Nicole and I arrived in Stamford, NY last Friday for our sister Vanessa’s bachelorette. Our other sister, Nathalie, was already there and had decorated the cabin we were staying at. Later, Vanessa arrived with some of her friends. What happens at a bachelorette stays at a bachelorette, but I’ve been given permission to share a bit about the weekend.
We stayed at a beautiful cabin surrounded by woods. You could see lots of stars at night and it had a wood burning hot tub and sauna. Nicole and Nathalie became experts at building fires. They poured their souls into heating up the hot tub and sauna. So much so that when the hot tub was finally hot after hours of feeding the fire more logs, Nathalie no longer wanted to get in the hot tub.
On Friday night we had dinner, relaxed, and talked. The Baquerizo sisters often dominated the conversation and we had to remind ourselves to let others talk, but it seems like Vanessa’s friends enjoyed seeing the sister dynamic. You’re welcome for the entertainment, Anne, Emma, Zoe, and Carla.
On Saturday, we hiked to a waterfall at Mine Kill State Park and ate our packed lunch there. In the evening, we went out to dinner and then went back to the cabin to party. Vanessa had requested both a cabin and going out to party for her bachelorette. Those two things are not compatible with each other because if you’re in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, it’s unlikely that there will be a place to party nearby. So we brought the party to the cabin.
On Sunday, we went to Mass and then made brunch at the cabin. We played a Vanessa and Logan trivia, painted tote bags, and took turns going into the sauna. If you’re on the market for a sauna, I don’t think the wood burning part is worth it, but it did smell amazing in there.
On Monday morning, we all said goodbye. It was a fun weekend! I didn’t get enough sleep, but it was worth it. I also learned that I might enjoy artistic things. I’ve never enjoyed arts and crafts, but I did find painting the tote bag relaxing, so I might need to try out some new hobbies.
I drove to Troy to stay with my friend Cara for a night. I wasn’t able to see her when I was in the area in February, so I was really happy that it worked out this time. Cara spent Labor Day weekend at her parents’ house, so I arrived in Troy before she did. I went to Prospect Park to eat my lunch. I was going to go to a coffee shop to read after that, but the weather was so nice, that I stayed at the park and read there.
When Cara was home, I went to meet her. We went out for drinks, had dinner back at her place, and had a great time catching up. The next morning, we went out for coffee and then I drove to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.
My sister, Nicole, arrived in Cleveland yesterday evening. We visited Cuyahoga Valley National Park today. It’s her first national park and I kept telling her how lucky she is that her first one is one of the less amazing ones. My first national park was Zion and now it’s hard to impress me.
We did two hikes today. We started the day with the Ledges trail that goes through some cool rocks, but we made it a longer loop through the forest. Supposedly, there’s a great view of the valley from one of the overlooks, but all we could see was the tops of the trees. It probably looks beautiful in the fall when all the leaves start changing colors.
After the hike, we stopped at the visitor center. When we were little, we had an Arthur (the aardvark) book where Arthur’s aunt brings the family “maple syrup all the way from Ohio!” That was a line we often repeated growing up and Nicole really wanted to buy some maple syrup all the way from Ohio. We didn’t know where to get some since regular grocery stores just have maple syrup from Vermont or Canada, so Nicole asked the rangers at the visitor center and they knew where to find it.
Once we had procured the maple syrup, we hiked the Brandywine Falls loop. The falls are the most popular attraction in the park and they’re the largest continuously running falls in Ohio. We found a spot where we could walk across the river to a shady area on the other side and ate our lunch there, accompanied by a snake who was also eating its lunch. I had heard and seen pictures of snakes unhinging their jaw and the bulging form of their prey in their stomachs, but I had never seen it in person until today.
At one point during the hike, we could pick between making the loop small, medium, or large. We picked the medium loop but soon started hearing thunder, saw that the gray clouds overhead were slowly moving closer, and the wind started picking up. So we backtracked to take the small loop option and made it back to the car before it started raining.
