Well friends, another week has gone by. This one is much less exciting to report about. I haven´t really been up to much besides hanging out with friends and eating lots of good food. No day trips or anything like that. This week we´ll probably be out and about a bit more, and then Steve and his group come on Friday, so the next week will be super busy.
Everything is pretty much the same. Still hot. Still eating delicious food. We play lots of Phase 10, Cribbage and Yahtzee. I visit with Liza pretty much daily. Anaiah is such an active and fun baby!
One of my college roommates, Jhanna, and her husband Ryan just had their baby Harper this morning. I´m so excited for them and I can´t wait to meet her!
This week I´m hoping to get out to see my godson, Emilio, and to go make a bunch of copies of papers that I´ll need to do the visa paperwork for Jorge. Other than that, I am really enjoying just relaxing and being in each other´s company! Hope you all have a great week!
xoxo
Jackie
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
la primera semana
Well friends, I´m trying not to let this ´I´m going to blog a lot more´promise be a complete crock, but it truly has been hard to find time to come to the internet cafe! Things here have been great. Like I said, I´ve been staying super busy. Here´s what I´ve been up to: (sadly there are no pictures because I don´t have the cord that connects the camera to the computer...)
: One day, Friday I think, we went to Leon and saw Ice Age 4. There weren´t a whole lot of choices for movies - it was either that one or wait like two more hours for that vampire one with Johny Depp - and I was kind of bummed, but it was actually super cute and I enjoyed it.
: Saturday was baseball day. Jorge´s not playing with a team right now, but when teams reach the playoff phase of this never-ending baseball season, they can pick players from eliminated teams to come play a few games with them to help out. So we were at the field all day. His team lost, but he played pretty well. He ended up getting thrown out of the game at the very end for arguing with the umpire... :( It was pretty comical but I was embarrassed, too.
: The weather has been really nice. VERY hot, of course, but nice. It has rained a few of the days but not as much as I thought it would. The rain can be nice because it cools everything off, but it also brings a ton of bugs with it afterward, so I have been fine with little rain. It has probably been 87-90 degrees everyday, and I´ve actually been managing really well, of course, with the help of my cacao drinks as often as possible. (´Oh, what, you want me to go watch you play basketball? You know what my payment will be, right?´ ´A cacao...´ ´Yup!´) That´s pretty much what I demand for everything - it is seriously that good.
: Sunday we went to the beach at Paso Caballo - it´s about 15 minutes away but the buses manage to make the rip about 35 minutes by stopping and letting people off at completely random and inconvenient intervals. Anyway, we ate some delicious fish - served whole, head, eyeball, everything - with rice and tostones. We swam and I laid out for a bit. It was beautiful weather but I put lots of sunscreen on because I have three more weeks here and don´t really want to spend them miserable and lobster-red.
: Yesterday we went back to Leon. We decided to be spontaneous and go see another movie, but when we got there, we found that the theater doesn´t open until 4:00, and we were there around 11:30. So, we decided to make it a fun sight-seeing day. I hadn´t been there to tour the cathedral and park for a few years, so off we went. Jorge doesn´t really know the town that well, so it was nice to sort of explore it together. Well, it turns out practically the entire city square is under construction. The entire park was ripped up and they were even doing a lot of work inside the big cathedral. So we walked around more of the city and saw a lot of the same - construction. Then we went back and ate a pizza at Hollywood Pizza. I had an iced coffee of course, and then we left. We take these large vans when we go to cities like that, and this one costs 9 cordobas a person, I believe, which is about 40 US cents. The trip should be around 40-45 minutes. Well, yesterday the sugarcane workers decided to go on strike and throw a little protest because they want their wages raised. This resulted in a massive pile-up of traffic both ways on a one-lane highway, (the ONLY way to get to Chinandega from Leon). It literally went on for MILES. I know what you´re thinking, big deal, we have pile-ups all the time, but imagine being in one in 89 degree heat, with no air conditioning, sandwiched between two big, heavy, sweaty Nicaraguans! (No, Jorge´s not big and sweaty. He was sitting in the row behind me.) It was HOT. I was wearing jeans, a camisole and a shirt, and I could barely take it. We would wait fifteen minutes, and then inch forward a few feet. This went on for a while, then our driver and a bunch of other drivers thought they´d be ingenius and try to go off-road and pass everybody. That resulted in a nice ticket for him. The police were basically there to make money. They fined anyone who tried to go around, and yet if you paid them a nice sum, they would help you somehow manage to get through and be on your merry way. After about an hour and a half, Jorge and I got out and jumepd in a triciclo (rickshaw) that took us to the point where the protesters were. Then we jumped out and ran, literally, and got in a taxi which was already passed the pile-up point of origin. That taxi then took us all the way home. The poor driver was probably only around 19 or 20 and he had Jorge and some bossy Costa Rican lady telling him what to do the whole way home to avoid the most traffic. It was at least a little comical. The trip ended up being over three hours, and I felt like I had just soaked in a tub of my own sweat. It´s amazing how Nicaraguans are so different than us though. I sweat like a mofo and then stink horribly. Nicaraguans just perspire and then wipe it off and they´re good to go. It doesn´t seep out everywhere like our sweat and stink do. So obviously I had to shower before I could do anything else.
: I have been visiting a lot with Liza and Anaiah, who turned one on Thursday, the 28. She is such a fun, happy baby. She has been walking since 11 months, and boy does she love it! She does not want to be held because she wants to be running around constantly. She can tell you how old she is, she looks up at the sky when you ask her where the moon is, and she can wink at you. And the girl has no idea how much she is loved, how long her parents waited for her. Liza and Freddy have finally given up the charade of living away from her mom and have moved all their belongings back into Adelita´s house. They spent all their time there anyway, and it´s just more convenient.
: The house I´m staying in is super nice. It has 5 or 6 rooms and three of the rooms share a little bathroom. My room is right off the patio and it gets a nice breeze. It´s very homey and I feel comfortable there, so I like it.
That´s all for now. Congratulations if you made it to the end of this post - who knew someone could talk for so long about a van ride home, right?
Hope you all have a fabulous 4th of July. It will go largely unnoticed here, except by this gringa.
xoxo
Jackie
: One day, Friday I think, we went to Leon and saw Ice Age 4. There weren´t a whole lot of choices for movies - it was either that one or wait like two more hours for that vampire one with Johny Depp - and I was kind of bummed, but it was actually super cute and I enjoyed it.
