Persistence

About a month ago, I quoted a message in my inbox from this kid who wanted to start a serious relationship. Refresh your mind by reading the said post again. I just got another message from him, in what can only be cited as an extraordinary example of persistence. Good for you, kid! One day you'll find a virtual girlfriend. Please read:

"Don't be shy to let me know if you're interested in exploring possibilities for a r/ship...(excerpt omitted for privacy's sake). If you're interested, (email address, phone number) are my contacts. I will be waiting."

I wonder if a girl has already succumbed to his charm.

Is there such a thing as a professional traveler?

I love to travel. I really do. Every year I go to a new country, except while living in the U.S., since there are many new places to visit here. Among my favorite cities so far are San Francisco, CA; Toronto, ON; San Jose, Costa Rica; and, of course, beautiful Denver! I love airports, and running through them to catch my next plane (the environmentalist within me feels bad I love flying so much, since airplanes leave a huge carbon footprint behind them). And, apparently, I have as much fun packing. I am moving to a new place this week (YAYYYY!!!), and I'm having the time of my life, packing my meager belongings. So much fun, I won't write any more, so I can get back to it.

The curse of the white Impala

I think Whitey hates me. He's (the darn car deserves to be called a "he") been making weird noises whenever I drive to one of my favorite friends' house, but I disregarded that. Yesterday morning, as I was running late to an appointment, all I heard was a click every time I turned the ignition key. Fighting the temptation to curse all vehicles, I went back inside my house and prayed for the darn thing to work. And voila! 15 minutes later, he finally and graciously let me drive him. When I had another friend look at him, there was nothing wrong. Later in the afternoon, several warning lights were flashing simultaneously on the dashboard, but I ignored them. No way that devilish car was going to keep me from my errands. So I decided to drive him to Church today. As I grabbed all my stuff, and headed for the door, I couldn't find the car key. I'm a very, very, very organized person, and I don't generally lose things, and never something as important as a car key. I looked for it for over 30 minutes, in the most unimaginable places. I still cannot find it. My car is possessed.  

The most stupid ticket story

While enduring my bus-taking torment during my first month in Vegas, I realized I had less than 2 minutes to make it to the bus stop before the bus, and waiting for the pedestrian light to go green was not going to cut it. So I looked both ways, saw no car in like half a mile, and ran for it. I made it perfectly fine, but I failed to notice the cop in a motorcycle hiding behind the bushes. As I ran for the bus stop, he caught up with me and told me he had seen me jaywalking. As my only concern at the moment was not to miss the bus, since I was not looking forward to waiting for 30 minutes for the next one (in some dubious company, I may add), I did not argue it. When he finally issued the ticket, I frantically took it, thanked him (my generous nature knows no limits), and ran for dear life to the stop. I had made it. However, I also made it into the record book as the only person in the US who's ever got a jaywalking ticket.

While waiting for the bus...

The craziest things in life happen in bus stops. If you have never ridden one; man, are you missing on a lot of exciting experiences! On my last bus trip here in Vegas, I was so excited that I was going to get my car. Destiny, apparently, sensed how memorable that occassion was, too, and decided to give me one more creepy experience. The following is a true account of what happened to me next.

I had to transfer buses, and I got off at a central bus station. My next bus had already left, so I had to wait for almost 30 minutes. As I was walking around, a strange-looking man stood in front of me and said: "Que bonita estas!" I stared back and said nothing. He then said: "Hablas español?" I realized I had blown my cover when I said "No". However, I refused to say anything else. He kept flirting with me in Spanish, while I kept insisting I couldn't understand him and moved away.

I walked over to a bench in front of my bus door, and sat down to read. Once, I looked up from the book, and noticed the same man seating on a bench next to me, staring. Realizing how blessed I was for being in the midst of a very populated place, I tried to focus on my reading again. Happily, the bus came not long afterwards, and as I got in line to get on it, creepy man stood 3 feet away from me, and kept saying how I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, while I cursed all ignorant men in my head. Never before had I been happier to get on a bus than that day, and never before had I seen my cute white Impala as one of the largest blessings in my life.