We only had one day at Cuyahoga since it’s a small park. Tomorrow, we’re driving to NY for another sister’s bachelorette.
On Tuesday, July 21st, my grandmother, Monica, Becky, and I went to Cuenca. There is a spa there called Piedra de Agua that my grandma discovered recently. Since then, she’s been taking all visitors there. Naturally, I told her she had to take me. Since Becky’s birthday is in July, she got to come along too.
My grandma hired a driver that would take us to Cuenca in her car. It’s about a 4 hour drive. On the way, we stopped at a few lookouts and at Cajas National Park. Cajas reaches an altitude of 14,600 ft above sea level and I could feel it. It was beautiful though. Part of me wishes that we would have had time to hike there, but the other part of me is glad because I know that breathing would have been a struggle. We also stopped at the Shrine of Our Lady, Guardian of the Faith, which is in the park.
When we got to Cuenca, we went straight to lunch. Guinea pig is a traditional food in the Andes mountains. I had never tried it before and we ordered guinea pig empanadas as an appetizer. The meat was very seasoned, so I couldn’t tell the difference between guinea pig and any other meat they could have used. The empanadas were good as long as I wasn’t picturing a guinea pig while I ate them. After lunch, we went to the hotel to take a nap and then walked to dinner. Becky and I had been craving locro, a traditional potato soup, but the locro we had that night was disappointing. It was watery and didn’t have cilantro in it.
The next day was spa day! We got to the spa at around 10 am and were pampered for the next 4 hours. First up, was the red clay pool. We got in the pool and our guide gave us some red clay to spread on our bodies to exfoliate, detoxify, and strengthen the skin. Then, we moved to the blue clay pool. We spread the blue clay all over to soften, smooth, and polish the skin. Next, we moved to the hot and cold pools. We were supposed to stay in the hot pool for 4 minutes and then cold plunge for 1 minute. The first time in the cold pool was awful because it was so cold, especially after the nice hot pool. But once we knew what we were expecting, it was easier to do the cold plunge. Monica also kept telling us to focus on our breathing while we were in the cold pool and that helped too.
After the pools, we parted ways. Becky and my grandma left for their massages, while Monica and I went to the steam boxes. The steam was really hot and almost, but not quite, unbearable. It felt really good, like all the toxins were getting pulled out of us. Then, we went to sit by the regular thermal pools on the property and wait for our massages. In the meantime, we ordered our complimentary fruit plate and drink. They took a really long time bringing them to us and we had only taken a few bites before they called us for our massages. We had to scarf down the fruit. Luckily, they let us bring our drinks with us. The massage was amazing! When we were done, we met up with Becky and my grandma at the restaurant and had our complimentary lunch. We each picked a different dessert and had fun trying and rating all of them. The entire day cost less than a single massage costs in the US. So if you want a spa day, Cuenca is the place to go.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Mirador de Turi, a lookout that has great views of the city. Monica and I nearly gave my grandma a heart attack by sitting on the railing. Then, we all took naps. Before dinner, we walked to a rooftop restaurant that has a great view of the cathedral and the main plaza. We had drinks there and then walked to dinner. I ordered locro again and this one was exactly what I had been craving. It was delicious!
The next morning, Monica had clients. My grandmother, Becky, and I had churros and hot chocolate after breakfast and then they left to drive back to Guayaquil. Monica and I stayed behind, since we were flying to Quito that night. When Monica was done working, we walked around the city some more, saw a few churches, got to see the cathedral, which had been closed every other time we’d walked by, and we drank agua de pítimas, a medicinal herbal drink made by cloistered nuns. Monica was very confused about why I was making her drink a red liquid with a very interesting taste. It wasn’t bad but it also wasn’t good. It’s a cultural experience, so we had to do it. We ended the day with dinner in a courtyard next to the cathedral. We really got to see the cathedral from all angles on this trip. Then we went to the airport to fly to our next adventure.
