od.August 22 Im at a sports bar in Belmont, alone, reading Zadie Smith on my phone, when an elderly man, clearly drunk, shows up and challenges me to a game of poo

SEATTLE -- Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche has already made history as the first openly gay fighter in the UFC. Now the former U.S. marine is set to do it again as she faces Brazilian Jessica Andrade in the first bout between openly lesbian fighters in the mixed martial arts organization. Carmouche still cant quite believe it is her in the spotlight as pioneer. "I never thought after being so closeted in the marine corps to being now in the UFC that I would ever be that person, let along be somebody who could be open or be somebody thats pioneering and knocking down doors," said Carmouche, who fights Andrade (9-2) on Saturdays televised UFC card at KeyArena. "So Im just embracing every moment and just grateful that it is happening." Andrade, a pint-sized fighter with a big smile, says she hopes she is helping open the door for others to be open about who they are and how they feel. "In the end, whatever your sexual orientation, it doesnt affect how you work, who you are or what you do," Andrade said through an interpreter. She too is enjoying the moment as she becomes the first Brazilian woman to fight in the UFC. Thanks to a Seattle shopping expedition, she was sporting brand new red Air Jordans on Thursday. "Kid size," explained the interpreter. Carmouche (7-3) was thrown in the spotlight in February when she challenged bantamweight champion (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey at UFC 157. Carmouche was submitted in the first round but not before dragging Rousey into some deep water at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The 29-year-old Carmouche is hard not to root for. While the "UFC Primetime" TV show in advance of the fight showed Rousey commuting in a luxury car, Carmouche was driving a beater with a cracked windshield. A furniture manufacturer, having seen her admit she couldnt afford a kitchen table, reached out to offer her a freebie. Her life remains the same, but has changed significantly on one front. While she still answers the phone at the San Diego Combat Academy, she reports that quick trips to the supermarket or corner store are a thing of the past. Carmouches story has touched a nerve, well beyond her sexual orientation. "It never turns into anything quick, it turns into something longer," she said. "Getting to hear peoples stories, getting to hear the way I impacted peoples lives. Them just wanting to talk to me and interact." While she admits it sometimes plays havoc with her schedule, she says she relishes the attention. "Other days, getting to hear that I could actually influence peoples lives, that they have a role model now to look up to, that just blows my mind," she said. The five-foot-six Carmouche says the ripple effect of her title fight has been seen at her gym. "When we started off, I had one other consistent teammate. And now we have 10 women that want to fight. Thats a huge difference." She says it has upped her game, helping her train with a variety of talented women. Kids have also told her they see her as a role model. "Thats just changed my life for the better," she said. "I never thought Id be that person but I accept it with open arms," she added. She feels no pressure from that role, saying she walks the proper path. She rarely drinks and says if she goes out at night, she does so responsibly. She doesnt do drugs and takes care of her body. Carmouche has been invited to appear in several Pride parades, attend openings of LGBT centres and speak to kids. She says she believes there will be a day when her sexual orientation will no longer be an issue, pointing to the advancement of gay marriage and the repealing of discriminatory laws. "I do see that day is coming," she said. "But just like you still have racism now and you still have just people that are ignorant to everything, its still going to be there and I dont think thats going to go away." Carmouche was originally slated to face Miesha Tate in Seattle but Tate was shifted to face Rousey in the co-main event of UFC 168 on Dec. 28 in Las Vegas. Rousey and Tate will set up their rematch -- Rousey won by first-round submission in Strikeforce in March 2012 -- by serving as rival coaches on "The Ultimate Fighter" TV show. "I am bummed out," Carmouche said of missing out on facing Tate. "Im grateful that the UFC still kept the fight. . . . Im still having the opportunity to fight. I wish it could have been Miesha but Im glad Im still in the UFC fighting." Andrade was in the kitchen back