Florida, Brunch and Español

 

From my roof, Popocatépetl, on a clear morning

I can’t believe that it has been 3 weeks since I last wrote in my blog. I will try to be brief and inclusive.

(About the photo: To give you an idea of how big the volcano is, the peak is about 2 miles higher than where I am standing.)

080224 Thursday – 130224 Tuesday

My vacation to Florida

It started out well, with my favorite Uber driver, Anastasio, picking me up right on time to take me to Puebla, where I had tickets on a 9:00 bus going to México City Airport (MCO), Terminal 2. Not wanting to be late, I made sure I got there almost an hour early. The bus took off on time, but it soon developed engine trouble and broke down. We waited a half hour for a replacement bus to pick us up.

I should mention that I have a neurotic fear of being late for travel and because of it, I rarely sleep well the night before a trip. Now, I was a half hour behind schedule, but I should still be on time for my 2:00 flight if nothing else goes wrong. Unfortunately, in my worried state, I got off at Terminal 1 instead of Terminal 2 and I wasted 30 minutes there before I was told of my mistake. Then I had to run to get the tram back to Terminal 2 which took an additional 20 minutes. When I finally cleared immigration and got to the gate, I had missed my flight by 3 minutes. My worst fear, realized!

Okay, that’s done. Now I have to deal with the consequences. I called my girlfriend Mary, whom I was visiting in Florida to celebrate her birthday and let her know that I needed to book another flight and she wouldn’t have to pick me up that evening. Then I went to Aeromexico to book another flight. The next flight wasn’t until 6:45 AM the next day. Also, since I didn’t catch the first flight, my return trip was cancelled, so I needed to pay for a round trip ticket, which was $150 more than my original ticket. I called Mary to let her know and she was not pleased.

Then, I had to pass the next 16 hours in the airport while guarding my carry-on bags. I couldn’t sleep because I was afraid my bags would get stolen, so I got up and walked for 10 minutes or so every hour. At 6:45 Friday morning, my plane took off and it arrived in Orlando ahead of time. Unfortunately, there was an accident on the highway and Mary was delayed 2 hours in traffic, during which time she didn’t contact me because she was angry about: 1) the flight delay, 2) the traffic jam and 3) me moving to Florida in the first place without consulting her before. When she got there, I was not greeted with warmth and sympathy. She was not having a happy birthday and wasn’t averse to letting me know it.

I did my best to make amends, but it wasn’t a happy vacation for either of us. On the last day, over a pre-flight breakfast, we finally decided that we were going from a boyfriend/girlfriend status to a friend/friend status. She dropped me off and the trip back to México went well without any hitches. I had no issues with customs and got home at my expected time.

I took a shower and reflected on the trip, and I was never so sure that I had made the right decision when I moved to Atlixco. I settled back in my little casita, watched an episode of Babylon 5, and soon headed to bed for a good night’s sleep.

180224 Sunday

Brunch with Valorie and Nick

I was invited, along with Martha, Tony and Shirley, and a few other expats in Atlixco, for a 10:30 brunch at Valorie and Nick’s house, which is a nice walk from where I live. They are retired and have built a beautiful house in the viveros (greenhouse) area. The meal was excellent and the company was an interesting mix. I enjoyed the food and the scintillating conversation for a few hours and then walked home in the company of Tony and Shirley.

250224 Sunday

A New Routine

Since I have been back, I have come to the realization that my priorities were a bit skewed , so I set out to correct them. I had been a bit scattered in my pursuits, especially my Spanish study, which I had fit in “when I had time.” I realized that I needed to make learning to understand and speak Spanish my primary goal around which everything else had to fit in. In order to do that, I needed to start going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. My normal schedule was to go to bed around 12:30 or so, which usually ended up closer to 1:30. My new goal is to be in bed at 10:30 and up by 6:30. Then, I can have at least an hour of Spanish comprehension work in the morning when I am fresh, and then an afternoon session as well. I haven’t completely achieved that goal, but I am close. I have done my morning session every day this week and my afternoon session 4 times. I have been getting to bed at about 11:30 most nights, but … baby steps.

You are updated; ¡hasta luego!