On Tuesday, July 14, Monica and I went to the beach with my grandparents. They just sold their beach house in Ballenita that my mom, aunts, uncle, siblings, cousins, and I grew up going to. It’s an old house that had a lot of stairs and needed a lot of maintenance. The stairs were getting harder for my grandparents to manage. When their neighbor made an offer on the house, they made the hard decision to sell, and they bought an apartment in Puerto Lucía. While the apartment isn’t a house on the beach that’s filled with years of memories, it has an amazing view, a pool, and it’s much better for my grandparents. As my grandma said while we were there, we need to start creating memories in the new apartment so it starts to feel like home. That’s what we did in the following days.
We started out every morning at the pool. My grandparents walked in it and I did my knee exercises. Then we spent a few minutes in the hot tub before going back upstairs. I spent a lot of the days on the balcony, reading. It was glorious. On Wednesday evening, my grandparents and I went to the beach while Monica worked. It had been 5 years since my grandpa had touched the sand and the ocean. He couldn’t get to the beach at the old house because of all the stairs.
On Thursday afternoon, we took Monica to the Chocolatera. She thought we were taking her to a chocolate factory or store because of the name and was confused when we arrived and she didn’t see any chocolate. The Chocolatera is a rocky area where the currents make the ocean look like chocolate churning in a pot. Unfortunately, the current wasn’t very strong that day, so it didn’t look like swirling chocolate, but it’s still a beautiful area. Then we went to the Lobería, an area where you can see sea lions.
After the Lobería, we went to say goodbye to the old beach house. The neighbors who bought it know how special the house is to us and let us go see it. The best part of the house is the view from the upstairs bathroom. My sister even has that window and the view tatooed on her arm. We walked around the house and took pictures. It was sad, but I’m glad I got to see it one last time. Later, I found pictures from the first time I was there as a 3 month old. I wish I had found it earlier so my grandma and I could have recreated it at the house.
On Friday, the wedding festivities for my friend Joti’s wedding began and that’ll be in the next blog post.
On Wednesday, July 7th, I flew from Nashville to Guayaquil, Ecuador. I had a layover in Miami. Monica met me there and came with me to Ecuador. When we arrived, my grandma and aunt (mom’s side) picked us up at the airport and they had yogurt and pan de yuca for us at home. We stayed with my grandma and grandpa, Karen and Shayler, my aunt Julie, and my cousins, Sammy and Becky.
The following evening, I met some of my aunts and cousins (dad’s side) for dinner. Monica is working while she’s here and had clients that evening, so she wasn’t able to go with me. This ended up being the only time I was able to see my dad’s side of the family on this trip and it was great to catch up with everyone.
On Friday, I took Monica downtown. We walked along the Malecón, a boardwalk along the Guayas River. There is an area with statues of important figures in Ecuadorian history. One of them is my great great grandfather, Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno, who was president of Ecuador. We left the Malecón for a bit to go to the Parque Seminario, also known as the iguana park, so Monica could see iguanas. They are the squirrels of Guayaquil. The cathedral is across the street from the park, so we stopped by to see it.
We went back to the Malecón and walked to the other end of it, where the Cerro Santa Ana is. We walked up the 440 steps and then to the top of the lighthouse at the top of the hill. When we got back down, we had lunch at Puerto Santa Ana, which is also along the river.
Friday was proof that my road trip has been good for me. Last time I was in Ecuador, I was terrified of driving. The country isn’t very safe and it’s possible, though unlikely, for someone to point a gun at you at a red light and ask for all your valuables. Ecuadorian drivers are also terrible. If you follow the rules of the road, you will likely get hit. You need to be both a defensive and aggressive driver if you want to get anywhere. Everyone honks at you for any little thing. Last time I was here, I was stressed and praying the entire time I was driving, and anytime someone honked at me, I would overthink it and think I was a terrible driver, when really, everyone is a terrible driver.
This time, I’ve been very relaxed when driving. I’m still aware of my surroundings and careful, but I haven’t been stressed, haven’t had to pray while I drive, I’ve actually enjoyed the aggressive driving, and I don’t care if anyone honks at me. I actually anticipate people will honk at me when I cut them off to merge into their lane. I just apologize to them in my head and move on with my life. I’m going to have to remember to go back to proper driving when I get back to the US.
