It is 6:00am on Christmas morning and we are getting ready to leave for our month long vacation. Our itinerary includes; Mexico City, Phoenix, San Diego, A cruise to Cabo San Lucas, and Puebla, Mexico.
I am nervous wreck right now for the possibility of one or more of our flights being cancelled. Yesterday, 50% of the flights in and out of Paris were cancelled due to weather and shortage of the de-icing fluid. Right now all of our flights are "on-time" but I think it is too early to tell how the day will go. Fingers crossed!
Besides that I am sooooo excited. Excited A) Because I love flying! While most people can't stand the idea of sitting in an economy seat for 12+ hours....I rather like it. I mean, I would much prefer to be in Business or better yet First but I still love flying. Flyings mean that you get to go to the airport and I LOVE THE AIRPORT! It is filled with people from all over the world going all over the world. There are restaurants, bars, shops, and lots of opportunities for people watching. Also, going to the airport mean that you get to go on vacation (usually) B) I am really excited to see my parents in person for the first time in 4 years and for them to meet Eduardo for the first time. I am really excited about this one and maybe even a little nervous. C) I am excited to see Eduardo's family and spend Christmas day (evening if the flights go OK) and New Year's with them. Since meeting them they have accepted me into their family and always treated me like one of their own and for that I am truly thankful for! D) To speak and practice my Spanish more. I am pretty good at speaking Spanish now and even get to practice it here in Prague at my job but sometimes I think I feel it slipping away...but that is always the case and after a couple days in Mexico, it all comes right back. (Eduardo doesn't have the patience to talk to me in Spanish...really!) E) To see Lola. I haven't seen Lola in almost 3 years. Considering that she is 4...that is pretty significant. I feel like this time I will be meeting her for the first time. I would also be excited about seeing Bella but sadly she is not coming on the cruise. F) To feel warm weather! Winter started nearly 2.5 months ago here and I am tired of snow, - temperatures, putting on and taking off the tons of shit that is required to stay warm out there. It will be so nice just to feel the sun, get some rays and not feel like my face is going to fall off!
I am also so happy that I will get to spend so much time with Eduardo. He is my partner and best friend! I love you Eduardo!
30 minuets until the cab is here! Fingers crossed!!!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Paris!!!
Today Eduardo and I are going to Paris for the weekend....My Birthday weekend. This trip actually wasn't supposed to be for my birthday weekend. It was originally planned for May. However, the stupid volcano reeked havoc all across Europe during that time and our flights were cancelled. So we re-booked everything for this weekend. When our flights were cancelled in May, we had the option of getting a refund or moving our dates. Before we moved our dates, we checked the prices for the dates we wanted and they were cheaper than the ones we had originally bought. So we chose to get a refund and then re-booked the flights. The hotel was more than accommodating and just moved the dates without any fuss or fees.
I have been to Paris multiple times but this is Eduardo's first time there. It will be really fun to see his expressions when he sees all the sights for the first time. Plus, I have never been to Paris with someone who I am in love with ;)
I am excited about strolling the streets, seeing the sights, drinking coffee, drinking wine, eating the pastries, smelling the wonderful fresh bread that seems to engulf the streets of Paris every morning, shopping, eating creme brulee, meeting up with our friend Colleen and her new husband Robert, being on vacation, not worrying about anything. We are going to have so much fun!!!! AHHH!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Back to school
Next Thursday is the first day of school. I am headed back after a 2.5 year hiatus. I am excited, nervous and I would say the most motivated I have ever been about doing well at school in my life. I only have 2-3 semesters left, and am looking forward to the upcoming challenges.
My latest hiatus from school was the best sacrifice I have made in my life, in fact I don't consider it a sacrifice.
I stopped going to school after the spring 2007 semester to move to Mexico. I had met Eduardo and his work visa was going to expire. He had told me about his looming departure and asked if I wanted to continue the relationship. I was having fun and am a firm believer in not to stop good things. So we continued dating, about a 6 weeks before he was scheduled to leave, we were having dinner at 'Cantina Laredo' in North Scottsdale and it hit me. I was not going to risk loosing this great relationship because of distance. So I told Eduardo then and there that I wanted to move with him to Mexico City. 6 weeks later we packed up my car and drove all the way to Mexico City. It has been the best decisions I have ever made! I Love you Eduardo!
Here are a couple photos from the road trip.
My latest hiatus from school was the best sacrifice I have made in my life, in fact I don't consider it a sacrifice.
I stopped going to school after the spring 2007 semester to move to Mexico. I had met Eduardo and his work visa was going to expire. He had told me about his looming departure and asked if I wanted to continue the relationship. I was having fun and am a firm believer in not to stop good things. So we continued dating, about a 6 weeks before he was scheduled to leave, we were having dinner at 'Cantina Laredo' in North Scottsdale and it hit me. I was not going to risk loosing this great relationship because of distance. So I told Eduardo then and there that I wanted to move with him to Mexico City. 6 weeks later we packed up my car and drove all the way to Mexico City. It has been the best decisions I have ever made! I Love you Eduardo!
