Peru

Why Peru?
I booked this trip on the fly when I found out that Reada is pregnant and coming home for five months in December, then moving from Peru. I'd been meaning to take this trip for three years but since I'd never been able to use my flyer miles for a convenient trip, I'd postponded it. On Sunday I talked to Reada on the phone and heard her news and thought, it's now or never! I have the time, I have the FF miles and I have a place to stay in Lima. Three days later I'd booked a three week trip leaving seven days from then.

Trip down - Wednesday, 12/2
Juan was a rockstar and dropped me off at the airport. I had to book first class in order to use my miles and oh man, what a difference. No waiting in lines, you get to board right away, there is loads of space in the cabin, free liquor the whole flight, hot towels, lobster, dinner, cheesecake, wine, full reclining seats, 40 movies and games to play. It was great and I hope I'll get to fly that way again, but I'd never pay for it cause it's way too expensive. The flight was six and a half hours long. Dave was awesome and met me at the airport.

Reada and Dave live in this beautiful red brick house right on the Pacific Ocean. They have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a sunroom and a space upstairs for tv and computers. They've been wonderful and I can't say enough how much I love being with them again. Reada is one of my favorite people and I have missed her dearly these past three years.

Day 1 - Thursday, 12/3
When I woke up I found out that Reada's school had potential cases of swine flu so they sent her cute pregnant butt home for two days which she was sad about but I was selfishly thrilled. :) I love that Reada cares so much about her students and her job as their teacher. I want to have that kind of passion and dedication for my work someday (soon I hope.)

Lunch - Punta Azul
Puffy corn - This was a little bowl of puffy corn kernals that tasted like corn nuts and popcorn
Calamare frito - Fried Calamari with fresh tartar sauce
Causa - Cold mashed potatoes with tumeric (or they were orange potatoes), layered with a chopped fish and shrimp mayo based salad, covered in grated hard boiled egg, all shaped like a fish. This was my favorite.
Ceviche Punta Azul con Salsa Rocotto - Fish, shrimp, calamari, octopus, lime, and red onion covered in this red pepper sauce. Not spicy at all but really fresh tasting.

Dave left to tutor and Reada and I walked around Miraflores and Parque Kenedy, then taxi'd home to walk Matza and have ice cream in the park. I emailed, read The Ruins, napped, then we went to dinner.

Dinner - El Pollon
Pollo A la Brasa - Rotisserie chicken with fries, salad and Inca Kola. The rub they put on the chicken here is delish, way better than Pollo Loco in San Antonio. I could live without Inca Kola, the golden bubblegum soda they love so much in Peru. Mayonaise is less goopy and more creamy and there's always some aji or chili condiment served with the meal. I'm staying away from salad and any fruit with skin on it in hopes of avoiding The Dreaded Peru Belly.

Back to the house for some reading and internet, then off to walk Matza and get some gelato. I got Panna and Frambose or something. Cream and raspberry in a cone.

Day 2 - Friday, 12/4
Woke up around 10:30, read some, walked Matza with Dave and grabbed some empanadas.

Lunch - Don Mario Panederia
Empanadas de lomo saltado - Flaky potpie-like pastery with strips of beef sauted with onion, garlic and tomato. Delish.
Calzone Mixto - Ham and something empanada

R&D had to sell their second car so they dropped me off at a Starbucks so I hung out using their wi-fi. I know, I know, going to Starbucks in a foreign country is stupid, but I wanted to start my blog and do some trip planning, and people watching at Starbucks for a few hours was a nice way to spend the time.

Dave made us some tasty Chinese food at home and we chilled at home for the rest of the night.