home in Brazil, cooking a dinner of pasta and sausage when her coach showed up at the door with news that the UFC had called. For the 21-year-old Andrade, its her first fight in the U.S. But she is no shrinking violet, having fought in Russia last time out. Plus she fought seven times in 2012. "Im ready," she said through an interpreter. "I know what to do." Listed generously at five foot three, Andrades Brazilian nickname "Bate Estaca" means piledriver -- she got it after being disqualified for trying the illegal move during an early Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition. The fourth-youngest fighter in the UFC, she has won seven of her last eight fights. "She may be short but she packs a good punch," said Carmouche.Vapormax Mens Clearance .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Cheap Vapormax Plus . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. http://www.clearancevapormax.com/cheap-vapormax-womens-clearance.html . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said. Cheap Vapormax 3 . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. Wholesale Vapormax 2 Flyknit . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers.August 6 My first evening in St Lucia is neatly divided between two neighbouring but very different parts of the island. First, dinner at Rodney Bay, a strip of restaurants, bars and hotels catering almost exclusively to tourists. The mahi-mahi is as fresh as it can be and perfectly grilled with a herbaceous marinade, and by the side are strips of grilled plantain that are possibly even better. I could be in any tourist spot in the world. Except perhaps India, since its possible to spot Indian cricketers strolling around happily with no one seeming to recognise them.The next stop, Gros Islet, isnt exactly off the map, and the jump-ups every Friday night turn the streets into a pulsing party zone. But this is Saturday night, and there is an ageless, lamplit stillness to the streets. There is a bar on nearly every corner, and most are one- or two-storey wood-frame structures that look like the post office that Walker Evans photographed in Sprott, Alabama, in 1936, except for the hand-painted signs, which advertise Piton or Chairmans Reserve rather than Coca-Cola. The karaoke bar we are at occupies the ground floor of an ageing art-deco-ish structure with a curved fa?ade.The boundaries between the various bars, and the bars and the street, are amorphous, and everyone seems to know everyone else. Apart from the two Indian cricket journalists standing around, shuffling their feet, reluctant to reveal their singing prowess, or lack thereof.August 7 The apartment Im staying in is part of a complex that includes a walled-off swimming pool. I rise early, walk to the pool, and realise its gate is shut. I return to the apartment, fetch a keyring with about 37,219 keys in it, and walk back to the pool. I try each of the keys, and none works. I try again, and fail again. The wall is topped with spikes, and I debate inwardly before deciding not to risk clearing it.August 8 There is a Darren Sammy statue in front of the main gate of the Darren Sammy Stadium, and as far as statues of cricketers go, it is not winning any contests. It isnt really a statue in the first place; its more accurately described as a cutout, and if you happen to view it from the wrong side, as I do the first time I see it, you will wonder why its maker chose to portray Sammy batting left-handed.Inside, one of the stands is named after Johnson Charles, who has played 42 ODIs, 29 T20Is, and zero Test matches. Easier to have a stand named after you if youre from St Lucia rather than Mumbai or Bangalore or Chennai, I suppose.On the way back from the stadium, Im reminded of two other West Indies batsmen when I see a store named Sherwin-Williams. I google it and realise its an American Fortune 500 company (whatever that means) in the building-materials industry, but Id like to think whoever founded it named it after the 90s opening pair of Sherwin Campbell and Stuart Williams.August 9? Day one of the third Test, and the TVs at the press box havent quite caught up. They only start to show the cricket from around lunchtime. Until then, a force-of-habit glance in their direction brings you, in lieu of replays, scenes from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.Sometimes asking a taxi driver to suggest a nice place to eat isnt a good way to find down-home local food. Tonight a fellow journalist and I end up at a Rodney Bay steakhouse with sensational food at even more sensational prices. We realise the latter only after sitting down and perusing the menu, and decide