: Saturday was baseball day. Jorge´s not playing with a team right now, but when teams reach the playoff phase of this never-ending baseball season, they can pick players from eliminated teams to come play a few games with them to help out. So we were at the field all day. His team lost, but he played pretty well. He ended up getting thrown out of the game at the very end for arguing with the umpire... :( It was pretty comical but I was embarrassed, too.
: The weather has been really nice. VERY hot, of course, but nice. It has rained a few of the days but not as much as I thought it would. The rain can be nice because it cools everything off, but it also brings a ton of bugs with it afterward, so I have been fine with little rain. It has probably been 87-90 degrees everyday, and I´ve actually been managing really well, of course, with the help of my cacao drinks as often as possible. (´Oh, what, you want me to go watch you play basketball? You know what my payment will be, right?´ ´A cacao...´ ´Yup!´) That´s pretty much what I demand for everything - it is seriously that good.
: Sunday we went to the beach at Paso Caballo - it´s about 15 minutes away but the buses manage to make the rip about 35 minutes by stopping and letting people off at completely random and inconvenient intervals. Anyway, we ate some delicious fish - served whole, head, eyeball, everything - with rice and tostones. We swam and I laid out for a bit. It was beautiful weather but I put lots of sunscreen on because I have three more weeks here and don´t really want to spend them miserable and lobster-red.
: Yesterday we went back to Leon. We decided to be spontaneous and go see another movie, but when we got there, we found that the theater doesn´t open until 4:00, and we were there around 11:30. So, we decided to make it a fun sight-seeing day. I hadn´t been there to tour the cathedral and park for a few years, so off we went. Jorge doesn´t really know the town that well, so it was nice to sort of explore it together. Well, it turns out practically the entire city square is under construction. The entire park was ripped up and they were even doing a lot of work inside the big cathedral. So we walked around more of the city and saw a lot of the same - construction. Then we went back and ate a pizza at Hollywood Pizza. I had an iced coffee of course, and then we left. We take these large vans when we go to cities like that, and this one costs 9 cordobas a person, I believe, which is about 40 US cents. The trip should be around 40-45 minutes. Well, yesterday the sugarcane workers decided to go on strike and throw a little protest because they want their wages raised. This resulted in a massive pile-up of traffic both ways on a one-lane highway, (the ONLY way to get to Chinandega from Leon). It literally went on for MILES. I know what you´re thinking, big deal, we have pile-ups all the time, but imagine being in one in 89 degree heat, with no air conditioning, sandwiched between two big, heavy, sweaty Nicaraguans! (No, Jorge´s not big and sweaty. He was sitting in the row behind me.) It was HOT. I was wearing jeans, a camisole and a shirt, and I could barely take it. We would wait fifteen minutes, and then inch forward a few feet. This went on for a while, then our driver and a bunch of other drivers thought they´d be ingenius and try to go off-road and pass everybody. That resulted in a nice ticket for him. The police were basically there to make money. They fined anyone who tried to go around, and yet if you paid them a nice sum, they would help you somehow manage to get through and be on your merry way. After about an hour and a half, Jorge and I got out and jumepd in a triciclo (rickshaw) that took us to the point where the protesters were. Then we jumped out and ran, literally, and got in a taxi which was already passed the pile-up point of origin. That taxi then took us all the way home. The poor driver was probably only around 19 or 20 and he had Jorge and some bossy Costa Rican lady telling him what to do the whole way home to avoid the most traffic. It was at least a little comical. The trip ended up being over three hours, and I felt like I had just soaked in a tub of my own sweat. It´s amazing how Nicaraguans are so different than us though. I sweat like a mofo and then stink horribly. Nicaraguans just perspire and then wipe it off and they´re good to go. It doesn´t seep out everywhere like our sweat and stink do. So obviously I had to shower before I could do anything else.
: I have been visiting a lot with Liza and Anaiah, who turned one on Thursday, the 28. She is such a fun, happy baby. She has been walking since 11 months, and boy does she love it! She does not want to be held because she wants to be running around constantly. She can tell you how old she is, she looks up at the sky when you ask her where the moon is, and she can wink at you. And the girl has no idea how much she is loved, how long her parents waited for her. Liza and Freddy have finally given up the charade of living away from her mom and have moved all their belongings back into Adelita´s house. They spent all their time there anyway, and it´s just more convenient.
: The house I´m staying in is super nice. It has 5 or 6 rooms and three of the rooms share a little bathroom. My room is right off the patio and it gets a nice breeze. It´s very homey and I feel comfortable there, so I like it.
That´s all for now. Congratulations if you made it to the end of this post - who knew someone could talk for so long about a van ride home, right?
Hope you all have a fabulous 4th of July. It will go largely unnoticed here, except by this gringa.
xoxo
Jackie
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
July in Nica Part II
* Note that I wrote this on July 4th. I know today's actually the 6th :)
July 4, 2011
Happy Independence Day! From 2005 until now, I have only been in the US for 4th of July one time, in 2008, which is right when I moved back to Melbourne and was teaching English at FIT, before starting my “real” job. The other six years, I have been here. Like I said before, every time I’m here it feels more and more like home.
A few things:
* I used to be SO independent here, that I surprised not only everyone here, but also myself, with the things I was willing to do solo. Now, it seems Jorge and his family have siphoned off some of my independence. For example: Saturday night, Jorge didn’t get off work until 2:00am!! It was ridiculous. Basically, whoever doesn’t have to work the next day has to stay while people come and restock shelves and do inventory. Jorge doesn’t work Sundays, so he had to stay. He got off at 8:30 for about 45 minutes to get to come home, eat and change. So the plan was that I would have food ready for him, to save time. I left Liza’s house down the street at about 8:00 to go get food. I decided to go to a little place just around the corner where he has taken me before. The lady makes real good chicken and steak. As I passed his house, his mom asked where I was going, and I told her. She told me I shouldn’t go alone, and I laughed her off, but she was serious. She made Anthony (Jorge’s older brother) go with me. I told him that I know they’re just trying to be protective, but that I would have been fine. He said he agreed with his mom, though, that even though it’s just around the corner, I shouldn’t go alone at night J. Also, every time we go somewhere in a taxi or tricycle, Jorge tells the guy where to take us. He also orders for me usually when we go out to eat. It’s funny that I not only don’t mind this, but I actually like it a lot. It does, however, make me feel much less like that independent girl I used to be. I guess in a way it makes sense, because I had learned how to get along just fine alone in all arenas of life, so I guess that has changed for obvious reasons.