Here are a couple photos from the road trip.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
If people really new people
The last couple weeks of work have been crazy, high season is in full swing and apparently so are the idiots. The reception at a hotel is everyone's "I have a problem and please fix it" point in the hotel; the guests, the employees, the deliverers, reservations etc. However, I don't think that many people realize that there are many different departments in a hotel all which can be reached independently with out bothering the reception. In fact, for the guests there is even a 'Hotel Directory' that lists the proper numbers to dial to get you to the correct department. Even with all these well thought out devices to supposedly make the line of communication better there is still the person who calls reception and starts ordering food before I even finish my scripted and often overly helpful "Reception Josh speaking, how may I help you?" Why? This should not happen. I feel like asking the questions, "Is this the first time you have ever stayed in a Hotel?" "Did you hear me I said, THE RECEPTION, not THE 'bistro' THE 'Bar' or THE 'Breakfast room'" Most people don't even have the courtesy to say, "Oh, I am sorry I was trying to be connected to room service can you do that for me?" I once said, oh no miss, this is the reception, let me connect you to room service. In which she replied, "OH come on, your JUST a receptionist just take the order for me." I would like to find out what that woman did and then call her work and ask her to help me with something completely unrelated to her work and then when she couldn't help me I would say some melodramatic response to make her feel insignificant. This woman was probably a nice person but maybe she just has bad hotel etiquette.
Every week it seems like there is someone in the hotel that the staff avoids like the plague. When they call the reception and we see their room number come up we all go AHHH SHIT! It's 608 or "I answered last time" or "I'll buy you a drink if you answer" or my favorite, "they like you better, really they told me." When they walk in the front door we hide under the reception or in the office and the last one hidden has to help them. Just this week this over confident, stick up her ass lady was staying in 203 and every time she called it was the apparent end of her world. No hot water, too cold in the room, not soft enough pillow,(admitted, all valid complaints)but at some point dont they get tired of trying to find problems?
She had a co-worker staying in 401 and instead of dialing the simple 3+room# to connect to her co-worker. She would call reception at least 4-5 times on my shift and ask to be connected, even after I repeatedly gave her instructions on how to dial other rooms. With this type of stupidity so frequent it makes me wonder; Do I know someone that behaves this way in a hotel? If I know any 203s or 608s out there and if I did find out they acted like this would I continue to associate with this type of person? Or am I that person and I just don't realize it. Would these peoples friends and families approve of how their loved ones behave while away on a business trip. I would say probably not.
Every week it seems like there is someone in the hotel that the staff avoids like the plague. When they call the reception and we see their room number come up we all go AHHH SHIT! It's 608 or "I answered last time" or "I'll buy you a drink if you answer" or my favorite, "they like you better, really they told me." When they walk in the front door we hide under the reception or in the office and the last one hidden has to help them. Just this week this over confident, stick up her ass lady was staying in 203 and every time she called it was the apparent end of her world. No hot water, too cold in the room, not soft enough pillow,(admitted, all valid complaints)but at some point dont they get tired of trying to find problems?
She had a co-worker staying in 401 and instead of dialing the simple 3+room# to connect to her co-worker. She would call reception at least 4-5 times on my shift and ask to be connected, even after I repeatedly gave her instructions on how to dial other rooms. With this type of stupidity so frequent it makes me wonder; Do I know someone that behaves this way in a hotel? If I know any 203s or 608s out there and if I did find out they acted like this would I continue to associate with this type of person? Or am I that person and I just don't realize it. Would these peoples friends and families approve of how their loved ones behave while away on a business trip. I would say probably not.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Lost in Translation
I am going back to school to finish my degree in the fall and need a new laptop as it will be done completely on-line with ASU. After many months of research and weighing my options of buying one here or having a friend bring one from the US. I decided to buy it here. It is a little bit more expensive but in the CZ all electronics come with a complete guarantee for two years and a 40 day trial period. So after feeling pretty disappointed about our flight to Paris being canceled because of the Volcano. We re-booked the trip for September and decided to head to the electronic store and boost my spirits with a new 'toy'. After finding the right model I had picked out on-line and making sure everything was in order. We headed home with my new laptop. I was ecstatic. My excitement was short lived. I turned on the computer and warily selected the laptop language settings and the operating language settings to English (Anglicky in Czech) as windows 7 prompted me to do so. Re-booted and then was overwhelmed with disappointment as everything was still in Czech. Great now what???
Eduardo and I used google translate and you tube and basically learned that it is impossible to change the visual language settings after they have already been selected on widows 7 premium. With ultimate you can change anytime. But still this made no since, I selected Anglicky, the sales man said it can be in Anglicky as long as you select it as your language when you first turn the computer (WHICH I DID) and Microsoft's website confirmed theses things. So why still Hezky Cesky???