Saturday was a packed day. Monica and I had lunch with Joti, Gigi, and Laurita, some of my closest friends from high school. Gigi’s eyes had been red for a few days, which is why she’s wearing sunglasses in the picture below. I had been craving moros, rice with lentils, for a long time and I was finally able to satisfy the craving.
After lunch, we met the Camachos at the Parque Histórico. We grew up with the Camachos and often went on road trips together. We met up with Fátima and Alex and their son, Alex, who we call Lito to avoid confusing him with his dad. Maria Daniela, who I stayed with in Lansing a few months ago, is also their daughter. They have 2 other kids, but Ana Cristina lives in Canada, and Rafi decided to hang out with his friends instead of us. His loss.
The Parque Histórico is a combination of a zoo and a historical park. Since it’s by the Guayas River, they also have boat tours. The zoo part of the park is covered in mangroves. The historical part of the park has some old houses that they moved to the park from downtown. One of them belonged to my great grandfather, Julián Coronel. In the past, you could go into the house and upstairs, but now they’ve converted it into an event space and don’t let you in. I tried telling them that they should let me in because my great grandfather owned it and therefore, the house is basically mine, but they didn’t budge. In the evening, we went on a boat ride on the Guayas River and got to see the Malecón and Cerro Santa Ana from the water. After visiting the park, we went to the Country Club for dessert.
I have to mention that I did all the driving on Saturday in a manual car. In Ecuador, everyone has to do their driving test for their license in a manual car, so I learned how to drive in one. But I’ve been spoiled all these years living in the US and only driving automatic cars, so I wasn’t sure how I’d do in a manual one. I drove around the block with my grandma to test it out and I was actually impressed with my driving. The car did turn off a couple of times on that first drive when I forgot I had a clutch to deal with, but the whole drive on Saturday was good. My friends and the Camachos live on the other side of the city from where my grandma lives, so it was a good amount of driving. Remember everything I said above about how awful Ecuadorian drivers are and add a manual car to that. I was very proud of myself.
On Sunday, the plan was to have fajitas and margaritas for lunch at my grandparents’ house and then see my cousins on my dad’s side in the evening. But Monica and I both woke up with upset stomachs. The night before, we ate leftovers from lunch on Friday, so we think that might have been the culprit. There was a stomach bug going around the following week, so it could have also been that. It was strange that only the 2 of us got it in the house. I guess our stomachs are used to American bacteria, not Ecuadorian bacteria. We were basically in bed all day and weren’t able to eat fajitas or see my cousins.
On Monday, we were feeling a little better but we still only ate bland food for the next few days. That was devastating, given all the good Ecuadorian food I had been looking forward to. They froze some fajita chicken for us, so we were able to eat some once we were back to eating normal food.
On Tuesday, we went to the beach, but you’ll have to wait for the next blog post to hear about that.
In Kansas City, I stayed with my cousin Rebeca, her husband, Samir, and their kids, Cecilia (4), Gabriel (3), and Julian (1). When I arrived on Wednesday evening, we went to her in-laws’ house for dinner and to watch the US vs Bosnia and Herzegovina game. After the game, I read a few bedtime stories to Cici and Gabe before they went to bed.
On Thursday, I played Candyland and Chutes and Ladders with Cici and Gabe. Then, I kept Julian entertained so that the older kids could make a puzzle. Julian kept wanting to walk all over it and pull the pieces out. After that, we went to the pool. It’s right next to Rebeca’s house, which makes it a lot easier to get to with the kids. We spent some time in the little pool and then moved to the big pool. Cici and Gabe kept wanting to jump in. At first, they wanted me to stand really close to the edge to catch them, but as they jumped more, I was able to slowly move back so they could jump farther. Cici was really excited about her big jumps towards the end.