* The thing that is the most uncomfortable for me (this sort of goes along with the last point) is that I feel like a useless child here sometimes. I don’t know how to hand-wash clothes (any clothes I have that are “hand wash only” usually get run through soapy water, but I wouldn’t exactly call them clean…), I don’t know how to cook on Jorge’s family’s kitchen set-up, I don’t know how to get to lots of places or what lots of things are called. It’s another thing that strips me of my independence. The good thing is now that I’m here for a month, I am finally going to learn to remedy some of these things. I decided to start with washing. Jorge’s got a giant pile of dirty clothes, because with his work schedule, he doesn’t have a ton of time to wash, and he is a little too lazy to wake up early and do it before work. So, he had no clean work clothes for tomorrow, and of course he waited until today to realize this, so the poor guy was out there washing clothes this morning. I go out sometimes and watch him, so I can learn, but it just makes me feel so ridiculous. I decided that under no circumstances would he wash all my clothes for me like he has done in the past, so I would either wash them myself or take them somewhere to be washed. When we were eating lunch today, he told me to tell his mom to get his six or so shirts out of the ace, where he left them after he washed them, (it’s like bleach, but not as strong) and wash them out and hang them to dry. “Or you do it,” he said to me, sort of joking but sort of not. I had just finished telling him how I feel like such a child, not knowing how to do these things like they do. So he explained to me exactly what to do, and when I saw that nobody else was out back where they wash the clothes, I went and did it. For some reason I didn’t want anyone there watching me, in case I did something wrong and looked stupid. About halfway through, his sister-in-law came out and was washing dishes and we were chatting about how there has never been a need for me to know how to hand-wash clothes, that we all have washers and dryers. I felt like so spoiled saying that, but it’s the truth. Anyway, she didn’t tell me I did anything majorly wrong, so I must have done okay :). Just typing it and reading it back to myself, it all sounds so silly, but to me it was a big deal. Tomorrow Marga’s grandmother is coming to wash Jorge’s huge pile of clothes. After that, I decided I can wash every other day and keep up with his and my dirty laundry. Baby steps, you know. :)
* A lot of people asked what I was going to do with all my free time while Jorge was working. It certainly has been a BIG shift, not spending all my time with him. Basically, in the morning we get to spend time together and eat breakfast, and then he works at 9:30. He gets out usually around 1:30 or 2:00 for an hour and a half lunch break, where he either comes to the house and we go out, or today we met out in town. Then he comes home at 8:30, and we have the rest of the night together (except on Saturday, when he got home at 2:00). The first few days, I kept busy sleeping, cleaning up all our junk, or visiting Liza and the baby. Today I napped a little bit when he left and then went to On the Run because I just needed my coffee BAD. I ended up staying there working on my “variety puzzles” book until he went on lunch and he came and met me and ate there. So I was there for three hours. Then I came back to the house and achieved ‘hand-washed clothes’ status. I still have about four hours until he gets home, so I think I’ll go to the internet café. I am actually just typing this on my laptop, so when I go there, all I have to do is copy and paste, and my blog post is done! I realized this way I will keep up much better with what all I’m doing down here. In the future, I plan on being out and about more and seeing more people, but I’ve sort of been enjoying this relaxing time, as this is still my “summer vacation”. I worked summer school until the day I came here, so now it’s sort of awesome to have free time to just lay around and be lazy. I still wish he were here more though :).
* Yesterday was this big horse parade called the “Hípico”. I have no idea what that means or why they have this horse parade, but I do know it’s a big deal. People come from all over the country to watch it. We went to Rosti Pollo for dinner last night, and the place was packed with super rich-looking, fancy, white Nicaraguans, which Jorge quickly explained means that they are from Managua. We didn’t go to the parade, because the weather seemed sketchy and it really didn’t interest me that much, since I saw it last year, but dinner was wonderful and I had the two best margaritas in my life.
* I don’t have the words to say this the way I want to, but I love being with Jorge so much. This long-distance business has lost all its allure, (not that it really ever had any), and this last time apart – 86 days – was really difficult. We need each other so much, and I just feel so much stronger being at his side. We are able to talk so much better, being face to face, and just being able to reach out and wipe a dumb piece of bread off his face makes me happy, as ridiculous as that sounds, because all I normally have are his voice and some pictures.
* Any time I am out with Jorge, nobody talks to me. Any time I am out alone, EVERYBODY talks to me. Meaning, random guys on the street do the Nicaraguan ‘ssht ssht’ (that’s the only way I could figure to type it), every taxi driver asks me where I’m from, where I’m here, how I know Spanish, etc. and guys driving by call out and whistle. Now, I’m not flattering myself, as they do this to pretty much most girls, and ALL gringa girls. I stand out like a sore thumb, obviously, so I call the attention more than “normal” girls. A lot of times people look at us funny too, like they are so curious about what the heck the two of us are doing together. It’s interesting.
Piggybacking off that point, white people never talk to me here anymore. Before, whenever I was at On the Run or sometimes out and about in town, and I saw a white person, we’d always end up talking about where we’re from, what we’re doing here, etc. Or we’d at LEAST give each other that “yea, we’re both foreign here and from the same place” smile. It’s that weird, common bond I have with them, knowing nothing about them except that they must be from somewhere near where I’m from. Now, they look at me with glazed-over eyes, just like they look at everybody else. I don’t know if it’s just because I am with Jorge, and obviously with him, or if gringos just aren’t as friendly these days. I mentioned this to Jorge at lunch and he was all, What, do you want them to hug you or something? Just because you’re both white? And the truth is, no, I definitely don’t want to hug strange gringos, but I sort of miss that kinship. Is that weird? I know Jorge will definitely understand more when he’s in the US and randomly hears someone speaking Spanish with a Nicaraguan accent. I bet he’ll go running to them in a split second.
* As you can see in the picture above (that's him with the bat), Jorge played baseball on Sunday and they got to play in the "real" stadium. They won 1-0, and it was actually a pretty exciting game towards the end. Now they are in the final round of the finals, and play this Sunday.
* I experienced my first earthquake!!! (I know I said before that I experienced one when I was on the phone with Jorge and they had one here, but it's for real this time!) Saturday night, when Jorge had to work until 2:00, there was an earthquake around 12:30am, so really on Sunday morning. According to what I've read, it was a 5.8 magnitude and about 50 km (31 miles) WSW of me here in Chinandega. I was alone in the room and the roof started to shake and be really loud. It's aluminum though, and just sounded like a ball had been bounced on it or something. Then when everything started shaking, I got a little scared and jumped up and went outside. Jorge's mom and brother met me out there and were a little shaken up too, but not as much as I was. Jorge called to see if I was scared, but by then I was pretty much over it. Just an interesting occurrence!
