Girls Just Want to Have Fun-3

Whew! I can’t remember when was the last time I had a REAL vacation like this!!

Wait, no, it was in 2006, when I went to Denver.

Pardon me, I did went to the Dominican Republic in December, but it was plainly more a business trip concocted with running all over, never resting, never actually having fun for more than a couple of hours at a time, jet lag, family crusading, and always worrying about the future.

I admit that I have been worried for the first 48 hours of my trip, worried if I’ll make it back alive and be with my beloved husband (who was in Austin, by the way, with the people at work too, hows that for an irony!), how will my family take it, if I’ll get my passport back on time, if I’ll have enough money to spend, if my plants will die before I get back…

Going to Washington, D.C. and seeing stuff one only sees in the movies, books or news — Like the White House, the Washington monument, the Lincoln monument, the Arlington Cemetery, JFK & Jackie O tombs, old, old buildings, and a million other things I will post here in pictures soon, makes me realize once again… There is only one life… and you have to live it at it’s maximun exempt as much as you can.

My great friend, Jenny, is one of the most realistic people I’ve met. Meaning she always gives her honest opinion to me about everything.

Then she says I’m a control freak, and I think she’s right.

I also think it is Ok being paranoid and a bit of a control freak… when that helps organize your trip, find the right train or bus, keep documents and money with you, have a good water supply near you to avoid dehydration, and a mini first aid kit near you in case of emergencies. However, it is also good to let go and have your eyes, your mind and your soul fill up with the things that you don’t see every day.

People, people, people! Black, White, chinese, hindi, dominican, salvadorian, spanish, mexican, women, men, old, young, punks, emos, hippies, drag queens, cristians, jews, musulmans, buddists, non believers, poor, rich, middle class… it is a little bit of everything in this cluster of streets, trains, buildings, cars and more cars that is New York.

My sight is not wide enough to absorb all the grandeur of my surroundings.

I stop for a second and I fix my eyes in the Empire State Building, which tonight has red, blue, and white lights adorning it. The Moon is in the background.

I exhale and think no more of money, war, diseases, hate, sadness, school, tests, work, sleep, Olympics, food…

I just stare into the lights of the night and realize that… it’s all worth it.

To Be Continued..

Girls Just Want to Have Fun: Part 2

Well, after months of trying not to think about it; weeks when I just couldn’t procrastinate anymore; nights of non sleep; and anxious about the alarm not beeping on the 13th; I arrived to the Airport. My husband drove me there and we parted with a kiss… He will be OK. He did all his laundry and I made him a big chili pot. I also put notes all over the house to remember him to eat, water the plants, go to his drs. appointment, and pick me up on the 20th. (Seriously!)

Plane # 1 was on time; I met a lady from Dublin who talked me into how she came to the USA to work for a year and ended up marrying her husband who was from Austin. Now they live 6 months of the year in each country and their daughters are going to college in Dallas and Lubbock.

This has been going for more than twenty years now and it actually gave me some good prospects : ).

Plane # 2 was delayed and I noticed how the war for the top benches to put the carry-on baggage is never ending. I was lucky to jump out of the plane anyway as soon as we landed and run to get plane # 3. Those seats were making my but literally square by the time they finally announced we were preparing to land in New Jersey!

The New York - Manhattan line was really a sight I’ve never seen before and suddenly all the anxiety and preparing for this journey was worth it, if not gone completely. All I can say is I am happy I get to do this now… because for what I hear around, unless one is carelessly rich and duty-free one doesn’t really get the chance to hop on a plane for a week of fun… and since Fall is almost here, I better squeeze the fun as much as I can!

My friend Jenny, Master of Relaxing under the most stressful situations and whom I haven’t seen in years, picked me up and we drove for a million tangled streets filled with the cutest scrunched houses and… scrunched cars. Apparently it is a miracle if you find a free parking spot on the wee hours here.

But not only did we; she took me to a Dominican little restaurant and I had the best meal in months: dominican-style fried chicken, tostones, white rice, mofongo, and a beautiful piece of arepa that I am saving for today’s breakfast.

I forgot, I also had a country club merengue soda, bottled in New Jersey. It was delightful.

Then we took some pictures with the Manhattan skyline as a background. I can’t wait to develop them!

We arrived to her house, I unpacked and tried to sleep…

Today: Dominican Embassy to Renew Passport, New York, NY.

Tomorrow and Saturday: Washington, D.C.

To Be Continued…

Changes

photo credit: hypertypos

 

My husband and I dated for less than three months before we decided to get married.

Two weeks later I was Mrs. Bilbao.

No, I was not pregnant. Yes, I was and still am desperately in love with him.

My engagement period was almost nonexistent; I never got to live together with my prospect of husband; I never even spent more than two months of my life away from my parents. Read more

Shop-Drunk

photo credit: daryl_mitchell

Ah, the joy of going shopping.

Somewhere I read that women see the shopping activity as a way of relaxing and awarding themselves while men reluctantly wait until it is absolutely necessary and unavoidable to grab the keys and go buy anything. Read more

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

photo credit: bruce_bruce948

When we were young little girls, we had to ask advice/permission from our parents for every little decision in our lives.

When we finally got our first steady job and didn’t depend on them for everything, we experienced the bliss of being economically -if not emotionally- independent.

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