Completed Items: 100 Things To Do Before I Fall In Love Again

2. Visit Reada in Peru. Visting Peru for 3 weeks from 12/2/09 thru 12/24/09

3. Go to an Amigos site this summer as a visitor. I traveled to Honduras my first year as a trainer with Amigos de las Americas.  Met fantastic kids and really got to know our objective as an organization.  We flew in to the capitol, then went to Lempira for training, then off to individual site visits.  We then bused to Copan to see the Mayan ruins.  - June 2006

National Amigos Trainers Trip to Honduras

4. Watch someone I love commit themselves to a wonderful relationship. The epitome of this would be when I got to be an usher in my college roommate Tara's wedding to Chris.  They were surrounded by over 200 family members and friends who were so thrilled to see them join their lives.  December, 2008

6.  Kiss a stranger at a wedding.  Done.  Details will be omitted to protect the guilty. :)

8.  Fly First Class  I had to fly first class to Peru to use my miles.  It was heaven.  December 2, 2009

10. Win a game of Texas Hold 'Em.  I won a round at my co-worker Nora's home one bbq.  That game lasted until 2 AM, but I took the pot!  Wait, we didn't have a pot.  Still counts though.  2007

12. Get a dog.  October 2007.

Sophers, the dog love of my life.

13. Dance at least one great salsa dance.   Costa Rica, El Tobogan, with Doug.  March, 2004

15.  Tell the people you love how important they are to you.  I try to do this as often as possible.

21.  Make tamales with your family.  My dad and I have done this for the past 2 years.  December 2007 & 2008

23.  Volunteer at something.  Amigos de las Americas, Trainer and local board member for 3 years.  2006 - 2008.

26.  Take a Vacation Alone.  Peru counts, even though I am visiting Dave and Reada.  December 2009

27.  Make individual pizzas with fun toppings. CWF, at Leslie's house with Amanda and Caroline, shortly after Olivia was born.  February 2009

28.  Invite the girls over for a marathon of something super girlie.  This has evolved into Chicks  Watching Flicks.  What started as some ladies getting together at a restaurant for dinner and a movie, has turned into a monthly ritual of friendship, wine, and good times.   Summer 2008

32.  Cook something French.  I made Coq au Vin for Bren one night.  It's definitely fun to cook for/with someone who shares your passion.  Early 2009.

35. Have a girly sleepover.  The CWF girls and I had a fantastic sleepover at the Alden for Leslie's birthday.  We drank wine, did makeovers, went to Mia Bella for dinner, then went dancing downtown.  The next day we watched movies and had someone come in and give us massages.   You're never too old for a sleepover.  April 2009

Me and Amanda at the club.

36.  Go on a “date” with an amazing friend (female) to a really nice restaurant and do the whole appetizer, entrée, wine, AND dessert with no pressure. - Lui  Now that I am a working adult, this happens more often, but it's always a good time.
 
38.  Make Mexican Mole from scratch.  I got it into my head that this would be a fun way to spend an afternoon.  26 ingredients, a roomful of dirty dishes, and six hours later, I had my mole and it was totally worth it.  I felt really accomplished and connected to my mexican hertigage. The whole time I was cooking I was thinkig of my abuelita Esperanza and my Tia Lupita, both who are gone now but I loved dearly.  Now that I've made mole once, I could do it again.  I could, but I think I'll stick to Dona Maria from the jar which can be doctored up and ready in 45 minutes.  December 2007

40.  Join a flag football team.  At my old job at GT I played softball and flag football.  I'm awful at both, but it was always a blast to but on the team shirt (Go Chupacabras!) and play with people outside of the office.  2007
 
41.  Have a spa day with a girlfriend.   Lui and I went to the Houstonian for massages and lazed about in the whirlpools, sauna and relaxation room for an entire afternoon.  That is what you call spoiling yourself.  2009

43.Spend a night dancing and singing in your room to your favorite mix of songs.  I come from a long line of singers.  No, not professional singers, sing-in-the-shower/sing-in-the-car/sing-at-weddings singers so I often crank the music up and sing away when I clean my house or get dressed.  I've even found myself singing at the grocery store. 

44.  Do something with co-workers not work or lunch related. Connect with people.  I became great friends with a lot of folks at GT and we did everything from happy hours to bbqs, to movie nights.

