On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, David had to open his bar, so unfortunately we couldn't really take much advantage of those days. On Friday, he ran errands to get supplies for the weekend while I lazed around a little bit. When he opened the bar, we were there, talking and hanging out with everyone, I mean it was like being at a bar with friends, just with the difference that my husband owned it and I got to drink for "free". Haha. We were supposed to go out dancing with David's cousin and some of her friends on Friday night for someone's birthday, but unfortunately that fell through because of the birthday boy's unexpected work obligations. Oh well....next time....!
On Saturday it was more of the same. I joined David on his trip to pick up more stuff for the bar/restaurant. Then we came back to open the bar. At one point I was really hungry, and we FINALLY headed around the corner to our *PORK CHOP TACO!* place! It's a small stand that's only open on Saturday and Sunday, and the Sunday I got in, we tried to go, but it had closed already. So we waited ALL WEEK for Saturday and finally went with Oscar to get my favorite tacos de chuleta. You guys, they are soooo good. So....I was pretty happy about that!
After the tacos, we went back to the bar for a little bit. Things were a little slow, and David ended up closing right at 1:00....and then those of us who were still there headed a few blocks down for a street party that was going on! It was a lot of fun. We drank, danced, danced some more, drank some more. Then we headed back to the house and met up with some guys hanging out in front of the Abarrotes down the street from David's house. We talked, we laughed, they made me say stuff in Spanish and we laughed some more. All in all, it was a great night, lots of fun and we were all able to let loose.
On Sunday...well, let's just say we were all out very late on Saturday night. Sunday was a late start. But we opened the bar again. Business was steady, but there were a couple potential troublemakers there that night. David did a great job handling them, I will say. They kept trying to pick fights with people. Obviously, David could take them on easily. But 1) he's not going to put himself in that position, and 2) he's risking retaliation at his home/business if he does. So he kind of talked them down a little bit (it was actually only one of the two guys that was acting that way) and then ended up closing early (i.e. kicking them out). Turns out this guy still had his "I'LL FIGHT ANYONE!" attitude on the street....which ended up in him getting his butt kicked! Not by anyone involved with the bar, just to let you know. And I can't believe I was upstairs this whole time and heard and saw NOTHING! I'm so bummed I missed out on a real Mexican street fight XD
Anyway, once the bar was closed up and locked up, I went back downstairs, and hung out with David, the girls that work for him (Racquel and Red), and Oscar and Alma. We just sat around talking and listening to music for a while until everyone finally drifted out and went home.
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Trip #6, Fifth Day
Thursday started out as another pretty chill day. We made the decision to go to Coyoacan in the afternoon. Got all dressed and ready...when David realized it was Thursday! Since his car has out-of-state plates, it's not allowed to "circulate" on certain days (I believe it's due to the air quality or traffic or something like that) which means that he can only drive around his neighborhood, not down on the main avenue or anywhere else. His days just so happen to be Thursday and Saturday and we just totally didn't even think of that. *Groan* So we changed out of our nice clothes, into something more casual, and hopped on his bike to find somewhere to eat. Oscar had recommended a good seafood place on the main avenue, so we headed that way. It was actually pretty good! David ordered us a michelada con camarones y ostiones (pretty much beer with shrimp and oysters in it)....sounded strange to me but it was actually really good!! I mean we both love shrimp and oysters, and the beer was a michelada so had some extra flavor to it and went really well with the seafood. Then he ordered me something, I don't remember what it was called, but it was a filet of fish baked in foil with like EVERY kind of seafood meat....shrimp, oysters, mussels, octopus, crabmeat....omg it was so good!! HUGE, so I couldn't finish it all, but really, really good!
Afterwards David wanted to take me to this bar he had heard of. We ended up finding it and grabbing a table. It was the CUTEST little place...crowded but cozy. They had a guy there playing guitar and singing some romantic-like songs (of course I couldn't really understand the lyrics but the music was amazing). And the coolest thing was, (and forgive me because I don't really know how to say this) he didn't have a full hand on his right hand! I always think that's an amazing thing to see, when someone overcomes an obstacle to develop such a talent like that.
