I've been everywhere, man. I've been everywhere, man. Crossed the desert's bare, man. I've breathed the mountain air, man. Of travel I've had my share, man. I've been everywhere.
Since January 1st, I have traveled a total of 39,839 miles. On Tuesday, that total will go up to 45,839.
And you guys were wondering why I hadn't updated the blog...
The year 2011 has proved itself to be the year that will test my iron will. The year that I will find out what I'm really made of and in the end, we'll see what kind of Kristin actually comes out...if she comes out of it at all!
Because my project here for Latin America will be coming to somewhat of an end in 2011, this year is smack in the middle of it. That means I have a lot of work to do in each and every one of our markets. What that really means is that in January I would travel to Chile and Argentina. The entire month of February would be spent in Chile. March was spent in Tulsa. In April I'll spend the month partly in Mexico and party in Brazil. May I'll spend partying, oops, I mean partly in Mexico and partly in Chile. In June I'll spend part in Chile, part in Switzerland/Lichtenstein, and part in Argentina. July will be spent trying to remember what floor my apartment is on in Panama...that is, if I can even find it in the first place and probably partly in Brazil and/or partly in Mexico. Half of August will be spent in Chile. September isn't planned yet, but by then I'm not sure they'll even be able to find my body. It'll be circling on a baggage claim at some airport. Half of October will be spent in Mexico and the other half in Brazil. November will be split up exactly the same and in December I hope to run away screaming with my arms flailing to my mommy's house for three weeks to lay in her lap in fetal position. We'll see.
When I got home from Mexico last weekend, I spend the entire weekend with a fever. After some consulting with a dear friend who is a doctor, it was decided that probably my body was just screaming for some rest. Apparently it wasn't too happy when I never went to bed Friday night and went straight to the airport at 4:00 AM on Saturday morning. However, even amongst the absolute exhaustion I am feeling, I have been so blessed to be able to do some really fun things while I've been working.
Acclaimed travel writer Tim Cahill said once: "A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles." I couldn't agree any more with any statement I have ever heard in my life.
January: One day after I got back from Christmas vacation in the US, I boarded a plane for Chile. It was to be for one week for a series of meetings. I was also invited to attend their beginning of the year and hands on meeting for a full Friday and Saturday. It was fun being able to meet people. That was my first time in the market, so I was new to everybody and everything. And, as I was a striking contrast to the rest of the group, I stood out like a sore thumb. Thankfully Adolfo had traveled from Panama with me as well and he introduced me.
Other than work in Chile, I was able to spend a day with a very beloved family with whom I had made their acquaintance more than 10 years ago (The Ibañez family). I found them just as they always were, crazy. They greeted me by throwing a bucket of water on me, if that's any indication of how insane they are. I fit right in. It was great to be able to catch up. Later that weekend I found out that their neighbor had inquired as to why exactly they had greeted me in "such a manner" when I first arrived at the house. They're answer: "Because it was Kristin," as if that was enough explanation for everybody.
Two days after I returned from Chile I headed to Buenos Aires to work with my buddies there. This was actually my first experience with Argentina in the summer time. Yeah, Panama is hot. Argentina might be a tiny bit hotter at times. Whew.
I had a good time hanging out with my friends and we went kayaking through the river delta one Saturday. I wasn't sure I was going to make it. Rowing is tough. I even learned lots of new, interesting words from my friends that day, too. Just as a note to myself for the future, it's also probably not a good idea to eat too much after you've been rowing for five hours at TGIFridays because there's a possibility that you'll get horribly sick to your stomach and have to leave two of your friends on the side of the road to fend for themselves whilst you squeal your tires trying to get to your home before there's an "accident" in the car (I was one fending for myself, not being sick to my stomach. Isa and I are pretty street smart. We made it.).
February: Two days after I returned from Argentina I headed for Chile for the month of February. The market in Chile lost the resource which was working with me on the project, so I was left to do two jobs. This is why I was there for the entire month. It was a difficult month. However, as is my custom, I was able to make the best of it...thanks to the help of some great friends.
I spent another weekend with the Ibañez family playing video games with little Manuel Hernan and trying desperately not to let him beat me... and my pride. Much to my dismay, I was unsuccessful. I eventually got over it. They did have to offer me some chocolate milk, though. I was also able to catch up some more where we left off in January and it was a great weekend getaway. Valeska and I even saw two movies in one day.
On another weekend I got to see another good friend whom I also hadn't seen in more than 10 years. I was also had the chance to meet his lovely wife. He found out I was in Santiago by chance one day when I had put a rather "clever" facebook status up. I had used an old Lawerence Welk quote which said, "Some days are good days. Some days are bad days. Today is one of them." I saw, just by chance, that he had translated what I had written and used it as his facebook status! I began with my snide, sarcastic comments, in Spanish even (Yes, that's right, I'm just as sarcastic in Spanish as I am in English) and the rest is history. He and Anna invited me over for a great dinner and great conversation and I was so thankful I was able to catch up with Jonathan after so many years and finally meet Ana.
That same weekend I took my first bicycle tour of the city of Santiago. It was a great way to get to see the city and enjoy the beautiful summer weather in Santiago. I had so much fun, actually, that I decided to go back the next weekend and do the other tour they offered! Both were lovely and I met great people along the way.
After that second tour, I hung around with the two ladies I had met: one from The Netherlands and the other from Germany. Both of them live in Brazil. We had coffee and toured some more of the city...and generally just laughed. It was good to stop working for a few hours and get some fresh air.
The first tour with the company "La Bicicleta Verde" (The Green Bike Tour)...for obvious reasons. They made me wear that helmet. I wouldn't have done so otherwise...
La Moneda, the governmental palace in downtown Santiago
Jabon Gringo (Gringo Soap). I'm not sure if it's actually for "gringos" to wash up with or not, but it didn't look too appealing to me.
Plaza de Armas, downtown Santiago...on what else? The green bicycle!
March: march was a difficult blessing in disguise. While I had been in Chile the month earlier, my beloved Grandma June had a massive stroke. I spent all month in a lot of emotional pain knowing that I couldn't be there to help my family or Grammy.
That month I also got a call from the North America office in Tulsa. They needed some help. They needed me to give a training class.
I spent almost the entire month with my family and my friends. I was able to help Grammy a lot and give mom and dad a little bit of a rest. I was even able to work in going to the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the NCAA tournament to see my beloved Jayhawks play...that is, before they crapped out against VCU.
