies at a neighboring table who were from
Seatle for one of their weddings.

- Smoked tempeh Reuben (with a gorgeous red cabbage saukrat) with fries
- A sort of Trumpet Mushrooms on grits
- Mac n Cheese

The lady next door left a whole half sandwich which we grabbed and ate without
shame.

### Evening [Frenchman Street](https://www.neworleans.com/plan/streets/frenchmen-street/)

<Image src="IMG_0654.jpeg" alt='Andy Pointing at the Frenchman Inn Sign'  />

At this point, Andy still wanted to see some Jazz. And to be honest, at this the
point I don't think I've taken full advantage of the music scene in my previous
excursions.

We walked through a market and stopped outside a few places until we settled in
on [The spotted cat](https://www.spottedcatmusicclub.com/) which had
[The Frenchman Street All-stars](https://www.louisianamusicfactory.com/product/dominick-grillo-the-frenchmen-street-all-stars/)
doing an amazing job.

## Tuesday

Tuesday I started the morning and walked to Waffle House .7 miles away as Andy
is a breakfast person.

### Morning Downtown NOLA

After that, we went ahead and being our working day at
[Breads on Oak](https://www.breadsonoak.com/), which was sort of an entertaining
place to work as it's downtown surrounded by hotels so lots of opportunities to
do people watching.

For lunch, we walked over to [Shangia Thai](http://singhathai-cafe.com/) Lunch,
Garlic Softshell Crab and pad la.

### Afternoon [Old World Coffee](https://oldroadcoffee.com/)

At Old World, I met a fellow Houstonian
[Mark](https://linktr.ee/marktwilliamsii) who now lives in NOLA. He wrote two
books that I skimmed and were quite poetic. He mentioned two art shoes which
were also going to be giving away bags full of art supplies to youth who need
them the most.

### A long drive home

At this point, Andy had to get back to Houston and we decided to start the
journey home.

On the way we stopped for a quick bite at a Lousianin/Mexican restaurant called
Mestizo. The Server recommended guac which had grilled peaches and feta, quite
the odd combo but was pretty tasty. They mentioned that they also do it with
pomegranate arils which I think would be quite visually stunning.


Summertime Adventure in New Orleans



## Overview

I'm writing this about two weeks from the trip to Tanzania to climb/hike
Kilimanjaro. I'm going with Courage Rising a partnership between
[Valleywise Health Foundation](http://valleywisehealthfoundation.org) and
[K2 adventures](https://k2adventuretravel.com) as a part of a group consisting
of burn survivors, health professionals, and donors. We are raising money for
the Arizona Burn Center, I need to raise an additional 7.5k to meet my goal.
Donations can be made
[here](https://secure.givelively.org/donate/valleywise-health-foundation/courage-rising/nicholas-romero-2)

## How I got involved

My friend and coworker [Juan Palomino](https://twitter.com/JuanForTheMoney)
invited me. He set up setting up an NFT drop called
[Viva Muerto](https://www.vivamuertos.com) to raise money for Valley Health. Our
friend and his girlfriend Mikala works at Valleywise Health and has been helping
organize the trip.

## Raising Money

The goal for each of the team members is to raise 10,000$ USD. This money goes
to the foundation and K2 then has donated their guided tour, as of writing.

Fundraising is hard I've learned, it's not easy to push politely, with friends
and family and any donations should be met with gratitude. Previously it was
(verbally) mentioned that we could raise what we could and call it a day.

With a large amount of hubris during the on boarding call said I would cover
what remained after my fundraising attempts. An email was sent out later
mentioning anyone who doesn't meet their goal won't be able to attend, and
further correspondence mentioned that we could (again) donate the rest ourselves
(for a nice tax write-off).

## Expenses (Gear & Travel)

The fundraiser does not include the travel or gear costs. The K2 team provided
[a gear list](http://valleywisehealthfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/20…)
Although after a bit of research and discussion this gear list is slightly
superfluous, eg multiple types of boots.

The flight to Tanzania on KLM is about 2000$ itself. And I've spent around 1000
dollars on gear. Some of which I'm hoping to use in the future. Currently, I've
gotten my last haul of shipments and trying to open all the boxes.

## Physical Fitness and Altitude

The summiting the mountain for a group can take anywhere between 5 to 9 days.
Longer trips give climbers more time to acclimate to the altitude, and they say
9 day trips have around 80% success summiting the mountain.

It's also recommended to get altitude medication, which is usually Diamox.

I've not done to much to prepare myself physically other than my usual
powerlifting three times a week (dead lifted 450x4 today for example), Some HIT
workouts in the pool and some hot yoga. I do wish I was running still a bit more
and gotten more altitude training in.

I did some reading though on the world record holders and Kili has been (with
acclimation and not carrying food) summited in 6 hours, this has giving me a
large amount of hope that I won't have problems summiting.


Origin's of my Tanzania Africa trip to climb Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the Arizona Burn center.

Mount Kilimanjaro Part 1 - Getting ready



## How I got there

Most likely I saw PyCon on twitter make a post about PyCon India and I had been
working on a software boilerplate called Rjango. I decided to apply in October
and what do ya know I was accepted. I had about month till I had to be in India.
I've never been out of the country and had to get my passport and visa into
India.

## Getting there

I flew from Houston to Paris, had a few hour layover and then to Itially where I
had a 19 hour layover. Has some espresso and wine, snuck into the fancy members
only lounge for a bit then finally went on my way to India.

## Arrival

When I got there I had to go through customs. I exchanged some dollars for
rubbies and naturally bought some whisky at the duty free store. An interesting
thing about getting a sim card in India is that it doesn't activate for 12 or so
hours. So no way to get an uber. Thus I had to go outside and attempt to hail a
cab.

While attempting to hail a cab I met a cabbie who offered to show me around a
bit. Some pictures below

He mentioned I might want to check out the Tourist center. Being super jet
lagged I didn't really argue.

## Delhi Tour and Services

I arrived at Delhi Tour and Services around six in the morning, there I met
Danish who politely informed me that the room I had reserved in was not in a
great part of Delhi and promptly offered to let me stay with him and his friend
Moosah.

<Image src="IMG_0113.jpeg" />

Danish then smoothly talked me into a tour of northern india, I hesitantly
crossed the street to pull out a thousand or so dollars over a few transactions
which my bank didn't mind at all.

<Image src="IMG_0117.jpeg" />

After paying Danish sent me with one of the company drivers and we set off
accross the town while he finished up the work day.

## The Apartment

After getting dropped off I met Mooshi, the apartments stay in help on the
street carried my stuff up to the apartment for me. Moosah was also at work but
I met Noel who was seeing Moosah at the time. We spoke for a bit, I think at
this time its around 10:30 am IND or 9:30 PM CST. After shower I promptly
crashed until 7:50 AM.

<Image src="IMG_0118.jpeg" />

The next day (lot of this is based of the metadata in the pictures I took) where
I was greated by what would become my standard breakfeast when staying at the
apartment.

AN omlet with veg, naan and a chai.

<Image src="IMG_0127.jpeg" />

## Party Time

After breakfast Noel and I chatted and shared some whisky, which we get Mooshi
to drink a little (which may have not be super kosher). Noel then invited her
friend over and we partaked in

## Pycon India

Ironically the catalyst for this journey PyCon India is really but a footnote in
the larger picture. It was held in a small college and had a few interesting
talks

## Dinner after words
