the peak & the pit

The Peak:

I'm in America. Upon landing I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Casual conversation in English makes me happy, fulfilled, and leaves me feeling kinder.
My flights were good. I splurged for the 'first class' version of Spirit Airlines. Which basically translates to a first class seat without all the perks of hot towels and champagne. The seats alone were great with plenty of room, but by far the best part was the location of the seats. Being the first off the plane and going straight into customs & immigration, while entirely avoiding that horrendous happens in the aisle of the plane. Sign me up.
When I left Cartagena I spoke some English with the bilingual flight attendant, who mentioned me being sad.
"Sad, why?"
"Well, you have to leave Cartagena. You must be sad."
All I could do was smirk and respond, "Yeah, something like that."
When I finally reached Atlanta where my mom was waiting for me, it was close to midnight, but I had a resurgence of energy to be at my American destination. My resurgence may have had something to do with the cold slapping me in my unprepared face.
Ouch.

The Pit:

My mom and I left Atlanta a little earlier than we had originally planned. Lola, my parents Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier, came down with an eye infection that she just couldn't kick. After some blood tests that came back irregular and a noticeable amount of weight loss, it was time to see the specialist.  So Ann and I trekked back from Atlanta to get Lola to her afternoon appointment.  After reviewing the results, the doctor stated that they noticed a mass in her lungs and wanted to proceed with an ultrasound on both her abdomen and chest and take a sample from the mass to test for cancer.
Here comes the real pit.

Little Lolita has cancer.
Bladder, stomach lining, and lungs.
There's not a lot to be done as surgery isn't an option. There's an appointment with an oncologist to discuss chemo on Monday, so some difficult decisions lay ahead.
Right now she's enjoying lots of love and attention, rest, and treats... including pizza.
{If you know Bella, you can imagine how she feels about sharing the love and attention}.


The Peak of the Pit:
That I ended up home earlier than expected to give her some of that extra love...

a birthday celebration

If you know me, you know I love a birthday.
Unfortunately, McQuinn and I will be separated for his 31st.
It's beginning to be a bit of a theme,
we were apart for both of our 30th birthdays and had to celebrate at different times.
But a birthday celebration is a birthday celebration.

While we plan to celebrate Matt's birthday when he arrives in May, it is necessary that one has a present to open on their day of birth. After the fiasco of shipping his birthday gift last year (we've pretty much given up on the whole 'shipping to Colombia' business) I decided to make things a little more simple, by getting him a smaller gift in Colombia to open while his big birthday gift will be waiting in the US.
So on this, our last evening together for a while, we will celebrate him...

and how special he is to me.


** I think he blew out the candle 31 times. Apparently I bought trick candles. **

date night

On Saturday we went out to a nice dinner to celebrate our last date night for a while.  A 'nice dinner' in Cartagena is pretty subjective, but we went ahead and made it about as nice of a dinner as you can get here at the Santa Clara hotel.

We enjoyed the lovely atmosphere, delicious food, and each others company. Last time we ate at Santa Clara, our waiter told us that every evening at 6:30 monks come to light the candles in the dining area. The hotel was originally a convent built in 1621.  We've heard it's a neat thing to see and attracts a lot of tourists. Right around 6:30, in the midst of enjoying bread and olive tapenade, we heard bells, followed by the smell of church. Then we saw a line of robed monks entering the restaurant. They stop by each table, light the candle at the table, say a little prayer and move on.  It provided a little bit of entertainment to our date night and it's another item we can cross off of our Cartagena checklist.

We spent the rest of the weekend watching movies, running last minute errands, and weighing my suitcase.
I'm under 40 lbs. It took some work & sacrifice, but it's officially crossed off the to-do list.
Speaking of that to-do list, it's far from finished.  I have some 'ama de casa' duties that including making some meals to ensure my hard working husband doesn't starve while I am away.

five things

{1}
I did a software update on my phone this week and now my gmail is crashing. It's frustrating and reminds me of how technologically spoiled we are. I've done a little bit of research and it looks like others that had the same problem restored their phone to fix it. But I am a little hesitant to do that right before I travel. So, I will practice patience for a few days. The reward... taking my phone to the Genius Bar.

{2}
This has plans to be our Sunday morning breakfast.


{3}
I filled out a very last minute bracket yesterday. Seeing as I haven't seen a college basketball game all year, it should be interesting. But I am the reining champ of last years BYOH pool, so don't count me out just yet.


{4}
Even though I changed my date of travel from April to March, I am still looking forward to April 11. Leena Ballerina is joining me for a long weekend in Knoxville. I am so excited, the countdown has already began. As well as plans... barre3 class, mani/pedis, shopping, and the Pour House to name a few. Thrilled, thrilled, thrilled, doesn't even begin to explain.



