Japanese driver’s license fiasco=over!!!

Greetings all.  This is it……my last week before coming home.  By the end of this week, I’ll be back in Kentucky!      I couldn’t be more excited!  I have exactly three more work days to get through, and then I’ll be on my way home.  But before that, I have much to blog about, so here goes…..

I had my adult eikaiwa class on Thursday night.  I only have two ladies in the class right now, and I told them a few weeks ago that I am going home in July.  One of the ladies brought me a gift bag that night full of snacks and candies.  She said that she thought I would like some snacks while at the airport.  How sweet!  There was also a card in the bag, and when I opened it, a 5,000 yen bill fell out!    That’s about $60-70!!  She gave it to me as spending money for America.  I was so shocked!!  I really wanted to refuse it and say that it was too much, but you really can’t refuse a gift in Japan.  It’s really, really distasteful if you do.  I really don’t even know this lady all that well, but I thanked her time and time again!

I stayed the night at Melissa’s that night since she lives just outside of Hitoyoshi and I had to drive to the city the following morning to take my license test.  I told her about the gift from my eikaiwa student, and she said that sometimes the Japanese will do that….give you a gift before you go on a trip so that they’ll receive a gift in return.  I don’t see my sweet little old student doing that, but I don’t know……  Melissa also told me that 5,000 really isn’t a big deal to the Japanese.  That’s considered to be cheap.  It would be like dropping a $10-20 in a birthday card…fairly typical and standard.  You learn something new every day!

Friday I drove up to the city to take my test.  I woke up earlier than planned, so I got ready quickly and decided to take the long way (back roads) there to avoid paying for the toll roads.  I didn’t see Melissa that morning, but that didn’t stop her from being awesome.  She left me a card, balloon, and gallon bag of Captain Crunch by the front door.    Sweet!  It rained off and on on my drive up, but I was completely surprised to see the sun shining at the Menkyo Center!  I really thought that  there was a perpetual cloud that surrounded that place……

I had to go to the same office to get my papers, and the lady in there is really sweet.  She speaks English pretty well and told me good luck!  I went back out to the lobby to wait until noon, when the course opens to pedestrians who want to walk it.  I practiced over and over in my mind the steps that I needed to take for entering the car and how to “properly drive” according to Japanese test standards.  I didn’t see anybody else show up to take the test, and it wasn’t until I was walking the course when I saw another guy.  He wasn’t an ALT and told me that he worked in the city at a logo company.  That was his second time taking the test.

At 1PM while we were waiting in the lobby, the proctor came out to get us.  He chose me to go first.    I was strangely calm/nervous.  Knowing that it was my last opportunity to take this test and that if I didn’t pass, I couldn’t drive when I return in August really didn’t help my nerves.  As I stretched my foot to the brake or switched to the gas, my foot shook.  It didn’t affect my driving, but I was still a bit on edge.  Luckily for me, the proctor was really nice….dare I even say funny…?  He was making jokes and being very light-hearted the whole time.  I didn’t see him make very many marks on my grade sheet, so I thought that maybe, just maybe I had passed.  When I got out of the driver’s seat and into the back seat so the other guy could take his test, I glanced at my grade sheet and saw that it said 80.  You have to have a 70 or above to pass.  I HOPED and PRAYED that I was looking at it right, but I couldn’t find out until the other guy finished his test.  I felt sorry for him, but I knew that he wasn’t going to pass.  He definitely didn’t know the moves and certain silly things that they want you to do like not coming to a complete stop once you finish the crank and S-curve (which is STUPID….side roads always give way to the main road).  It also started pouring rain halfway through the course.    The proctor was nice about it, but he stopped grading halfway through the course.  It was pretty evident that the guy had failed. 