With all that, I leave you. Hope you had a great 4th of July. A family friend of ours passed away this weekend in an accident at work. He was 30, and married, and it just makes me miserable thinking about his family. Please join me in keeping them in your prayers.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
July in Nica Part I
I know I´ll probably get some guff from some people (Jessica Scherzer) for not having a witty blog title, but I´m just all out of wit right now. Deal with it. :)
I am officially in Nica for my 12th trip, and the fifth one in the last twelve months. It feels more and more like home every time I´m here! So, the recap...
Per my usual (of late) bad luck with flights, my flight from Orlando, which I was all responsible about and checked in for super early, was delayed by one hour to 10:30. No biggie right? Except that my connecting flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Managua was supposed to leave at 11:30. So I started to worry until the airport people kept saying that it was okay, all connections were fine. So that made me wonder and I went online to check it out, and sure enough, my second flight was delayed until 3:30. in the morning. awesome. So, I did my usual ´find a decently clean enough space on the horrendous floor to sleep in 20-minute cycles until the plane may or may not leave at the new schedule time´drill. I´m pretty good at it now. Luckily it did indeed leave at 3:30 and also luckily, Jorge and the entourage (his brother and the guy that drove them) were actually there to pick me up at 4:00 local time. Yes, that´s right. I went back in time. The drive home was super quiet, since I just slept as much as possible. We got to the house around 6:45, when the whole town was basically up or waking up, so my internal clock was such a mess, being that it was 8:45 to my poor exhausted body. So we slept until around 10:00 and then got up and got ready to go eat, as Jorge had to work at 12:00. I was also starving, since my last meal had been at 5:00 pm the day before, and I was virtually awake for more than 24 hours. We ate at La Parrillada, where we eat a lot. I had my delicious rice, beans, queso and a chicken in a delicious sauce with vegetables (carrots, green beans, onions - the tolerable ones :)). Then Jorge was off to work and I was off to the house to crash for another three hours. Jorge works long hours and it´s definitely something different I´ll have to adjust to - him not being here with me 24/7. But as I told someone before I left, that means I´ll definitely be more faithful with blogging and emailing, because usually I hurry because he´s bored out of his mind waiting for me to type my novels.
After catching up on my sleep, I went to go see Liza and the baby! The good thing is that they are staying at her mom´s house for ten days, which is right down the street, so it´s super convenient for me to go see them. Liza looks great and feels great, aside from normal c-section discomfort and pain. The baby is beautiful! She weighs only 6 lbs. and is very long and skinny, for now. She already has big feet though. The little heels on her socks are actually on the balls of her feet instead of on her heel, so Freddy´s already got it in his head that she´s going to go to college on a basketball scholarship :). Anyway, motherhood just suits Liza, as we all knew it would. I have watched her for five years oodling over everybody´s baby, because she just loves them so much, and she feels so humbled and blessed to be chosen as this baby girl´s mama.
For those of you who don´t know, the path to parenthood was very difficult for these two. After three miscarriages, Liza got pregnant in the fall of 2009 and was supposed to give birth in July of 2010. In early April, though, her blood pressure was dangerously high and they had to deliver the baby at just six months, and he only lived for two days. Amazingly, through the power of prayer and faith, Liza and Freddy managed to get by and continue to live faithfully, believing that God had a wonderful plan for them, and that if they were meant to be parents, they would be. When Liza announced that she was pregnant again in the fall, everybody was sort of nervous, understandably. This time, though, they were more prepared and Liza saw a specialist from day one, who had her on all sorts of medication to help her blood pressure, including having to get an injection every day. They had to sacrifice a lot in order to be able to afford these last 9 months, but of course it was worth it! Once they got past the 6 month mark, they started to breathe a little easier, and when it was time to deliver, they were calm and confident. They did a c-section on Tuesday, the 28th, and little Lisa Anaiah was born. After running all sorts of tests and undergoing observation because of the medication her mama was on for so long, the doctors declared her a perfectly healthy baby girl. Now, the name: Freddy and Liza deliberated over the name for some time, and decided that they would each get to pick one name. Freddy originally wanted Dolores, which was his grandmother´s name, but Liza didn´t like it, for more reasons than the fact that dolores means ´pains´in Spanish. Liza had originally picked Adelita for the first name, which is her mother´s name, but her mom begged her not to use it because she says she has always disliked her name and that one day their daughter would ask them why they named her that horrible name! I actually love the name and think it´s adorable, but Liza complied and decided upon Lisa, with an s. It means ´dedicated to God´. Freddy picked Anaiah, which comes from Hebrew and means ´God has responded´. Both names are so perfectly fitting.
I visited with them for about four hours, and of course held that baby as long as she´d let me. A couple friends came by to visit her and see the baby though, so I had to relinquish her to them. It was so wonderful to catch up with my sweet friend, and to see her the happiest I have in years. She is so blissfully happy and so thankful to God, and just so in love with her baby girl, as is Freddy of course. I don´t have a picture to upload now, because the one thing I forgot at home was the cable to connect my camera to the computer, but don´t you fear. I´ve gone high-tech now and will start to take pictures with my phone instead, because I did remember to bring that cord.
By that time I had a monstrous headache due to overtiredness and not enough caffeine (Liza´s mom did give me a delicious cafe con leche but I think it was too late - the caffeine-withdrawal damage had already kicked in. I went back to the house and waited for Jorge to get home from work. Just a few minutes before he got home, I went outside and sat with his mama and chatted with her, and I was actually a little cold! Oh yea, I forgot to mention it poured (like level 2 hurricane poured) for about 3 hours! Jorge came home and we went to get food at La Casuelita, which is just down the street. They make this to-die-for chicken in jalapeño sauce (remember Jess?). On the way there we passed by my friend Karla´s house and got to see her, Sara and Talia. I love that it´s a small enough town here that I can see several people I know no matter where I go! We took the food to the house and ate. I think I ate it anyway. It was gone so fast I hardly have any recollection of it :). We then watched a really bad copycat of Step Up, one of those ´people off the street turn to dancing instead of being in gangs, and then they compete with each other´movies. I tell you what, this boy has terrible taste in movies. and music. but that´s a whole other blog post... And we finally were able to just sit and talk and relax, just enjoying being around each other. With his new work schedule, I feel like we have barely talked, I mean really talked, for the last month or so. I can´t even explain how good it feels to just be here and be able to just be. I feel so, happy, just being with him. Okay, sorry about the momentary mushyness.
