Ahh...

What a relaxing vacation! The resort we stayed at on Roatan was remote and sparsely populated. I had lots of time to catch up on reading, listen to the ocean and experiment with my camera (I recently took a photography class and learned a bit more about it). It was all very refreshing.



I enjoyed taking pictures of the different creatures we saw as well, and Kelley and I sat at the table by the hummingbird feeder every meal we could. At night, the bats would come and finish off any sugar water the birds had left.




And I was thrilled to get to meet the little girl at the local orphanage that I am mentoring through an Austin-based non-profit.


We also enjoyed snorkeling -- so many different fish! -- kayaking, and enjoying the sunsets.

Cuidad de Mexico

Just a quick post from my quick visit to Cuidad de Mexico. I arrived here yesterday to meet up with my cousin Kelley who has been living as an ex-pat here for three years. We had a lovely dinner last night in a local restaurant, although we had difficulty talking over the tremendous storm. The "rainy season" just began, which usually entails 2-3 hours of rain in the late afternoon. Last night was the storm to end all storms, beginning with a clap of thunder that nearly had me diving under the table. I swear, it sounded like a bomb had just leveled a nearby building. After the thunder, it proceeded to POUR down small hail for at least an hour. Rain was also coming down in torrents. We took our time through our meal and hung out until the rain was just a drizzle. Walking back to my cousin's place, we watched people sweeping the hail off the sidewalk.

Today, we headed to the center of town and toured the national palace, where the president still works. To celebrate Mexico's 200th year of being a country, there are several exhibits in the palace, including one on the history of the country and another which features the bones of the heroes of the revolution. Yep, we got to see bones. The bones haven't always been well taken care of, but in honor of the anniversary, they were restored as much as possible and presented to the public for viewing. Each hero is honored by a small chest which is partially open (all encased in glass). By the small opening, you can identify some bones -- in some cases, a skull, in others, a vertebrae or rib. I thought I would be weirded out, but the scientist part of me took over and just had fun identifying the bones. At one point, I said to my cousin, "here's a femur!"

The national palace is also adorned with incredible murals by Diego Rivera. I took many pictures, the best of which I'll share once I'm home. There were also different policia, army and some guys in ninja-turtle-like armor. We had to go through a cursory screening to get in (no fee), and they took away our pens. I figured it was a small price to pay for all we saw.

Tomorrow morning, we leave uber-early to the airport to fly to El Salvador and then on to Roatan, Honduras. I don't know if I'll have internet access, so the next post may be after I return home.

Dating?

People keep asking me if I'm dating. My response is, "I'm open to it!" I just haven't had any opportunities, but sure, I would like to go out. Not dating makes for a very boring blog, I know. My life right now is full of work, family time, work, travel for work, studying & homework, and training for the triathlon. I honestly don't know when I'd fit in a date anyway. For the past two Friday nights, I've scheduled sessions with my trainer. At least the gym is pretty empty on Friday nights! I was talking to a friend who is having some complicated relationship issues, and I sighed with relief that I don't have to deal with that. I've had my share of drama with boys, and I'm thankful not to have that in my life. And then recently a smug-in-a-happy-relationship friend asked me if I'm lonely. I answered honestly -- yes, sometimes, but I'm also enjoying my life as it is -- but she persisted, "But doesn't it get SO LONELY?" It got to me, making me focus on the lack instead of the abundance I have. I know part of me is fiercely independent. I don't want to be dependent on anyone for anything, but the truth is, we all need other people in our lives. Is it possible to have a relationship without dependence? I guess until I reconcile this in my head, it's best that I just focus on me.

Sweet Girl

Weekend before last, we celebrated my niece Anna's 10th birthday. Her parents and I reminisced about the day she was born and how the decade has gone by so quickly. She is such a sweet, caring girl. She's super smart and creative in many ways. And she just has a radiance about her that makes it seem like the sun is shining when she smiles.

She debated over her party this year. Options abounded: a sleepover? a spa party? Olympic-theme? But she decided on a Mystery party, and as usual, her mom organized a great event. The games culminated in a mystery about "who stole the cake." Clues were hidden around the playground in a scavenger hunt style, and the clues pointed to one of the party guests. All the sleuths were in the dark until they began fingerprinting the guests to match the print with one recovered "at the scene." And then it came out: it was me! Anna took it so seriously, she asked me later, "Why did you steal the cake?" Of course, I hadn't really -- and it was always just at the house waiting for the proper unveiling -- but it was cute how she had gotten so wrapped up in the game.

And the cake! OMG, have we been feasting. Bro-in-law Anthony made the party cake -- in the shape of a magnifying glass. The actual day of Anna's birthday, I made cupcakes and took them to school. And that night, we had an INCREDIBLE chocolate cake that IS TO DIE FOR. (I'm actually craving it again tonight.) It's a good thing I'm in high gear with triathlon training, because it's been a lot of sugar!

Kitchen Duty

When I was assigned kitchen duty for the week at work, I'll admit I first grumbled to myself. After all, I rarely use the kitchen. I occasionally make a cup of tea, and afterwards put my cup in the dishwasher. I have extremely infrequently brought my lunch and used the refridgerator. I don't really use the dishes, other than the occasional mug, and I have even loaded others' abandoned dishes that were left in the sink into the dishwasher. Apparently, not everyone was doing this -- or even at the least, cleaning up after themselves -- and we got a calendar with weekly assignments of kitchen duty. We have a small office here, and I still am grateful my company allowed me to move from NYC to Austin, so I didn't grumble publicly. This week was my week. I like to approach life and situations with two values in mind: I try to leave things better than I found them (or at the least, not worse), and I do my best when I take on an assignment. This is the way I was raised. Monday through Thursday: not a big deal. I ran the dishwasher a couple times and emptied it. Wiped off the counters. Friday: on the list of tasks to do is clean out the fridge and microwave. This is supposed to happen EACH FRIDAY. Yeah, right. The microwave had stuck-on food that had to be scrubbed off. I don't think anyone has ever cleaned that thing. I used bleach wipes and washed my hands afterwards. And then I opened the fridge. Cleaning up after other people like this really gives you a whole new opinion of them. There were plastic bags with containers of food that had mostly been consumed and what was left was dried up and shrunken. There were condiments that expired 6 months ago. And there were some really interesting science experiments going on in there, mold of various color and shape. Again I used bleach wipes and washed my hands afterwards. It is definitely in MUCH better shape than when I entered.