Stephanie Elizondo Griest

Today, I would like to introduce Stephanie Elizondo Griest, 34, a successful writer, speaker and traveler. She comes from a Mexican-American family. Her mother is Mexican and her father is American. Stephanie has written for the New York Times and the Washington Post as well as other publications. She has written 3 books in her lifetime thus far. One of which has won her numerous awards -- Around the Bloc.

Around the Bloc conveys Stephanie’s experiences traveling around the world, including Russia, China and Cuba. The following are previews of her experiences which can be found on her Web site.


In Moscow, Russia, Stephanie volunteered at a children's shelter, fell in love with an ex-soldier who slit his wrists to escape clean-up duties at Chernobyl and experimented with vodka.










In Beijing, China, Stephanie ate fish lips, chicken feet, and yak penis soup, learned the art of saving face the hard way and dated a Chinese college student.








In Havana, Cuba, Stephanie stalked Fidel Castro, marched with 100,000 mothers demanding the return of Elian Gonzalez to Cuba, belly danced and smoked a lot of Cohibas.










Around the Bloc won "Book of the Year" by the Mayor's Book Club of Austin in 2007, Texas; "Best Travel Book of 2004" by the National Association of Travel Journalists of America, and "Best Book of 2004" by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Stephanie reads parts of Around the Bloc with music entertainment.