I also had the opportunity to meet a new and very special addition to my circle of close friends. I took the opportunity to go ahead and threaten his life as I felt it was necessary since he's now dating my dearly beloved best friend. With that, my work was finished in Tulsa.
April: April...what do I say about April. April was the month I realized how much I did truly miss my family and friends after being able to spend so long with them in March. It made me realize just how blessed I am. I was literally was making 3 or 4 dates a night with friends to be able to see everybody who wanted to see me. Lunchs, dinners, coffees, snacks, passing in the parking lot of some restaurant. All of it made me realize just how loved I was. And I am very thankful for the opportunity that I had to go home in March.
I also headed to Mexico. My dear co-worker in the office there in Mexico is also a friend and she asked me to come the weekend before I had to be in the office so we could have some fun. And fun was had by all. We toured the city on the turibus (the open top bus...which, by the way, if you're going to ride on you should wear sun block of spf 300 or you will be red as a lobster when you finish...especially if you're the token "gringa"). I went to the pyramids of Teotihucan and climbed all of them...much to the dismay of my knees. The steps on the Pyramid of the Moon hit me about mid thigh. Yes, that's right, mid-thigh. Think about the lift needed for a step of that height. It was worse than Machu Picchu. Which, by the way, I forgot to say I visited last November in my last blog entry (I'll write a separate blog about that. It deserves it.). At least after Machu Picchu I could walk. After Teotihucan I limped for two days!
I also ate everything...with chili on it. It didn't matter if it was sauce or powder, I ate it and loved it. The Mexicans themselves were even surprised. Their first question to me always was, "Have you gotten sick yet?" I never did...and I just kept eating all the hot and authentic stuff I could find. They thought it was funny. I was just proud. Though, I do now know why you find scratch marks on the sides of the bathroom stalls in Mexico...
They also took me to the Lucha Libre fights. If you're not familiar with "Lucha Libre", let me give you a small run down. It's like the WWF only with less fit and less acrobatic guys who wear masks. It's a Mexican icon located in not such a great neighborhood. It's also the most hysterical thing I've ever seen. If I thought I learned a lot of "new" words while I was rowing with my Argentine amigos, I learned far more at the Lucha Libre match. By now I'm ready for the street in Mexico. I laughed non-stop for almost three hours.
And that was April.
The Angel of Independence, Mexico D.F.
Palacio de Bellas Artes, downtown Mexico D.F.
Ummm, there are people EVERYWHERE in Mexico City. And not just a few, either.
Plaza Zocalo, the center of Mexico City
Me eating home made potato chips with hot chili sauce downtown and Adriana being very proud of me for being a true Mexican.
Karla and I in the back of the bicycle taxi....we're going green. Though I did feel really, really bad for the poor guy who had to pedal my big butt around...
The Pyramids at Teotihucan, built long before the Aztecs, but taken over by them. The one straight ahead is the Pyramid of the Moon. The biggest one is the Pyramid of the Sun.
The steps up the Pyramid of the Moon...you know, the ones that came up to my thigh. Did I mention they're also super steep and narrow?
The view of the Pyramid of the Sun from the top of the Pyramid of the Moon.
I was definitely excited to to climb the Pyramid of the Sun. I was not excited by the time I got to the top.
I've definitely had some adventures these last few months. I've also worked like a dog, though it may not sound like it. I am so thankful for all the time I was able to spend with all my old and new friends.
But seriously...can I please stay home for awhile?
Okay, gotta be on my way my friends. I'm headed to Brazil tomorrow.
This oft misattributed to Jane Austen quote from the movie adaptation of her book “Mansfield Park” seems to describe the last year of my life more than anything that I could write. All of the sudden I blinked and 2010 was over and I had been in Panama for almost two years! Even so, I’ve been chided several times by my dear friends Amy and Gennifer for not updating my blog more often. So now, more than a year after my last update, I am going to update. As is not a secret, I’m pretty long winded. I’m sure anybody who has ever read my blog is now thinking, “Sweet mother! She’s going to write about an entire year. I’ll never be able to finish reading this boring blog.” Not to worry my friendly readers, I’ve decided to sum up what happened in each of the twelve months of 2010 in two sentences or less per month. That’s a mere 24 sentences. And before you go thinking I can’t do it, just watch me.
January 2010 I spent all of January working from home in Kansas and recovering from the meniscus repair surgery that was supposed to have a three day recovery period and turned out to be an eight week recovery. It was nice to spend some more time with my family.
February 2010 I was released to walk without using crutches February 2nd, returned to Panama from the US on February 4th, and got on a plane and headed to Schaan (Lichtenstein – Corporate HQ) on February 6th for a week of training. It may have hurt to walk, but I got to go to Carnival in Austria.
March 2010 I had a dear friend from Schaan and a dear friend from Argentina in Panama to help me do testing for the launch of the website in Argentina. We all traveled together some and definitely enjoyed our time.
April 2010 Just a normal month of working in Panama and preparing for the launch of the Argentine website. I also stared the process to get my visa to be able to travel to Brazil…a venture I hope to never have to grapple with again.
May 2010 The troll at the Brazilian consulate refused my visa and I had to send the Director of Finance, a Brazilian, to try to sweet talk her into letting me have a visa. I received the visa less than 24 hours before I left for my first trip to the office in Sao Paulo, Brazil (You even have to have purchased a ticket before they will even start the visa process.).
June 2010 Kara arrived in Panama, after many, many problems in the trip exactly a half day after I returned from Brazil. We went to one of the most beautiful places on Earth, San Blas, and had an adventure we’ll never forget with a crazy Argentine/Brazilian boat captain. Kara also had the luxury of helping me clean up my apartment after it flooded with feces (as seems to be my luck every time I live in an apartment.) I also spent a week in Argentina helping them prepare for the launch. (I know. I know. This month had four sentences, but a lot happened!)
I've included three pictures from our adventure:
Kara and I at the Panama Canal restaurant (with a ship passing through the locks)
I took this picture the first day we were in San Blas
Me testing the water proof camera we purchased and generally acting like usual
July 2010 Just a regular month working in the office and preparing to launch the Argentine website.
August 2010 At the end of the month I headed to Argentina for two weeks (I was there the first week of September too.) to launch the site. I had a blast working with my Argentina co-workers and catching up with old friends. I also changed apartments due to the little plumbing issue mentioned in June…because it happened again.
