We're on a 2 week "tour" with Jeff. We left last Sunday and stayed in Corpus Christi until yesterday, then we drove down to McAllen. It's a border town but it feels very much like I'm in a different country. So I came up with a list of reasons that explains how you know you're in a border town.
1. People talk to you in Spanish, assuming you can understand them.
Maybe it's because I am in McAllen or maybe it's because I look like I could be Spanish but I've had several other hotel residents talk to me Spanish..I just look at them an smile. Alot of people are talking to Ty in Spanish too saying "hola, babe." He looks at them a little funny.. I told him just to say hi.
2. The majority of the billboards and building are labeled in Spanish.
English is used as the subtitle under it
3. Half the tv channels are in Spanish.
I caught myself just watching one of the channels. I try to play a game to see if I can figure out what they are saying.
4. It's 75 degrees outside and people are wearing long selves, and jackets.
Ty got some funny looks as he walked down the hall in his swimming suit carrying his water toys. Needless to say we were to only ones taking advantage of the outdoor swimming pool. Actually the pool itself was a bit cold, so Ty played in the hot tub, it felt like a heated pool.
I guess this weather is a little cool for this area but it was perfect outdoor weather for us.
Ty and I made it breakfast this morning.. that's my one goal of the mornings.. that I get us both up and dressed before 9:30 because that's when they stop serving breakfast. However this morning the housekeeping service tried to bust into the door at 8:15 this morning to clean the room...What in the world!?! I woke us both up and we made it with time to spare. When we got downstairs to the dinning room and it was full of people eating. After Ty and I got situated I noticed that everyone around me was talking in Spanish.
There was an incident this morning that made my heart stop briefly. We're staying on the 2nd floor which ty loves because he loves to ride the "alligator." After our swim we were heading back to our room. Ty didn't see the elevator and keep racing down the hall as he was coming back to where I was, the elevator door opened and I stepped on..thinking he was right behind me. I had my arms full of wet clothes and water toys, I dropped a float and bent over to pick it up and as I did, the door closed. I hadn't pushed any buttons so I didn't think the elevator would go anywhere...and as I stood up I pushed the button to open the doors but it wasn't working. The elevator started to move and I could hear Ty saying...mommy wait for me. The doors opened on the second floor to a housekeeper. I asked her where the stairs where and planned to run down them to get Ty. Well she didn't speak English and had no clue what I was asking. Then I tried to ask her if she was going up or down. She got on and the elevator and the door closed. I could hear Ty through the elevator shaft..laughing (not crying!) I ran to my room threw my stuff down and went back to the elevator that's when my panic started to set in. I knew Ty would be on the next avaiable elevator and he could be on any floor. At that time the elevators doors opened and the housekeeping lady was there again she asked me, "bebe?" and standing behing her was my little guy. I guess she understood my panic through the language barrier when she realized Ty and I were on different floors. I guessing she rode the elevator with him and was going to help him find me. I never completely panicked but I was on the verge.
3 comments:
Wow that is scary to think you can't get to your child. When I was little my Mom took the three of us kids to Seasame Street. We were in the big waterful pool and my mom was sitting on the sides in a chair. Well I was playing and all of a sudden couldn't find my mom. I was so scared. I went up to one of the vendars and asked if they could help me find my mom. Well endless to say we found my mom and she said to me, "Tash I was watching you the whole time." She said she could see me even when I went up to the worker. I remember being really scared.
Congrats on the pregnancy. It is so much harder the second time around with a busy first child. I am so happy for you guys. Keep us updated!!Whit
April - how scary to be away from Ty like that... I actually had a similar experience a few weeks ago but it wasn't Anna I couldn't find, it was my husband, Adam. It was a Tuesday and I sent him an email early in the morning to see if he wanted to meet for lunch... three hours later he hadn't responded or called so I called him at work and got his voicemail right away - his voicemail said it was Monday and then i started to get a bit worried - Adam is meticulous about his work voicemail and he NEVER forgets to change it... so then i called his cellphone - no answer... so i called daycare to make sure he dropped Anna off and she was there... i started to really freak out that he had driven off the road or something and no one had found him yet... i drove to his office and looked for his car and i couldn't find it... so i went inside and found a coworker who said he hadn't seen Adam all day... more panic!!!! And then sure enough there he was in a training class without his cell phone and he had been late to work so he didn't have time to change his voicemail... i totally lost it. It was the first time in my life that I was so afraid of being alone... Adam is my best friend and everything to me and the thought of him not being ok made me sick to my stomach... long story i know and now he carries his cell phone with him everywhere :0)
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