January Ends

January Ends

January....almost over! Happy Birthday to Mr. L, Karen M and Brandon D!!! I miss you all!

This month has been pretty interesting -- I have been living in a place with snow, which I have not done in about 12 years. It has been fun having it around, although sometimes one gets tired of the semi trucks who drive 70 mph in the middle of a snowstorm and then you pass them a couple miles later jackknived on the side of the road...and tired of trying to figure out things to do inside!! But, we have balanced this with a few snow days at work -- yes, SNOW DAYS!!!

Also, there has been a little bit of traveling in order to get away for the weekend -- I went to Mass, which was not really much warmer, but I got to spend time with Mr L's family (sorry, grandma!). We also went to Boston and took a very small road trip to Vermont, which was beautiful. The houses with their gables and dormers (I am learning about these...) really are postcard perfect, especially with snow on them, which there was.

Mr L and I also met in Memphis last weekend and had a great day exploring the city. Unfortunately, Mr L got sick on the second day and so we did not get a chance to go to Graceland and see Elvis. Ah, well, next time, I suppose.

This weekend is the Superbowl, which I suppose I may watch, but am not really very interested in... However, Dad is back! Hurray for the return of Dad!! So we will probably hang out inside somewhere...and why not a loud sports bar, right? (or my couch perhaps...)

Goodbye January...and now we are one more step closer to spring....
Slippin' and A-Slidin'

Slippin' and A-Slidin'

Steering into the skid is something that when you are driving and skidding, your instincts rebel against. You go around a corner and you start to skid. You want to turn your wheel the opposite way to correct it. Wrong!

This morning when I got up there were 6 new inches of snow on the ground. The roads were half plowed; they had probably been done around 4 or 5 o’clock, but it was now 6 o’clock. I have a Pontiac G6. The ironic thing is this: For work we are only allowed to rent a compact car. Many people I work with are from Florida, Texas etc…places that never get snow. So, you have a bunch of novice snow drivers driving around in compact cars in 6 inches of snow.

So I drove to work…slipping and sliding the whole way here… but I got lots of practice at steering into the skid!
Honk If You Are Bolivian!

Honk If You Are Bolivian!

I almost got hit by a car the other day. It is becuase the people here drive like they are the only ones on the road. It is funny sometimes, the complete lack of rules or maybe just disregard of the rules, but sometimes there are some close calls. They just honk when they are about to hit you, so at least before you get hit, you are sure of what is about to happen.

Here is the thing. At most of the intersections, they dont have stop lights or signs. Basically, whoever gets there first and squeezes their way out into the intersection first, has the right of way. Where there are lights, they are just suggestions. If it is red, but you dont think that other cars are coming, go ahead and go (maybe to make yourself feel better, you should honk). If other cars ARE coming and they are about to hit you, just honk, you will be fine.

This is all well and good, but if you are a pedestrian it is a little hard sometimes to figure out what the cars are going to do. You cant just go if your light is green... So that is what I was doing. The traffic was stopped. There actually WAS a light, which was RED. The green way was stalled becuase they were all backed up through the intersection, so I had a green light basically. So I went. And some dude with a red light decided to try to creep through the stalled intersection and make his way across...and he almost hit me.

But I survived. I just laugh when I see the way they drive. It is comical. Oh, and PS, the car at the top is a Volkswagon Brasilia...this is the most common car in the city of Cochabamba...
All Work and No Play...

All Work and No Play...

...makes Jack a dull boy, right? It also makes me a sleep deprived grandmother. Yeah, I have always been kind of a grandma; I am the one who goes to bed early and gets up early, who turns down happy hour to go home and knit (no, I am NOT kidding) or read, who spends one’s free time writing Christmas cards and thank you cards and journals...boring, right? Yup. That’s me.

Anyway, if you thought I was bad before, you should see me now. I recently moved to Baton Rouge, but am still required to come to New Orleans from time to time to attend meetings or do site visits. So, I am frequently driving back and forth from one office to the other (about 70 miles one way). This, along with 10 hours of work a day, does not leave much room for anything else. My routine is becoming very tiring. I get up around 4:30 a.m. and go to bed around 9. I run approximately an hour to an hour and a half a day. I eat fruit and sandwich for lunch while in the car on the way to a meeting. Phew. I don’t see how people do it for such long periods of time.

I used to go to school and work at the same time and it was similar to this. I got up at 5:30 to make it to a 7 o’clock class on time, then went straight from school to work and worked until 10 at night, so didn’t get home until 11 p.m. However, I have definitely gotten out of the habit of doing that! I have gotten spoiled by my free time. I have started to take it for granted. I guess this is a wake up call (fitting – since it seems like I am getting less sleep). Wake up and smell the...

Luckily I only have to stay in Baton Rouge for a few more weeks. I will be so happy when I am back living in New Orleans, where it only takes me 10 minutes to get to the office, where I can walk to the restaurants and bars downtown, where I can pop home for lunch, where I can visit with my friends... I will try not to take all of that for granted the next time around.