salience
June 23, 2003
Well folks, we are back from wonderful South Bend, Indiana. And I use the term "wonderful" loosely. :)
It wasn't that I didn't have a great time or anything. I love spending time with the familia, regardless of where we are or what we're doing, but the drive. Oh man, the drive.
Many thanks to Christie for taking care of our animals!! It was so cool to come into the house and find her little birthday set up for me!! :) We really need to get together girl, before you head back up to VT.
So what exactly did we do up there in Indiana? Well, la mama and I made it to Chicago okay. We had a great time on the plane, being loud and annoying everybody. (There was this hilarious circumstance of her chair not locking in the upright position. It kept leaning back, no matter what she did. Needless to say, it was very funny!!) We had an interesting time getting from Chicago back to South Bend. El papa was convinced he knew what he was doing, but somehow, we just couldn't get out of Illinois. Four hours later, we made it to South Bend. And just in case you folks have never been there, be forewarned: there is absolutely nothing except cornfields for miles. Notre Dame is the place in town.
Friday was fun. I am now officially twenty, woohoo!! :) La familia didn't collectively get up until about two in the afternoon, which was nice. Although, I had to be up to fix a fiasco with my timecard (yes, a huge find-a-fax-machine-now operation), so I was up at nine and just watched tv for what seemed like eons--which I hadn't done in awhile. We then made our way over to the campus, and walked around. Notre Dame owns something like six hundred acres, so the campus is amazing. We watched a scrimmage and cheered obnoxiously for my brother, went to the Basilica (a replica of the Notre Dame), as well as the Grotto (also a replica).
It was so humbling, walking through the Basilica. There was a choir of nuns practicing for the vigil that night, and it was beautiful to listen to. It's sad that there is no respect for the Holy Orders anymore. But at the same time, I'm not one to fully dedicate my life to God, so I really shouldn't be saying anything. We spent about an hour just taking in the beautiful church: the gothic architecture, the gold plated columns, the life size murals, the old relics. It's one of those places where one just forgets location and time, where she just exists in a universal moment and place, almost like dreaming. The twins were so excited to be in the church; the last time we were there was four years ago, in 1999. They were only ten at the time, so they didn't really remember much of our Thanksgiving Notre Dame trip of that year.
Afterwards we went down in the garden to the Grotto. We all lit candles for my grandma (who is still trying to recover from a broken ankle). After we were done praying, we sat in the benches by the lake, talking, creating voices for the ducks, and watching the football camp kids make their way to the Grotto. It was a neat scene: huge guys carry cleats, sunburnt, trying to light candles with clumsy, tired hands. We made our way to the bookstore (which is the size of a Barnes and Nobles, really) and spent about three hours reading, talking, and drinking coffee (the twins have this huge coffee fetish, it's weird). Of course, the store was gearing up for the Harry Potter release that night, and everywhere were employees dressing up and turning the place into Hogwart's. After much pleading, the girls finally convinced el papa to bring them back for the book release.
Seeing as how we had a few hours to kill until midnight, la familia headed to the Olive Garden in Mishawaka, which is right down the road from South Bend. The parentals asked for everyone to sing to me and that was fun and embarrassing. I did get a digital camera though, which is way cool: a little gadget I've been contemplating buying for some time now.
And then it was Harry Potter time, an enthralling endeavor, especially since I am not a fan, by any means. We showed up at the bookstore around 11:30, and the place had been transformed. There were black curtains everywhere, and we had to know the password (aka the name of the new book) to get in. Once inside, it was like a carnival. Booths were set up, and everywhere I looked there as an old woman in a witch costume sans the scary nose pushing plastic spider rings, Hogwart's stickers and lightning bolt tattoos my way. There were gaggles of little, screaming children everywhere, all dressed up and impatient. Likewise, there were a fair amount of older people, many who looked as though they could be grandparents, dressed up and excited for the new book. The odd thing was, they had no kids with them. They merely carried camcorders in their lightning tattooed hands to capture the blessed event. At midnight, the bookstore officials wheeled out the crates and mass chaos ensued. Six minutes later, el papa had a copy and we were out of the store.
Whew. No more bubblegum hysteria for me, thank you.
Saturday was a lazy day. We watched Lorenzo's last scrimmage, briefly talked with Coach Willingham (he's such a BA), and then were back at the hotel to check out. My brother was starving, so we stopped at a Burger King (his favorite dining establishment). We ate, and were amused by Lorenzo's stories: it was a fun time. (Really we were just putting off getting back in the van...) Eventually we got tired of listening to Lorenzo, and el papa decided it was time to head home. We made it as far as Louisville, KY before we all got sick. Yay for food poisoning after only five hours in the car. Yeah, it was g-ross, to be sure.
After much Pepto Bismal and sleep, we were back on the road Sunday morning. El papa's left arm kept falling asleep while he was driving, which made progress slow. We didn't even get out of Tennessee until about three in the afternoon. Y-u-c-k.
Luckily we finally pulled into the drive way around six, just as Melinda decided she was car sick, and the rest of us agreed: no more fast food for awhile.
