Italian

Surprisingly for, the most exciting thing about being in Italy has been learning Italian.  The sister's husband, Benezio, does not speak English even a little bit, so that has been a great impetus to learn the language quicker.  We can carry on pretty simple conversations.  I know the words to tons of food, interrogative words, how to conjugate the verbs "to be" and "to have" and various other words and sentences I learned under fire.

Before coming, I had very little desire to learn Italian, because once you know one romance language you kind of know them all.  But, Italian is a very nice language and, as always, the most exciting part is being able to communicate with people that you otherwise wouldn't be able to.  so for me, it has jumped from being an academic exercise to a living language.  Fun!

We have reached Italy!

Vanna and her husband have given us a warm welcome and I can already see we are going to have a great time!

New change...

I have now opened up this blog to the general public for two reasons:

1. Blogger is a poopyhead and makes "friending" entirely too labor intensive, and
2. I realized nobody I don't know will probably read this anyway.

I'm not totally crazy about this, but...c'est la vie.

Day Two in Mexico

Today I just happened to wake up at 8:01. No alarm and definitely no light. The hotel we're in has blackout curtains that are so effective that I wondered if the time was wrong. I opened the window and light poured in. Then, we ran around like a chicken with our respective heads off to get to the bus, which was leaving at 9. We managed to do it in sufficient time that we actually made it to breakfast. Great yogurt with granola and toast. Yum! The coffee tasted great too.

Turns out the mystery brother is from North Carolina and...get this...IN MY DISTRICT. Crazy. And when I see his wife, I recognize her too.

We meandered through the city as our (very knowledgeable) tour guide told us an abundance of fascinating stories about Monterrey, Mexico and, surprising, the United States. He's been a tour guide for 40 years, which, based on his touring skills, surprised me none. Our first stop on the tour was a chapel of a bishop from a million years ago that had been turned into a museum. We didn't go in, but were taught briefly about the Rococo/Baroque architecture. We also saw the huge cactus used to make tequila, some hardcore ants carrying leaves four times their size and the kind of water barrel found in Mexico that provides. It used some kind of fascinating engineering that went completely over my head. I might have a vid of the guy explaining it...in English no less. All in all, a nice stop.

Next we went to one of three of the municipal museums in Monterrey. This one, apparently, was on the city's history. We all went it to find that our tickets were actually for another museum, and while we couldn't tour, we were welcome to use the bathroom. Waiting outside for the rest of the group, I met the darlingest sister from Washington State, Macalynn, but we had a delightful day together; she's just super sweet.

We had possibly discussed taking the fames boat ride of the Paseo Santa Lucia (a deal at $40 pesos, or about $3 USD) but we discovered that the state paid for the boat ride as an act of hospitality. The Paseo is right next to the museum, and we waiting a while so we could all be in the same boat. The boat ride was very interesting: if you can imagine a possibly man-made river flowing through a circle with various monuments and artifacts to both sides, that's what it was like. It highlighted Monterrey's history, including their history in steel production, earning the city the nickname "The Mexican Pittsburgh." I believe there may have been some type of school nearby, and several young people were seen walking along the paths along the river. It was nice.

By this time, I was so ravenous I could have eaten the shoes that were cutting off the circulation to my feet. As we were walking back to the bus, a man stopped Maclynn's husband, Larry, and asked him some questions. Since Larry doesn't speak Spanish, I walked up to translate. He inquired about our lapel badges and I explained that we were in town for the international convention at the baseball stadium. He excitedly asked if he could come, and we told him he could. He gave us a warm welcome and told us to enjoy our stay in Monterrey.

As we got back to the bus, we informed that the next stop was an arts and crafts store. It was some cross between a gift shop and a Mexican artisan store, with rebosos (Mexicanish afghans), silver jewelry, dolls and the like. As I hadn't changed any money, I didn't purchase anything. There wasn't a lot that I liked anyway.