In the evening, Samir bought a sample of Kansas City barbecue so I could compare it to Texas barbecue. The popular thing in Kansas City is burnt ends. It was delicious! On par with Texas brisket. After dinner, I wanted to take a picture of all of us. As usual when you try to take a picture with kids, we had to take a bunch to get one with all of us looking at the camera. Even Samir made it into the picture. You can see his shadow on the wall with his hand raised as he tried to get Julian to look at the camera.
That night, Cici wanted me to sleep in her bed. I told her I would stay with her until she went to sleep and that I’d come back later once I was ready for bed. I read her and Gabe bedtime stories and stayed with Cici for a bit. When I came back to her room to sleep, I realized that the A/C vent is right next to the bed. I kept feeling the cold air on my back and couldn’t sleep, so I went back to my bed. The next morning, I told Cici what had happened and she said that next time I visit she would sleep on the other side of the bed so I wouldn’t have the vent next to me. She is so sweet!
On Friday morning, we all had breakfast together and then I drove to Nashville, where I spent the 4th of July.
When I arrived in Sacramento, I realized that even though it’s been fun to explore new cities and national parks, I was craving a normal weekend. I ended up having a perfect restful weekend with family. I stayed with my cousin Glendita, her husband, Nathan, and her son, Jason. Though I barely saw Jason since it’s graduation season and he is a senior, so he was going from party to party all weekend. Glendita’s siblings, Nachito, Verito, and Andrea also live in Sacramento.
On Saturday, I went grocery shopping with Glendita and stocked up on snacks for the rest of my road trip at Costco. In the afternoon, Andrea came to Glendita’s house with her husband, Marcos, and 3 year old daughter, Camila. I spent time playing with Camila. For some reason, she really enjoyed taking turns going into the pantry and the other person knocking on the pantry door so whoever was in there could come out. At one point, she needed to go to the bathroom and said something along the lines of “the cousin can stay in there”, as she chose to leave me in the pantry while she went to the bathroom. Luckily, I heard her say it and came out.
Later, we went to get ice cream at Leatherby’s. Verito and her husband, Jorge, met us there. Leatherby’s has huge ice cream arrangements. I ordered a brownie with vanilla ice cream and confirmed with the waitress that it came with just one scoop of ice cream. When it arrived, it looked more like 3 scoops of ice cream and when I asked the waitress about it she said “our scoops are big”. That was an understatement. I still managed to finish almost all of my ice cream and brownies. After ice cream, Glendita and I went to see The Devil Wears Prada 2. I had been wanting to see it for a while, but hadn’t found the time to do it.
On Sunday, I spent most of the morning and early afternoon in the backyard, reading by the pool, and then reading in the pool with Glendita. Later, all of my cousins came to Glendita’s house. Nachito made us mint cocktails with creme de menthe, condensed milk, and ice, and Glendita prepared a hot dog bar for us. Camila and I played the pantry game again. Juan Diego, Verito’s son, showed up towards the end. He was toddler last time I saw him and now he’s in middle school! I felt very old seeing him. It was really nice to see everyone and spend time with them. It had been a few years since I’d seen any of them.
This morning, I decided to see a little bit of Sacramento before driving to Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks. I walked around Old Sacramento and then walked towards the Capitol, so I could at least see it from a distance. To get out of Old Sacramento, I had to walk through a tunnel under a bridge that looked kind of sketchy at first glance. When I got closer, I realized that there was classical music blasting in the tunnel and that made it feel perfectly safe. It was a fun surprise.
After seeing some of the city, I continued my drive. In the next few days, I’ll be exploring Sequoia and Kings Canyon, which are right next to each other.
I arrived in Portland, Oregon on Saturday night. I stayed with my cousin, Jaime, his wife, Dawn, and his kids, Olivia and Alexander. I hadn’t seen Jaime in 10 years! And I had never met Dawn, Olivia, or Alexander. It was really nice to spend time with them and get to know them.
Dawn had planned a whole itinerary for us for Sunday. We went to the Waterfront Park and walked by the river for a while. Then we had brunch at Mother’s Bistro. It was delicious! We walked around downtown for a bit and went to Powell’s City of Books. It’s a bookstore that spans an entire block. It was huge! I could have spent all day there looking through the shelves. After that, we walked around some more and got Voodoo Doughnuts.