Whenever we got to the cubicle area where the proctor tells you what you did wrong, he actually gave us our grad sheets.  That was my fifth time to take the test and first time to see the actual grade sheet.  I saw the 80 on mine and asked him if that was okay.  He said yes.         I PASSED!!  I was ridiculously happy after that, but I still had to sit there and let him tell me what I did wrong.  I nodded at whatever he said, but to tell you the truth, I wasn’t even listening.  I passed, and that was all I cared about!  The nice office lady came back over and was sincerely happy for me.  She told me what I needed to do next.

I had to go to another office, fill out more paperwork, have my picture taken, pay, and finally (FINALLY!) get my license.  As I waited, I was calculating in my head exactly how much it had cost me to get my license.  Each time I went, I had to pay 2,200 for the “rental car” fee (Yep, you have to PAY to use THEIR car that you’re in for about five minutes.)  Not including tolls, gas, or food, I spent about $170 to get that silly thing.    After that, I had to go back to the original office, and the office lady sat me down to explain a few things.  Whenever I was finished, she congratulated me again.  I told her that it was my birthday, so I was very excited to get it.  She clapped for me and was genuinely happy for me.   

 

After that, I took the long way home because a) I’m cheap and didn’t want to pay tolls, and b) I wanted to see the height of the Kumagawa.  Mary told me earlier in the week that since it had rained so much last week, the river was darn near up to the road.  That was on Monday, and I was there on Friday, so by then the river had shrank to a little above its normal level.  I still stopped to get a few beautiful pictures (above).  When I got back to Hitoyoshi, I had a few errands to run before going over to Melissa’s house.  She had made me a cheesecake for my birthday.  Even though she had thrown me a party, made me a cake, and left me a birthday breakfast, she made me a cheesecake as well!  She truly is a wonderful person! 

It was a really, really good birthday.  Being away from home and celebrating it in a different country made it feel more like just another day instead of a birthday.  Despite that, though, I got the best present I could’ve gotten: MY LICENSE!!  From now on, I can drive in this country without any problems…..well, minus all of the dumb drivers… 

Playing catch up…..again!

Okay.  I really dropped the ball on the latter half of June.  I’ll try to make this short and sweet, but…….no promises.  I’m giving you the head’s up now!  I’ve got the whole day off since I don’t have any English classes today but still have to sit here and look busy.

One thing that really surprises me about Japan is that they’ll close the IC (interstate) if it rains too much. Since it’s rainy season, the IC has been closed quite frequently the past couple of weeks. That forces all of the traffic to either a) wait until it reopens, or b) go the back roads. The back roads here are usually tiny mountain roads. Sounds safe, right? I’ve heard that they close the IC to avoid accidents, but it seems very counter-intuitive……close the main road and force traffic onto a smaller road to be “safer”….? Here’s how you avoid accidents when it rains: SLOW. DOWN. Could you imagine if interstates in the States were closed down before every thunder storm?? There would be massive traffic jams in no time! I couldn’t imagine!

The weekend of June 16/17th we had the last big Kuma-gun fling that EVERYONE attended.  It was a huge BBQ party at the park in Yunomae.  Even though it poured rain the whole time, we huddled under our pavilion and had a wonderful time!  We stayed up late, and once we were finished with the party, we went back to the cabins that everyone was staying at and played Apples to Apples until the wee hours of the morning.  Ian and I didn’t stay in the cabins since our house was just five minutes down the road.  Instead, we went home and prepped up for a pancake party the next morning for everyone.  It was a tight fit, but we managed to get sixteen people in our house!  Quite an amazing feat if I do say so myself!    Everyone enjoyed pancakes drizzled with fruit toppings, chocolate sauce, and cream.  YUM!

The next two days I spent in the city with attempt #2 and #3 of getting my license, both of which were failures.  I’ve already blogged about them and don’t wish to revisit that part of my life.

