
I scanned the map and after few conversations I decided to visit Sam - my roommate from times in El Porvenir, where we both volunteered for Honduras Child Alliance.
Turned out he lived in Clayton, North Carolina, a small town 20 minutes South-East from bigger cities like Raleigh or Durham (the other Durham). I have to admit I was propa excited to finally see a different part of the US. First I had to endure 12 hours on a bus as I realised why pay $120 extra to fly if I can ride a bus, yes it's longer but it's not like I was in rush.
It wasn't 12 hours. More like 16! Our bus first broke down in Newark, New Jersey Penn Station. Apparently we didn't have breaks. Everybody started wondering how the heck did we manage to lose our breaks right at the station parking space but not earlier? The driver tried to get somebody to fix it but they failed, so there was nothing left but wait for new bus to come from New York. I think I was the only happy person on this bus - because that gave me time to stretch my legs, write a bit in my journal, and just enough to take a glimpse at Newark. I tried to contain my lack of sadness to not get other passengers angry as they had other places to be. One guy was travelling all the way to Atlanta for a meeting he was supposed to have at 9am next morning. I think he barely made it but surely didn't have time to take a shower...

The first weekend (since I arrived at 1am Friday was already gone) I spent with Sam getting know my way around the new place and familiarising myself with my new situation. That is always the best part of coming to a new place, getting lost here and there, looking at people, their behaviours, and more.
One thing struck me immediately and that was the lack of pavements. We lived 20 minutes from the actual town so when Sam was at work I had to walk everywhere. But as you know me by now walking is preferable to me anyway. When I needed to go and buy some groceries I had to walk about 20 minutes along a highway. I am sure people in cars had some laughs or at least head scratches thinking what the hell this dude is doing walking.

My first week was also my last week with MovingWorlds so I focused on work. Sam was getting ready for his MCAT exam the following Saturday. 6-hour step towards a medical school - yes I didn't even know there is an exam in the world that would last that long! While working at home I also needed to get out of the house a bit. Nothing makes me happier than a good walk in search of a coffee house with good wifi where I can do some quality work.
Turns out Clayton only has one but what a one!

It would be difficult to list a thing that is not perfect at that place. Good selection of plant-based milks (coconut, soy, and almond), the decor is amazing: wood and a bit of steampunk, and also an outside area with lights, artificial grass, make it a pretty spectacular place..


This led me to decide to go for a small roadtrip on Sunday. Since I was very close to Durham, NC I could not pass the opportunity to visit "The Other Durham" as I started to call it. I miss the original Durham, after all I would see it for almost 6 years pretty much every day on my way to work, gym, or shopping.
There was, however, one crucial problem. No public transport! In Clayton you stay in Clayton, forever, unless you have a car as I mentioned before. We have searched everywhere if there are buses, trains, anything but unfortunately to no avail. Sam was away that weekend, hiking with his girlfriend so I had to come up with something. Nothing apart from hitchiking came to mind at first but eventually I ordered Uber. Normally I would stay away from Ubers and Lyfts as I feel obligated I need to talk to the drivers but turns out nowadays I am okay with that. I ask them about the area, they ask me about my travels, and considering it has been some time I do have a lot to talk about.
On our way to my destination, Raleigh (capital of the state), I saw a sign about a fleamarket, to which the driver gladly took me. You know me I never pass a fleamarket! This one was spectacular! People selling everything they don't need but had stashed in the attics or basements. From baseball cards, furniture, medals, postcards, to clothing, pictures, toys, and more. At times like these I wish I didn't have to be able to contain my whole life in a backpack but then again it does prevent me from spending money so I guess it's not that bad :)
Our first stop (the driver showed me tha fair quickly) was this "snack guy", who sells snacks very cheaply. You can find anything from oreos, pretzels, oatmeals to sweets (candy) and drinks. Too bad when I looked at best-before date some of those packs had 2016 written on it but I guess it didn't matter too much.



I walked around for two hours just looking at some of those amazing things and watching people bargaining but since my main destination was Durham I made my way to downton Raleigh..
Took a bus and felt much better than in a car. Don't know why but I do like public transportation. You get to see a lot, sometimes observe people's normal every day lives but it's still quicker than walking if time is a constraint. I think trains are my favourite but the tracks in the US are scarce, not like mainland Europe where trains were primary transportation of many things during the war.
Downtown Raleigh had its own fair. Turns out it was The African American Cultural Festival. The colourful outfits, jewelry hand-made in style from the African continent, and a lot of food to enjoy.
The Afro-American population in Raleigh was at 29.3% according to the 2010 census {"url":"http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/raleigh-population/", "type":"www","date":"12 September 2018", "author": " World Population Review", "title" : "Raleigh, North Carolina Population 2018 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs)"}, so it is very important that they celebrate their roots by sharing it with everybody.

Another part of Raleigh I wanted to see was a little park around the building of NC State Capitol, aka Union Square, building erected in 1840 in Greek revival style that currently is a house to the governor of North Carolina and was names as a historic landmark in 1973. {"type" : "www", "date" : "12 September", "url" : "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_State_Capitol", "author" : "Wikipedia", "title" : "North Carolina Sate Capitol - Wikipedia"}