45.Take Salsa Lessons

46.Get a Promotion

47.Shamelessly flirt with a stranger.

48.Take Country Dancing Lessons

49.Go Hang Gliding

50.Make a new girlfriend and go out to drinks with her.

51.Be happy for an ex-boyfriend's new relationship.

Observations on the Mexicanos...

Lui and I were chatting and we came up with a list of Things Mexican People Like and it turned it to Observations on the Mexicanos in general.

• Vero: Mexicans like giving their loved ones ridiculous nick names (see: "gordo", "morena", "flaca", "blanca" "mona") Lui: yeah, my aunt's name is Celina and we call her "mona" Vero: I have aunts named Rosario, Leticia, Carmen, Margaret, and Dolores but it's "Negra", "Leta", "Caya", "Mague", and "Pilinga" and our Uncle Jesus was "Cuco"
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans like excuses for parties. Vero: Word. Graduation, confirmation, baby shower, wedding shower, quinceniera, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, tupperware party...
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans like putting the Virgin on everything from candles, to clocks to nightlights to tattoos. http://www.pbase.com/ohquepretty/virgin_mary_and_los_angeles
  And we believe she shows up everywhere from our tortillas to trees.
  http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/RootWeb/VirginMaryCheese.htm
  According to that site her food of choice is a grilled cheese sandwich, but everyone knows she's all about the tortilla.
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans like the old english letters on back of pick-ups (Lui: although that's a mexican-american thing)
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans like naming their daughters Maria. Lui: My mom's name is Maria de Lourdes Monica. Vero: All my aunts are names Maria de "whatever"
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans like naming their children after virgins and saints
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans like naming their children after themselves. My dad is Roland, my brother is Roland Jr. My grandfather was Jesus, his son was Jesus and one of my aunts sons was Jesus. My uncle's father was Ray, he is Ray and his son is Ray. My dad's friend was Adrian, his daughter was Adriana and his son was Adrian Jr. And the best example yet: Lui is named after her father Luis, and her sister is named after her mother Lourdes.
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans like being late to everything
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans like: BBQs. Vero: and like taking leftovers home on styrofoam plates "for mijo" after the cook out, even if they didn't pitch in.
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans like pinatas.
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans like birthday parties. We went to Dallas and we went to get something to eat at some hotel and it was midnight and on the door of one of the ballrooms was "Alexis 1st birthday!" and of course latiin music coming from the room. Vero: You have to celebrate mijo's birthday with carne asada and beer and tres leches cake. Lui: and dancing.
  
  
• Lui: Mexican people like the song "El Rey." Vero: Any song by Vicente Fernandez is a classic. I don't know a Mexican who doesn't know the words to "Llorar" and "Volver"
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans like calling everyone mijo or mija, regardless of whether they are related or not. Lui: and everyone is Tio or Tia
  
  
• Lui: Mexican American people are Mexican OR American when convenient
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans like tacos out of trucks
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans have padrinos for everything
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans ask you to be their sponsor for everything. For their weddings, quincenieras, for school trips...
  
  
• Vero: Mexican women always have makeup on
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans love chanclas *flip flops* and often use them to kill bugs and try to kill their children(many a mexican child has been threatened by "chanclasos") Vero: Chancla, the trabesura stopper. We feared a chanclaso
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans will willingly paint their house hot pink or neon green
  
  
• Lui: Mexican people love gossip. Vero: Chisme! Lui: all kinds of it
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans believe if someone looks to hard at something, it will get the Ojo. Lui: Superstition! Vero: My mom used to tell me that if my feet got wet and my hair didn't I'd get sick
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans love home remedies. I've been blessed with a chancla before and had an egg in a bowl under the bed to cure me of the Ojo. Lui: I was made to drink tequila as a child to help me go to sleep! Vero: I don't think that was a remedy so much as your parents were alcoholic. Lui: It was just a sip. Vero: Ri-ight.
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans like saying that the gringos are trying to keep us down.
  