This morning we woke up and got ready to go have breakfast before Jorge went to work at 9:30. We went to On The Run so that I could go to the ATM too. I had, and am still drinking, my cafe con leche, and also about half of Jorge´s frappuccino, and we both had a croissant. On the Run is expensive, but sort of worth it for how tasty it all is. Then he was off to work and I was off to the internet cafe, where I have been now for about an hour! The game plan is to go buy a cell phone (I´ll put the number on here in case anybody feels like paying to communicate with me), go back to the house and clean, as I´ve been here just over 24 hours and the place is suitable for pigs right now. Since I´ll be here an entire month (yay!!!) I am going to actually unpack my suitcase and actually organize things. Then Jorge will come home and we´ll eat lunch together, and then I´ll go visit Liza and baby again. I´m not sure yet what the night will hold, but tomorrow Jorge is off work and we have baseball games (sarastic ´yay´!). His team gets to play in the big stadium which is cool, except that means I´ll be sitting alone in the stands, unless I can convince someone to come with me. Then in the night we´ll go to church and we´re thinking of going to Rosti Pollo afterwards to celebrate our one-year anniversary! I´m not much of an anniversary-celebrating person, and neither one of us knows the exact date we got together, although we know it definitely was more in the middle of July than this early on, but either way we know it´s in July, so we thought we´d celebrate.
That´s all I´ve got for now! and oh yea, because this is usually the first thing I´m asked - yes, it´s hot. Although right now I´d say it´s probably not any hotter here than it is in Melbourne. and I´m in a tiny cubicle in a non-air conditioned internet cafe, drinking hot coffee. You know me though, I´m practically Amish. So I´m good :).
More to come in a few days, including pictures, hopefully! I hope everyone´s doing well. Enjoy your 4th of July! There won´t be any firework shennanigans here like last year, because I´m the only gringo around that I know of, but I´ll be thinking of you all in brush-fire city.
Adios!
I am officially in Nica for my 12th trip, and the fifth one in the last twelve months. It feels more and more like home every time I´m here! So, the recap...
Per my usual (of late) bad luck with flights, my flight from Orlando, which I was all responsible about and checked in for super early, was delayed by one hour to 10:30. No biggie right? Except that my connecting flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Managua was supposed to leave at 11:30. So I started to worry until the airport people kept saying that it was okay, all connections were fine. So that made me wonder and I went online to check it out, and sure enough, my second flight was delayed until 3:30. in the morning. awesome. So, I did my usual ´find a decently clean enough space on the horrendous floor to sleep in 20-minute cycles until the plane may or may not leave at the new schedule time´drill. I´m pretty good at it now. Luckily it did indeed leave at 3:30 and also luckily, Jorge and the entourage (his brother and the guy that drove them) were actually there to pick me up at 4:00 local time. Yes, that´s right. I went back in time. The drive home was super quiet, since I just slept as much as possible. We got to the house around 6:45, when the whole town was basically up or waking up, so my internal clock was such a mess, being that it was 8:45 to my poor exhausted body. So we slept until around 10:00 and then got up and got ready to go eat, as Jorge had to work at 12:00. I was also starving, since my last meal had been at 5:00 pm the day before, and I was virtually awake for more than 24 hours. We ate at La Parrillada, where we eat a lot. I had my delicious rice, beans, queso and a chicken in a delicious sauce with vegetables (carrots, green beans, onions - the tolerable ones :)). Then Jorge was off to work and I was off to the house to crash for another three hours. Jorge works long hours and it´s definitely something different I´ll have to adjust to - him not being here with me 24/7. But as I told someone before I left, that means I´ll definitely be more faithful with blogging and emailing, because usually I hurry because he´s bored out of his mind waiting for me to type my novels.
After catching up on my sleep, I went to go see Liza and the baby! The good thing is that they are staying at her mom´s house for ten days, which is right down the street, so it´s super convenient for me to go see them. Liza looks great and feels great, aside from normal c-section discomfort and pain. The baby is beautiful! She weighs only 6 lbs. and is very long and skinny, for now. She already has big feet though. The little heels on her socks are actually on the balls of her feet instead of on her heel, so Freddy´s already got it in his head that she´s going to go to college on a basketball scholarship :). Anyway, motherhood just suits Liza, as we all knew it would. I have watched her for five years oodling over everybody´s baby, because she just loves them so much, and she feels so humbled and blessed to be chosen as this baby girl´s mama.
For those of you who don´t know, the path to parenthood was very difficult for these two. After three miscarriages, Liza got pregnant in the fall of 2009 and was supposed to give birth in July of 2010. In early April, though, her blood pressure was dangerously high and they had to deliver the baby at just six months, and he only lived for two days. Amazingly, through the power of prayer and faith, Liza and Freddy managed to get by and continue to live faithfully, believing that God had a wonderful plan for them, and that if they were meant to be parents, they would be. When Liza announced that she was pregnant again in the fall, everybody was sort of nervous, understandably. This time, though, they were more prepared and Liza saw a specialist from day one, who had her on all sorts of medication to help her blood pressure, including having to get an injection every day. They had to sacrifice a lot in order to be able to afford these last 9 months, but of course it was worth it! Once they got past the 6 month mark, they started to breathe a little easier, and when it was time to deliver, they were calm and confident. They did a c-section on Tuesday, the 28th, and little Lisa Anaiah was born. After running all sorts of tests and undergoing observation because of the medication her mama was on for so long, the doctors declared her a perfectly healthy baby girl. Now, the name: Freddy and Liza deliberated over the name for some time, and decided that they would each get to pick one name. Freddy originally wanted Dolores, which was his grandmother´s name, but Liza didn´t like it, for more reasons than the fact that dolores means ´pains´in Spanish. Liza had originally picked Adelita for the first name, which is her mother´s name, but her mom begged her not to use it because she says she has always disliked her name and that one day their daughter would ask them why they named her that horrible name! I actually love the name and think it´s adorable, but Liza complied and decided upon Lisa, with an s. It means ´dedicated to God´. Freddy picked Anaiah, which comes from Hebrew and means ´God has responded´. Both names are so perfectly fitting.
I visited with them for about four hours, and of course held that baby as long as she´d let me. A couple friends came by to visit her and see the baby though, so I had to relinquish her to them. It was so wonderful to catch up with my sweet friend, and to see her the happiest I have in years. She is so blissfully happy and so thankful to God, and just so in love with her baby girl, as is Freddy of course. I don´t have a picture to upload now, because the one thing I forgot at home was the cable to connect my camera to the computer, but don´t you fear. I´ve gone high-tech now and will start to take pictures with my phone instead, because I did remember to bring that cord.