to go ahead and eat rather than stage a slightly embarrassing walkout. We are reassured by a picture on the wall, a 19th century advertisement for Colmans Mustard featuring WG Grace walking out to bat.Soon a trio of 21st century top-order batsmen walks into the same restaurant. M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul. One of them has forced one of the others out of the team for this Test match, and the third has also missed out on a place in the XI, but we detect no tensions bubbling underneath the surface bonhomie.August 10? Below the stand that houses the press box, I spot a group of kids playing cricket and ask if I can bat for a few balls. Someone reluctantly hands me what looks like a cross between a cricket bat and a baseball bat. It is a cricket bat that has had its shoulders shaved off. I shape to play a textbook forward-defensive into the covers and the ball trickles towards midwicket. Someone, probably sarcastically, says, Well played. After I hand the bat back, I watch one of the kids batting, and his method is better suited to the hybrid baseball-cricket bat. He leans back, clears his front leg and swats the ball beyond the stadium gate.August 11 It rains all morning and afternoon, and play is called off early. The skies look like clearing up, and I look up various St Lucian spots I could check out with the free time I now have, but before I can settle on one, it starts pouring again. Back to the apartment, therefore, for an evening spent watching the final of the womens individual all-around gymnastics at the Olympics and adding to Simone Biles burgeoning fan base.August 12 Friday night and its street-party time in Gros Islet. We get there around 11.30, after finishing our writing for the day. I am tired, I am sleepy, and I have never really enjoyed large crowds and loud music and dancing. But there is food to be eaten, and I join the longer of the two queues at a seafood spot by the beach. The two others Im with line up at the shorter queue, and are almost done with their food by the time I join them at their table. My grilled conch is slightly disappointing because its rubbery, and pales in comparison with the conch water I ate in Antigua. The others are eating tuna, and they have saved a piece for me. Its the greatest piece of tuna Ive ever eaten, and it makes me question every choice I have ever made in my life. Darren Sammy shows up too, and joins the tuna queue.Also on tonights menu is sea moss, a drink that is sometimes made with rum, and sometimes with milk and various flavourings, and always contains Irish sea moss. Mine tastes like a peanut-butter milkshake, with the sea moss lending texture but no real flavour. Its a vague echo of the seaweed-containing desserts and drinks available back home, such as the pan-Indian falooda, and Madurais magnificently named jigarthanda.August 13 Last evening in St Lucia, and the Test match ends early, allowing a visit to Reduit Beach. I feel like Im at the edge of the planet as I wwade in neck-deep water and watch the sun merge into its reflection.dddddddddddd I never want to leave, ever. Thats until the seawater begins to sting my eyes and cheeks, sending me rushing for land.August 14 Jane Doe has a middle name. Kim. Thats what I discover on a sample immigration form pasted near the security checkpoint at the George FL Charles Airport in St Lucia.The cab ride from Trinidads Piarco airport to my guest house in Port-of-Spain is long and scenic, with the sunset stretching across the field of vision. The radio plays Hindi film songs from the 1970s, but these are cover versions by artistes from Trinidad and Tobago. As fourth- or fifth-generation Trinbagonians, their Hindi sounds a little South Indian, a little challenged by the hard-edged consonants like chha and gha and dha. I sing along happily with Raat Kali Ek Khwaab Mein Aayi but a couple of other songs, reaching into the maudlin-saccharine end of the Bollywood spectrum, dampen the mood a little. Just as we pass a corrugated tin wall with LOVE spray-painted over it, the radio wails, Zindagi aur kuch bhi nahin, teri meri kahaani hai [Life is little else but the story of you and me].August 15 Its Independence Day back in India. A crude engraving on a paving stone stops me as I hunt for a brunch spot. Kalonji is here, it says. I look all around and fail to spot any Nigella seeds aka Kalonji, an essential component of panch phoron, the Bengali spice mixture.I find a sno-cone stall, and buy a coconut-flavoured shaved-ice concoction. It is extremely sugary, and when I walk into a roti shop with three-fourths of the cone still remaining, the TV is playing a talk show involving