  
• Vero: Mexican people will eat chile with anything. Lui: and mayonnaise!
  
  
• Lui: We like complaining that people think all mexican women are hot and spicy but secretly we love that we're hot and spicy.
  
  
• Vero: Mexican men know how to romance their ladies, but don't know how to respect them
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans will brag to no end when one of their kids or grandkids accomplishes anything but everyone esle will complain that that person thinks they are better than them or "se cree mucho"
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans love white skinned babies
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans like pronouncing an "e" before any "s" word like "estudy" or "especial"
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans love watching shows where girls are scantily dressed and jump around. Lui: it's like every show on spanish tv. Vero: It could be a kids game show and there are the chichonas in their thigh high boots. Lui: there is this sports show on saturday mornings with men in suits and sports highlights and girls on the side in skimpy clothing who do NOTHING. They don't contribute to the show other than to dance in and out of commericals
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans love watching adults dress up stupid things in their television shows like that guy who dressed like a grasshopper or adults acting like little kids. Our shows are second only to Japan in their stupidity. Lui: El Chapulin Colorado! They love him!
  
• Vero: Mexican men love boots, cowboy hats and a big belt buckle.
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans love cheating the system. I just went with my dad to Jason's Deli and I wanted to just get the salad bar and instead of us getting the salad bar and an entree for him, he got the entree and a "side salad" so that it would not be as expensive but I could still go back as often as I wanted!
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans love Chinese buffets. Maybe it's the fact that you can eat 3 lbs of food for $6.oo
  
  
• Lui: Mexican men love "las gueras". Vero: True, the lighter skinned the better.
  
  
• Vero: Mexicans love mariachis
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans love flea markets. Vero: La Pulga! The only place where you can buy a mattress, a Frito Pie, a hammer, gold hoop earrings, and a cell phone, all for under $200 bucks.
  
  
• Lui: Mexican men: love mustaches Vero: Mexican women: have mustaches
  
  
• Lui: Mexican people love meddling in everyone's business
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans apparently love Obama http://www.amigosdeobama.com/
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans love saying "Viva (insert anything here)!"
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans LOVE novelas! Vero: No one does overdramatic like a Mexican actress.
• Lui: Mexicans love trying to squeeze the whole gang into one car (just sit on their lap)
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans love nalgas- pinching them, slapping them, taking and looking at pictures of them
  
  
• Lui: Mexicans love a nice long siesta after a 2 hour meal
  
  
• Vero: Mexican men want to marry someone who will baby them like their mother. Lui: oh my god yes and their moms tell them no woman will be as good as them!
  
  
• Vero: Mexican men like scaring the hell out of their daughter's boyfriends
  
  
• Vero: Even after we're dead, the fiesta continues.

Things to remember:

• You can't wait for motivation, you have to get started.
• Don't let things you can't change ruin your day. Sometimes you just have to let it go.
• Try to surround yourself with good thoughts, people, and environments. It makes a difference.
• Don't be afraid to ask for help. Be persistent if needed.
• Put yourself first.

In other news, I just helped my best friend book herself a wedding venue. Hopefully this will be the last city, date, location change. I feel great that I was able to be of help, and it made me feel like I was still an active part of her life, which I admit I'd been lacking.
I'm feeling a little low lately, for some reasons I uderstand, others I don't. I'm requesting some good vibes and thoughts please.

100 Things to Do Before I Fall In Love Again

I found a great blog, where a girl lists 100 things she'll do before she falls in love again. It was her way of focusing on herself after her break up. Well, my broken heart has well healed but I still haven't found someone love. I've met many guys, gone on many dates, and even found someone who I would have enjoyed having a relationship with, but nothing yet has come to fruitaton.