So I had a watermelon martini and David had a beer. I'm usually apprehensive about ordering cocktails or mixed drinks down in Mexico, because a lot of times they don't make them properly (had a cosmo once that was basically cranberry juice cocktail) or make the mixed drinks REALLY weak (not worth it). So I tend to stick to beer unless we're making our own drinks. But this martini was GOOD. Then, at the next table over, we saw this girl order some incredible flaming martini-looking drink. David asked the server what it was, and it was actually a shot! Blue curacao, Baileys, and Kahlua layered in a martini glass, which the server put two knives across and then balanced three glasses pyramid-style on top, lit some absinthe-type liqueur on fire and then poured it over the glasses, landing in the martini glass. While he was doing this, I was supposed to start drinking through a straw. Now if you know me, you know I drink. And I love shots. But this was almost too much for me! I have video of the whole process, I'll try to post it here later if I can! But it was crazy!
After that, we asked for the check (I am no lightweight when it comes to alcohol, but I was definitely feeling tipsy after that shot). Headed back to the house where we ended up meeting Gina and Oscar to hang out for a little bit. We grabbed some drinks from David's bar and sat out front for a while just chatting and listening to music. Then we got hungry so we headed down to our favorite "cheese tacos" place! (I don't even know what it's called, it's just delicious!) After eating a ton of food, we headed up the hill/mountain to this overlook place to hang out a little more. A gorgeous view of Mexico City and great company rounded out the fifth day of my trip.
Afterwards David wanted to take me to this bar he had heard of. We ended up finding it and grabbing a table. It was the CUTEST little place...crowded but cozy. They had a guy there playing guitar and singing some romantic-like songs (of course I couldn't really understand the lyrics but the music was amazing). And the coolest thing was, (and forgive me because I don't really know how to say this) he didn't have a full hand on his right hand! I always think that's an amazing thing to see, when someone overcomes an obstacle to develop such a talent like that.
So I had a watermelon martini and David had a beer. I'm usually apprehensive about ordering cocktails or mixed drinks down in Mexico, because a lot of times they don't make them properly (had a cosmo once that was basically cranberry juice cocktail) or make the mixed drinks REALLY weak (not worth it). So I tend to stick to beer unless we're making our own drinks. But this martini was GOOD. Then, at the next table over, we saw this girl order some incredible flaming martini-looking drink. David asked the server what it was, and it was actually a shot! Blue curacao, Baileys, and Kahlua layered in a martini glass, which the server put two knives across and then balanced three glasses pyramid-style on top, lit some absinthe-type liqueur on fire and then poured it over the glasses, landing in the martini glass. While he was doing this, I was supposed to start drinking through a straw. Now if you know me, you know I drink. And I love shots. But this was almost too much for me! I have video of the whole process, I'll try to post it here later if I can! But it was crazy!
After that, we asked for the check (I am no lightweight when it comes to alcohol, but I was definitely feeling tipsy after that shot). Headed back to the house where we ended up meeting Gina and Oscar to hang out for a little bit. We grabbed some drinks from David's bar and sat out front for a while just chatting and listening to music. Then we got hungry so we headed down to our favorite "cheese tacos" place! (I don't even know what it's called, it's just delicious!) After eating a ton of food, we headed up the hill/mountain to this overlook place to hang out a little more. A gorgeous view of Mexico City and great company rounded out the fifth day of my trip.
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Trip #6, Day 4
Wednesday was a pretty good day! We woke up and bummed around a little bit. I still didn't have phone service, meh. We got something to eat and then came back home, where I attempted to get in touch with the international customer service rep. Long story short--we came THISCLOSE to connecting with the network but ultimately we couldn't fix the problem. The CSR had said that it wasn't recommended to try to activate service while outside of the US, which I wish the initial people would have told us! Basically I just accepted the fact that I would not have cell phone service for the next week, until I got home. Which makes me very anxious--not that many people would be trying to get in touch with me, but what if? I'm 2000 miles away from home in a completely different country. It's scary to be cut off like that. Obviously I still had Facebook but still.