September 2010 The day before I turned 32 years old, I was on a flight to Brazil and it began to plunge out of the sky, even giving me enough time to think as we’re falling, “I just might not survive this one.” Thankfully there were good pilots in charge and we did land safely, with few injuries, a short time later in Sao Paulo.
October 2010 Nothing new this month besides a new head of the company for Latin America. He knows what he’s doing and you better be ready to do your job, but I like that.
November 2010 Kara and I decided way back in July that we would surprise mom and dad by my coming home for Thanksgiving. My dear friend Gennifer picked me up at the airport and took me to Kansas where Kara took me on to Fort Scott. Thankfully we didn’t give mom a heart attack and we had a great Thanksgiving celebration together.
December 2010 Just one week and half after I returned from Thanksgiving break I was headed back to the US for Christmas. We did have our end of the year office party at a beach resort one weekend…that was a new and very lovely event. I arrived home for Christmas safe and sound and nice and tan.
And that, my friends, is the short story of what happened to me in 2010.
Okay, so, those who were thinking there was no way in God’s green Earth that I was going to be able to describe each month in just two sentences were right. But I was so close…but it’s still really long I realize now!
I hereby make a promise to do better this year at updating…but only if you guys read it.
[Frankly, I have to put a disclaimer before every single one of my entries apologizing to my poor mother. So, just to save myself the extra typing every time: Mom, let's just consider this a running apology for everything I ever write in the blog...ever. Sorry!]
How many times can somebody pass through culture shock? I mean, if you've adjusted other times, surely the fourth time living abroad is easier, right? What is there to deal with if you've already dealt with it all before? I mean, honestly.
Well, I was handed the answer to my question, a little delayed albeit, but served up on a big silver platter like a 20 pound, glistening Thanksgiving Turkey.
The answer is infinite times. It can be delayed a bit in its coming, but it will inevitably come. For those who aren't familiar with spending time outsidethe country, there's a good little definition of culture shock here on Wikipedia. It's a simple definition, but it works.
To understand why I felt like running away from the city screaming, you have to read the definition of the second stage of Culture Shock. It is as follows: Negotiation Phase - After some time (usually weeks), differences between the old and new culture become apparent and may create anxiety. One may long for food the way it is prepared in one's native country, may find the pace of life too fast or slow, may find the people's habits annoying, disgusting, and irritating etc. This phase is often marked by mood swings caused by minor issues or without apparent reason. This is where excitement turns to disappointment and more and more differences start to occur. Depression is not uncommon. All of those feelings of irritation and the complaining (which is also usually included in the definitions of the second phase of Culture Shock) were just heightened by the heat. I...had...to...get...out...
It also just so happened that my heat heightened agitative state was shared by my good friend The Mexican Nightmare, otherwise known as Pamela (and, come to find out later, most of the office was passing through this second stage as well.). It also coincided with my 31st birthday...a birthday I didn't care to celebrate with everyone at the office (To be honest, I didn't care to celebrate it at all.). So, Pam and I decided we would get the heck out of the city and go to the one place in Panama where it is actually cool...and it's cool all the time: The province of Chriqui.
Chiriqui is in the Northern part of Panama. It borders Costa Rica. Part of it is in the mountains and the weather is cool. Generally it gets into the 50s there at night, many times into the 40s. The days are generally in the cool (relatively speaking, for Panama) 60s. David, the second largest city in Panama is in the flat lands, and it is hot there. You have to travel about another hour from David to get to the cool weather. We were so excited we could hardly contain ourselves.
We packed up the Suzuki (my car) and headed out early Thursday morning, as it's generally about a 6 hour drive. The fun started early on as this was also our first time to cross the Puente de las Americas. If you're going anywhere North/West of the City, you have to cross the canal of course...it cuts Panama in half! The bridge is also one of the most recognized landmarks of Panama throughout the world.
Thankfully we missed most of the traffic that uses the bridge because we left early. And, Pamela got a couple of good pictures to remember our first "crossing". The entire trip to the province of Chiriqui is along the Pan-American highway (to get to Cerro Punta and Boquete in the mountains, all you have to do is hang a right. Then, you're only on that highway for about an hour.).
Every once in awhile you enter a moment in your life that's just pretty surreal. Something that makes you think twice about who you are, what you have, and how you live. Driving along the Pan-American and up into the mountains, into the interior of the country, was one of those moments for me.
The "interior" of the country is what the country is called. Everywhere outside Panama City and David is country...little pueblos all over the place. Along the highway you see a much different side of Panama. The City has its big giant buildings and malls. The pueblos have nothing but small shanties and a lot of very kind, hard working people. It was like stepping back in time, literally.
Along the highway, there are people walking all over the place. It took me awhile to realize that they were walking along the highway because it is the ONLY real road in the general area. That's how they got everywhere.
It made me realize just how life could be. How blessed I have been and am in my life. It made me again appreciate how much I take advantage of the smallest things.
When we pulled up to our hotel in Cerro Punta, it was drizzling rain. I still had shorts on from when we left the city. I have to say that my teeth started chattering. It was so unbelievable to be someplace cool. The Mexican Nightmare and I were so happy we almost cried.
The hotel was also awesome. Cerro Punta is just a tiny little pueblo, so it's very nice and quiet. The hotel and spa, called Los Quetzales (The Quetzal is a very evasive, beautiful bird only found in that region), sat right on the river. Our suite was all made of wood (walls, floor, ceiling). I'm not sure what wood, but it was a light Oak color. We even had a fireplace and a kitchen. We used the fire place every night, even though the last night we were there was pretty warm. We sweated it out! I also introduced Smores to Panama. Yummy!
After we unloaded our bags and the cooler full of so much food we would be eating it for weeks afterward, we headed out to explore in the car. The terrain is very interesting, as it is in all of Panama. There are deciduous and tropical trees and plants. It's the same there in Chiriqui, even with the cool weather. As the Mexican Nightmare put it, it looks like you're in the jungle and the forest all at the same time. The only difference is that there in Chiriqui, you're driving up and around and in and out of mountains.
Chiriqui is also one of the best producers of strawberries in Panama (and the region). Anybody who knows me knows I love my strawberries. I think I probably stopped and ate strawberries and cream and my new favorites strawberries with condensed milk like 400 times. There were a couple of times I was nauseous from all the sugar!
It was that good, though.