Finally we went to go and eat. We went to a place called VIPS. It is a restaurant reminiscent of Denny's in atmosphere, but serving a hybrid mix of Mexican, general Hispanic and American food. My sister, two other sisters and I were so starved, that we ordered enough food to feed ourselves and the next two tables over. But our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and we left a lot uneaten. One thing that stood out was Moros and Christianos (Moors and Christians) that was basically a Mexican version of Cuban congris. I ordered a club sandwich (among other things), since the menu was hard to figure out, and I was feeling a little sick. I know...I'm a loser. When we went up to pay, I was shocked to learn that among the forms of payment they accepted was Wal-Mart gift cards. Apparently, VIPS and Wal-Mart are affiliated in Monterrey. Interesting.

Finally we came home...or back to the hotel. We rested for a very short time before the brother informed us that we would be heading back out. Sure enough, around 6:30, brother came to come and get us. We had a delightful ride with a brother and his wife. They were both regios (persons from Monterrey) and they had been in full-time service for close to fifty years, and married for almost as long. Turns out, his son and daughter-in-law had provided the transportation for us the night before. They had been special pioneers before they had their son. They had even served were the need was great in Arizona several years back. The brother had a working knowledge of English, but didn't speak fluently. They were hospitable, friendly and funny. They also gave us an inside on some things about Mexico and Monterrey, including the death-dealing driving you see there. They were a lot of fun and an excellent example in decades of faithful service. They also took us past the Kingdom Hall in Apodaca--or should I say Kingdom Halls. There were four Kingdom Halls on one property that served a total of 16 congregations, which included a Nuhautl and Tenek (I have to learn how to spell that) congregations.

We made our way to the gathering. It was at a reception hall, and there were easily 200 friends there. However, these were different friends from the first night. They were rotating the friends from the seven congregations assigned to host us. One highlight was seeing Betel, the girl that had greeted me in such a friendly way at the Monterrey airport. She introduced me to her family and best friends. In the middle of the hall was an elevated, circular stage/dance floor. The brother gave us a warm greeting before we could eat. There was another mountain of food, with many of the traditional Mexican dishes. After eating was underway, we were treated to another performance of many of the acts we had seen the previous night by the local brothers. Additionally we saw a traditional dance, performed by four girls, that we later learned was a dance from Vera Cruz. The MC invited us to come up and share our names, what congregations we were from. Then, came the mariachi. This band was made of Jehovah's Witnesses, and they were really good. Soon the dancing began; I danced with one of the sisters from the Vera Cruz dance who enthusiastically led me around the dance floor (SO much fun) and Armando, a great brother who we became friends with (he's a fellow Coldplay fan...'nuf said).

The friends, once again, showered us with gifts, and one young sister even took her earrings off and handed them to me after I complemented her on them. It was just more wonderfulness. The brother and sister took us home and informed us that they would pick us up for another party on Friday.

When we got back to the hotel we packed up all the regalities, books and everything else we would need for the next day of the convention and then fell soundly asleep.

First Night!

The eleven of us who came together on the plane arrived by caravan to the party hall. There were several brothers standing outside, when we arrived, dressed in the typical Mexican costume. As we entered, the entire place erupted into applause and ushered us to seats. There were roughly 200 in attendance. From there, they treated like we were family and ate till we couldn't eat another bite, including the most famous dish from Monterrey--cabrito (or kid). We discovered that seven congregations in the Apodaca area had been assigned to give us hospitality, and they would be throwing us three parties throughout the week.

From there we were treated to all sorts of entertainment that was representative of Mexico. The first was a piña dance, performed by the little girls of the local congregations in Apodaca (a borough, so to speak) of Monterrey.

There was a couple dances by the teenagers that showed the dance of Norteña (the region that includes Monterrey) and the state of Oaxaca (pronouned Wa-HA-ka):

As we talked, a sister turned to me and said "You are going to see charros" one of the local style of dressing. And then through the door walked a FULL MIRIACHI BAND! It was thrilling! A sister came up to me and asked if I liked to dance. I told her I did, but that I didn't know how to dance to miriachi. No problem, she grabbed me and led and I fell in a couple seconds. Ella me dijo que yo traigo la musica en mi cuerpo. :)

Then a highlight. The work of preaching the indiginous populations of Mexico is really increasing, and several friends showed us presentations and statistical information in two languages in particular: Nahautl and Tenek (sp?).

There was a dance by the adults that was incredible. I later learned they had practiced for only three weeks!

