Hello strangers! Yes, Ernesto and I know that we've slacked on blog maintenance, a fact that many of you have reminded us of since we've been back in Pennsylvania! From talking to several of you about the blog, I get the impression that many of you giddily await our blog posts in the same way that we used to await a good Sarah Palin election interview or Jersey Shore episode. I'm not sure that blog loyalty, in this form, is a good thing, but we'll consider it a form of flattery.
To all of you loyal blog followers, we extend our deepest apologies. It's been a busy month defined by many long and bumpy car rides, limited internet connectivity, and - more recently - the death of my laptop (which partially explains our absence from the blogosphere). Below I offer a very brief month in review to give you an idea of what we've been up to. In future posts we'll highlight some specific events/adventures in more detail.
November 24th - November 28th, Thanksgiving weekend
We spent Thanksgiving weekend in San Jose with Ernesto's family, enjoying a deliciously gluttonous, albeit short, weekend.
November 28th - December 2nd - The week of the dogs
Back in Monteverde, we dog-sat Beto, Ernesto's parent's black lab. See the next post for details on our dog-sitting adventure.
December 3rd-5th
We awoke at the crack of dawn to pack up the car, pack up the dogs, and meet the mini-bus that would transport the rest of the Institute employees to the northwest beach of Playa Jobo for a group retreat. The trip was brief but a lot of fun. The highlight might have been when a co-worker, who teaches Zumba classes, hosted an impromptu class at the hotel pool. Participants were bathing suit clad female staff members, most of whom were at least slightly intoxicated and ranging in age from their mid-twenties to late-sixties. Hotel guests who weren't affiliated with our group were spotted on their balconies taking pictures of the event. Unaffiliated guests in the pool area were either staring and commenting on the action, or doing their own Zumba moves from their lounge chairs.
December 5th
Ernesto and I awoke at 6am, packed the car again, ate a quick breakfast, and made the drive to San Jose in order to pick up my parents. We arrived at Ernesto's parents house, dropped off the dogs, took showers, and went to the airport to find mom and dad. We spent the rest of the day at Ernesto's parent's house and my dad was asleep by 7pm.
December 6th-15th
Over the next week and a half, we drove with my parents up to Monteverde, to Playa Grande, and back to San Jose. Adventures during their trip will be described in different blog posts, including my mom's mediocre performance bottle-feeding baby calves, my dad's many diplomatic efforts to foster peace and understanding between countries, and the birth of Chepe Dickwad. Stay tuned . . .
December 15th-22nd
Back in Monteverde for a week, we tried to prepare for our trip to the States while becoming an international courier service for half of Monteverde's population (it's extremely expensive to send things from the U.S. to Costa Rica, so most people try to send things with airline passengers). In the most tragic event since our move to Costa Rica, my laptop died, which is part of the reason why no blog entries were posted.
The day before we left for San Jose, Don Joel's son, Chepe, invited us for homemade chicharones. Chepe bought the side-torso of a pig (from which bacon comes), cut it into little pieces, put it in a giant cauldron, placed the cauldron on a wood fire, and added an entire package of vegetable shortening to grease the grease. Over the course of an hour, much of the fat melted off the meat and into the liquid-soup that saturated and cooked the remaining meat. The result was pure heart attack - the most delectable, melt-in-your-mouth delight you could imagine! I had about five small pieces, which was the amount Chepe recommended. Anymore, he said, and you'd feel really sick. Ernesto probably ate 25 pieces. And that's a conservative estimate.
December 22nd-24th
Headed back to San Jose for Christmas with Ernesto's family.
We had a great dinner with Ernesto's parents and their friends on the 23rd. Ernesto's dad made a paella that was to die for - if you ever come to visit Ernesto's parents in Costa Rica, request paella and any one of Eugenia's cheesecakes, pecan pies, or brownies (and a Torta Chilean to boot!). Ernesto and I, exhausted from nearly a month of non-stop traveling, retired to bed by 11pm. The "old-timers" called it a night after 2am!