That was the end of Dawn’s itinerary, but it was still early, so we went to Mt Tabor Park, where I had read there were amazing views of Portland. The views did not disappoint. Mt Tabor is an extinct volcanic cinder cone. We drove to the summit and the reservoir to see the views, but the park has trails that would have been cool to hike if I had stayed in Portland longer. As you can see in the picture below, the kids were pretty much done by this point (and the adults were exhausted too), so we went home.
On Monday, I went to the Pittock Mansion to see the view of the city and Mt Hood from there. The view is the picture at the top of this post. Then, I went to the International Rose Test Garden, which is used as a testing ground for new types of roses. There are 600+ different types of roses in the garden! It was beautiful and smelled amazing. I had never seen so many roses in so many different shades of red, pink, purple, yellow, orange, and white. Some of the roses there didn’t even look like roses. They had signs for roses that are particularly fragrant and it was cool to smell different ones. While they all smell like roses, they all have slightly different scents.
After the rose garden, I went to Cathedral City Park to get a view of St John’s Bridge from below and then I went back home, where I finally attached the new fender liner to my car. It looks great! All the driving I’m going to do this month will test whether I did it right or not.
The 3 nights I was in Portland, we had dinner as a family and then Jaime, Dawn, and I sat in the living room to chat for a few hours before we went to bed. At least 1 of their 3 cats was usually in the living room with us. My stay in Portland was quick, but very fun and full of family time.
Initially, I was going to write a blog post about Chicago in May after I’ve left. But I was in Michigan last weekend and it feels strange to write about Michigan without writing about the 2 weeks I spent in Chicago after Indonesia. So here we are. Those 2 weeks were mostly spent resting, recovering from my cold, babysitting, and spending time with friends.
When I first got to Chicago before our trip to Indonesia, I was a stranger to Luci (Therese’s daughter) and she was wary of me, rightfully so. I told her that we’d be friends soon. When we got back from Indonesia, I babysat her a few days while Therese was at work. Bernie, Therese’s mom, usually does that, but she stayed in Indonesia an extra week, so the task fell to me. On the first Monday after we were back, one of Therese’s friends babysat her in the morning and I picked her up in the afternoon. When I got there, Luci immediately reached for me. That’s when I knew I had succeeded in becoming her friend.
The days with Luci were spent playing with her, trying to get stuff done while she played independently, locking her in her play pen to contain her while I tried to get stuff done next to her, eating, and a lot of contact napping. We started calling her a koala baby because she clings to you while she naps and if you try to put her down, she wakes up. While she napped, I watched Korean dramas since there wasn’t much else I could do.
One of the days I babysat, Luci even went to the airport with me to pick up Nathalie. She was flying in for work and I got to see her the day she arrived. We had deep dish pizza for dinner and an açaí bowl for dessert and then I dropped her off at her hotel and I went to stay with Monica for the rest of the week. Of course, I had returned Luci to her parents after we picked Nathalie up. They wouldn’t have let me keep her while I was at Monica’s.
On Wednesday, Monica flew to Houston. She waited for me to leave in order to visit. Just kidding. She went to support her sister who was doing a hyrox there. Therese was supposed to go to Milwaukee that weekend, so I decided it would be a good weekend to visit Maria Daniela in Michigan.
Before going to Michigan, I got a conch piercing. The lady who did it is also from Guayaquil! When I got my second lobe piercing a few years ago, I barely felt it. I knew that piercing cartilage would hurt more, but I didn’t expect it to hurt as much as it did. I felt like a baby because of how much I wanted to complain about it. Nathalie told me it would only hurt for a day, and luckily, she was right. Now it only hurts if I touch it, so I try not to do that.
On Thursday evening, I drove to Lansing. A blog post on that is coming soon.