So I got in touch with a few key people (Mom, roommate, coworker) just to let them know that if they needed to get in touch with me for whatever reason, to message me through FB. And then I accepted that I had no phone! Ah well.
David ended up taking a little nap before we headed out to his weekly soccer game. He has a group of friends here who play soccer every Wednesday night (one girls' team and one guys' team). He didn't really play before, but lately he's started playing with the guys' team. Some of his other friends who don't play (Oscar, Alma, Gina) met up with us at David's house, and we all headed to the game together.
Unfortunately, the games didn't happen! The guys didn't have enough players, so they had to forfeit. And the team that was playing the girls had to forfeit as well. Soooo that was fun. Haha. It started raining a bit while we were sitting in the stands waiting for the girls' game to start, so me, David, Oscar, Alma and Gina went down and walked through the park to a sheltered picnic table to have a few beers. And then of course the girls never played anyway. So some of the players met up with us, and we walked over to a little convenience store across the street from the park, where they usually hang out after games. So we were sitting around, drinking, talking, listening to music...and then Oscar gets up and asks me to dance! Now, if you know me, you know I love to dance. And David and I are completely okay with each other dancing with other people. But I always get nervous when I'm dancing with someone new, because while I'm pretty good at dancing cumbia (for a white girl), I'm used to dancing with David. And sometimes if I'm dancing with someone else, I tend to mess up the steps a little bit here and there and then I feel stupid! Haha. Anyway, it ended up being totally fine. But it was also hilarious because we got up to dance....and out comes everyone's phones!! I was being recorded by like four people haha. I'm sure they were all posting it to Facebook like "Check out this gringa in the barrio....and she's dancing cumbia!" It was hilarious but it definitely made me feel even more self-conscious!
Of course that's something I notice a lot when I'm down here. In the city, it's not uncommon to see Americans, Europeans, Asians. But where David lives, in Iztapalapa? There's pretty much no reason for a white girl to be around here. So I get a LOT of double takes and stares. David loves it, because he loves to show me off, lol. But it's still something I'm trying to get used to. Because I know it's going to keep happening. I just have to accept it.
But at the same time, when people here get to know me, I think they get a little surprised. They always comment to David how down-to-earth and easygoing I am. They appreciate that *I* appreciate them, their neighborhoods, their culture. I'm not stuck up or feel like I'm superior to them. But it's because I'm not! There's nothing that makes me any better than any of the people I meet here. So I live in America, so I have a pretty nice house, so I make a good amount of money. It doesn't matter. When I'm here, I respect the people here because I am in THEIR home. I may not understand like 75% of what's going on, but I sit with them and listen to their conversations and try to participate whenever I can. If a guy asks me to dance, I'll dance with him. If David tells me to say something funny in Spanish, I'll say it. And I think they appreciate that I try! :-) (Oh, and sometimes I dance like a ridiculous white girl, they usually love that!)
So anyway. Of course I danced with David a couple times. Then another guy asked me to dance. He tried saying something to me at one point but I had to tell him I didn't really understand. Oops! That's another thing. I get nervous when David's not near me, because when people try to say things to me and I don't understand, he's not there to translate for me or help me understand! Haha. Pero oh well.
THEN. At one point we're sitting down. I was using my "new" phone to take pictures and videos during the evening. And I don't know what I did, but I threw out a hail mary and changed one of the network settings on my phone (the CSR had told me to choose a manual network, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to change it back to automatic like my old phone was).
AND THEN A TEXT MESSAGE CAME THROUGH! And another! And another!! My phone was working! I showed David and just started laughing with glee. I was sooo relieved. So yeah, that was definitely a great way to end the night!
We stayed a little while longer until the shops started closing up, and it was time to head home.
So I got in touch with a few key people (Mom, roommate, coworker) just to let them know that if they needed to get in touch with me for whatever reason, to message me through FB. And then I accepted that I had no phone! Ah well.