By that time I had a monstrous headache due to overtiredness and not enough caffeine (Liza´s mom did give me a delicious cafe con leche but I think it was too late - the caffeine-withdrawal damage had already kicked in. I went back to the house and waited for Jorge to get home from work. Just a few minutes before he got home, I went outside and sat with his mama and chatted with her, and I was actually a little cold! Oh yea, I forgot to mention it poured (like level 2 hurricane poured) for about 3 hours! Jorge came home and we went to get food at La Casuelita, which is just down the street. They make this to-die-for chicken in jalapeño sauce (remember Jess?). On the way there we passed by my friend Karla´s house and got to see her, Sara and Talia. I love that it´s a small enough town here that I can see several people I know no matter where I go! We took the food to the house and ate. I think I ate it anyway. It was gone so fast I hardly have any recollection of it :). We then watched a really bad copycat of Step Up, one of those ´people off the street turn to dancing instead of being in gangs, and then they compete with each other´movies. I tell you what, this boy has terrible taste in movies. and music. but that´s a whole other blog post... And we finally were able to just sit and talk and relax, just enjoying being around each other. With his new work schedule, I feel like we have barely talked, I mean really talked, for the last month or so. I can´t even explain how good it feels to just be here and be able to just be. I feel so, happy, just being with him. Okay, sorry about the momentary mushyness.
This morning we woke up and got ready to go have breakfast before Jorge went to work at 9:30. We went to On The Run so that I could go to the ATM too. I had, and am still drinking, my cafe con leche, and also about half of Jorge´s frappuccino, and we both had a croissant. On the Run is expensive, but sort of worth it for how tasty it all is. Then he was off to work and I was off to the internet cafe, where I have been now for about an hour! The game plan is to go buy a cell phone (I´ll put the number on here in case anybody feels like paying to communicate with me), go back to the house and clean, as I´ve been here just over 24 hours and the place is suitable for pigs right now. Since I´ll be here an entire month (yay!!!) I am going to actually unpack my suitcase and actually organize things. Then Jorge will come home and we´ll eat lunch together, and then I´ll go visit Liza and baby again. I´m not sure yet what the night will hold, but tomorrow Jorge is off work and we have baseball games (sarastic ´yay´!). His team gets to play in the big stadium which is cool, except that means I´ll be sitting alone in the stands, unless I can convince someone to come with me. Then in the night we´ll go to church and we´re thinking of going to Rosti Pollo afterwards to celebrate our one-year anniversary! I´m not much of an anniversary-celebrating person, and neither one of us knows the exact date we got together, although we know it definitely was more in the middle of July than this early on, but either way we know it´s in July, so we thought we´d celebrate.
That´s all I´ve got for now! and oh yea, because this is usually the first thing I´m asked - yes, it´s hot. Although right now I´d say it´s probably not any hotter here than it is in Melbourne. and I´m in a tiny cubicle in a non-air conditioned internet cafe, drinking hot coffee. You know me though, I´m practically Amish. So I´m good :).
More to come in a few days, including pictures, hopefully! I hope everyone´s doing well. Enjoy your 4th of July! There won´t be any firework shennanigans here like last year, because I´m the only gringo around that I know of, but I´ll be thinking of you all in brush-fire city.
Adios!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter & Updates
First, Happy Easter everyone! I just got back from a beautiful outside service at Gleason Park with Church for the Beach. I was worried it would be super hot (I'm wearing a dress with a cardigan) but then I remembered that I am The Amish One and live practically without air conditioning, plus all the chairs were set up nicely in the shade of the trees, and it was perfect. The music was great, the message was great, and it really got me into the "Easter mood".
As far as updates, there aren't really any... except that the whole fiance visa process probably won't begin until the end of summer. There was never a question that I am going to Nica this summer, just like every summer, because we don't know the next time I'll be able to be there in summer and I want to be able to spend all of July doing what I love to do down there. Plus, the entire visa process will cost a lot of money, and it's just something we're not able to do right now. Things should be better at the end of summer, so we will most likely file the paperwork at the end of July or beginning of August, when I am starting my school year back up.
There is no way to tell right now what the timeframe will be, but from what I am reading in most places, the visa process can take anywhere from 3-6 months. (And in case you don't know, the requirements of the fiance visa are that we have to get married within 90 days of Jorge setting foot in the US.) So my best guess (and it is definitely just that, a guess) is that we may be looking at a wedding anywhere from December of this year to April of 2012. While I definitely want him to come sooner, I have always pictured myself getting married in March or April, especially because I picture most of the event taking place outdoors. But, just like with everything else, it's in God's hands and ultimately, it will be perfect because it will be in His timing.
As far as the wedding, it will be super small and intimate, and like I said, be mostly outside. And I think it will be perfect. I have never been the type of girl to dream about a big, lavish wedding, or to browse wedding dresses or rings online. I have, however, thought about how to make a beautiful day out of very little. My only major requirement is that it be a day in which we celebrate our love with touches of both of our cultures and both of our languages. When it comes down to it though, I honestly don't care what it ends up being like, as long as my groom is there and we get married. The rest is just icing on the cake (there WILL at least be cake :)).
Enjoy your absolutely gorgeous Easter Sunday! I am enjoying a quiet day getting some stuff done and then will get to spend time with some great friends for dinner tonight. and all the while I am hoping and praying that this is the last major holiday I spend not being at Jorge's side.
As far as updates, there aren't really any... except that the whole fiance visa process probably won't begin until the end of summer. There was never a question that I am going to Nica this summer, just like every summer, because we don't know the next time I'll be able to be there in summer and I want to be able to spend all of July doing what I love to do down there. Plus, the entire visa process will cost a lot of money, and it's just something we're not able to do right now. Things should be better at the end of summer, so we will most likely file the paperwork at the end of July or beginning of August, when I am starting my school year back up.
There is no way to tell right now what the timeframe will be, but from what I am reading in most places, the visa process can take anywhere from 3-6 months. (And in case you don't know, the requirements of the fiance visa are that we have to get married within 90 days of Jorge setting foot in the US.) So my best guess (and it is definitely just that, a guess) is that we may be looking at a wedding anywhere from December of this year to April of 2012. While I definitely want him to come sooner, I have always pictured myself getting married in March or April, especially because I picture most of the event taking place outdoors. But, just like with everything else, it's in God's hands and ultimately, it will be perfect because it will be in His timing.