Cerro Punta and Boquete, the two most picturesque cities in Chiriqui are separated by the Baru Volcano. At this point in time, there's no highway that connects them across the volcano, so, even though they're only like 10-15 miles from each other, it takes you about an hour and a half to get from one to the other because you have to go down the mountain and back up on the other side. You can hike it. It takes 8 hours, more or less, but it's a rough hike. Since I could barely walk and am back out of shape again (due to the knee), we couldn't do the hike. My goal is to be able to do it before I leave Panama in the next few years. Whether or not the Mexican Nightmare will ever be in good enough shape to hike it with me is the next question.
You can't drive to the top of the volcano, but you can drive around it for awhile. We got lots of really cool pictures because Cerro Punta is in what they call the "cloud forest" meaning it's just right at about the height of the clouds and so the valley is covered in clouds a lot. It's very beautiful.
On our second day in the region, we hired a local tour guide lady to ride with us in the car to take us to the hot springs and take us and show us around Boquete. She was a local lady from Volcán (Spanish for volcano) a small town on the side of the volcano on the way down to David. She thought that Pam and I were the craziest people she had ever met. She laughed at us non-stop...and she laughed at us, not with us.
The hot springs were great. The "legend" is that you have to dip yourself in the hot springs for awhile and then you have to run over and jump in the river...which is FREEZING water. Once you do that, whatever ails you will be cured. The way my knee felt, I figured I'd give it a try. Of course, I was a little hesitant so the Mexican Nightmare was making fun of me. I decided I'd show her and I just ran over and jumped in! I put my whole body in the ice cold river. By the time I got out, my legs were numb. I couldn't feel anything!
The Nightmare, after mocking me, wimped out. That was the best part. I laughed so hard I could hardly stand up (Because she's quite vocal!). And, if you're wondering if my knee was cured, the only time it felt any better was when it was numb and I couldn't feel anything...
Boquete is "little America" in Panama. It's one of the top places to retire in the world because of the cool climate and the beautiful scenery. We headed over there after the hot springs. At this time there isn't a highway between Cerro Punta and Boquete, even though they're literally right across the side of the volcano. I think it's less than 15 km. So, you have to drive all the way back down the mountain and up the other side.
As I mentioned earlier, they "say" it's supposed to take you one and a half to two hours to get from one to the other. I laugh in the face of their two hours. We made it in one hour, both ways. The tour guide said something about how fast I was going or something, but I really couldn't hear her over all her screaming in the back seat. The best scream came when we were on our way back, actually, and she advised me a little late that we needed to turn right.
Now, I assessed the situation very thoroughly. I would never have taken the turn if there would have been another car in the intersection or if it had been a sharp turn or if it would have put the lives of either of my passengers in danger. It was fine, so I took it. Honestly it's been a long time since I heard somebody scream that loud. Even Gennifer doesn't scream that loud when you scare her.
In Boquete we drove up the "other" side of the volcano and took a few pictures of us underneath the sign that said it was the volcano trail. We tried to look tired so we could try to fool somebody looking at our pictures into thinking we had hiked the treacherous hike over the volcano. But, who are we kidding, right? We were just tired hiking to that sign.
Boquete is much more "touristy" because of all the visitors it gets because of it's reputation as a great place to retire. We didn't have time to do any of the four wheeling or zip lines through the trees. Next time we're totally doing it. And, when my knee is fixed, I'll be hiking the volcano.
We ate at several great restaurants. They were all hole in the wall restaurants, but I've found that those are the absolute best around here. I've had some great food. I mention one restaurant in particular, though, not because of the food. Actually, the food was quite mediocre. I mention the restaurant because we met a fine young fellow named Jairu. Jairu was 6 years old and he thought we were the coolest people he'd ever met. We were also the only people in the restaurant.
Anyway, Jairu was running and hiding from us and telling us about the witch who lived across the highway. He, to our dismay, also didn't frighten too easily we found out as we jumped under the table and told him we saw the witch coming. Anyway, the most comical part of the night, to the Nightmare and me at least, was what followed.
We were sitting on the balcony of the restaurant and there was a very brisk breeze. The Nightmare had ripped some flatulence earlier on when we entered the restaurant, but Jairu was unaware of what he had heard. However, as we were sitting at the table and he was seated across from us on the floor, I figured he wouldn't hear anything if I let a small putz from my chair. The breeze was strong and there were some cars coming down the highway. Surely the little dude wouldn't hear.
Well, I let 'er rip and sure enough, Jairu popped to attention. My dear friend the Nightmare chimed in and goes, "Did you hear that? Did you see it?" Jairu shook his head yes very slowly with wide eyes. "It was an ant on a motorcycle! You heard that right?"
He stared at us for a bit and then a coy smile grew on his face. Jairu says, "No it wasn't! YOU FARTED," while signaling me with his finger. So, we started laughing. All in good fun, right? Well, it was even more fun because then Jairu rolls over on one cheek and lets a huge one rip as well! Not to be outdone, the Nightmare let one too.
I think we laughed for at least 20 minutes until the food came. Jairu never said anything to us, but we're positive that as soon as we left he told his parents all the fun he had hiding from the witches and farting with the crazy American and Mexican girls. Thankfully we're pretty sure there's no possible way that the people at the restaurant have any ties whatsoever to any Director in our office and won't be telling any stories to said Director (Please see blog entry "Just Beachy" from September 2009 for full explanation).
All in all it was a really great trip and a happy birthday, even though I prefer to not celebrate birthdays at this stage in my life. The drive wasn't even that long...though I thought it would be with my constant singing companion. Thankfully on the way home she was so tired she slept for like three hours. Yippeee! It was so good to see a new part of Panama and feel some fresh air. We were very refreshed when we got back. Thanks Pam (aka the Mexican Nightmare) for a really fun birthday.
Here are some pictures of our trip:
Crossing the Puente de las Americas (The Bridge of the Americas) over the Panama Canal
A view along the way...
A common site along the Pan-American Highway
Another view along the way...
One of the many "huts" along the side of the highway selling hand-made, typical dress from the province of Chiriqui
The river that ran through our hotel complex
Clouds hovering over one of the large ranches and mountains
Pam and I on the side of the volcano. The clouds made it super cool looking, though we couldn't see the top of the volcano!
The grounds at the nicest restaurant we ate. I'm carrying my knee brace.
Flowers on the grounds of the race horse ranch we visited. It's owned by an ex-president of Panama. He raises race horses to run in the races here in Panama.
The ENORMOUS horse that we were allowed to ride (and quite unflattering picture of me!). They told us he weighed over 2 tons. It may have even been three, actually. Anyway, he didn't have a saddle and you had to just "squeeze" to stay on him. My legs are so short, they hardly reached around him!