{5}
This time around I am flying Spirit Airlines, a budget friendly option.  I have a roundtrip ticket from Cartagena, a ticket to Chicago, a ticket to Iowa, and a ticket back to Knoxville, for the same price as a roundtrip ticket from Cartagena with a larger airline. Spirit also offers a flight directly from Cartagena to Miami so rather than spending 17 hours traveling & laying over in various parts of the world/country, I have one layover in Miami and a 11 hour day.
The only part that has me a little anxious is the 40 lb weight limit for luggage.
I am a notorious over packer.
Wish me luck.

officially a Latin American woman

At one of the very first 'ladies luncheons' I attended in Colombia, I met a kind and beautiful woman from another country in South America. We got to chatting and at some point she told me that she would like to teach me to be, "a Latin American woman." The first step to this process was securing a maid.
Unfortunately I didn't learn any other steps.
The first/only step is now complete.
Yesterday our new maid, Ladys, started. She is actually the former maid of my Spanish teacher, Alice so she comes with a glowing review and it helped that I have met her several times. With my upcoming travels we wanted to secure a maid to help Matt out while I was gone. It worked out even better that she was starting before I changed my ticket to she could familiarize herself with our casa and routine while I was still here.
Yesterday was one of my busier days {babysitting, pilates, gym, errands}.  When I left the house at about 8:45 am, Ladys was dusting my shoes and cleaning the closet floor. Then she organized our shoes. A girl after my own heart.

It's going to take some getting used to, someone spending the day in my house, cleaning around me,
but she is so sweet and I am totally reaping the benefits of a spotless home.
There is even an educational bonus...
she helps me work on my Spanish.

kindness

{source}

After I went to the grocery store on Sunday afternoon I couldn't manage to get a cab, so I decided to walk home. Thankfully I had my reusable bags and after a stop mid-week my groceries fit, somewhat awkwardly, inside the bags.

During my walk, I was behind some tourists. 

How did I know they were tourists?

They had obviously spent the day at the beach in which the woman decided to get her hair corn-row braided by one of the vendors. 

No locals get their hair did on the beach.

As I went to pass them, due to their touristy pace, the stopped me to ask me a question. 

I have a confession.

Most of the time when someone stops to ask me a question my response is,

"No hablo espanol".

My Spanish takes me pretty far in daily events. Grocery store, pilates, cabs, restaurants. But unexpected conversations, like a random asking a question gets confusing and difficult fairly fast.

This particular couple asked me where a specific church was and I had no idea. So I responded, 

"No se. Lo siento." {I don't know. I'm sorry}

As I walked a few more steps, I thought about the question. In the area there are not a lot of churches {not like the Old City} and I walk by a church during my random walks in the area. So I retraced my steps back and told the couple that I believed there was a church on the next street. 

Then they started asking specific questions. This is where is gets tricky. But I stuck with it, pulled out all my Spanish lessons of old and completed the conversation. 

They thanked me several times and seemed very appreciative

And I smiled. Because it felt good.

Small random acts of kindness are hard here. The language barrier. The culture.

The culture is different. It's not rude, it's just different. They don't have the same unwritten rules of social etiquette, it is nothing to have people cut you in line, honk at you for walking when you have the right of way, or run into you to rush into an elevator before you even exit.

So letting someone go before you in line doesn't present itself very often, because if they want to be in front of you, they will.

But the warm feeling that comes with lending an unexpected hand isn't cultural nor does it know any language barrier.

It's a human experience.

Here's to many more...

a change of date

My Colombia-itis has recently been addressed,
which resulted in a ticket change and an adios date of March 27.
I'm leaving two weeks early.



It's a bit of a long story, but here's the revised version:

My husband has been mentioning the idea of me leaving a few weeks early for a while now.
This was brushed off by me, due to the guilty, selfish, wimpy feeling it gave me.
The topic was addressed again when Matt's work schedule was set to change,
{which by the way has been postponed again}
when he found out he will not have off the full four days for Easter vacay that he expected,
and finally when we addressed his current work load.

When we were in bed this entire weekend by 8:30,
{swear, lights out}
after Matt working all weekend and having a super stressful Sunday,
I decided maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all.

While I still have feelings of guilt for leaving,
{that poor boy hasn't been to America in almost one full year}
I remain hopeful that my hard working husband can get some well deserved rest and relaxation,
without having to entertain his wife, who happens to have a case of Colombia-itis.
I also promised to send him pictures of food. A lot of pictures.

So, now my head is spinning with to-do lists, to-pack lists, to-makes lists,
which is a nice change from the lack of lists I've been faced with for the past few weeks.

A girl can only embroider so many towels.

five things

{1}
Happy St. Patricks weekend. I love a St. Patricks inspired party or bar crawl complete with an appropriately green outfit. Unfortunately Colombia doesn't really recognize the holiday. So this is how we are celebrating our St. Patricks...


{2}
I'm getting America fever or Colombia-itis. Either way I'm ready for a change of scenery, language, and culinary options.
I can tell my Colombia-itis in in full effect by my online habits. I often find myself searching several American clothing companies and thinking about all the shopping that lies ahead.

Speaking of...

{3}
These gorgeous girls popped up in my email yesterday. I gasped with beauty & want.

Hello Spring Wedges.