For a while that was frustrating, but now I find having the time to focus on myself, while at a good point in my life, is mostly enjoyable. So in her spirit, I'm starting my own 100 Things to Do Before I Fall In Love Again. I don't yet know what this list is going to look like, it might be frivilous, it might be serious. Let's find out.

1. Visit Tara (and now Avanti) in San Francisco.
2. Visit Reada in Peru. 
3. Go to an Amigos site this summer as a visitor.
4. Watch someone I love commit themselves to a wonderful relationship.
5. Bike ride in the rain.
6. Kiss a stranger at a wedding.
7. Compete in a boxing match.
8. Fly First Class
9. Make a scrap book of a trip - Lui
10. Win a game of Texas Hold 'Em.
11. Take tennis lessons.
12. Get a dog.
13. Dance at least one great salsa dance.
14. On a beautiful weekend go to the Menil. Make sure to explore the whole Menil Campus: museum, Cy Twombly, Dan Flavin, Byzantine and Rothko Chapels. Take a picnic and have lunch somewhere pretty. When you are in the Menil, make sure to pay attention to how the light filters through the louvers. (Am I an archi or what?) - Tara
15. Tell the people you love how important they are to you.
16. Go skiing.
17. Take the most luxurious bath possible. Candles, nice-smelling things, the whole works. - Tara
18. Take some more gorgeous black and white photos
19. Frame them.
20. Take a walk. A nice long walk. Enjoy all the beautiful things around you. Really take them in. - Tara
21. Make tamales with your family.
22. Draw. Get a sketchbook and just go. It doesn't have to be good, but just from you. -Tara
23. Volunteer at something. Pick your cause, do something good. - Tara
24. Donate to a school or hospital. - Tara
25. Give blood. - Tara
26. Take a Vacation alone.
27. Make individual pizzas with fun toppings. - Tara
28. Invite the girls over for a marathon of something super girlie. Grey's, Project Runway, etc.
29. Make up a scavenger hunt. - Tara
30. Get a new hobby
31. Make a calendar with fun pictures from all your adventures. You'll get to remember them throughout the year. - Tara
32. Cook something French.
33. Learn something new, like sewing or knitting. Make something useful. - Tara
34. Just have fun!! Appreciate life and all it's goodness. (A lot of these were my favorite things to do in Singapore, when I was trying to figure out who Tara not involved in 90 million things was. Tara who took her time to appreciate life. And a lot are things I still want to do!! ) -Tara
35. Have a girly sleepover.
36. Go on a “date” with an amazing friend (female) to a really nice restaurant and do the whole appetizer, entrée, wine, AND dessert with no pressure. - Lui
37. Go find a large print or piece of handmade paper (Texas Art) you LOVE and frame it. Put it up in your room. - Tara
38. Make Mexican Mole from scratch
39. See how long I can go without shaving (no one is going to be touching your legs!) – this one of course I treasure since I have to constantly shave because of my bf - Lui
40. Join a flag football team (and yes kids, Mandy Legal and I will be starting one in the spring- be ready) - Lui I amend this to any type of team.
41. Have a spa day with a girlfriend.
42. Take a trip to New Orleans with all the girls for a weekend - Lui
43. Spend a night dancing and singing in your room to your favorite mix of songs - Lui
44. Do something with co-workers not work or lunch related. Connect with people.
45. Take Salsa Lessons
46. Get a Promotion
47. Shamelessly flirt with a stranger.
48. Take Country Dancing Lessons
49. Go Hang Gliding
50. Make a new girlfriend and go out to drinks with her.
51. Be happy for an ex-boyfriend's new relationship.

Whew!  50 is all I have for now, but we'll see how this progresses.

Help in a flood

Did you ever hear the story of the man who's in a flood? His neighbor knocks on his door and tells the man to leave his home and come to safety with him. The man responds that he's waiting for God to come and rescue him and refuses to leave. Hours later the flood gets really bad and another neighbor with a boat comes by to help the man to safety but the man responds the same way. Hours later the water is rising and the man is on the roof when a rescue worker comes by but again, the man replies that he is waiting for God. Finally the flooding gets so intense that the man drowns. When he gets to heaven he asks God why he didn't save him after he had so much faith in Him and God responds, "Who do you think sent those three people?"