David ended up taking a little nap before we headed out to his weekly soccer game. He has a group of friends here who play soccer every Wednesday night (one girls' team and one guys' team). He didn't really play before, but lately he's started playing with the guys' team. Some of his other friends who don't play (Oscar, Alma, Gina) met up with us at David's house, and we all headed to the game together.
Unfortunately, the games didn't happen! The guys didn't have enough players, so they had to forfeit. And the team that was playing the girls had to forfeit as well. Soooo that was fun. Haha. It started raining a bit while we were sitting in the stands waiting for the girls' game to start, so me, David, Oscar, Alma and Gina went down and walked through the park to a sheltered picnic table to have a few beers. And then of course the girls never played anyway. So some of the players met up with us, and we walked over to a little convenience store across the street from the park, where they usually hang out after games. So we were sitting around, drinking, talking, listening to music...and then Oscar gets up and asks me to dance! Now, if you know me, you know I love to dance. And David and I are completely okay with each other dancing with other people. But I always get nervous when I'm dancing with someone new, because while I'm pretty good at dancing cumbia (for a white girl), I'm used to dancing with David. And sometimes if I'm dancing with someone else, I tend to mess up the steps a little bit here and there and then I feel stupid! Haha. Anyway, it ended up being totally fine. But it was also hilarious because we got up to dance....and out comes everyone's phones!! I was being recorded by like four people haha. I'm sure they were all posting it to Facebook like "Check out this gringa in the barrio....and she's dancing cumbia!" It was hilarious but it definitely made me feel even more self-conscious!
Of course that's something I notice a lot when I'm down here. In the city, it's not uncommon to see Americans, Europeans, Asians. But where David lives, in Iztapalapa? There's pretty much no reason for a white girl to be around here. So I get a LOT of double takes and stares. David loves it, because he loves to show me off, lol. But it's still something I'm trying to get used to. Because I know it's going to keep happening. I just have to accept it.
But at the same time, when people here get to know me, I think they get a little surprised. They always comment to David how down-to-earth and easygoing I am. They appreciate that *I* appreciate them, their neighborhoods, their culture. I'm not stuck up or feel like I'm superior to them. But it's because I'm not! There's nothing that makes me any better than any of the people I meet here. So I live in America, so I have a pretty nice house, so I make a good amount of money. It doesn't matter. When I'm here, I respect the people here because I am in THEIR home. I may not understand like 75% of what's going on, but I sit with them and listen to their conversations and try to participate whenever I can. If a guy asks me to dance, I'll dance with him. If David tells me to say something funny in Spanish, I'll say it. And I think they appreciate that I try! :-) (Oh, and sometimes I dance like a ridiculous white girl, they usually love that!)
So anyway. Of course I danced with David a couple times. Then another guy asked me to dance. He tried saying something to me at one point but I had to tell him I didn't really understand. Oops! That's another thing. I get nervous when David's not near me, because when people try to say things to me and I don't understand, he's not there to translate for me or help me understand! Haha. Pero oh well.
THEN. At one point we're sitting down. I was using my "new" phone to take pictures and videos during the evening. And I don't know what I did, but I threw out a hail mary and changed one of the network settings on my phone (the CSR had told me to choose a manual network, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to change it back to automatic like my old phone was).
AND THEN A TEXT MESSAGE CAME THROUGH! And another! And another!! My phone was working! I showed David and just started laughing with glee. I was sooo relieved. So yeah, that was definitely a great way to end the night!
We stayed a little while longer until the shops started closing up, and it was time to head home.
Trip #6, 3rd Day
Well, the third day of my trip was a very uneventful one. Most of the day was spent attempting to deal with our phone situation and Sprint customer service. We ended up deciding to temporarily disable David's US number, and move my number to his US phone (Galaxy S7 Edge). Unfortunately, upon doing that, my "new" phone would not connect to a network. It got increasingly harder to deal with customer service, as David's Mexican phone tends to automatically disconnect after about 17-18 minutes, and they weren't able to call back because it was an international number. And both of our US numbers were now not working. So we called three or four times, but every time it was a new representative who just told us to do the same things as before. I was also attempting to chat, but it kept saying chat wasn't available on the Sprint website. I finally connected to the support chat that evening, did everything they told me, and at the end of the chat (even though my phone still wasn't connecting to the network) I was reassured that it would connect, that it just took a little while to provision or whatever, but I should eventually regain service. The CSR said that if I had any other problems, to contact Sprint International Customer Service and provided me with a separate link.