(Beautiful Czech)
After a couple hours and a couple beers of trial and error and getting nowhere. We surrendered and the next day I went to return the lap top. 2 days and 2 big disappointments. (I don't deal well with disappointments)
The next day at 9 am I was back at Electroworld (kind of like best buy)and was searching for the guy who sold me the computer or someone else who spoke a little bit of English. Found no one and after 20 minutes of explaining the situation in cave man like sentences, the point was comprehended. The point was also given back to me that I must have made a mistake and not selected anglicky as the language. They did some research on the computer and found that I DID select the correct language and that it is some fluke. Since they had no more of the model I wanted, my options were A. To wait possibly a week to see if their other store had one and it it could be set into English?? a week???? why? B. Buy Windows 7 Ultimate C. after much discussion get a full refund. Waiting a week for a answer that could be "no" here is your money back was not really an option for my impatient personality. Buy windows 7 ultimate after I just bought an almost 1000 USD computer when I did nothing wrong was not going to happen. They said they could give a discount but still it was the point, No. so finally I got my money back. Now I just have to wait till the money is back in my account before I figure out my next option.
These are the things that make living in a country where you don't speak the language so difficult and frustrating sometimes.
The following are just little things that can cause so much confusion because of language: Grocery store shopping, getting cable installed, calling the Internet company because your Internet isn't working, wondering why that person buzzed your door 3 times and wouldn't go away even after you told them you spoke no Czech, wondering what the old woman said to you on the tram, wondering what the construction worker said to you when he saw you running out of breath in the park, Going to the doctor-dentist, getting your visa renewed, being the only person at your work who doesn't speak Czech, making friends, ordering food, buying really anything, going to the post office!!, getting your deposit back from your landlord, and so much more.
Even though these things are frustrating and difficult it is still fun and makes life a little more challenging than usual to live in a foreign country. It is never boring, that for sure.
To all of you who say, "just learn some Czech". Point taken. I am not proud to say that Eduardo and I have lived here for two years and 2 months and we can't carry on a basic conversation. We can however say some basic words, we never planned on being here for this long and why would I learn Czech if we were just planning on staying here for a year? Tell me where and how I can use Czech outside of this country? It is however getting better and I am sure when it's time to leave we'll just be getting good. However, I say proudly that I have been studying my Spanish more as it makes since for my future and I am really good. I would say at 85%
Eduardo and I used google translate and you tube and basically learned that it is impossible to change the visual language settings after they have already been selected on widows 7 premium. With ultimate you can change anytime. But still this made no since, I selected Anglicky, the sales man said it can be in Anglicky as long as you select it as your language when you first turn the computer (WHICH I DID) and Microsoft's website confirmed theses things. So why still Hezky Cesky???
(Beautiful Czech)
After a couple hours and a couple beers of trial and error and getting nowhere. We surrendered and the next day I went to return the lap top. 2 days and 2 big disappointments. (I don't deal well with disappointments)
The next day at 9 am I was back at Electroworld (kind of like best buy)and was searching for the guy who sold me the computer or someone else who spoke a little bit of English. Found no one and after 20 minutes of explaining the situation in cave man like sentences, the point was comprehended. The point was also given back to me that I must have made a mistake and not selected anglicky as the language. They did some research on the computer and found that I DID select the correct language and that it is some fluke. Since they had no more of the model I wanted, my options were A. To wait possibly a week to see if their other store had one and it it could be set into English?? a week???? why? B. Buy Windows 7 Ultimate C. after much discussion get a full refund. Waiting a week for a answer that could be "no" here is your money back was not really an option for my impatient personality. Buy windows 7 ultimate after I just bought an almost 1000 USD computer when I did nothing wrong was not going to happen. They said they could give a discount but still it was the point, No. so finally I got my money back. Now I just have to wait till the money is back in my account before I figure out my next option.
These are the things that make living in a country where you don't speak the language so difficult and frustrating sometimes.
The following are just little things that can cause so much confusion because of language: Grocery store shopping, getting cable installed, calling the Internet company because your Internet isn't working, wondering why that person buzzed your door 3 times and wouldn't go away even after you told them you spoke no Czech, wondering what the old woman said to you on the tram, wondering what the construction worker said to you when he saw you running out of breath in the park, Going to the doctor-dentist, getting your visa renewed, being the only person at your work who doesn't speak Czech, making friends, ordering food, buying really anything, going to the post office!!, getting your deposit back from your landlord, and so much more.
Even though these things are frustrating and difficult it is still fun and makes life a little more challenging than usual to live in a foreign country. It is never boring, that for sure.
To all of you who say, "just learn some Czech". Point taken. I am not proud to say that Eduardo and I have lived here for two years and 2 months and we can't carry on a basic conversation. We can however say some basic words, we never planned on being here for this long and why would I learn Czech if we were just planning on staying here for a year? Tell me where and how I can use Czech outside of this country? It is however getting better and I am sure when it's time to leave we'll just be getting good. However, I say proudly that I have been studying my Spanish more as it makes since for my future and I am really good. I would say at 85%
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