My car made it to Canada! I did too, but I’ve been to Canada multiple times, so that’s less exciting than my car being here. The officer at the border seemed surprised that I had driven all the way from Texas. Luckily, he believed me when I told him I didn’t have any guns in the car and let me in. I was a bit offended that he would actually think that if I owned a gun, I’d be dumb enough to drive across the country and into Canada with one.
I arrived on Wednesday evening and I’m staying with my sister, Nathalie, her roommate, Mari, and their 2 cats, Junie Bitch Jones and Fatso. The cats are actually named Juniper and Smoke, but those are my nicknames for them. Nathalie and Mari call Juniper June or Junie, so I started calling her Junie B Jones after the main character of some of my favorite books from when I was 7. June is kind of a bitch to me sometimes, which is how her middle name became that. Smoke is overweight and constantly rubs against my legs when I’m in the kitchen because he wants food, so he got the nickname Fatso. Yes, I’m fat-shaming a cat and I don’t feel bad about it.
On Thursday, I had lunch with Chris and Dianne, more Runkeeper friends. Later that day, I helped Nathalie siphon wine she made into a couple of wine bottles and I also helped her taste test it. It was really good! That night, Nathalie made cookies and she, Mari, Shaye (Nathalie’s boyfriend), and I had a 3 hour conversation about morality, religion, and whether men and women can be friends while we had dinner. On some of the topics, it was them vs me and on others, I had one or two of them on my side. While we touched on some intense topics, I really enjoyed the conversation. I always enjoy having respectful conversations with people I disagree with, where we’re all just trying to understand how others think and where they’re coming from. The cookies and wine also helped.
On Friday, I mostly stayed in bed. While Nathalie and Mari worked, I read Eat Pray Love. At lunch time, Nathalie made us lunch and said that I shouldn’t feel guilty about reading while she cooked for me after she had been working while I was reading. I felt a little guilty anyway. For the first 32 years of my life, I trained myself to believe that I always need to be productive and helpful. That I always need to give of myself. That if others are working, I should be helping them. That I always need to serve others and it’s not ok to let others serve me. This conditioning is even harder to break when it comes to my siblings. With other people, it’s easier to let them take care of me. But with my siblings, there’s additional training that happened over the last 32 years where I made myself believe that I always had to take care of them, be there for them, have my shit together, be a good example to them, and give them all the answers that I had to figure out on my own. Luckily, I have wonderful sisters who are forcing me to let them take care of me. These days, I think I learn more from them than they learn from me.
On Saturday, we went to London for the day. No, not that London. The London in Ontario. I met up with more Runkeeper friends (yes, I have a lot of those). I had coffee with Besat and then lunch with Besat and Rodrigo. In the afternoon, Nathalie, Mari, and I spent time with Dusya, my godmother. We were going to ice skate, but it was an outdoor rink and it was cold and windy, so we opted to catch up at a coffee shop.
Earlier this week, we declared that Sunday would be our “do nothing day”, so that’s what we’re doing. Technically, I did laundry and I’m writing this blog post, so I’m doing things, but mostly, I’m resting. Tomorrow I’m driving to Chicago and on Wednesday I’m flying to Indonesia for 10 days. I won’t take my laptop, so I likely won’t post again until I’m back in Chicago, but you can rest assured that I will be having a lot of fun.
On this leg of the trip, I managed to exchange a potato for a hot chocolate maker and a magnet. I had a potato left over from when I went grocery shopping in Asheville, so we used it for dinner a few days ago. Mari has a hot chocolate maker. It’s a little stainless steel bowl that you put the chocolate and milk in and it heats it up and mixes everything together. I was so excited when I saw it because I make hot chocolate and other warm milk drinks all the time. Since Mari never uses it, she gave it to me. Nathalie and Mari also have a Hamilton magnet on their fridge. I buy a magnet everywhere I travel, but I wasn’t able to find one here, so they’re giving me theirs. All in all, I think I can safely say that I got the better end of the bargain.
Today marks one month since I started my road trip. It was the shortest month of the year and I’m surprised by how much I managed to fit in and how much I’m already feeling myself change (in a good way). I can’t wait to see what the next 5 months of road tripping bring!