The next day was Wednesday, and I had my elementary day.  In my fifth grade class, we were doing a counting lesson, and they were learning the phrase, “How many ______?”  Each student had a sheet of paper, and they had to pick a number 1-20 and draw that number of objects on it so that the rest of the class could count it later.  I was browsing up and down the aisles looking at what the kids were drawing, and one kid had a picture of a woman with two HUGE circles on her chest.  LOL!  I’m guessing that his number was two…..   I couldn’t help but to laugh at it, and after that he erased it and did something a little more appropriate. 

That day at break time, I was playing tag with the kids outside.  I rounded a corner too sharply and scraped up against a leaf of a tree limb.  It was sharp like a holly leaf and cut the skin ever so slightly.  I’m not sure what kind of tree it was, but it immediately stung and swelled up a bit.  I had a whelp on my arm!  The swelling went down later in the afternoon, but I was just so surprised to have such a reaction to a tree!  Later in the game, I guess I reached up or something, but the kids noticed my belly, so they giggled and continued to pull at my shirt, trying to get me to lift it up again.  When I wouldn’t, they took it upon themselves to tug on my shirt against my resistance until they were able to lift it up enough to touch it.  I’m not a pet, kids!

One of my girls that afternoon was really cute.  She told me that she was American (she’s not), but she doesn’t speak English.  (She said this in Japanese, and I was able to understand her!  Hurray!)  I laughed and told her that I was Japanese, but I couldn’t speak Japanese.    Ha. Ha.  I told a different girl during cleaning time about my summer vacation.  This girl LOVES me.  I don’t want to sound haughty in the least bit, but she ALWAYS wants me to be around her and play with her at recess.  She’s awesome.  I told her “I’m going to America in July.”  You should have seen the look on her face.  It was the saddest, most dreadful look ever.  I quickly had to assure her that it was just for a vacation and that I’d be back in August.  It was as if the world was lifted off her shoulders.  She was okay with it then. 

I joined dance club again that afternoon.  It was fun, and if I don’t understand or remember the dance moves, I just break out my own, which causes the girls to giggle.  It was hot at heck in that practice room, but we all sweated it out!

The next day, Thursday, we played a couple of games in class at the JHS.  My JTE had told me to create a few review games for class, and I did.  Except, I feel like sometimes when I create a game, he tends to change the rules to where it no longer is the original game that I wanted to play.    In my dreadful 3-1 class we played Hangman.  I’m not sure when exactly I’m going to learn my lesson when it comes to that game, but I keep hoping that the kids will one day just grow up and be more mature.  (It’s basically just a few dumb guys who cause all of the problems, but a few bad apples spoil the barrel!)  The first couple of letters guessed were A-R-S-E.  Arse, a slang word for butt.  I’m pretty sure that it was just a coincidence as I would be very, very surprised if my kids actually knew what arse meant.  However, the next letter guessed was X.  A-R-S-E-X.  Sex.  Awesome.  And completely, it’s arse sex.    To make matters worse, my JTE likes to play Hangman were it’s the students against the ALT, me.  I have NEVER won at this game because we play Hangman one word at a time instead of a phrase, and the students have their textbooks readily available to look at for reference.    Plus, I have to make a total of ten marks to make the Hangman body before I win.  I’m pretty sure that the game is rigged.  If I did somehow manage to get by those ten marks, I’m sure my JTE would suggest adding more detail to the Hangman like toes, fingers, etc.  I CAN’T WIN AT THIS GAME!!!!

I had to walk home in the rain that afternoon.  It was pouring down rain that morning, so I had Ian drop me off, but he had class that afternoon, so I had my two legs to carry me home.    By the time I got home, I looked like a drowned rain.  To add insult to injury, NOTHING ever dries during rainy season.  It will take AT LEAST a day before I get something dry enough to wear.

That night at eikaiwa, I had my adult class.  We were talking about hobbies and what we liked to do.  I was telling them about my sister and how she is good at EVERYTHING that she does.  I showed them some pictures of birthday cakes she had made for my nephews, and they agreed.  She’s amazing!  One of my students gave me two tomato plants that night.    I haven’t planted them yet, and they’re still sitting in the pots ready for a planting, but I’m looking forward to having juicy tomatoes later this summer!

UUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!  One of the worst things about rainy season is that it drives the bugs inside.  There are bugs here that live in the tatami mats are can be especially worse in the rainy season.  They’re called dani, and are kind of like bed bugs.  They are no way near as severe or as hard to get rid of as bed bugs, though.  I noticed two small circular red bumps on my arm the other day but didn’t think too much about it.  When I came home that afternoon, Ian asked if I had any bug bites, and I showed him the two that I had.  His legs and arms were COVERED with them.  Poor guy!  We had heard of other people getting dani, so we knew how to take care of it.  All you have to do is inject the tatami with poison and essentially bug bomb the mats.  After we did that, we didn’t have any problems.    Hurray!

I made fun of Ian that week because it seemed like he was falling apart.  The poor kid had all kinds of problems. 

1) He hit his knee on a rock a few weeks back while swimming, and that’s been hurting him. 

2) He had the bug bites.  Some of them were clustered together on his back, and I started calling it his “scabies.” 

3) He has some kind of allergic reaction to our travel size shampoo that we used when we stayed at a friend’s house, so he had a big pus-infected scab over his right eye.

4) The bottoms of his feet always peel in the summer time, but this summer has been especially bad.  They were crusty and nasty.

5) The last thing I don’t quite remember, but I know that there were five things.  Oh well!

Okay.  I’ll stop it here.  This is getting a little long, so I’ll break this up into multiple blogs.  Silly me for thinking that I could catch up everything in just one blog entry!

SURPRISE!

Yesterday I concluded my blog by saying that I was going over to Melissa’s house for a 4th of July BBQ with a few other people.  After school, I came home and finished cutting the grass.  It was ridiculously out of control, and it looks SOOOOOOOOOO much better now that it’s cut.  Some of the neighborhood kids saw me outside and came around.  They were on a little scooter, so of course I hijacked it as they ran behind me screaming, “Nani kilo?  Nani kilo?”  (How much do you weigh?)  Apparently there was a weight limit for it, and after I told them that I weigh fifty-five kilos, they were satisfied and let the crazy foreigner ride to her heart’s content. 

I went inside around 6PM to shower and get ready.  I left around 6:30 even though I didn’t have to be there until 7:30 since I had to drop off my recycling, get gas, and pay a bill.  I wanted to get there a little early because Melissa is always really good about helping us set up for parties, and I just wanted to return the favor.  When I pulled up to her house at 7:20, everyone’s car was already there.  I was really surprised and wondered if perhaps I had gotten the time mixed up and was supposed to be there at 7 instead of 7:30.  When I opened the door, I heard a mad scramble and went into the living room where everyone was, peach cobbler and ice cream for the 4th party in hand.  As soon as I walked in the living room, everyone froze for a second and then Melissa said, “What are you doing here so early?!?!  You’re usually late!!”  (To which I responded, “Yeah, but usually Ian’s with me!” ) The jumbo size party poppers went off, and in about three seconds I was covered with confetti streamers.   

Mary made me a pretty, pretty princess crown (above left), Rebeca had driven all the way down from Nishihara (about two hours north of us) just to hang out with us, and everyone had prepared an all American feast, including chips and salsa, fried chicken, garlic bread, french fries, onion rings, pasta salad, and oh so much more!  It was wonderful!!  Everything was delicious and tasted like AMERICA!!!    They even made me a poster, and everyone wrote a personal message (below left) and cake (below right).  The best thing about the cake was that it was a REAL cake with REAL icing and not that Japanese fluff crap.  Yum!!  Melissa told me that even Ian had a pretty big hand in planning all of this.  Even though he wasn’t there, he still managed to surprise me!! 