As far as the wedding, it will be super small and intimate, and like I said, be mostly outside. And I think it will be perfect. I have never been the type of girl to dream about a big, lavish wedding, or to browse wedding dresses or rings online. I have, however, thought about how to make a beautiful day out of very little. My only major requirement is that it be a day in which we celebrate our love with touches of both of our cultures and both of our languages. When it comes down to it though, I honestly don't care what it ends up being like, as long as my groom is there and we get married. The rest is just icing on the cake (there WILL at least be cake :)).
Enjoy your absolutely gorgeous Easter Sunday! I am enjoying a quiet day getting some stuff done and then will get to spend time with some great friends for dinner tonight. and all the while I am hoping and praying that this is the last major holiday I spend not being at Jorge's side.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
¡Comprometidos!
It's time for an update, friends. Two things:Jorge and I are engaged!
And, we are planning on living in the US for a school year or two.
Where to start? Well, my flight on Sunday went without a hitch. I was still griping about how I missed a whole day in Nica and how I had to spend 25 hours in that god forsaken airport, but I went on my way and was happy about it.
Jorge and I spent nine wonderful days together. We didn't really do a whole lot - we did make it out to the beach one day, the pool one day, watched several basketball games at the park, watched tons of baseball games on tv (bummer for me), and Jorge played in both one basketball and one baseball game. Other than that, we were lazy and relaxed while spending time with his family. It was great. And oh yea, we got engaged on Tuesday! I know, I know, I'm late in telling everybody the news... but I had to wait until I told my family, and that wasn't until last night when I was getting back into town.
There are not really a whole lot of details to share. There was nothing fancy, no grand scheme, no horse-drawn carriage, no ring even. just a perfectly-posed question, and then two people making a promise to each other. and it was beautiful.
The next several days were spent in long, intense conversations spread intermittently among our relaxing days' events. I had recently brought up the thought that it might not be so bad for us to spend the first part of our life together in the States. I desperately want my friends and family to get to know Jorge, and we both feel that's an important part of setting a good foundation for the future. So, after many discussions and lots of prayer for guidance, we decided that is what we shall do. The scary part is that we turn again to the visa process - this time for a "fiance visa", which is more of a 'sure thing', but lots more paperwork, money, etc. We don't have a time frame, so there is no way to set a date for the wedding... but I've already got several offers from my amazing friends for help in throwing a great DYI wedding :)
The support we've already been shown from so many people has been overwhelming. and very much appreciated. We feel very blessed and very loved. I am so looking forward to spending the rest of my life with one Jorge Lopez. The question now is whether I will be "Jacqueline Tracy Lopez" or "Jacqueline Rebecca Lopez Tracy" (Nica style)... however, to make one thing clear, I will NEVER be referred to as J.Lo! (Wendy!!!)
As my good friend Danielle said tonight, there is nothing conventional about Jorge's and my relationship. We don't get to see each other on a normal basis; we don't speak the same first language; we come from supremely different backgrounds, different countries and different lifestyles.... We will never have the 'normal' life that so many people crave... and coincidentally, these are the very things I love about "us". Stay tuned :)
Saturday, March 26, 2011
A picture is worth... a lot
Today has been, to put it mildly, a rough day. I am so excited to be in Nicaragua and with Jorge that I can barely stand it. I was wondering how to make myself not so antsy during my 2.5 hour flight from Miami to Managua. Well...
As I'm buckling up for my first flight from Orlando to Miami, I get a call from American Airlines telling me my next flight is canceled. It was just a courtesy message in which they say, "Your flight has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience". That's it. Then if you want to know more, you have to call back. Who doesn't want to know more? So I called and got through to a lady right before my flight took off, and she basically just said I needed to re-book once I landed. (There was a big fire here in Miami yesterday in the place where they store fuel, so there is a huge shortage, and yea... they canceled several flights.)
When I landed, I went straight to the "re-booking center", where I was in line for 3.5 hours. During this time, I went over to the little kiosk and saw that they had already booked me for tomorrow morning's flight at 11:00am. I also called American Airlines and was told the same thing and that I was also on standby for a flight at 7:00pm tonight, but that I still needed to wait at the counter because they had the most "up to date" information. Meanwhile, the counter lady keeps going up and down the line giving their 1-800 number out, asking people to call because "it will expedite the process", but when we called the number, they told us to wait in line.... you can see how insanely frustrating this all was for everybody involved.
Once I finally made it to the counter, you can imagine how tired, distraught and over all this I was, and yet I mustered up every ounce of politeness I could for the counter airline agent guy. I felt bad for these people because this wasn't their fault at all, and you can just imagine the type of angry customer they dealt with one after another. Well, this guy had just come on the scene one customer ahead of me, and was just starting his shift, so he had no idea about the frustration we had all been going through up to that point. He was extremely rude to me and basically just barked sarcasm at me until I sulked away. He told me absolutely nothing new except that oh yea, nobody knows where my bag is, and as he said, "The party line is that it will eventually end up where your final destination is, but nobody knows when". Hmmm. Well. And of course they're not giving any meal/hotel vouchers, because this was "not AA's fault". You can bet people did not have nice reactions to that message every time it was relayed.
(Since no men read this I can also throw in there that about two hours into waiting in line, I got my period. And all my tampons except two are in my checked bag. Which is nowhere to be found. So I had to go buy 4 for $4. Ridiculous.)
So by this time I was pretty sad. Not only did I have to wait in a 3.5 hour line for basically nothing, but it was 1:30 when I got out of the line, which is the exact time my flight should have been landing and I should have been with Jorge. So I at least got to skype with him a little bit and explain what happened (luckily I had caught him this morning right as he was about to leave for the airport to come get me) and it was nice to have the distraction for a while. He suggested we play games to put me in a better mood, and so I beat him at Hangman a bunch and then we played checkers, where he was about to beat me for the 100th time, so he quickly closed the game and said "Let's stop playing this. This was supposed to put you in a better mood :)."
I then went to get some grub, as I hadn't eaten all day. I had a delicious caesar salad and a slice of stuffed pizza. Then I decided to try to sleep for a little bit. It is waaaay too cold in airports for me, so laying still on the floor made me feel like I was going to freeze to death. Then it was about time to head to the gate for the 7:00 flight. I passed by a blanket/pillow kiosk and made a mental note that I would definitely need to buy a blanket if I was going to be in this for the long haul, because I spent the night at the Atlanta airport one night, and I couldn't sleep the entire night because I was too cold.