I'm laughing here because the horse just farted. I'm honestly not joking. You can't make this stuff up. You can ask Pam and the family who was there on the tour with us. Everybody and I were laughing so hard I almost fell off the horse!
Another picture on the grounds of the horse ranch
The famous in my mind forever Jairu
A slight road hazard/block
Finally a clear day for a picture of the volcano. It doesn't look so high, but we were already very high up when we took this picture.
A waterfall on the side of the volcano in Boquete and our best sides
One of the many places we stopped for strawberries and condensed milk (Or any other way you can think to eat strawberries!)
Leave me some comments my friends. Let me know if you guys want me to keep writing. I know it's been a long time. It's been busy. But, if anybody is actually interested, I'll keep writing! I have had some interesting trips that I can write about still. And, I'll really try to do better. I'll keep the posts shorter and more fun.
They say that memories triggered by smells cause some of the most emotional reactions in people. It has to do with the fact that the olfactory nerve is closest to the part of the brain that causes memory and emotion. I don't know. It's really complicated. And, even though after the last blog one might think that my sense of smell would be damaged beyond repair, it's not so. Smells have always triggered very vivid memories in my brain. And thus, the second I stepped out of the terminal at Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a flood of memories came whooshing back like the water tornadoing out the drain of the bathtub.
Whooshing back to my mind was the sweet, smooth taste of the dulce de leche. The supurbly scrumtious alfajores bathed in choocolate and bursting at the seams with dulce de leche. The scary train rides from La Plata to Buenos Aires with Katy (There are some scary people on trains.). The bathroom incidents at multiple internet cafes throughout La Plata and Buenos Aires (By the way, Kate, Guille and Elena remembered a couple of those!). The student strike where the students themselves shut down the University because they weren't happy with the conditions and my susbsequent joy not the have class! The black and yellow taxis zipping through the streets at break neck speed. Avenida 9 de Julio and it's 12 lanes of traffic in the middle of the city. My beloved Argentine family who, at times, made me want to kill them. The meat. Ohhhh the glorious meat and all the restaurants who prepare the meat over hot coals and all the asados (bar-b-ques) we attended. The fútbol. The absolute madness, passion, and love for the fútbol. And all the learning that took place about Argentina, my friendships, and most of all me. Those were some very formative times.
So, after an eight year absence from Argentina, you can imagine how excited I was to be able to return...albeit for work. Hey, at least I was getting to the country. And I loved that country. I had so much fun while I was there. There were things I hated too, but all in all it was a fantastic experience. And, I was even going to get the chance to visit my friends for the weekend.
I got there pretty late on Sunday night and headed to the hotel through the empty streets of the Capital (The Argentine's call it "The Capital" since it lies in the province of Buenos Aires, you must be specific as to where you are traveling.). I took it all in and sweetly smiled as I remembered traversing that same path long ago. The only difference is that this time I was Blackberry Messenging Gennifer the whole cab ride. Ahhh how times change.
I didn't have too much time to reminice, however, becuase I had an 8:00 AM meeting at the office...which was a 40 minute ride from the hotel. The office lays in the outskirts of the Capital, so most of the time we prefer to stay in downtown where all the action is rather than stay out by the office. A 40 minute cab ride is a small price to pay to stay right in the middle of one of the greatest capitals in the world. And, with the exchange rate, the 40 minute cab ride was only about 20 bucks!
In Argentina there are two types of cabs. There are your regular black and yellow type in the Capital. They generally want to stay close to home. Then there are what are called Remises. The remises are regular cars with drivers who work for an agency. They don't mind taking your furthur than just the city if you need. Sometimes they're cheaper than a cab within the city. Sometimes they're not. It's weird. But, whatever you do, don't ask your cab driver to take you from Argenta Tower Hotel in the Captial to the office all the way in Munro. He won't like it. Trust me. I wasn't sure I was even going to get him convinced.
Finally he agreed, begrudeingly, and took me to the office. I thought about telling him that if he'd shut up and stop telling me how nice he was to me for taking me all the way out there that I'd give him a tip. But I didn't. And he didn't shut up. So he also didn't get a tip.
I entered the office very early since I had a meeting with the Director of the company in Argentina as well as the Director of Marketing. The meeting, contrary to what I thought it was going to be, was very good. It has been said that the director can be very difficult at times, but I did not find him to be that way at all. Mainly it's because I don't think he thinks my project is going to affect his bottom line enough to matter, so he's just giving me free reign. I'll show him.
Everybody at the office there in Argentina is fantastic. It's a small office, so I was a novelty. Everybody always wants to know who the new guy is. And, since I'm new to this side (Latin America) of the company, I was a very big question mark. Everybody met me and talked with me. I really enjoyed my time working in the office with everyone. And, I got a lot of things done for the project. It was a good week of work.
Unforunately, as seems to generally and sadly be my case, there was an "incident" during the week. And, shockingly enough, this incident doesn't have to do with farting. If only that were the case. That would have been much less painful (for the most part).
Monday I ended up working late at the office. By the time I had looked up, everybody was gone and I had no phone number for a Remis service. Thankfully I found the Director of Marketing in his office. He had a number for a remis service there close by and he called one for me.
As I was getting in the remis, I somehow twisted the surgicially operated knee in a way it did not like. I was immediately in horrible pain. The whole trip back to the hotel, I could not get it to kind of "pop" back in. When the driver let me out, I could barely get out of the car. He happened to let me off across the street from the hotel, so I had to try to cross the street, which was impossible moving at the pace I was.
Generally, after I dislodge the knee cap and knee, I can get it to go back in the right place pretty quickly and there is very minimal inflammation and pain. This time was different. After about 10 minutes of trying to get up enough courage to cross the street, I finally made it to the hotel.
I spent the rest of the night in the hotel writhing in pain. I just couldn't figure out why or how I had aggrivated it so much. Unfortunately, the pain continued through the night. It was a long night.
As soon as I got to the office, everybody was very concerned. The girl who I was working with took me immediately to an emergency clinic in one of the more upscale neighborhoods in Bs. As. I saw an orthopedic specialist within 20 minutes of arriving (for $40 bucks). He checked the knee cap and it was fine. He told me I needed to see a specialist. I explained that I was very aware of that fact...and that I knew that the only fix for my knees are new knees. He agreed! I asked for a cortisone shot and some anti-inflammatory meds. He obliged. (Shot and meds: 25 bucks. That same shot cost me 300 in the US.)