After a long night last night I woke up this morning with a better understanding of that story. Yes, things are not ideal and I don't get to see the people I love as much as I want, but I do have support.

A late night phone call, an email from a friend to check up on you, a ride to work when your car is in the shop. These are small signs but they're ways in which people show their support and extend the their hands to you when you feel like you're going to drown. Maybe it's not in the form that you want or from people you expect, but love is there and if you can open your eyes and see it, then maybe there is a path out of the rocky times after all.

Harsh.

"Dinky Pluto loses its status as planet" - header of an AP news article.

Man, like it's not bad enough for Pluto to get demoted, it's got to be insulted in front of millions? That is bunk, you'll always be a planet to me Pluto. Then again, I have no memory for geography so I'm probably just being lazy and unwilling to learn your new reclassification. Either way, here's to you 9th rock from the sun.

Gratitude

I'm working hard on being grateful, despite the small annoyances and difficulties that arise in day to day life. Forgiveness is also a good one, yeah, I should work on that as well.

In this life...

you get what you think you deserve.

Quite a bit has happened since my last post. I got sick about a week after I wrote that entry; I had to go to Mexico since I don't have insurance and the whole thing ended up costing me around $1,200. This ended up coming out of my savings acount, which reduced it by a good amount. I had planned on using that money to go to Costa Rica, but at that point, I would have only been left around $400 in savings, which I was not comfortable with at all. If any other emergency were to pop up, I would have had to slip back into debt and I was not about to put myself in such a precarious situation again.

This led to some hard thinking which made me question why I really wanted to go to Costa Rica. All the pros and cons I mentioned in my previous post still held true, but there was some disconnect in me that wasn't behind the decision to accept the job 100%. But, they wanted me. Me. It is so hard to turn down a work position since as a Hispanic Studies major I didn't have a rush of people fighting for me to work for them. I think that it shook me when I graduated and I had to settle for a job that I didn't want, because it was the only one that I could get and it was selling mattresses. MATTRESSES, people. Granted, I made mucho dinero, paid off about $17,000 in debt in 8 months and paid cash for a trip to Thailand, but at the end off the day? I was still a mattress salesperson. I felt like I was wasting my hard work for my degree staying there.

Ultimately, I thought of the Costa Rica position in these terms: there were too many things about that job that I would have to work around or change: the lack of support structure, the curriculum, the financial instability, the lack o relationships with other organizations and the fact that I had no real network down there to help me. I believe in challenging myself, but I also would like to think that in the past 4 years that I've learned something about how I thrive and what works best for me. Yes, you need to challenge yourself, but you do not need to do it on all fronts, while in a foreign country with no friends or family.

So I didn't. I declined the position. The very next day I got an application from National Council of La Raza to staff their 2006 Lideres Summit in Los Angeles July 2 -13th. And even though I only had a week to do it, I got my recommendations together and my letters written and submitted it. I guess the right opportunity really does show up, you just have to be cognizant of when something is right for you, and when you're just doing it because you think you should, or it's easy, or it sounds like something you should be doing.

And now, I've just finished my Aspiring Youth College For A Day event at Rice. I had 80 at-risk middle school students come in and experience the Rice campus, talk to admissions officers, college students and role models. It was so so much hard work, but it was worth it. For the first time in a very very long time I feel proud of myself. This is something that I dreamed of doing my junior year, and four years later, I single-handedly made it happen though dedication and the people I know. I feel like I'm being the person that I always knew I was, but had lost touch with for a while. I feel like myself again, and I feel like I'm going to continue to make a difference in the world as I discover my path. Thank you thank you to all who helped, who prayed and who believed in me.