All told, they put on a spectacular production, we met several families that night that would go on to become our friends throughout the trip and quite possibly forever. We got back to the hotel around 1:30 and, after unpacking and getting in touch with loved ones back home, we hit the sack.

Day One

Tuesday was (in a word) awe-inspring.  But first things first.


DISCLAIMER: In the off chance anyone in the world is actually reading this, I will be putting forth more effort to post in English and Spanish.

My sister and I woke up at the unnatural hour of 4:00 AM to finish packing and get ready for our plane ride.  Our shuttle left to take us to JFK at 5:30.  When we arrived, we seemed to be the only people at our airlines, save for a few chapparitos on a nearby bench.  Around 6, a few others arrived and began to queue up, so we joined them i line.  We were not in line 20 minutes before a sister behind us (Laurie) spotted us in line be our Costamar travel agency lanyard badges.  We quickly made freinds in line, and gradually more and more friends came, and we all chatted excitedly.  Even the man who took our tickets noticed and said he remembered a similar group of Jehovah's Witnesses that had come through the previous week.

When we reached our gate, we continued to get to know one another and, to my surprise, they began the gift exhange, the first of many creative, thoughtful and practical gifts from the friends.  One sister even sent a gift with us for our mom, who she said she knew she loved without meeting her because of the way she raised us. We sang Kingdom Melodies off of her cell-phone as well, and just had a really nice kick-off to the trip.

The plane ride to Mexico City was long but peaceful.  For breakfast, I had an omelet with juice, coffee, tater tots and a pastry. I wrote my blog, slept, read the in-flight magazines...just tried to pass the time.  When we got to Mexico City, we were thrilled that the agent at the security checkpoint was a Witness.  We hugged and she walked us through the checkpoint.  Finally, she opened the double doors that lead out to the airport lobby...

There were probably 30 of Jehovah's people standing out there, clapping, telling us welcome, hugging, kissing, and just showering us with love.  I was gobsmacked! It was the first time I broke down (wouldn't be the last time).  They were eager to tell us that we were welcome to Mexico and that they were happy to have their brothers with them.  They took pictures of us and gave us little gifts that had their contact information on it.  I can't explain the joy of the moment.  And this was a layover.  We still had the last leg to Monterrey.

On the plane ride to Monterrey, we had to fill out customs and immigration forms.  All or naught, because my sister and I had crossed out some much stuff that the woman made us refill out the forms when we got to the desk.  The airport was only moderately full, which was good.  By the time we arrived, it was late, at least after 9. We went to the domestic baggage claim, because our "carry-on" luggage was checked at the airport because there were too many ppl on the plane.  However, when we got there, we found no luggage.  A man who worked at the airport looked at us and said, "Are you with the Congress?" We said yes.  He answered.  "You need to go to international baggage claim.  Your brothers are over there waiting for you."  We were so excited to hear this, especially from someone who isn't even a Jehovah's Witness.  Sure enough, after going through customs, there were no less than 40 Witnesses standing there, waiting for us with hugs, gifts, directions, letters and just a ton of love.  On teenage sister, Betel, immediately took me under her wing.  She showed me where I could sign up to let the  brother in charge of the "Welcoming Committee" know that I had arrived, adn she introduced me to several of the friends.  She recommended some sight-seeing places and just made me feel very welcomed.  The brother told us that the branch had assigned their circuit (one that would not be actually attending the international convention, I later learned)O  Apparently the name Kimberly sounds very pretty on Mexican ears, because I dare say 60% of the times I told someone my name, they would say it was pretty, with varying enthusiasm.

The friends carried our luggage to a waiting bus and waved as we rode off into the direction of downtown Monterrey.  Our tour guide (a local man who told us he had done tours for over 40 years) told us a little about Mexico.  The bus was the one we would be riding our entire trip--Bus #2.  We quickly met other friends from all over the country, and I just felt the electric excitement as I saw that I was about to begin a wonderful week.  When we reached the hotel.

