things for granted

hot water
television in the language you KNOW
your favorite snack foods & candy
warmth IN the house

these are the things i've taken for granted and have realized since being here.

the hotel has hot water, in the sink, whereas in my family's house there is only hot water in the shower. washing my face with hot water was a "luxury" i enjoyed the other night.

TV ... out of 75 channels, there are about 5 in english. now while this can be good for lanuage learning (though difficult), it makes for watching Little House on the Prairie and Wiley Coyote very annoying. it's not supposed to be in spanish!

i miss Reeses peanut butter cups and regular crunchy Cheetos. they have Twix and Snickers out the wazoo, as well as Doritos and Cheeto Puffs, but sometimes the others are better.

the hotel room is cold. i see now why they have fireplaces in all the rooms. there is no other warmth. in my room at the house it's not cold. not sure why there is a difference.

i'm sure there are more things i could share, but these are the only ones i can think of right now.
yesterday i was a lazy bum. i eventually went down to the lobby area where there is a big fountain and comfy chairs and studied a little. while i was there Erwin saw me and stopped to talk for a few minutes. he's a nice guy ... the one that showed me around the hotel last week. i told him i was going to go see a movie later and he said to not be surprised if he was there afterwards.

about 4:30 i went to a little italian restaurant called Napoli and ate a pizza. it was good pizza, homemade, thin crust, a little crunchy, only a little sauce. i ordered Hawaiian. the ham was good, but the pineapple was yucky, so i had to pick it all off. otherwise, the pizza was great. it was big enough for one hungry person or two not-so-hungry persons.

then i went to the theater and watched The DaVinci Code. it was in enlglish with spanish subtitles. but you know how a lot of the time they speak italian? well, those subtitles were in spanish too. and since i'm not perfect at understanding spanish, i was lost during those moments. i didn't really like the movie. i don't think it was a good movie for me to see given i had to think a lot and i've been doing a lot of thinking as it is. so i wasn't really into it, didn't really understand it, and certainly didn't agree with any of what i DID understand (but that was given). so, it basically just served as a three-hour time-waster.

once the lights came on, i heard a voice. there was Erwin. he and i walked next door to Mono Loco, had a drink, and talked for quite a while. then we walked back to the hotel together. when we rounded the corner of the first block, i looked across the street at this little bar with blaring music and guess who i see coming out??? it's Leo!!! i just couldn't believe it. i don't know for sure if he saw me because i tried to hide behind Erwin, but it crazy weird and i just kept saying, "it's him, i can't believe it!"

anyways, Erwin is a nice guy. a tall, skinny, black guy from Aruba. he speaks 5 languages and serves as a nice bodyguard and provides a nice laugh. otherwise, no interest on my part.

this morning i decided to try out the room service for breakfast. i've never done that before, so why not. i ordered a cheese omelette, papaya juice, and croissants. about 10 minutes before it was supposed to be delivered they called me to confirm the order. and a bit later a nice suited man arrives carrying my food on his shoulder accompanied by a quiet little lady carrying the bill. he sets the tray down on the table, shows off the food, and collects the money. tip was included making the bill Q52. of course, expensive, but it's comfort/convenience you pay for, right?

so there on the tray was the cheese omelette (3 eggs, i think), a little hashbrown triangle patty, a little piece of canteloupe, and a little bit of turkey ham. a basket of small croissants (4). orange juice instead of papaya juice. and coffee. the food was great. the croissants weren't as soft as i'd like, but still good. i tried the coffee, because it's been a long time, i still don't like it. i tried it with milk. still gross. it's final, i don't like coffee.

so anyways, now i'm blogging and am about to go out in the world. it's windy and chilly out today. later i will play pool with Erwin, then eat a peanut butter sandwich, cheeto puffs, and chocolate after a hot bath. and at some point i will review some spanish. i would hate to forget something i've just barely learned. i guess another relaxing day. :-)