{4}
On Tuesday, Matt's work schedule changes.
{I have lost count of how many times his schedule has changed in the last two years}
Rather than arriving to work at 6:45 am he will arrive at 6:00 am, so he will leave each morning at 5:15.
Six days a week.
Guh.
The plus side is he will leave site at 4:15, hopefully arriving home around 5:00 pm.
It will be nice to enjoy some daylight together, but in reality the new schedule screams earlier bedtime.
While I think the schedule will work nicely for him when I am gone, I think the next month is going to bring one tired Matt and lights out by 8:30.

{5}
It was year ago that this girl had surgery and was in recovery.
Ohhh... Recovery.
That was rough.
But totally worth it...

I can't wait to get my hands on that fully healed beautiful baby boxer...
with the screws in her leg.

five things

{1} My Friday five things post is a little delayed. We had a bit of a power issue yesterday. It went out three times yesterday leaving me without internet for long periods of time throughout the day. In fact, the whole city had no power. Black out.

{2} Last weekend we welcomed our new nephew Hayden Haines to the family. We are loving getting pictures of this handsome boy and his full head of hair and can't wait to meet him in a few months.


{3}  My Baby Boxer Bella had a health scare last week. On Friday, my parents came home to an excited Bella covered in hives. After consulting Aunt Betty and Dr. Sam a diagnosis was reached. B had an allergic reaction.  The possible culprit, a new cleaning product that the cleaning ladies used. After some Benadryl, Bella Rose's condition vanished.

This Friday she hung out at the office, just to be safe.

{4} On Monday, the ocean was extremely rough, creating a gorgeous view and the beautiful sounds of waves crashing. No vendors, mariachi bands, or tourists on the beach. I loved it.


{5} This week I finished embroidering another dish towel. This one reminded me of my Bella Rose. A little downward dog. It a favorite pose of mine and I loooovvvve it when she stretches in her own little DW dog.

break-breakdown

Last week I shared our very consistent Cartagena routine. While I firmly believe in the routine and understand the importance in it, as it helps me from not going completely insane, somedays all I want to do is hop into a car with my husband, run random errands, and make a stop for lunch. In America.
Yesterday Matt understood my need for a little spontaneity.
{my mini morning break-breakdown was probably a good clue}
He suggested we go to an afternoon movie, Silver Linings Playbook.
It felt good to get out for an unplanned activity and going to a movie allows you to forget about language barriers and crazy taxi drivers for awhile.
Unfortunately, as we've learned before, you can never be quite sure what an afternoon in Colombia will be like.
While watching the film, the power went out three times.
Complete black out, movie stops, wait 5 minutes for power to come on and for theatre employees to get the movie back to the correct scene.
That happened three times.
Following the movie, we decided to stop at the Beer Station, a well known spot for a decent hamburger. After placing our drink order, the waitress came by to take our order for dinner. After we each ordered a hamburger, she informed us that there were no hamburgers. That's what this place does, beer & hamburgers. Then she proceeded to tell us that the did in fact have hamburgers, but they did not have buns. This restaurant is located in the mall. There is also a grocery store in the mall. I imagine that in a bun-less crisis it would be completely appropriate to go to the grocery store and buy a plethora of buns as needed.
But no.
Not in Colombia.
We finished our drinks and left.
Hamburgerless.

The silver lining...

We went ahead and did about the most American thing you can in Cartagena...


Happy Monday.

five things

{1}
Yesterday Misty told me she saw a man wearing this shirt:

I love it and it's a common mistake. People are often dropping the 'o' for a 'u', when discussing our South American country of residence. I was interested in where this brilliant shirt originated from and found this article.  It's a pretty interesting, discussing how often, even in professional instances, Colombia is misspelled. It also gives a few recommendations for must sees when visiting. Guess who's on the list?
Yes. Cartagena.

{2}
I know many of you are deep in the midst of snow, snow days, and more potential snow in March. Please forgive me in advance. I can't remember the last day we had a rainy or overcast day. The sun has been shining brightly everyday for a longtime. I love me some sunshine. But the closest thing I have to seasons here is overcast days. I need them every once in a while. Today I woke up to the beautiful sight of a darkened bedroom, with no light pouring in. An overcast day.

I love it.

{3}
One of my latest projects.

A chalkboard.
I thought it would be a fun, constantly changing little addition to the apartment.
The only problem is I couldn't find any sort of chalkboard here. They had white boards a plenty, but no old fashioned chalkboard.
So I made one. With a canvas and Martha Stewart's help making chalkboard paint, I whipped up my very own version. It doesn't have a permanent home yet, but we like trying it in different spots and are looking forward to displaying fun messages throughout the year.

{4}
I'm excited to see March on the calendar. Who doesn't love St. Patrick's Day {Colombians} and Easter brings us a nice little 4 day holiday, something we are desperately looking forward to. Bonus, we're that much closer to April, which will include Bella hugs and trips to Target for me and May, when Matt can finally relax American style after an entire year away.

{5}
This week we made fish tacos for dinner.

They were delish.
So much so that I kinda want them for dinner tonight.