Guys, this is a five star hotel.  We received the royal treatment.  They loaded the luggage off the bus and take it up to your room.  We milled around the lobby, as the Welcoming Committee set up a table IN THE HOTEL where we could get help from local friends all day long.  The first couple night there were there virtually around the clock, welcoming friends as they came in the hotel from the airport at all times of the day night.  they assured us that no matter what we needed, they would bend over backwards for us to get it for us.  And, to boot, the friends manning the desk are the friends from the local English congregation.  They all spoke English to varying degrees, some barely and some near native, but they were all friendly and hospitable to an amazing degree.  We were there for no more than 20 minutes before the friends whisked us off in seperate cars to a party they had planned for us.  I will tell you about this amazing event in the next blog.

First Day in Mexico!

It's roughly 2:30 in the morning (Central Time) and, I imagine I'm tired but I'm too wired to tell.  Regardless, this was a day that started off great and just got better to epic levels.  I have a LOT to blog.

Day Three

We had already made arrangements with our friend Josh for Monday, and we were really looking forward to it.  We caught the train to the American Museum of Natural History, one that everyone said we would really enjoy.  We arrived early and waited outside until ten—when they allow the museum patrons to go in.  My sister and I were the first in line.  Then, we found Josh, who had also caught the train there.  We meandered around the museum, rather aimlessly at first, spending more time talking about funny stories and our jobs than the actual exhibits.  Even then, however, we saw some fascinating Native South American exhibits (including a large boat carved from one log) and a tapestry woven from naturally golden-colored spider silk (that I’d recent.  Museums can kind of be a weird environment socially, however, and you’re never quite sure what you’re looking at, which is why I was thrilled when I found out the museum offered a free highlights tour every hour.

We met our tour guide at 11:15 and I was surprised more people were not on the tour (I would say there were 20 of us tops) which was just as well.  Our tour guide did not tell us her credentials, but it was evident that she was a scientist or, at the very least, a professional science educator of some sort by the easy way she explained very complex scientific ideas, her wealth of experiences and her body of knowledge.  At one point in the tour, we discovered that her parents frequently brought her to the museum as a child—and her enthusiasm was evident.  We began with astronomy; we learned about the magnitude of the universe and how our solar system works.  Aside from the wholly incomprehensible and annoying section on the “Big Bang Theory” (narrated by a recording of Maya Angelou by the way) it was fascinating.  I especially like the part on the star Beteljuice.  Next up came human origins.  It was by far my least favorite part since it was rife with evolutionary theory.  But, what I found faith strengthening was that on numerous occasions, she would explain how evolutionists would have been confident on some aspect of evolution and then have their ideas completely disproved.  That no doubt happens in all branches of science sometimes, but, without going into too much detail here, the scientific puzzles included how microbial life could exist under circumstances that it seemed life should not be able to (deep ocean), or how perfect the conditions are for life on Earth (but not in any other discernible galaxy), or why humans didn’t evolve linearly and how they are the only genus (hominids) on earth that there is only one species of (e.g. – there are 200 species of primates).   If you believe in Creation, these questions are not nearly as confusing.  From there we studied biodiversity and how natural and man-made forces affect ecology. Seriously guys, this section is worth the price of admission alone—incredible.  The animal models and specimens of rare, large and small creatures are astounding.  My favorite was an actual, real-life ice core that they kept frozen in the museum, under glass, that had rings (something like a tree) that scientists have used to investigate weather conditions going centuries back.  We saw a lot of things, and I can’t really tell you all about it here, but I highly recommend that museum.

Then we left to investigate (reasonably-priced) food options and found a place a few blocks down.  The options were limitless, the service was fast and the food was great-tasting.  We sat and talked and ate for a while before deciding to take a stab at Central Park nearby. 

It was my first time visiting the park.  Despite the cold temperatures, there was a significant amount of people walking, riding bikes, rollerblading and even jogging.  One thing that stands out in my mind is a statue of William Shakespeare, which we agreed was probably there because of the Shakespeare festivals they hold in the park during the summer months.  There was also a Bethesda fountain based on the biblical story. The fountain and the nearby…almost like an outdoor ballroom were beautiful, although the statue bore absolutely no resemblance to the bible story as I recalled it.  Regardless, there was a bride and her wedding party taking pictures there.  There was some body of water and ducks nearby and I imagined the pictures were going to be stunning.  I also really like the statue of Alice in Wonderland.  Soon it was four o’clock and we got in contact with our other friend who agreed to meet us at Rockefeller Plaza in an hour or so.