Ah. Home sweet home.
It wasn't that I didn't have a great time or anything. I love spending time with the familia, regardless of where we are or what we're doing, but the drive. Oh man, the drive.
Many thanks to Christie for taking care of our animals!! It was so cool to come into the house and find her little birthday set up for me!! :) We really need to get together girl, before you head back up to VT.
So what exactly did we do up there in Indiana? Well, la mama and I made it to Chicago okay. We had a great time on the plane, being loud and annoying everybody. (There was this hilarious circumstance of her chair not locking in the upright position. It kept leaning back, no matter what she did. Needless to say, it was very funny!!) We had an interesting time getting from Chicago back to South Bend. El papa was convinced he knew what he was doing, but somehow, we just couldn't get out of Illinois. Four hours later, we made it to South Bend. And just in case you folks have never been there, be forewarned: there is absolutely nothing except cornfields for miles. Notre Dame is the place in town.
Friday was fun. I am now officially twenty, woohoo!! :) La familia didn't collectively get up until about two in the afternoon, which was nice. Although, I had to be up to fix a fiasco with my timecard (yes, a huge find-a-fax-machine-now operation), so I was up at nine and just watched tv for what seemed like eons--which I hadn't done in awhile. We then made our way over to the campus, and walked around. Notre Dame owns something like six hundred acres, so the campus is amazing. We watched a scrimmage and cheered obnoxiously for my brother, went to the Basilica (a replica of the Notre Dame), as well as the Grotto (also a replica).
It was so humbling, walking through the Basilica. There was a choir of nuns practicing for the vigil that night, and it was beautiful to listen to. It's sad that there is no respect for the Holy Orders anymore. But at the same time, I'm not one to fully dedicate my life to God, so I really shouldn't be saying anything. We spent about an hour just taking in the beautiful church: the gothic architecture, the gold plated columns, the life size murals, the old relics. It's one of those places where one just forgets location and time, where she just exists in a universal moment and place, almost like dreaming. The twins were so excited to be in the church; the last time we were there was four years ago, in 1999. They were only ten at the time, so they didn't really remember much of our Thanksgiving Notre Dame trip of that year.
Afterwards we went down in the garden to the Grotto. We all lit candles for my grandma (who is still trying to recover from a broken ankle). After we were done praying, we sat in the benches by the lake, talking, creating voices for the ducks, and watching the football camp kids make their way to the Grotto. It was a neat scene: huge guys carry cleats, sunburnt, trying to light candles with clumsy, tired hands. We made our way to the bookstore (which is the size of a Barnes and Nobles, really) and spent about three hours reading, talking, and drinking coffee (the twins have this huge coffee fetish, it's weird). Of course, the store was gearing up for the Harry Potter release that night, and everywhere were employees dressing up and turning the place into Hogwart's. After much pleading, the girls finally convinced el papa to bring them back for the book release.
Seeing as how we had a few hours to kill until midnight, la familia headed to the Olive Garden in Mishawaka, which is right down the road from South Bend. The parentals asked for everyone to sing to me and that was fun and embarrassing. I did get a digital camera though, which is way cool: a little gadget I've been contemplating buying for some time now.
And then it was Harry Potter time, an enthralling endeavor, especially since I am not a fan, by any means. We showed up at the bookstore around 11:30, and the place had been transformed. There were black curtains everywhere, and we had to know the password (aka the name of the new book) to get in. Once inside, it was like a carnival. Booths were set up, and everywhere I looked there as an old woman in a witch costume sans the scary nose pushing plastic spider rings, Hogwart's stickers and lightning bolt tattoos my way. There were gaggles of little, screaming children everywhere, all dressed up and impatient. Likewise, there were a fair amount of older people, many who looked as though they could be grandparents, dressed up and excited for the new book. The odd thing was, they had no kids with them. They merely carried camcorders in their lightning tattooed hands to capture the blessed event. At midnight, the bookstore officials wheeled out the crates and mass chaos ensued. Six minutes later, el papa had a copy and we were out of the store.
Whew. No more bubblegum hysteria for me, thank you.
Saturday was a lazy day. We watched Lorenzo's last scrimmage, briefly talked with Coach Willingham (he's such a BA), and then were back at the hotel to check out. My brother was starving, so we stopped at a Burger King (his favorite dining establishment). We ate, and were amused by Lorenzo's stories: it was a fun time. (Really we were just putting off getting back in the van...) Eventually we got tired of listening to Lorenzo, and el papa decided it was time to head home. We made it as far as Louisville, KY before we all got sick. Yay for food poisoning after only five hours in the car. Yeah, it was g-ross, to be sure.
After much Pepto Bismal and sleep, we were back on the road Sunday morning. El papa's left arm kept falling asleep while he was driving, which made progress slow. We didn't even get out of Tennessee until about three in the afternoon. Y-u-c-k.
Luckily we finally pulled into the drive way around six, just as Melinda decided she was car sick, and the rest of us agreed: no more fast food for awhile.
Ah. Home sweet home.
lasaliente, 08:33