a health specialist talking about the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes.Im not in the greatest frame of mind as I sit down with my sno-cone and my order of dalpuri and beef with vegetables (theres a mashed-potato sabzi and dal and pumpkin and beans and spinach), but 11am programming gives way to 11.30am programming, and the host of this cooking show says she is going to make roast asparagus with prosciutto and hollandaise sauce. The universe is immediately a better place.August 16 Im staying within walking distance of Queens Park Savannah, which is on my shortlist for greatest places on earth and beyond. This green, 260-acre open space contains sports fields of all descriptions, trees all around its perimeter, and plenty of food stalls in the evenings. On my first evening here I sampled pig-foot souse, a tangy, pickled concoction that is delicious but extremely fiddly to eat with plastic forks. Tonight I try the corn and cow-heel soup. It comes with chickpeas and pieces of dasheen as well, and it tastes like a styrofoam cup of soup should: utterly comforting, with just the right amount of stickiness from the gelatin-rich bones.The juice stall contains a bewildering list of names: theres Mauby, a bitter, refreshing flavouring obtained from some sort of tree bark; and all manner of unfamiliar fruit: portugal, barbadine, mammy apple. I try the barbadine punch, and it turns out to be a milkshakey thing with ground almonds and a vaguely passion-fruit taste.August 17 Apologies in advance, because today the tour diary will journey into my guest-house bathroom. Among its fixtures is a bidet, and above it is a handwritten sign that says This is not a urinal. It is a piece of postmodern art that effortlessly references both Marcel Duchamps Fountain and Rene Magrittes pipe, which, of course, is not a pipe. August 18 Day one of the fourth Test, and I watch the last bits of cricket that I will watch on this tour. Only 22 overs are possible as rain arrives shortly before lunch and rules out any further play. As the rain abates, I walk down to a bookstore on Tragarete Road. By the time Im done shopping, it grows overcast again. I run out of prepaid credit on my phone and a member of the bookstore staff calls a cab for me. She tells the cab driver what to expect. The gentleman has a full head of hair, she says, and is wearing a dark blue T-shirt. I am colour-blind but I can safely vouch that Im wearing a grey T-shirt. Really.August 19 Its a full-moon night, and I walk around Belmont, the neighbourhood Im staying in. I pass a spot where I had taken a photograph of some graffiti the previous afternoon - a toothy man with a thin moustache, tongue sticking out of open mouth, wearing a cap that says Sandra - and the wall is now a pile of rubble, with a bulldozer rumbling away next to it. In case youre reading this, whoever painted it, I have a picture that Im happy to email you.August 20 I walk to the Savannah again, and pick up a cup of Guinness ice cream. I keep walking, westwards I think, into downtown Port-of-Spain, and everything is desolate until I reach City Hall, which is all lit up, with a stage in front of it, chairs for an audience of 80-odd, and bellydancers and stilt-walkers everywhere. Its National Patriotism Month, organised by the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts.August 21 The outfield at Queens Park Oval simply refuses to dry up. No can do. It is a situation that calls for a miracle, and I am given a bit of hope on my way back to the guest house. According to the radio in the taxi, a statue of the Virgin Mary in a Bolivian church has wept red tears, and a local hospital is performing tests on samples of the liquid to ascertain if it is blood.August 22 Im at a sports bar in Belmont, alone, reading Zadie Smith on my phone, when an elderly man, clearly drunk, shows up and challenges me to a game of pool. He is in terrible form and pots the cue ball every second turn. He beats me narrowly, twice. Then he warns me against dark rum, or, as it seems to be known in these parts, red rum. My mother always told me, he tells me, red rum is mad rum. Mad rum.August 23 My tour is nearly over, and there is time for just one more lunch, one more styrofoam box of Creole food. Today there is fried salmon - a fish that is treated like a rare delicacy in most parts of the world, but just another fish here, battered, fried, and beautiful - red beans, my millionth and last serving of them on this tour, and provisions, or a mix of steamed tubers - plantain, dasheen, sweet potato. Simple, everyday things, full of the soul of the Caribbean, and a dash of hot sauce on the side. ' ' '