I spent the rest of the week in pain, but not like the pain before the doctor's visit. It did put a damper on my time in Argentina as I couldn't venture out and have any fun while I was in the capital. on Wednesday evening I walked the six blocks to a famous steak restaurant and was almost too sick to my stomach to eat (becuase the pain from walking was making me nauseus). That was a shame. All I had wanted to do was eat meat when I got to Argentina, since the meat here in Panama isn't so great, and I hardly enjoyed it.
Out of that fateful remis ride, however, I did meet Jorge...the remisero (driver). Jorge was an interesting, rather large fellow who took an instant liking to me, for some reason. He took such a liking to me, in fact, that he decided he was going to drive me back and forth to and from work every day...even though his route was closer to the Hilti office than my hotel. So, in theory, I would have had to pay Jorge for the trip to the Hotel to pick me up and then for the trip from the hotel to Hilti. I told him I wasn't going to do that. I would call a remis that was closer.
Jorge insisted, though, that he would charge me the same fee every day for each ride. And, he did. Jorge became my "best friend", that is, as far as he was concerned! He was very kind and was very worried about my knee. He was also very punctual, which is uncommon in the Latino world. He even got in trouble for making an agreement with me (as the remisero's take turns taking the calls that come. Whoever is in line next, gets the fare. Making deals isn't fiar.), but I called his boss and straightened it out...very nicely of course. So nicely, actually, that his boss called frantically looking for Jorge to make sure that he was going to take care of me for the rest of the week! She was apparently very afraid to lose the fair and Jorge called the hotel laughing so hard I could hardly understand him to tell me about how they had searched for him.
After the work week, I arranged for Jorge to take me to La Plata on Friday night...where I spent five months studying my last semester of university in 2001. La Plata is, more or less, 30 miles from Bs. As. and I still keep in touch with the family I lived with for those five months. Although it was only five months, it felt like years and the mother and daughter with whom I lived, Elena and Guillermina, are very special to me. It had been almost 8 years since I had seen them. I didn't want to let an opportunity go by to see them. Don't let those types of chances go by. They may never come by again.
Guille and Elena were all ready for me. Elena was a fantastic cook and I had requested that she make one of my two favorites for me over the weekend. She made all of them! So, I feasted on meatballs, gnocchis, steak and lots of other great stuff. Every day I ate way past my belly capacity! Of course, their only comment was, "You don't eat as much as you used to." I'm still not sure if that was an insult or a compliment.
We had a great time catching up over the weekend and I did some shopping...since the exchange rate was fantastic in my favor. I also bought every box of alfahores in a 30 mile radius I think. They were so happy to see me. It was very humbling to think that you could mean so much to two people. In my mind I'm not much of anything and far from perfect! It's hard to believe anybody likes me that much. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to visit them again...and I ate well while doing it too!
It was a memorable weekend filled with a lot of laughs and good memories. And, even though I didn't get to see a soccer game while there, I got to listen to one. Elena and Guille live very close to the stadium of one of La Plata's professional teams, Estudiantes. It just so happened that they were playing their cross town rival, Gimnasia. So, I got to listen to the absolute chaos of the game. I love it.
Since I didn't have time to get out and about in the city, I honestly don't have many pictures. I really only have a few of Elena, Guille, Gabriel (Guille's long time boyfriend) and "the hands".
The meatballs!
Guille and me at a sidewalk cafe in La Plata
Guille and me with "the hands"
Guille and Gabriel with the lovely Argentine meat!
Elena and me
Everybody!
I had a great time working and visiting my friends in Argentina. Hopefully I'll get another opportunity to do so. I should, but one never knows. Oh, and the knee, by the way, has to be operated on. I guess that was one heck of a twist getting into the cab.
Panamusings
And now, at the end of all my blogs I usually leave a list of little quips about things that have happened that don't warrant an entire story. I've decided I'm going to call these Panamusings and they will be included in each blog entry.
Do you ever wish you could send an image your eyes transmitted to your brain to the "recycle bin" and then delete it for all time? On the trip from La Plata to the airport, I was suddenly attacked with a "do or die" bathroom urge (just number one, but dangerous all the same). Well, on the highway, there is not really anywhere to stop in the rush hour traffic. Thankfully, Jorge had the idea of stopping at the toll booth. They had a restroom I could use in their little central building off to the side. I went running for the restroom leaving Jorge there with the car, or so I thought. After I finished, I realized there were no paper towels in the bathroom to dry my hands so I thought I'd stop by the other bathroom (they were not marked Male/Female. There were just two.) and see if there were any towels. The door was open. Why would I think that, when I rounded the corner that Jorge, the very obese remisero would be in there with his pants down around his ankles taking a pee. Sweet mother. Thank GOODNESS the toilet was on the opposite wall so his back was facing me. But, I did get an eye full of that obese behind. You never know how fast you can move on a hurt knee until you see something like that. Let me tell you.
There's nothing like wearing the jersey of the winning team from the day (Estudiantes) and walking down the street hearing honking and yelling in your direction from other fans. That's devotion.
It's really handy being able to enter the country of your new residence as an actualy resident. The line is way shorter and they don't insist on taking your picture (like they do to every other person entering the country.)
The first time in Argentina, I remember being scared to death to cross the street and thinking about how absolutely crazy the drivers were in the entire country. This time around, as I was riding around, the first thing I thought was, "Wow, these guys really drive normally. It's nice to see that again." Then it dawned on me what I had thought the first time in the country. The difference? Panama and the crazy insaneness they call driving. What a difference personal experience has on the way we see things in life.
Coming soon (I promise): The 31st birthday trip to Chiriqui with the Mexican Nightmare. We all know what trips with her mean...
[Disclaimer: I must again put a disclaimer before this blog entry. This blog in no way should reflect badly on my mother or the way my mother raised me. Nor should this blog affect the way you view my mother. She raised me to be a nice, well mannered young lady who respected everyone around her. Unfortunately, through no fault of her own, it didn't take...as will be well evidenced in the entry below. Sorry mom.]
In a world where Kim Jong-Il's approval rating has plummeted to only 120% in North Korea and where there are mothers on the street like this one: Sometimes you just need to get away and have a relaxing weekend at the beach. That's what we (my Mexican buddy) and I decided to do a few weekends ago. Pam, the buddy, also had a friend from Colombia visiting (Jessica), so we took the opportunity to show her some of Panama as well.