Unfortunately, I did not regain service, so I pretty much just gave up. I figured if I didn't get service by the next morning, I'd contact the international chat.
So, this was a fun day. David and I spent the rest of the evening watching comedy specials on Netflix, so it was a nice relaxing evening.
Unfortunately, I did not regain service, so I pretty much just gave up. I figured if I didn't get service by the next morning, I'd contact the international chat.
So, this was a fun day. David and I spent the rest of the evening watching comedy specials on Netflix, so it was a nice relaxing evening.
Friday, July 13, 2018
Trip #6, Day 2
My second day here started a wee bit late. David and I both slept in pretty late. Honestly, he needed it (he's been working way too much lately), and I was still trying to recover from no sleep the night before. So we both caught up.
We kinda bummed around a little bit before getting dressed and ready. Then David took me out on his motorcycle! I was a little nervous at first. I have never ridden on a motorcycle before so obviously it's a little scary. But I think one thing that helped a lot was that I completely trust David. And that made it a little easier for me to just relax on the bike and not tense up like maybe some people would. Anyway, it was super fun! He only had one helmet, so we stopped at a little shop and bought one for me. We mainly just rode around his neighborhood streets, but at one point we ventured out onto the main avenue--which was actually a little better, since it's one long, flat road as opposed to the winding, pot-holey, speed-bumpy roads of David's neighborhood. Anyway, it was pretty awesome!
One thing that is SUCH a stark difference from the States is the way people travel around. You can see entire families on one motorcycle--we're talking two parents and two kids!! I've also seen people driving around with babies on their laps in the front seat! People in the States would flip their shit at something like that....Child Protective Services anyone? But here, it's such a normal thing. Typically those people are only driving around on neighborhood roads, which are small and winding, and you can't go that fast on them anyway. And people tend to drive more carefully, so that may have something to do with it. I just think it's funny, considering I've seen posts on my Village's FB page about "OMG I JUST SAW A MAN DRIVING A MOTORCYLE WITH A ***CHILD*** ON IT!!!" And here it's just a normal occurrence. So interesting.
Anyway, after riding around for a bit, we stopped at David's Tio's house for a graduation party. It was a really nice time, sitting, talking, listening to music, eating mole and rice and the most delicious cake ever! Then we sat out front for a while. I was actually able to carry on a pretty good conversation in Spanish with David's Tia. Sometimes I really surprise myself with how far I've come in learning Spanish. I still have a long way to go, but I'm working on it!
After we left the party, we ended up meeting up with a couple more of David's friends at one of their houses. They had pozole, but we were still pretty full from the mole. So we sat and talked and drank for a bit before heading home again. Another great day with nice visits with friends and family.
Unfortunately, upon returning home, David was taking a picture of me next to the motorcycle with my phone--and dropped it!! It was totally fine at first. The screen wasn't cracked or anything! I did have a cover on it that had protected it pretty well up to this point. But it fell face down on the hard tile. A little while later, I noticed a small crack right by the home button, but that was it. Sadly, the next time I went on my phone, I noticed some black/purple lines near the bottom of the screen, and it was hard for me to type on the keyboard. The black splotches became worse and worse until it was almost impossible to see my screen. We tried to switch the SIM cards between my phone and David's US phone (he has a phone with his US number on our plan, and a phone with a Mexican number since he's living here now). Unfortunately we had to call customer service. As it was already pretty late, we gave up for the night and figured we'd deal with it the next day. To be continued...