 

I feel so utterly blessed to have such amazing friends who would go out of their way to make me feel special!  It certainly was an amazing gift!  Unfortunately, our night had to be cut short since all of us had to go to work the following morning.    I was waaaaaay too giddy and excited to go to sleep when I got home around 10:30, so I skyped Mommy and Daddy and then Ian and David.  I told them everything about the party, and they were excited to hear it.    I finally crawled into bed around 12:30AM……..

……only to wake up this morning at 5:27AM to some guy weed-eating RIGHT beside my house.  HONESTLY…….WHO WEED-EATS AT 5:27AM!?!?!?!  After about ten minutes of tossing and turning, I was able to go back to sleep (thanks to the pillow I mashed over my ear).  Darn you, Japan and your crazy intense work ethic!!!

That’s all for now.  Tomorrow is my actual birthday, and I’m off to the Menkyo Center to attempt to get my license for the 5th time.  Please, please, PLEASE say a prayer for me!!  If I don’t get anything else for my birthday, getting that license would be the best thing that could happen to me.  Hopefully I will have a very positive blog to write about tomorrow…..

Life without Ian

Several of you know that Ian’s back in the States, and I’m leaving next week for a little vacation back home before starting a new year.  Some of you have been asking what it’s like to be alone.  Well, I’ve got one word for you: quiet.  The first day was the hardest.  Even when Ian and I aren’t talking to one another or are in different rooms, it’s still comforting to know that someone is there.  Now I have nothing to go home to except silence.  It’s just weird.  I’m fine with it now, and I find things to kill the deafening silence: I’ll leave the computer or radio on even when I’m not listening to it. 

I miss Ian most when I realize that he’s having fun at home with our old friends, and I’m still here.  I also miss him when I want something done that I don’t want to do/am afraid of.  For example, I found a snail slithering along the floor in the kitchen the other day and had to pick it up and take it outside.  Icky! 

I have gotten several things done around the house that I’ve been meaning to do for a while.  I cleaned out all of the kitchen cabinets, organized the closets, cleaned the inside of the car, weeded my flower bed, and cut the grass.  That last task I’m a little angry at Mr. Ian for not doing before he left.  He totally could have, and it really needed it!  I’m not completely finished with it yet because it takes a while to cut grass with a sickle…..especially when you have a jungle in your back yard and it’s thick and wet.  I’ve been super afraid of seeing a snake as I hack away at the grass, but so far so good.  I’ve only seen other little critters like slugs, snails, little centipedes, spiders, beetles, and worms.  I can deal with those things, but if something slithers out, it’s game over.  I don’t care how tall that grass gets, it’s NOT getting cut by me!!!!  The grass was really out of control and jungle-like, as you can see.  The first picture is a before shot, and the middle one is an after shot.  The last picture is a warning shot to the critters hiding in the tall grass: DON’T MESS WITH A WOMAN WHO HAS A SICKLE!!!

  

I haven’t spent this much time away from Ian since I first came here, and we were separated for a week and a half, but things are much more different this time.  I know how to cook and what to eat now instead of playing the guessing game at the grocery.  I can go over to one of my friends’ houses to watch a movie or play games if I want to instead of sitting at home alone because I don’t know where anything is and I’m terrified of driving.  I can spend my evenings doing a variety of things instead of the same darn thing because that’s the only thing I know what to do.  Yes, it’s a lot easier this time.

Here I am whining, but I know that people do this (spend time away from their spouse) every day.  My friend, Jessica, spent six months away from her husband shortly after their wedding when he was deployed.  My sister, Amanda, will spend an entire year away from her husband starting in September when he is deployed to Djibouti.  I really commend spouses who are able to do that!  Ian and I talked about him possibly going back to Murray for a semester to finish his degree (not possible now), but now I know that it would just be too hard.  I’m not saying that it’s impossible, but it’s definitely something that I wouldn’t want to happen. 

My friends have also been really nice and supportive.  I’m not some whiney chick crying my eyes out every day because Ian’s not here, (I save my tears for the Menkyo Center and failed license tests.  ) but they realize that I’m not used to living alone.  Both Melissa and Justine offered their houses and companionship anytime I get lonely.  Just the thought is too kind and makes me really, really appreciate the amazing friends that I have over here.