On Saturday morning we headed out bright and early to catch the ferry to the island of Taboga. It lays just a short 12 miles off the coast of Panama City which translates to about 45 minutes on the very slow ferry boat. But, the ride is a very picturesque one as you cross the entrace of the Panama Canal and can see the Puente de las Americas (Bridge of the Americas...the entrance to the canal and also where the Pan American Highway crosses the canal.). We saw some very large fish (maybe Marlins. I don't know anything about fish.) jumping and also a pretty big group of dolphins. Some giant birds followed us the whole trip and were swooping around the boat trying to fish. I was hoping they didn't come too close to where we were sitting as they had some serious beakage going on. I could just see one piercing my arm.
We arrived at the dock in Taboga about 9:00 AM. As we disembarked, I saw this cute little island that looked like it just fell out of a movie. You know the movies I'm talking about. The movie that takes place somewhere in a tropical country where everybody is always sweating because it's always humid, but the beach is really pretty and the houses are colorful with hammocks on the front porches. That's the kind of movie I'm talking about and that's exactly what it looked like. The dude from the bed and breakfast where we had made a reservation for the night (Called Cerrito Tropical. I'll explain what that means and why it's called that in a minute.) met us there and we grabbed a taxi to take us to the hotel.
Now, when I say taxi, I mean a tiny little truck with a wooden bench in the back for us to sit on. As for that matter, there are only three truck taxis on the island,one other car, and a couple of those "gator" all terrain vehicles. It's a very small place. We just didn't want to lug our heavy back packs to the hotel. It cost a whopping three bucks for the ride, so we figured we'd splurge.
As we approached the hotel we noticed a very, very steep hill. Then we saw the sign. It said: Cerrito Tropical and had an arrow pointing up...straight up. Cerrito means "little hill" in Spanish. I think it should have read "super huge, really steep, it'll kill you every time you have to go up or down this hill" Tropical, but what do I know. The truck chugged and chugged and got us up the hill with our luggage, thankfully.
The hotel/bed and breakfast was a cute little place. It was somebody's home and they had expanded it to give it more room. Since there were three of us, we booked the suite. We had our own private balcony with a gorgeous view of the ocean and all the boats waiting to enter the canal. We had two bedrooms with three beds, and the bedrooms had air conditioning...which is a nice luxury.. There was a private bathroom with hot water (not all the rooms had hot water) and two hammocks. It was fantastic.
After we put our things down we headed to eat breakfast. That was our first trip down the hill. Of course, going down the hill with my knees is like Chinese water torture. I was quite slow going down. But, we finally made it and had breakfast at a tiny little place with plastic lawn furniture for tables and chairs. It was here that I discovered that I absolutely love Yucca (also known as Casava). It's really tasty...and my new favorite veggie...especially when it's fried! But then again, what isn't good when it's fried?
Once breakfast was concluded, we walked around the tiny town of Taboga and checked it out. It was just as I had seen from the dock, a very picturesque little tropical town. It turns out, however, that Taboga has quite an amazing history. From pirates to the US government, there have been many different inhabitants and visitors on this island. I'll leave the history for the history buffs. But, you can read all about Taboga here.
The little jaunt around the island got us all nice and hot and sweaty, so we decided we wanted to go to the beach. To go to the beach, we had to climb the hill to our room and change: Round one of Kristin, Pamela, and Jessica versus the "cerrito". Man alive I wasn't sure we were going to make it. Well, let me rephrase that. I'm not in the best of conditions, but I exercise three times a week. My dear friend Pam, does not. I thought we were going to have to carry her up. I really did. She did make it. But, to her defense, that hill was a son of a gun. It was steep.
We changed into our bathing attire, with great difficulty I might add. Anybody who knows me knows that I have very developed sweat glands. It comes from years of sports, I guess. But, I was drenched. And, without air conditioning, there's no cooling down quickly. So, changing was difficult. Putting on sun block to block out the Equatorial blast of sun was even worse. Sun block doesn't like to stick to you when you're sopping wet. It's a wonder I didn't burn all the way through. As it was, I was just a bit burned on my hairline (through my hair...go figure. How was I going to put sun block in my hair anyway?), a small patch on my shoulders, and on the insides of my ankles. I don't know why or how that happened. I had the same amount of spf 55 there as I did on the rest of my legs.
We paid a young kid to take us on a boat ride around the island. That took about an hour and was a nice ride in open Pacific Ocean. He dropped us right off at the beach and we spent the next hours relaxing and swimming. I, in fact, fell asleep with one arm in the sun (we rented an umbrella) and ended up with one arm much darker (and a bit more burned) than the rest of my body! It was very restful there watching the boats come in and out of the canal and seeing the City in the distance.
The thunder and lightening off towards the city gave us a fair warning of the rain that was to come, so we packed up and headed to lunch. We ducked into what was basically this lady's front porch, for lunch as the rain fell in Biblical proportions. I'm pretty sure I saw Noah run by with a couple of animals under each arm. It only lasted for about half an hour, though, thankfully.
We were tired out so we headed back to the hotel to nap in the hammocks. This began round 2: Kristin, Pamela, and Jessica vs the "cerrito". Same result as the last, although I was already upstairs in our room sleeping by the time Pam made it. Everybody plopped down and fell asleep to the water lapping and the very comfortable tropical breeze.
Then I heard a rustle. It was Pam moving around in the hammock a little bit, readjusting you might say. Then there was the sound heard round the world. Pamela had awoken me when she moved around in the hammock. As I lay there I felt a bit of pressure in my stomach from all the yucca...and who knows what else. So, man, I just let one rip.
About three seconds later there was hysterical laughing coming from the other hammock, which put me in hysterics as well. And, this is how we spent the afternoon. Back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. It was quite the war. Poor Jessica was just inside the door lying on her bed shaking her head. My eyes were puffy from the crying which ensued after the laughter. It was a comical afternoon.
We declared Pamela the winner, and she was by far. She killed me. And, we called a short truce, we were all hungry and got ready to head to dinner. As we were all getting ready we heard some commotion below. The "commotion" was people... people talking. People talking in regular voices, not raised voices. I kind of stopped. Pamela stopped. She looked at me with that kind of "I wonder" look, and I reciprocated. We stood there for another few seconds just looking at each other with a look of astonished horror, and it all broke loose.
The laughter began again and it went on and on and on as we quickly realized that everything that had happened in the suite that afternoon had been completely and totally audible to the people staying in the hotel below. We could hear everything. Every word, every cough, every movement they made. That means they heard the entire bodily function barrage that took place earlier in the afternoon.