We kinda bummed around a little bit before getting dressed and ready. Then David took me out on his motorcycle! I was a little nervous at first. I have never ridden on a motorcycle before so obviously it's a little scary. But I think one thing that helped a lot was that I completely trust David. And that made it a little easier for me to just relax on the bike and not tense up like maybe some people would. Anyway, it was super fun! He only had one helmet, so we stopped at a little shop and bought one for me. We mainly just rode around his neighborhood streets, but at one point we ventured out onto the main avenue--which was actually a little better, since it's one long, flat road as opposed to the winding, pot-holey, speed-bumpy roads of David's neighborhood. Anyway, it was pretty awesome!
One thing that is SUCH a stark difference from the States is the way people travel around. You can see entire families on one motorcycle--we're talking two parents and two kids!! I've also seen people driving around with babies on their laps in the front seat! People in the States would flip their shit at something like that....Child Protective Services anyone? But here, it's such a normal thing. Typically those people are only driving around on neighborhood roads, which are small and winding, and you can't go that fast on them anyway. And people tend to drive more carefully, so that may have something to do with it. I just think it's funny, considering I've seen posts on my Village's FB page about "OMG I JUST SAW A MAN DRIVING A MOTORCYLE WITH A ***CHILD*** ON IT!!!" And here it's just a normal occurrence. So interesting.
Anyway, after riding around for a bit, we stopped at David's Tio's house for a graduation party. It was a really nice time, sitting, talking, listening to music, eating mole and rice and the most delicious cake ever! Then we sat out front for a while. I was actually able to carry on a pretty good conversation in Spanish with David's Tia. Sometimes I really surprise myself with how far I've come in learning Spanish. I still have a long way to go, but I'm working on it!
After we left the party, we ended up meeting up with a couple more of David's friends at one of their houses. They had pozole, but we were still pretty full from the mole. So we sat and talked and drank for a bit before heading home again. Another great day with nice visits with friends and family.
Unfortunately, upon returning home, David was taking a picture of me next to the motorcycle with my phone--and dropped it!! It was totally fine at first. The screen wasn't cracked or anything! I did have a cover on it that had protected it pretty well up to this point. But it fell face down on the hard tile. A little while later, I noticed a small crack right by the home button, but that was it. Sadly, the next time I went on my phone, I noticed some black/purple lines near the bottom of the screen, and it was hard for me to type on the keyboard. The black splotches became worse and worse until it was almost impossible to see my screen. We tried to switch the SIM cards between my phone and David's US phone (he has a phone with his US number on our plan, and a phone with a Mexican number since he's living here now). Unfortunately we had to call customer service. As it was already pretty late, we gave up for the night and figured we'd deal with it the next day. To be continued...
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Trip #6....Day 1
So here I am, back in good ol' CDMX! Sixth time in one year. Being here so often, with my husband, in "our" home, honestly makes Mexico City feel like my actual second home. I mean, I guess it is, technically. And coming up here in the near future, it will be my home for good.
I got in on Sunday afternoon, after a loooong day of traveling. My first flight took off at 6:25 AM. Had a layover in Houston while I got some breakfast. Then got delayed because of a storm. Then when we were finally lining up to board, took us a good 20 minutes to start getting on the plane. THEN we sat at the gate for...well, I'm not sure how long, because I fell asleep. I was soooo exhausted. I had slept a bit on my first flight, but I was OUT on that second flight. Which is probably a good thing. I woke up about halfway through, maybe a little more. Flight time was a little longer, since we had to fly west first through San Antonio, then south and back east a bit to fly around the storms. UGH. When we finally landed and I was approaching customs, two guys asked if I had an American passport. I said yes...so they directed me out of the line and into a separate area where apparently now they have electronic kiosks! Was super fast and easy--sooo much better than waiting in that stupid line. I believe it's only for American and Canadian passport holders, so anyone from Europe or elsewhere would have to go through the actual line. Nice!
I was sooo excited...last step, get my bags and then out of the terminal to see the love of my life once again!! Well....not quite yet. I waited probably a good 20 minutes to get my bags. The suspense was killing me!! I just wanted to get OUT of there and see David again!