Unfulfilled prophesy?

A couple of months before I moved to Vegas, I quit my job as a professor, and started working as a freelance teacher at a language school, teaching...guess what? Yeah, English. I loved working there, because most of my colleagues had very interesting backgrounds. They were from or had lived in many different parts of the world, and hanging out with them was always exciting.

I used to talk a lot with the guy who was my immediate supervisor; he was a unique character, and I suspect he had a crush on me...but I could be wrong. Anyway, when I told him I was only going to work for them until the end of July, he seemed very disappointed (I have been blessed with the gift of public speaking, which makes me an awesome teacher...sorry, I didn't mean to sound pretentious there). When I told him I was moving to Vegas to go to school, his face twisted into a sarcastic grin, and said: "Vegas is going to eat you alive."

HUH!! I proved him wrong!! Or did I?

The Pizza Godmother

My at symbol is still not working. I have tried many things, and I'm now on the verge of desperation. Having to google "at symbol", or ask a friend to send me an "at" during a chat session, is getting old. Any kind of suggestions would do at this point. PLEASE.

Now for my story of the week. A sister in church suddenly started befriending me. I was glad my popularity level was ever increasing. A couple of weeks later, she asked if I would be her son's godmother for his 6th grade graduation. I felt flattered, and obviously agreed to do it. However, during the week, another pressing commitment came up, and so I called to say I could still go to the ceremony, but not the afterparty. To that, she said: "Well, you're still bringing the pizza, aren't you?" Apparently, an essential duty of a 6th grader's godmother is the provision of pizza for the party. Just giving you a heads up on this, in case you ever get asked.

Mrs. African Kat

The following is a message from my inbox, where substantial information has been omitted for the sake of good manners:

"I count it a great opportunity to be able to write to you. I am from  (African country), now pursuing a master's of (altruistic, yet boring) degree at (American LDS University...Gee, I wonder which university that is?). I am on a look for a sister, who is interested in exploring possibilities for a love, relationship, and hopefully a temple marriage. If this meets your interests, don't be shy to let me know so we can get started. A good place to get a quick picture of who I am is through sending me a face book invitation (full name). I will add you, and there you will have access to my albums. Then later on we can speak over the phone (full phone number), then plan on meeting. Let me know, if this something you want to try. I will be waiting."

Kat Trump

Today, a beloved sister at Church sat next to me, and asked: "So, what does your father do in Honduras?" I told her he is an insurance broker, and that he owns a company, and one of my brothers works for him (the only one he could lull into it; insurance is SO boring). To that, she replied: "Oh, I asked because I heard a rumor that you are rich." My responding laughter was heard in a 3-mile radius.

Afterwards, someone asked how I had come to know about music (I'm no Mozart, but I do know a bit more than the average citizen), to which I answered I had private tutors...Yes, private tutors, as rich people usually have.

As I continued to ponder on these events, I realized I drive a nice car, and have my own office in town, even though I don't have a job. Furthermore, I am probably the only latina in the world who has absolutely no family in the U.S. That must mean they are so filthy rich they need not visit me.

So... I guess I am rich.

Fun things to do instead of sleeping

I was so sleep deprived this week. You'd say, "Well, you're a graduate student. That is only to be expected." However, it was not an endless number of readings and research papers that kept me from my daily beautifying rest, but a list of other activities that are WAY more fun than studying. Behold!, things to do while others are sleeping:
1. Facebook stalking. You need to know more about certain people, and so decide to scan their photos, and make up a personality profile from that. You may have heard of this activity as "Facebook Searching".
2. Talk about an endless number of things, which turn into nonsense as you go deeper into the early hours of the morning.
3. Watch YouTube music videos of songs you think will fit perfectly into your voice. 
4. Let someone tinker with your computer, until you are completely unable to find the "at" symbol in your keyboard (Can somebody please help me with that? I can't write my email address!).
5. Watch Indiana Jones DVDs while intermittently passing out in your couch.

Oh, Spring Break, where art thou?