We caught the train to 30 Rock and gave them our tickets to the Top of the Rock.  This was something we kind of thought of about a week before we left and I was glad we did.  It seems simple enough (go to the top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza and look out over New York City), but they did a really good job of making the entire trip up educational and entertaining.  There was a mural that told the story of how Rockefeller Jr. thought to build a monumental office building  during the Great Depression (a huge gamble) and employed much of New York City at that time and how, although he didn’t like popular entertainment, decided to take a chance on RKO studies, which first broadcast radio programs before moving on to broadcast television.  As they say, the rest is history.  Tom Brokaw narrated a short film on the history of NBC and then there was an elevator ride up to the 67ish floor.  The ceiling of the elevator had a mini-show as well.  Soon enough we were at the “Top of the Rock”, which is stunning at night.  You see all the major NYC buildings: MetLife, Toshiba, Empire State and others that I probably didn’t even know I was looking at.

As we got off the elevator, there Dana was waiting for us, and we went to all the exclusive shops (read: we bought nothing) in 30 Rock.  The most entertaining—by far—was the NBC gifts shop that had Dwight Shrute bobble head dolls, “It’s not lupus” mugs, Buy More T-shirts, Parks and Rec paraphernalia, and just about anything else that fans of NBC shows would get a huge kick out of.  We headed outside a bit and watched the skating at Rockefeller Center.

Soon, the night came to a close, we said our goodbyes to our friends and New York, and we went home to pack for the real trip ahead of us.

Day Two

Sunday was a day of highs and lows. We woke up leisurely, had a hot breakfast (waffles on the continental breakfast) and then set out to see Wintuk, a Cirque du Soleil show as Madison Square Gardens. The first bus driver left us even though he was parked at as red light and I tried to wave at him through the window, and we patiently waited for the next bus, which was late. When got on, we meandered through Queens and then Brooklen before we realized that our directions were wrong. I went into a mild panic: the show was due to start any minute and we were still at least 20 minutes away. Thank goodness we got off right near the A train, which took us right into Penn Station. We raced upstairs to MSG. When we got there, I was thoroughly discouraged and asked the woman at the Will-Call window if we should even bother; she assured us that we should: we had missed the first half-hour or so, but had still arrived in time to catch most of the two-hour show. Besides, she explained, we had already paid for it.

And she had a point. We had purchased our tickets a mere 48 hours before the show based on a recommendation from Adrienne, who had seen Wintuk the previous weekend. She also gave us a coupon that took 40% off the ticket price. So tickets that were normally $75 were only $46 (plus the convenience fee). We handed one of the attendants our tickets, and she led us to our seats. We followed her down...and down...and down, before we realized that we were on the left front row! We were stunned! Then, about two minutes later, another attendant walked up and invited us to move to the middle front. That's right...we were front and center for a mere $46! After collecting ourselves, we were treated to a wonderful spectacle. When we traveled to Montreal two years ago, we saw the place were Cirque du Soleil started, and they have kept true to their roots. There were acrobats and gymnasts and dancers and hula-hoopers and contortionists and stilt-walkers and ethereal singers and fantastic costumes and sets that all made for a thoroughly enchanting production. I'm a sucker for confetti (reference "Lovers in Japan" at the Coldplay show), so the snow at the end was just the kind of finale I love.

When the show was over, we ran to Borders for a hot second before planning our route to the meeting (due to begin at 3) and grabbing a quick bite. during the show I had received several text messages that I was responding to among my other running. Meanwhile, I was super-frustrated at my dining options, which seem to consist of either Krispy Kreme donuts or mind-numbingly overpriced food. I realize Penn Station is tourist ground zero, but $7 for a pre-packaged chicken-salad sandwich is outrageous. Finally I found a hot-dog place that had a combo meal for $4.99...a welcomed return to sane pricing. My frustration, however, continued with the utter lack of communication I experienced between myself and the Indian (sorry Jasmine) cashier. I had to remind her to even charge me for the food (which, incidentally, turned into a good witness). I reached in my pocket to hit send on a text-message I hadn't quite sent yet, when...horror...my phone was gone. Long story short...I only had minutes to catch the train and phone was nowhere.