So I finally got my bags (they were soaking wet of course, I'm assuming from the rain in Houston, yuck) and wheeled my cart out of the terminal. I saw David right away, I was smiling from ear to ear...and there goes the sign! For those who don't know, David has started making me signs to greet me at the airport. How sweet, right? Mmmhmm. Last time his sign (on bright yellow poster board, mind you) read "WELCOME HOME FROM PRISON, MY LOVE!" I knew it was going to be something like that this time....and sure enough....."HAVE YOU SEEN MY SUGAR MAMA?!? I'M RUNNING OUT OF MONEY!" I just started laughing so hard again. Luckily his signs are always accompanied by a dozen roses, so I can usually forgive him, haha! He's so cute, isn't he??
So we grabbed my bags and headed to the car--FINALLY, at 4:00 (I was supposed to get in at 1:50!). We stopped at his house for a second to drop off my bags and let his employees in to start opening the bar. Once they got there, we left because I was STARVING and went to grab some cheese tacos at one of my favorite places in his neighborhood. They are soooo good. I like it too because there's a guy that works there who speaks English, which is always kind of a comfort to me, you know? He used to live in Kentucky before he was deported as well. So it's kind of nice to know of someone else who's been through that same situation.
Anyway, after the most delicious tacos, we went back home and I was still soooo tired, so I ended up taking a nap while David went down to work in the bar for a while. I woke up around 10 and went down to hang out with everyone. All in all, it was a pretty nice way to start my trip to Mexico City.
I got in on Sunday afternoon, after a loooong day of traveling. My first flight took off at 6:25 AM. Had a layover in Houston while I got some breakfast. Then got delayed because of a storm. Then when we were finally lining up to board, took us a good 20 minutes to start getting on the plane. THEN we sat at the gate for...well, I'm not sure how long, because I fell asleep. I was soooo exhausted. I had slept a bit on my first flight, but I was OUT on that second flight. Which is probably a good thing. I woke up about halfway through, maybe a little more. Flight time was a little longer, since we had to fly west first through San Antonio, then south and back east a bit to fly around the storms. UGH. When we finally landed and I was approaching customs, two guys asked if I had an American passport. I said yes...so they directed me out of the line and into a separate area where apparently now they have electronic kiosks! Was super fast and easy--sooo much better than waiting in that stupid line. I believe it's only for American and Canadian passport holders, so anyone from Europe or elsewhere would have to go through the actual line. Nice!
I was sooo excited...last step, get my bags and then out of the terminal to see the love of my life once again!! Well....not quite yet. I waited probably a good 20 minutes to get my bags. The suspense was killing me!! I just wanted to get OUT of there and see David again!
So I finally got my bags (they were soaking wet of course, I'm assuming from the rain in Houston, yuck) and wheeled my cart out of the terminal. I saw David right away, I was smiling from ear to ear...and there goes the sign! For those who don't know, David has started making me signs to greet me at the airport. How sweet, right? Mmmhmm. Last time his sign (on bright yellow poster board, mind you) read "WELCOME HOME FROM PRISON, MY LOVE!" I knew it was going to be something like that this time....and sure enough....."HAVE YOU SEEN MY SUGAR MAMA?!? I'M RUNNING OUT OF MONEY!" I just started laughing so hard again. Luckily his signs are always accompanied by a dozen roses, so I can usually forgive him, haha! He's so cute, isn't he??
So we grabbed my bags and headed to the car--FINALLY, at 4:00 (I was supposed to get in at 1:50!). We stopped at his house for a second to drop off my bags and let his employees in to start opening the bar. Once they got there, we left because I was STARVING and went to grab some cheese tacos at one of my favorite places in his neighborhood. They are soooo good. I like it too because there's a guy that works there who speaks English, which is always kind of a comfort to me, you know? He used to live in Kentucky before he was deported as well. So it's kind of nice to know of someone else who's been through that same situation.
Anyway, after the most delicious tacos, we went back home and I was still soooo tired, so I ended up taking a nap while David went down to work in the bar for a while. I woke up around 10 and went down to hang out with everyone. All in all, it was a pretty nice way to start my trip to Mexico City.