Christmas Eve dinner was spent at Ernesto's parents house with extended family.
December 25th
Christmas Day was another delicious meal at Ernesto's grandparents house. Ernesto's grandma asked me, in Spanish, if I could go around and see how many people wanted coffee. I, completely not understanding her, responded, that yes, my coffee was indeed delicious, thank you very much! Doh! Someday I'll pick the language up, I promise!
Ernesto's sister and brother-in-law were able to drive in for Christmas Day, which was a wonderful surprise and great way to celebrate Ernesto's parent's first Christmas in their new house! Later that evening, we all sat down to watch "The Men Who Stare at Goats". We all thoroughly enjoyed the movie and decided to watch another. As we prepared for round two, I told Ernesto it'd be a good idea if he grabbed his I-20 form first. The I-20 is a form issued by the university to a non-resident student who is studying in the U.S. It is a required immigration form that the student has to present, along with his visa and passport, in order to enter the country. After twenty minutes waiting to start the movie, I went in search of Ernesto. I found Ernesto, but he hadn't found the I-20. I joined him in the search for the I-20. No luck. After another ten minutes, Ernesto's parents joined the search. Still no I-20. It was looking as if Ernesto might not be traveling to the U.S. in the morning. The I-20, we all concluded, was not in the house. I called my parents in Pennsylvania and my mom looked through my documents. The I-20 was not in Pennsylvania either. Desperate, I went online and found out that a compassionate immigration officer had within his power the authority to issue Ernesto a different form, which would permit him to enter the U.S. provisionally for a maximum of 30-days. With some hope that Ernesto could enter the country, everyone went to bed.
December 26th
Arising at 5:15am, Ernesto, his parents, and I piled into the car to head to the airport, all concerned that Ernesto might get sent back to Costa Rica in the absence of a valid I-20, or worse, get detained in the U.S. On the flight from San Jose to Atlanta, Ernesto and I were hopeful that immigration would eventually allow Ernesto to enter the country, but not before they'd detained him in "the room" for at least five hours. "The room" is the place non-Americans are often taken when entering the U.S. Ernesto and I have flown into the U.S. together at least three times, and each time they have escorted Ernesto into some room, while I wait on the other side of immigration. Usually, he's detained at least half an hour, but on one occasion he was missing for over an hour (and this was when he HAD his I-20). Our plan was for me to grab our two checked bags, get through customs, and re-check the bags to Baltimore. I would wait at our gate and fly on to Baltimore solo if Ernesto didn't arrive. Of course, there was a snowstorm heading up the east coast, so we weren't sure that either of us would make it to Baltimore.
With this plan in mind, and a quick exchange of parting words, I filed into the Citizens/Resident line, while Ernesto continued on to the "Visitors/Non-Resident) line. As my passport was stamped, I headed toward baggage claim, only to see Ernesto a few steps ahead of me. I was sure that he was making his way to the "room" but when he turned around, he had a giant smile on his face. Somehow, Ernesto not only made it through immigration without being sent to the "room" but he did it without his I-20 and before me! Surely, this was a Christmas miracle if I ever saw one. We were both in disbelief that the immigration officer was so empathetic and understanding - Ernesto told him the truth (that he couldn't find his I-20) and the immigration officer just told him to bring it next time! Unbelievable. And damn lucky.
As we headed to our gate, snow became the focus of our attention. It was snowing in Atlanta and the storm was quickly moving north. We both breathed a sigh of relief as we took off, through the snow, for Baltimore. We really were lucky. As we checked the baggage claim monitors in Baltimore, we saw that nearly 90% of the flights after ours had been canceled. We made it just in time.
December 27th-present
We're in Pennsylvania currently and have already spent some quality time with the nieces. More to come on our travels here.
I wish I could have reassured you. In my past life, I was an international student advisor--I was the one that made and updated the I-20s. I could have reassured you that the whole thing is less serious than it seems, and students get away with almost everything!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see new posts--you know I love them!