Ladies and gentlemen, it gets better. Asked the MTA person how to get to the address (the Hall) and he gave us a round about train route.  We ended up being amazingly late to the meeting, and bascially only caught the Watchtower study.  But the wonderful meeting and the even more encouraging freinds made it all worth it.  We touched base with a good friend of ours, Esther, which is always a treat.  She walked us to the subway and we started to head home.

Then, on a lark, we decided to get off the train at 42nd Street.  Then, we stop to buy postcards.  Considering we've been to NYC about 1.2 billion times and haven't bought souvenirs there since the 90s, we now realize this was divine direction.  When we go up to pay, the man is clearly Arabic and we are pretty sure is also Morroccan.  We turn out to be correct on both counts and an hour-long conversation ensues that not only did my sister place a Bible Teach book with him in Arabic, but we make arrangements for him to get a follow-up visit with one of our friends (LaShaun) from the Brooklyn Arabic congregation.  While the man was truly Muslim, he was humble and hungry for knowledge and my sister and I felt really good about how the conversation ended. Purely elated, we skipped over to a BBQ place across the street.  I had the most scrumptious bowl of chili ever, and, soon enough, we headed home.

First Day!

The first day of the trip was wonderful. The Chinatown Bus ride down was uneventful (except for Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself blasting my ears out. I asked them to turn it down, and(shocking) they cheerfully complied. When we arrived in Chinatown, we ate at not one, but TWO of the myriad of bakeries. We were having a marginal time trying to find Century Cafe from the last trip. The first cafe wouldn't let us use the bathroom (even as paying customers) so we moved on to another, and bought some coffee.

When then caught a train (or two) to the Hall. As soon as we stepped on to the platform to exit at Clark St., a sister said "Y'all going to Bethel?" I guess we looked like Witnesses. She helped us get our luggage up the stairs and told us where we needed to go to get to the Towers. She told us her name...Violet. Turns out I had gone to her Hall on the last trip. She didn't remember me, but was still super friendly. Awww...the brotherhood.

Met with the group, which was a delightful mix of Arabic and English (mostly English) Then we went out with two sisters: Rosalind and Keisha. Had a wonderful morning. Preaching in New York is always a new experience because you have to get the hang of all the intercom etiquette and getting "buzzed up." But I did get to talk with one gentleman and the other sister all got to chat with someone. Rosalind had a wonderful story about how she became a Witness. Wonderful morning.

Then, the elements conspired against us. The day got progressively colder, wetter and darker. We went to go eat at Checker's, then in lieu of continuing service (I know, we're literally fair-weather Christians) we went to...Barnes and Noble! We got preached to about their new bookreader, the Nook, by an enthusiastic guy. And then we laughed till we cried reading the anniversary book of The Onion. Then we made another Starbucks run (the Starbucks in B&N was packed). By this time it was sleeting something fierce.

Soon it was time to meet back at the Towers, and after reading the new Watchtower and Awake magazines that aren't even out yet (yay!) we went with a friend of ours to an Arabic restaurant Zaytoon's. I ordered kibbeh--the best food eva--and the hummus was so fantastic. I'm dreaming about it. We had delightful, funny, spiritual conversation, swapping our foreign-language congregation stories. These girls are in Arabic and Japanese, so there were some great stories.

Then, our friend dropped us off at our "hostel," which turned out to be the most normal Super 8 hotel you've ever seen in your life. Which was fantastic for us.

After a few calls/texts/tweets back home, we collapsed and fell asleep.

ANNOUNCEMENT: I just realized that adding pictures now will be a bit much for me while I'm still on the trip. So I will be adding them after the trip is over.

Laptop packed!

It's always the last thing to go in.

Regalitos

Below are the postcards and keep-in-touch cards we purchased to take with us to the convention and give out to our fellow delegates.

