July 14, 2007
It’s chilly here in Chile. Temperatures are low and you feel it more than in the US because Chileans homes don’t have central heating. Rain is pitter pattering on the window and outside it’s gloomy and grey.
But inside our little love nest S. and I are cozy. I am sitting on front of the space heater wrapped in a fuzzy, green fleece blanket. The television is on and we are watching none other than my favorite sport ever, soccer. The game is thrilling and close between two fantasticly skilled teams, just how I like to see el Jogo Bonito played.
I’m sipping a glass of bubbly and feeling the buzz. Hmmm, looking back, maybe that’s why I was feeling all warm inside, maybe it wasn’t just my good mood. S. is in the chair behind me, kindly giving me a back rub and I’m so relaxed that my arms, like wet noodles, are barely even able to hold the glass of champagne.
People, this might just be heaven on earth.
July 7, 2007
I was tagged by Feisty to do this, so here goes nothin’.
1. Post the rules, then list eight things about yourself.
2. At the end of the post, tag and link to eight other people.
3. Leave a comment at those sites, letting them know they’ve been tagged, and asking them to come read the post so they know what to do
1. I’ve never thought of myself as a quirky person, until the husband started making note of things I do he thinks are insane. So here’s a few of them: I won’t carry things in my pockets (not even chapstick and especially not cell phones) because I think it makes me look fat. I hold my breath when I flush the toilet because I once heard that feces particles spray ten meters everytime you flush and I don’t want any to get in my mouth or nose. I judge food based on texture –I won’t touch cheese with a ten foot pole. I don’t like people to touch the top of my head (playing with my hair is fine but just resting a hand or arm is not) because I feel like I’m being smushed into the ground. I could go on forever…
2. If I could be one thing in the world, I’d be a professional photographer. You guys can see my flickr photos here but please don’t mention this blog, I don’t want the whole world to know it exists. Anyways, I would be a photographer full time if I could. I think I may have the raw talent, or at least a lot of people have told me I do, but I don’t have the technical know-how or the start up $ to buy the ridiculous amount of equipment needed. I just wish I would’ve figured this passion out earlier in life so I could’ve studied photography or visual arts in college.
3. I hope my parents never find this blog because they might die if they heard this, but college was the laziest time of my life and I don’t think I learned very much either. I went to University of Tampa…I probably went to 1/4 of my classes, IF that, and still came out with a 3.6 GPA if that tells you anything about the quality of the school. And on top of all that, it was expensive as hell (pardon my french, but there’s no other expression to describe the amount of debt I’m now in, thanks to student loans).
4. I work at home right now, for my dad’s company and I’m hoping to get a second job that will allow me to continue to do so. If I don’t get that second job I’ll probably have to stop working for my dad and go out and get a real job because of financial reasons. I’m really hoping that doesn’t happen. I love the comfort of my home because working in pj’s is AWESOME!
5. I was an overachiever in high school (played piano, flute in the marching band, I was a cheerleader, captain of the soccer team, honors society, vice president of my class, you get the idea…). And even though I did all those things I still never felt good enough. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I was a “floater.” Because of all the activities I was involved in I was friends with a lot of different groups but didn’t belong exclusively to one group. I was always jealous of those girls who had a best friend that was really loyal to her. It got lonely sometimes being good friends with everyone and best friends with nobody.
6. At my wedding we didn’t have anyone to officiate the ceremony until literally 10 minutes beforehand. The priest that was supposed to be there didn’t show up. Fortunately our best man took it upon himself to go to a random church in the city and beg the priest he found inside to come. We also didn’t have a place to hold the ceremony until 2 days before because I kept giving the veto to every place our wedding planner showed us. Fortunately everything turned out amazing and more than a few people told us that it was the most fun they’d ever had at a wedding!
7. I love Newsweek and used to subscribe but now I can only read online because a subscription here costs $200 a year compared to $20 a year in the USA. Its my favorite magazine and the only thing that has made me feel that my brain is not slowly turning to mush ever since I graduated from college six months ago.
8. I find it really, terribly, oddly normal that I followed the graduate from college, get married immediately path. The rest of my life has been so abnormal that it just feels strange to be doing something the way the rest of the world does it. Granted, its slightly different to marry and move overseas, but these days everybody’s doing that too!
I now tag…Pin Up Girl, Ordinary Girl, Tout La Mode, Body of Work, Dynamic Fitness, Took2Weeks, EvilJoy and My .02 Cents.
*Chocolate, white, dark, milk, I don’t discriminate
*Chocolate pudding
*Chocolate milk (are you noticing a trend here?)
*Photography and photoshop
*Celebrity gossip
*Scrubs, the most hilarious show ever
*The USA
*Diet, nutrition and fitness
*Comfy sweatpants
*University of Tampa, the most beautiful, lazy college in the world
*Long bike rides
*Long walks with friends
*Even longer naps
*Shakira
If you guessed, “What are things that make K happy?” You are correct! But, (and this is excluding all people, friends and family) the one thing that tops the list of my joys in this world is futbol, el jogo bonito, or as we call it in the US, soccer. I watch teams play for hours on end and never get bored. I cry for the player who misses the penalty kick because I know he will regret that moment forever. I rejoice for the underdogs who pull out victories over teams twice as strong, twice as fast and twice as skilled. I yell loud enough to wake the dead at my T.V. when the ref makes a bad call. A goalie who makes an incredible diving save gets me on my feet every time. Those game winning goals scored from 20 meters out in extra time absolutely thrill me!
Now imagine all that passion, but times a thousand, and that’s how I feel everytime the US Men’s National Team takes the field in red, white and blue! I’m sure that’s how I’d feel during the women’s games too, but they are rarely shown on television. There is absolutely nothing in this world that brings out the patriot in me, like the US soccer team. Especially since I live abroad, watching their games on T.V. is one of my biggest connections with my country.
This summer was simultaneously one of the best and the worst summers in the history of US soccer. The men’s team played to a stunning victory over Mexico in the Gold Cup, but then went on to send an experimental team of young players to the Copa America and get hammered into the ground, losing by a total score of 8-2 over the course of three games.
Seriously, I wasn’t expecting the US to win many games in the Copa America. With such a young team it was like leading lambs to the slaughter, when you consider the fact that they had to face futbol giants like Messi, Riquelme, Veron etc. Still, I was so disappointed. A big part of why I want them to do well is because at a time when the US is so disliked by countries all over the world, I felt that a good showing would put our players in the spotlight and help people see that we’re not all monsters. The team is so classy, they play hard, but don’t foul dirty. They don’t argue unnecessarily with refs. They shake hands and exchange jerseys after the games and never bad mouth their opponents in press conferences. They represent the USA proudly. In the international soccer world, those things are all rarities. I guess in a way I see them as ambassadors, demonstrating the good qualities of US citizens. Unfortunately nobody plays attention to a team that doesn’t play well, no matter how classy they are. Oh well, even when they lose the US Men’s National Team still makes me proud to be from the USA.
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