Revisiting Washington DC

 A couple of months ago I received an invitation to Ingrid's retirement party.  I was thrilled to recieve the invitation and immediately replied that I would attend.  I wanted to be present to thank this wonderful woman for her role in my life.  Ingrid is a landmark in my memory.  I see her as a combination of influential mentor-fairy godmother.  Twelve years ago when I worked as her intern at the Candian Embassy I knew very little about the task I had signed up for.  Oklahoma and DC are, suffice it to say, very different worlds.  She took me under her wing and taught me how to survive-- and she did it with warmth, candor and humor!  The trip was somewhat emotional for me because for the longest time I have wanted to return to DC and work.  I have always wondered why I had this experience.  Not much, besides my first job out of college working for the Senator, has related to political/diplomatic work.  It is like there is a disconnect between the life I lead and the life I almost lead and the gap between the two has always bothered me.  It was good to go, revisit, thank Ingrid for her kindness, and close the door on a chapter of my life that I have, until recently, not been able to close.

Ingrid and former interns.

Me and Rodolfo with the bouquet that we created as a special gift for Ingrid.

Here is my friend Jonathan whom I met all those years ago during my internship.  Luckily he still has the same phone number and we reconnected on this trip!  He took me and Rodolfo on a relaxing stroll around the capital (See the capitol building in the background).  Unlike myself, he never left DC!  Lucky fellow.

We also saw some Tibetian monks while on our trip.  I felt like this was a unique occurance.  How often does one see Tibetans of any kind hanging around on an American street corner?

Now this is a bike I could ride!  :)

And last but not least, some amazingly large hydrangeas that we came across while strolling through Georgetown.  Aren't they beautiful?!

Disney World 2010 - Rodolfo and Gigi's first trip!

Do you see the castle in the back?

Here is Gigi riding the Dumbo ride.  Loving this smile.

My favorite character photo.  These girls were cracking me up with their "evil stepsister" expressions.

Gigi in a magic carriage.

Epcot and the Princess Lunch.

Gigi zonked out.

Here is Gigi at the Luau.  So sweet.

Our journey to the Dallas Arboretum

This is right before Gigi broke out into her loudest rendition ever of Sleeping Beauty's song "I know you"

Ah!

This color combo makes me calm and happy.

I was trying to get a sweet cousin shot like I did last week, but Gigi decided to put Elle in a head lock instead.

Elle after the headlock, happy and a little dazed.

Well, here are some more cute pictures from our last night in Guatemala. I guess these were taken after midnight and so the photos rolled over to the following day in my photo files. I just found them. Aren't they cute? Georgia sure did have fun with all of her cousins!

Returning to La Ciudad

Another hearty breakfast for another busy day. The food here was delicious and prepared by several tall white hat wearing chefs!

After scarfing down a quick meal, the cousins quickly found other things to do.

The grounds had peacocks walking around and Estephan found a feather! He had lots of fun pretending to be a peacock!

It sure is hard to get little ones to stop and look at the camera. They are always so busy and involved! :)

Here is Rodolfo with his grandmother.

Here he is laughing with his mom and grandmother.

On the road again! Here you can see some volcanos in the background. Yes, volcanos! Isn't that fascinating!

On the way back to the city, we stopped for lunch in Antigua. Rodolfo's cousin, Suzanne, and her husband, Eric have started a restaurant there called Como como. Isn't that a clever name? It means "how I eat". Eric is a chef from Belgium and it has been their dream to open a restaurant. I love it when people are bold enough to pursue their dreams! You guys rock! Their restaurant is in the photos below. Isn't it beautiful?

Here is Rodolfo's Tio Carlos and Tio Carlos's mother.

Here we are at the entrance of the restaurant. And below is Eric leaving with his dogs. One is on the belly of the moped, and do you see where the other one is? Yep, the backpack.

We also paid a short visit to Rodolfo's Tia and cousin.

For dinner we met 4 of Rodolfo's other cousins, his brother and everyone's kids at Pizza Hut. Gigi had so much fun on the jungle gym at this place that she screamed her head off when we left at close to midnight. This was one crazy long day.

Fiorella and myself.

Alejandra, Cessira and Manlio.

Tio Carlos, Tia Beatriz, Rodolfo's dad and mom, Rodolfo & Orietta.

And all the cousins, finally united! Beatriz, Sophia, Hector, Cessira & Gigi. There were many other cousins playing, but this was the biggest group of them that I could get to stand still together.

Visiting Friends and Family

We had a hearty breakfast this morning to prepare us for a round of visits in Reu. When visiting Rodolfo's home after a year to two year long absence, there are a lot of people to see! Rodolfo has so many wonderful friends and family. The first time I went on this string of visits I was overwhelmed. If my memory serves me correctly, it seems that we had 3-4 solid days of new faces. They all streamed into us and we went out to their homes. I had a hard time keeping up with the Spanish let alone knowing what was the polite and correct way to respond. I remember feeling like I was on stage and everyone I met was waiting for me to do or say something marvelously interesting. I guess that is what most people feel like when they are the newest member of any family. Fortunately, everyone was very nice to me and very forgiving of my mistakes. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end of the introdutions! I can't believe it has been 9 years since those first introductions took place! And now, this time around, it was Georgia's turn to be the new person in the family. She did pretty well meeting and greeting all the new faces, although I could tell she was wiped out after this day. We didn't quite make the rounds like the past-- the dynamics and timing were slightly different because we had a toddler and we were not staying in Reu proper. But we still did visit a few familiar faces. The first of which was Tio Whyo. And I have to say, nobody has worn these past 9 years better than him. We visited him in his pharmacy as we have on every visit. I could have easily been reliving a visit from 9 years ago. Not much has changed in his welcoming, busy store. Below is a photo of the 3 of us visiting him.

Here is the mermaid fountain that Rodolfo remembers from his childhood. He would eat ice cream here after school and this is where he and his brother chaperoned his sister on many of her dates. :)

A photo of Rodolfo's all-time favorite car next to the home where his mother lives.

Here is a picture of the church Rodolfo was baptized in as a child. He did his first communion here too. In front of the church is a "took took". This is the easiest means of transportation in the bustling and expanding town of Reu. Supposedly these little carts were imported from India.

Here we are, Rodolfo, Orietta, Georgia and myself after catching our took took ride. The next post has details of our evening visit.