Card front

Card back

Postcard front

Postcard back

Accommodations

Our accommodations will vary wildly on our trip. For the New York leg, we will be staying in Queens in what is known as a hostel. Boys and girls, WordNet defines as hostel as:

Noun
S: (n) hostel, hostelry, inn, lodge, auberge (a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers)
S: (n) hostel, youth hostel, student lodging (inexpensive supervised lodging (especially for youths on bicycling trips)

We will be keeping our expectations...ahem...reasonable.

From there, our travel agency Costamar takes over (thank goodness!) They have provided us with several nights' stay in the following establishments:

Monterrey: The Safi Royal Luxury Hotel will provide our lodging the nights of December 8 - 13. The Safi Royal is a five-star hotel and has all the amenities of a modern metropolitan hotel. At the risk of providing too much information, the video above (in Spanish) is provided for your enjoyment.

La Ciudad to Mexico, Distrito Federal (or DF): The Casa Inn in Mexico City  will be providing our accommodations beginning on December 14 and concluding on December 16. It is centrally located, just minutes from the US Embassy, museums, restaurants and stores and just 35 minutes from the airport. According to the website, it was completely remodeled in 2008 "with a new concept and a totally executive image." I guess we'll see how it went.

Fear not readers: We will provide a full report on all accommodations as the trips progresses. I get the feeling I'm going to like them a lot.

Preparations!

CIMG0832
Originally uploaded by MeadowZephyr

This is a picture Andrea took a few weeks ago of Adrienne helping us make flower pens as convention gifts. We have an assortment of other things that you can read all about in Andrea's blog: seeyouinoldmexico.blogspot.com

Come si dice ...?

I haven't studied Italian in, like, a week. I need to get back on that.

Trip within a trip

We'll be in New York City three days before we leave for Mexico. Goodness gracious...We've spent twice the energy planning for those three days than the entire Mexico leg. It should start coming together tonight though. Looks like we'll be doing some fun things...with a splash of Arabic. Stay tuned.

Ugh...

That quart-size bag gets smaller and smaller with every trip.

Black Friday

Today was so-called "Black Friday," and, in prep for the ever-nearing convention, I made the following purchases:

A Casio EXILIM Ex -Z33, a humble point and shoot that retails for about $130. My sister and I paid 89.99 plus 5% VA retail tax (boo!). Radio Shack ever so kindly included this gizmo with the purchase:

This is a Polaroid PoGo instant mobile printer. Plug-in your camera through the USB cable provided, and it will print out 2"X3" sticky-backed photos. Fun. It normally retails for about $60, but again, it was free with a $40 in-store credit and $20 mail-in rebate. I also needed (well, since I only owned micros) a 4 GB SanDisk SD card, which set me back $10. They said that was a sale price, but I wouldn't have paid much more.

I also realized yesterday that I needed flats for the convention. A random text message I received a couple days ago for an additional 20% off Black Friday prices persuaded me to go to Payless. I left with the following:

A google search for "Dexter Noir Charlotte" rendered nothing. So I'll describe them. Black, matte, patent-leather flats with a wide--also black--buckle across the toe. They retail for $25. If you want to know why I didn't use my new camera to take a picture of the shoes, the answer is I'm lazy. Second pair:

These are American Eagle Purple Cecil Button flats. They retail for $20.

Payless's BOGO (buy one, get one half off) deal, plus my text coupon brought the grand total to $29.38.

DAY'S GRAND TOTAL: $129.38

I think I'm done. I think.

The ground rules

We got our two-page letter from the society last night on the dos and don'ts of the international convention. Here are the highlights:

• Pack light (They suggested two outfits. I'm sure that's open to interpretation)
• No jeans :(
• Be savvy. Carry little in town and only use taxis/transport recommended by the hotel.
• Be courteous and wear your lapel badge at all times. We are not only representing ourselves but Jehovah.
• 3 oz liquids in a quart-size bag
• Did I mention no jeans?

I can do this.

Finally

This will be my travel blog, something I've been meaning to do for ages, but never actually did. As travel is often on the fly, snatches of time for writing can be frenzied and harried, and I tend to pour my memories out like some Jack Kerouac, steam-of-conscience novel, I make no promises about the quality of the grammar, photography or any other aspect of this blog. But only my dear friends will be reading this anyway, and I think y'all knew that already.