In other news, today is July 4th!  Woo-hoo!  I’ve never spent it outside the USA, but this is how it goes in a foreign country: a typical work day.  Nothing different.    The other day when I was talking to Grandmother, she asked what my 4th of July plans were.  I tried to tell her that Japan doesn’t celebrate it since it’s just an American holiday, but she didn’t quite understand.  (The same thing happened at Thanksgiving.  It’s difficult to remember that not ALL countries have the same holidays as us!)  I actually do have 4th of July plans.  A few of us are going over to Melissa’s tonight for a friendly BBQ.  I made a peach cobbler (below), and I think the plan is to eat as much American food as possible.  Perhaps we will even have a sparkler or two!    (For those of you back home in the States, sorry about the no fireworks policy due to the drought.  That stinks!)

Being over here and spending the last year in Japan has never made me prouder to be an American!  I understand that the USA isn’t always the best, but it’s pretty darn good.  After you’ve spent a significant amount of time away from your own culture and social norms, you realize what you miss and how happy you are to be who you are.  I AM A PROUD AMERICAN.

That’s all for now.  I wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July!  Please eat some BBQ and watermelon for me!!!

If at first (or second, third, fourth…) you don’t succeed, try, try again!

Shamey, shamey, shamey on me!  I didn’t even get into double digits in June’s postings, and I’m over two weeks behind in catching up.  I’m horrible at this!  To be fair, it seems like I’ve been busier at school lately and therefore haven’t had as much time to write.  Once I’m at home I have no motivation to write……..so this is my dilemma.  Anyway, I’m going to start with events from this past weekend while they’re still quasi-fresh on my mind. 

Friday was a day of mixed emotions.  I stayed Thursday night at Melissa’s, and together we went to the Menkyo Center to attempt the license test once again.  That was my fourth time, Melissa’s second.  Even though I felt nervous, I felt much better about it.  I had been practicing the stupid Japanese moves (like mirror, signal, look, over every time you turn).  I didn’t want to jinx myself, but I thought that there could be a definite chance of passing that time.  The sun was even shining!    We took that to be a good omen.  We got there around 10:30AM, paid our 2,200 “rental fee” for the test car, looked at the course, and waited in the lobby while studying.  I closed my eyes, visualizing the course and every move.  Melissa said that I looked like a goober with my eyes closed while putting on an imaginary seatbelt, twisting my head to look at an imaginary blind spot, or pumping my imaginary brakes around the final curve like the proctor wants.  We joked and said that they would probably fail us anyway for three reasons:

1) We’re not Japanese.  Automatic ten point deduction.

2) We’re women.  Automatic ten point deduction.

3) We’re both Melissa Marie.  We said they’d probably get confused and just fail us both.

A few other ALTs showed up, and we discussed how many times each of us had taken the test.  One guy from the islands won.  Friday was his sixth time.  The others were in the two-four range.  They said that they were there yesterday.  There was a total of six people there attempting to get their license, other ALTs and one really, really old Japanese guy who probably didn’t have any right to be driving anyway.  However, out of all of them, guess who got the license?  Yep, the old Japanese guy!  Hurray for racism in Japan! 

We all walked the course together once it opened to pedestrians at noon, mentally nothing when to put on the blinker, where to turn, which lane to be in at each step of the process, etc.  Surprise of all surprises, Melissa and I were put in the same car.  Melissa told me that we had gotten the proctor who was a jerk to her earlier in the week.  He actually closed the book and stopped grading her test halfway through before making the “tsk, tsk, tsk” sound.  I was the last person to take it in the car, so I watched the first two people take it while trying not to have a mild panic attack.  I was able to be in the car when Melissa went, and I knew that she had failed.  The guy seemed to be pleased with himself as he angrily scrawled all over the paper.  As Melissa went around the obstacle, he actually sighed in a manner that said “I’m bored with this.”  Jerk! 