Now, you're probably thinking one of three things here (or maybe all of theM). One: I can't believe Kristin is this disgusting...or the fact that there's somebody else out there just as disgusting as her. Two: how is Kristin not completely and totally mortified by the fact that everybody heard her? Or, three: Maybe nobody was in the hotel that afternoon.
One: I know I'm disgusting. I'll be the first to admit it. That's a valid point. But, I also think it's hysterical (when in its place... and although this place was fairly public, I did believe it to be private). I also love to laugh. And, I think it's funny. And, I bet, if you really are honest with yourself...deep down there you think it's funny too. Come on. You know you do.
Two: Well, you've gotta laugh at yourself in this world when you do stupid things in life because it's laugh or cry... I choose laugh. And, I chose to laugh off this moment...because if you really do think about it, it's hysterical that I got busted. And, of course I won't learn my lesson.
Three: Oh, there were people there! Unfortunately, we saw them when we headed up to the room earlier in the afternoon. We actually had met a couple of them: a little girl and her mother from Chile.
The little girl and her mother are a story within the story. They were the most air headed people I've run into for a long time. They were very kind, but stinking funny (This from the girl who farted all afternoon in ear shot of 6 other guests). We talked to the girl a bit and she proceeded to take a very long time to tell me what her name was and what town she was from in Chile and apparently had no idea if it was to the South or North of Santiago (and this girl was at least 8 or 9). She asked us where we were from and we let her know where we were from and for whom we worked.
We also know for a fact that the little girl and her mother were downstairs in the afternoon (which will come into play later). We came into contact with them quite a lot through the rest of the weekend and each time we talked to them, it was an adventure.
Well, Sunday came around and we headed home after having enjoyed a very nice weekend on the island. We saw our Chilean friends on the boat home as well. They were very interested in how much fun we had had and asked us lots of questions. They even hounded Jessica about where Pamela and I were when she went up top of the boat to take some photos. Quite amusing in the weird, foreign stalker kind of way.
And so, We enjoyed a very nice and relaxing weekend filled with the beach, yucca, crazy Chileans and gas.
Skip ahead two weeks. Pamela and I are in the car on the way back from eating lunch on weekday. Pam tells me she talked to Gustavo this morning about some Chilean friends he has (Gustavo, by the way, is the Director of Operations for the entire company. He's from Chile.). She proceeds to tell me that some friends he knows from the Chilean Association of Panama had met a Mexican girl and a blond American girl that worked for his company when they spent the weekend in Taboga a couple of weekends ago.
I happened to be driving this day and I kid you not I almost hit the car in front of us when she said that. I looked at Pamela and I really didn't believe she was telling me the truth. I thought she was making up the story. I kept insisting that she was making it up. She wasn't.
I didn't witness the conversation with Gustavo and Pamela and that's probably a good thing. I'm sure I would have just started hysterically laughing. Pam said she just stood there with kind of a look of "oh really" on her face trying to hide the horror as Gustavo explained how he knew this family and their daughters. She did ask him what they had said about us. Gustavo said they had just said they met us and that we were nice.
I'm not so sure. That little girl was crazy. I'm sure she's already informed Gustavo's entire family of what happened on the island in full detail.
Either way, Pam and I have vowed never to speak of the incident again and I have been avoiding Gustavo and all members of his family. Every time I make eye contact with Gustavo, though, I'm always looking for some hint that he knows. I know he does. I know it. But, he's sure good at hiding it. We'll see come promotion time what all he really knows.
Kristin's lack of manners strikes again. If only she would have just listened to her mother. At least we had fun. We're also waiting for a charge to the credit card for "stained hammocks". We haven't seen the charge yet. I'll keep you informed.
Here are a few photos. I don't have too many. Jessica took the most, but I haven't gotten them from her yet.
Pamela, Jessica, and me on the ferry
The view from the dock when we landed
The famous "hands"...only I didn't actually have the hands with me. I forgot them... So, I made my own!
The view from standing in the door of our suite...and Pamela's leg in the hammock. She didn't leave that hammock most of the weekend.
Jessica, Pamela, and I on the boat ride around the island. Pam is very proud of her stomach.
And now, at the end of all my blogs I usually leave a list of little quips about things that have happened that don't warrant an entire story. I've decided I'm going to call these Panamusings and they will be included in each blog entry.
Panamusings
The jungle hiking "adventure" that we went on ended up to be a jungle hiking "bust". we didn't see anything other than a ñeke (a big tropical rat), some ants, some spiders, and some bats. Whoppeee. I was so disappointed. I really wanted to see the monkeys! I did get a couple of good pictures with the "hands" though.
You know your dinner is going to be fantastic when you hear the old, gross, American guy talking to the hooker...oops, I mean "escort" he bought when he got to the city. You know, he picked her "because he liked her picture best of all...and she spoke English." Alright!
Unhappy = Kristin taking a half of day of vacation to watch the USA vs Mexico Gold Cup Final only to see the US lose 5-0. Kristin will never be staking a day of vacation on US Soccer ever again. They had their chance.
Ummm...did I mention they show NCIS re-runs here? YAHHOOOOOOO!
Back in the day, when I was just learning Spanish, my buddy Katy and I started watching a Mexican soap opera to try to help us out with our "listening" skills (You laugh, but it helps.). Those shows are so over the top it's hysterical. We started out having to call each other every commercial to talk about everything that had happened to be able to understand what was said. By the end of the show (a few months later), neither of us had to call to understand what was going on. It was amazing how much that really helped. And, we loved the over the top telenovela.
Problem is, we missed the beginning of the telenovela. I figured I'd never see it again ever in life. But, the other night I was flipping stations and guess what I discovered? I discovered Cañaveral de Pasiones again! I've had a lot of fun reliving the fun. I just wish I could record it and send it to Kate so we could talk about it at each commercial.
You know what's creepy? When your friend comes to pic you up at your apartment and you're on your way down and the security guard can tell your friend exactly where you are in the building and that you're on your way down. Big Brother is always watching...she says suspiciously looking left and right
And finally, I've decided that male crotch scratching is very accepted in Brazil. Yes, that's right, I said it. But, it's become such an enormous issue (he he) that I just can't let it go. Is it really okay to do that in that country? Because the Brazilian guys in the office, although very kind, just scratch all the time. And, frankly, one sits right in front of me. Every time he stands up he scratches and it's at face level...four feet away. FACE LEVEL. Come on! I'm going to have to get some sort of visor. Either that or I'm just going to start scratching my boob all the time.