Sunday, July 1, 2018
July.
And so July is upon us.
This used to be my favorite month of the year. Summertime....my birthday is July 2nd...the 4th of July was my favorite holiday...Especially when David and I were together, we would take full advantage of the month. Going to festivals, Great America, the lake, hanging out in the backyard together, going out with friends, just having fun and enjoying life.
A year ago on this day (July 1, 2017) I printed out my passport renewal form and filled it out. David had been in ICE custody for almost 11 months. Transferred from Dodge County, Wisconsin, to Pine Prairie, Louisiana, to Alexandria, Louisiana. ICE was telling us nothing, but we had a feeling deportation was imminent. As my passport had expired in May, I knew I had to get that taken care of so that I could fly down to Mexico City to see him ASAP.
Needless to say, I wasn't looking forward to my birthday. On top of the fact that David just wasn't around, we also had a feeling he was about to be shipped back to his home country. I was going through some other personal issues with certain relationships that were weighing heavily on me as well. So all of that is coming back to me the same time this year.
David was finally deported on July 6, 2017. As heartbreaking as that was, to know that his case would not be resolved with him still in the country, it was also something of a relief just to FINALLY have an answer after 11 months of being jerked around by ICE and DHS. And you better believe I booked my plane tickets to Mexico City like two days later!
So, this time of year has become bittersweet for me. Last year, I had a lot of support from a lot of amazing people. Unfortunately the one person I desperately needed it from was ripped away from me and sent 2000 miles away. But on the plus side, a few weeks later I was able to fly down to finally be with him almost a whole year after we were separated. I could jump into his arms and kiss his lips FINALLY. And when I did, the tears came hard and fast. I couldn't believe we were finally together again. I couldn't believe I was back in his arms. I couldn't believe I could touch his face. Regardless of everything that we had been through and everything we still had to face in the future, the fact that I was back in his arms where I belonged just made everything right in the world.
And now I get to look forward to getting a sixth stamp on my passport in a little less than a week! I will be back with him once again. It can't come fast enough.
This used to be my favorite month of the year. Summertime....my birthday is July 2nd...the 4th of July was my favorite holiday...Especially when David and I were together, we would take full advantage of the month. Going to festivals, Great America, the lake, hanging out in the backyard together, going out with friends, just having fun and enjoying life.
A year ago on this day (July 1, 2017) I printed out my passport renewal form and filled it out. David had been in ICE custody for almost 11 months. Transferred from Dodge County, Wisconsin, to Pine Prairie, Louisiana, to Alexandria, Louisiana. ICE was telling us nothing, but we had a feeling deportation was imminent. As my passport had expired in May, I knew I had to get that taken care of so that I could fly down to Mexico City to see him ASAP.
Needless to say, I wasn't looking forward to my birthday. On top of the fact that David just wasn't around, we also had a feeling he was about to be shipped back to his home country. I was going through some other personal issues with certain relationships that were weighing heavily on me as well. So all of that is coming back to me the same time this year.
David was finally deported on July 6, 2017. As heartbreaking as that was, to know that his case would not be resolved with him still in the country, it was also something of a relief just to FINALLY have an answer after 11 months of being jerked around by ICE and DHS. And you better believe I booked my plane tickets to Mexico City like two days later!
So, this time of year has become bittersweet for me. Last year, I had a lot of support from a lot of amazing people. Unfortunately the one person I desperately needed it from was ripped away from me and sent 2000 miles away. But on the plus side, a few weeks later I was able to fly down to finally be with him almost a whole year after we were separated. I could jump into his arms and kiss his lips FINALLY. And when I did, the tears came hard and fast. I couldn't believe we were finally together again. I couldn't believe I was back in his arms. I couldn't believe I could touch his face. Regardless of everything that we had been through and everything we still had to face in the future, the fact that I was back in his arms where I belonged just made everything right in the world.
And now I get to look forward to getting a sixth stamp on my passport in a little less than a week! I will be back with him once again. It can't come fast enough.
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