I was next.  I did all of the proper procedures for entering the car: check the front, back, look both ways before crossing the street, open the door properly, adjust seat and mirror, fasten seatbelt, the whole nine yards.  The first half of the course was amazing.  He didn’t mark ONE THING wrong on my paper.  Not one!  However, then going into the crank (they want you to HUG the left side of the road) I ran up on the curb.  According to the rules, you don’t fail for doing this as long as you stop and back off of it.  Last time I ran over the curb completely, which is why I failed.  This time, however, I caught myself.  I stopped, looked behind me, and backed off of the curb.  However, it didn’t matter.  Once my tire was up on that curb, the proctor pretty much considered it to be game over.  After that, he marked things right and left, nit-picking EVERY little thing I did wrong.  I was hopeful that maybe, just maybe, I had passed, but after we went back to the cubicle space, he told me that I didn’t.    ANGER.  FRUSTRATION.  DESPAIR.  These are all emotions that I felt.  Out of the six of us that took it that day, only one passed, and it was his sixth time taking the test. 

It was an especially hard hit for me because I knew that was my last chance to pass.  I didn’t have any more vacation days and would be stuck without the ability to drive once I come back in August since my International Driver’s Permit expires one year from the date I arrived in Japan.  Melissa and I tucked our tails between our legs and headed home.  I didn’t want to talk.  I just wanted to be in a little bubble and be angry at the world.  However, Melissa is in a perpetually good mood, and it’s hard not to laugh when the person beside you is making turkey noises and stupid faces. 

Once we got back to Hitoyoshi, we went to the super market to buy supplies for girls’ night on Friday night.  We went to the store and bought anything that could be dipped in chocolate.    Once we got back to Melissa’s house, I started writing an email to my supervisor telling her that I didn’t pass.  I told her that I knew that I didn’t have any more vacation days, but was there any possible way that I could try again before I go to America mid-July?  I would be willing to go in early and stay later if necessary.  I was completely surprised when she replied back that yes, I could do that.    As of now, I’m heading back to the Menkyo Center on July 6th (my birthday ) and making up the hours in August.

Melissa and I went over to Mary’s before the party because she had a horrible day and wasn’t feeling well at all.  She had a doctor’s appointment that day, and the doctor told her that as a side effect from her Crohn’s Disease, she has some other disease that is making her joints and muscles ache.    She emailed us and told us that she wasn’t going to be able to make it to girls’ night, so we went to see her and ended up staying there until we needed to go back to Melissa’s and prep for the party.  Even though she didn’t feel like it, we managed to convince Mary to come with us to girls’ night, and she did! 

We had SUCH a good time at girls’ night.  Most of the girls from our gun were there.  We ate fondue until we were stuffed full, drank Coke, played Twister, put our souls out on the table during a friendly game of Truth or Dare, and laughed until the early morning ours of Saturday.  I didn’t want to be the first one to leave, but I was surprised at how late everyone stayed!  My favorite parts of the night were playing Twister and Truth or Dare.  Rebeca and Ana are ridiculously flexible and were almost always the winners at Twister.    I was really surprised at some of the answers during Truth or Dare.  Without posting confidential information on here, I’ll just say that I learned a lot about some of my friends….in a good way.  It blew me away how honest we were being with one another.  Since Ian was landing in the States around 11 PM our time, he was supposed to Skype me, but he never did.  Melissa was saying how she kept getting a strange number on her phone, and I asked if it happened to be a 270 number, and she said yes.  Ian had been trying to call both of our phones, but it wasn’t working with either!   

 

I didn’t get home until 3 AM that morning, and instead of being drop dead tired, I was wide awake.  I called Mommy and talked for a bit before trying to get ahold of Ian.  It didn’t work again, and even though I was still wide awake, I forced myself to go to sleep around 4AM.