Then I sat through the entire boarding of that flight only to not get on, which was not a surprise at all, as they had overbooked the flight by four people and had to ask for volunteers to wait until tomorrow to fly. All this time, I was desperately trying to find a TV to watch the Gator basketball game, the one could-be highlight of the day, and I couldn't find one! Every TV was on, but I couldn't locate one with basketball. That is, until the game went into overtime and I saw a couple of TSA workers doing nothing, of course, except watching TV and shouting at it. I realized the game was on over there and went over just in time to see that last horrible minute, where they lost because they played dumb. That's when I decided this was officially A BAD DAY. As Jorge said, it's one of those days I'll always remember, and when someone says, "What was the worst day you've ever had?" and lots of people say, "I can't really remember one", I will definitely be able to think of one. (Although I cant' say this is the WORST day of my life. It's not been fun, but it could definitely be much, much worse.)
Then I decided it was time to start "settling down" for the night, so I went and bought a blanket, two bags of m&ms (each one says it's a "sharing size", but I still bought two :)), some beef jerky for Jorge, and a smoothie. (Just to add more dramatic flair to my day, when I was at the cash register ready to order my smoothie at Haagendaz, the worker said, "Who's next?" and this lady [in a missionary t-shirt, might I add] stepped right around me and ordered what she wanted! This other girl and I just stared at her, and I think had I not been so beaten down/spit on/kicked in the ass by these American Airlines people, I would have said something to her.) I have already spent an unbelievable amount of money at the airport today, but I decided these were essentials. I then, like a homeless person searching for the best spot under a dumpy old bridge, found where I will be hunkering down for the night: close to an outlet, TV, bookstore, bathroom, and Starbucks. I've got everything I'll need for the night :)
And now I leave you with what's been getting me through this difficult day:
As I'm buckling up for my first flight from Orlando to Miami, I get a call from American Airlines telling me my next flight is canceled. It was just a courtesy message in which they say, "Your flight has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience". That's it. Then if you want to know more, you have to call back. Who doesn't want to know more? So I called and got through to a lady right before my flight took off, and she basically just said I needed to re-book once I landed. (There was a big fire here in Miami yesterday in the place where they store fuel, so there is a huge shortage, and yea... they canceled several flights.)
When I landed, I went straight to the "re-booking center", where I was in line for 3.5 hours. During this time, I went over to the little kiosk and saw that they had already booked me for tomorrow morning's flight at 11:00am. I also called American Airlines and was told the same thing and that I was also on standby for a flight at 7:00pm tonight, but that I still needed to wait at the counter because they had the most "up to date" information. Meanwhile, the counter lady keeps going up and down the line giving their 1-800 number out, asking people to call because "it will expedite the process", but when we called the number, they told us to wait in line.... you can see how insanely frustrating this all was for everybody involved.
Once I finally made it to the counter, you can imagine how tired, distraught and over all this I was, and yet I mustered up every ounce of politeness I could for the counter airline agent guy. I felt bad for these people because this wasn't their fault at all, and you can just imagine the type of angry customer they dealt with one after another. Well, this guy had just come on the scene one customer ahead of me, and was just starting his shift, so he had no idea about the frustration we had all been going through up to that point. He was extremely rude to me and basically just barked sarcasm at me until I sulked away. He told me absolutely nothing new except that oh yea, nobody knows where my bag is, and as he said, "The party line is that it will eventually end up where your final destination is, but nobody knows when". Hmmm. Well. And of course they're not giving any meal/hotel vouchers, because this was "not AA's fault". You can bet people did not have nice reactions to that message every time it was relayed.
(Since no men read this I can also throw in there that about two hours into waiting in line, I got my period. And all my tampons except two are in my checked bag. Which is nowhere to be found. So I had to go buy 4 for $4. Ridiculous.)
So by this time I was pretty sad. Not only did I have to wait in a 3.5 hour line for basically nothing, but it was 1:30 when I got out of the line, which is the exact time my flight should have been landing and I should have been with Jorge. So I at least got to skype with him a little bit and explain what happened (luckily I had caught him this morning right as he was about to leave for the airport to come get me) and it was nice to have the distraction for a while. He suggested we play games to put me in a better mood, and so I beat him at Hangman a bunch and then we played checkers, where he was about to beat me for the 100th time, so he quickly closed the game and said "Let's stop playing this. This was supposed to put you in a better mood :)."
I then went to get some grub, as I hadn't eaten all day. I had a delicious caesar salad and a slice of stuffed pizza. Then I decided to try to sleep for a little bit. It is waaaay too cold in airports for me, so laying still on the floor made me feel like I was going to freeze to death. Then it was about time to head to the gate for the 7:00 flight. I passed by a blanket/pillow kiosk and made a mental note that I would definitely need to buy a blanket if I was going to be in this for the long haul, because I spent the night at the Atlanta airport one night, and I couldn't sleep the entire night because I was too cold.
Then I sat through the entire boarding of that flight only to not get on, which was not a surprise at all, as they had overbooked the flight by four people and had to ask for volunteers to wait until tomorrow to fly. All this time, I was desperately trying to find a TV to watch the Gator basketball game, the one could-be highlight of the day, and I couldn't find one! Every TV was on, but I couldn't locate one with basketball. That is, until the game went into overtime and I saw a couple of TSA workers doing nothing, of course, except watching TV and shouting at it. I realized the game was on over there and went over just in time to see that last horrible minute, where they lost because they played dumb. That's when I decided this was officially A BAD DAY. As Jorge said, it's one of those days I'll always remember, and when someone says, "What was the worst day you've ever had?" and lots of people say, "I can't really remember one", I will definitely be able to think of one. (Although I cant' say this is the WORST day of my life. It's not been fun, but it could definitely be much, much worse.)
Then I decided it was time to start "settling down" for the night, so I went and bought a blanket, two bags of m&ms (each one says it's a "sharing size", but I still bought two :)), some beef jerky for Jorge, and a smoothie. (Just to add more dramatic flair to my day, when I was at the cash register ready to order my smoothie at Haagendaz, the worker said, "Who's next?" and this lady [in a missionary t-shirt, might I add] stepped right around me and ordered what she wanted! This other girl and I just stared at her, and I think had I not been so beaten down/spit on/kicked in the ass by these American Airlines people, I would have said something to her.) I have already spent an unbelievable amount of money at the airport today, but I decided these were essentials. I then, like a homeless person searching for the best spot under a dumpy old bridge, found where I will be hunkering down for the night: close to an outlet, TV, bookstore, bathroom, and Starbucks. I've got everything I'll need for the night :)
And now I leave you with what's been getting me through this difficult day:
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