Happy late-October everyone! It has been a busy past few weeks for me. As many of you may know, I just got back from a super quick trip to the USA. My friends Rachel and James were getting married so I managed to spend one week in Oregon with my family before returning to Chicago for their wedding.
There were several slightly stressful adventures during my trip which included: switching luggage with someone by accident and them not noticing, sleeping in the airport for 4 hours, getting sick again, having my luggage arrive two days after me, loosing my brand new Chilean cell phone, having my US cell phone lost but then found again but then having the contacts messed up when we returned my number to the old phone, wanting to bring my bike back to Chile but not being able to because of transportation complications in Chicago, and finally, Chilean customs siezing the five bags of dehydrated fruit that Mom spent hours making for me because they were not store-sealed. Despite these trials, I did have a wonderful though super short time both in Oregon and in Chicago!
In Oregon I...
- Spent time with my Mom;
- Saw my dentist, doctor, and eye doctor -- I'm all good! Still no cavities and besides my allergies which make me more susceptible to sinus infections, I am healthy!
- Celebrated Oma's 76th birthday which included me modeling the wedding dress she made for herself in one week after she graduated from college;
- Celebrated my sister/friend Maisha's birthday via surprise party and planned party;
- Had a wonderful dinner with my parents and stopped by Dad's class for a bit;
- Saw my family and friends and hosted a party where we made Chilean empanadas (like hotpockets but with ground beef, onions, an olive and a part of a hard boiled egg);
- Had a fun car-ride down to Eugene with my great Aunt and Uncle and a delightful time in Eugene with my grandparents;
- Visited my brother's new diggs at Oregon State University before heading back to Portland to pack and get on the plane to Chicago in the early morning.
In Chicago I...
- Enjoyed a Chicago hotdog complete with pickles, mustard, jalapeño peppers, saurkraut? and a bunch of other stuff (surprisingly good);
- Was culturally shocked over the "normal sized" giant Root Beer float I ordered;
- Went to Rachel and James' wedding rehearsal and dinner (I lived with them in the big house my last year of college and we were the only sane ones in the whole house);
- Stayed with Rachel's really wonderful cousin Shaina and her boyfriend Ilya;
- Went to the special Oneg Shabbat where Rachel and James got blessed (aka candy thrown at them by the congregation);
- Spent the day in Chicago with Waheeda and Le'Nay, two wonderful ladies who I met through James and Rachel and who I was delighted to see again;
- Played Whirlyball for the first time, which is a new sport where you sit in a bumper car with a short, plastic lacrosse stick and try to get the whiffle ball to hit the giant basketball boards on either end of the room. Exciting, fun, crazy and slightly jarring. :D
- Then went to get our nails done and eat Chinese food at an epic restaurant as the Bachelorette party. The Restaurant appeared handy as it was right next door to the nail place but it took more than an hour to get the food (they were really busy with take out orders and struggled to prioritize), and they gave Le'Nay shrimp springrolls instead of veggie ones which could have killed her (highly allergic to shellfish). It was exciting, to say the least. They did give us lots of free cookies at the end.
- Woke up bright and early Sunday October 14th to go get coffee for everyone and arrive at the hotel at 7 am to start getting make-up professionally done and hair done by other bridesmaids, dresses figured out (they are "transformer dresses") and pictures taken for the 3:30 pm wedding ceremonies.
- Had a fantastic time at Rachel and James' wedding, dancing, learning about Jewish traditions, meeting new wonderful people, eating good food and running around helping.
- Was able to spend the afternoon of the next day with James and Rachel going to see a movie and then crashing their special Jewish dinner to receive blessings as a married couple. Met more wonderful people there and felt very welcomed.
I arrived back in Santiago on Tuesday, October 16th at 11:45 pm. Antonio and his cousin with his truck were waiting to welcome me home. The next day I jumped back into classes with not too much jetlag. I am finally almost unpacked. Just the stuff that needs to be stored is waiting to be dealt with. As much as I loved seeing family and friends, there's nothing like being home and being able to relax. with my boyfriend and our little doggie Lukas. Lukas was EXTREMELY happy to see me and has resumed his usual duties as dedicated shadow. He follows me EVERYWHERE and gives me many kisses (licks to the wrist or arm). Apparently, the first four nights I was gone, he refused to leave his place on the couch downstairs to go up to bed as he was convinced that I would come home later that night. Such a sweetie!
I apologize to those of you who I didn't manage to see or spend more time with on my visit. As I said, it was really way to short a stay! Next time I will stay longer, although I don't know when that may be. Hopefully next year. It's expensive! It was so nice to see those of you I did manage to see! Thank you for changing your schedules late-notice to see me!
Here are the photos I took at James and Rachel's wedding. The Bachelorette and Whirlyball pictures are below. The Chicago photos will have to come in the next posting as there are maaaany of them. By the way, the last two photos are of the outside of the card I made for James and Rachel. It is of their two cats: one is a scared-y-cat and the other plays with the corners of walls. Guess which is which!
Love and hugs to you all!
Love, Kaia (^_^)
There were several slightly stressful adventures during my trip which included: switching luggage with someone by accident and them not noticing, sleeping in the airport for 4 hours, getting sick again, having my luggage arrive two days after me, loosing my brand new Chilean cell phone, having my US cell phone lost but then found again but then having the contacts messed up when we returned my number to the old phone, wanting to bring my bike back to Chile but not being able to because of transportation complications in Chicago, and finally, Chilean customs siezing the five bags of dehydrated fruit that Mom spent hours making for me because they were not store-sealed. Despite these trials, I did have a wonderful though super short time both in Oregon and in Chicago!
In Oregon I...
- Spent time with my Mom;
- Saw my dentist, doctor, and eye doctor -- I'm all good! Still no cavities and besides my allergies which make me more susceptible to sinus infections, I am healthy!
- Celebrated Oma's 76th birthday which included me modeling the wedding dress she made for herself in one week after she graduated from college;
- Celebrated my sister/friend Maisha's birthday via surprise party and planned party;
- Had a wonderful dinner with my parents and stopped by Dad's class for a bit;
- Saw my family and friends and hosted a party where we made Chilean empanadas (like hotpockets but with ground beef, onions, an olive and a part of a hard boiled egg);
- Had a fun car-ride down to Eugene with my great Aunt and Uncle and a delightful time in Eugene with my grandparents;
- Visited my brother's new diggs at Oregon State University before heading back to Portland to pack and get on the plane to Chicago in the early morning.
In Chicago I...
- Enjoyed a Chicago hotdog complete with pickles, mustard, jalapeño peppers, saurkraut? and a bunch of other stuff (surprisingly good);
- Was culturally shocked over the "normal sized" giant Root Beer float I ordered;
- Went to Rachel and James' wedding rehearsal and dinner (I lived with them in the big house my last year of college and we were the only sane ones in the whole house);
- Stayed with Rachel's really wonderful cousin Shaina and her boyfriend Ilya;
- Went to the special Oneg Shabbat where Rachel and James got blessed (aka candy thrown at them by the congregation);
- Spent the day in Chicago with Waheeda and Le'Nay, two wonderful ladies who I met through James and Rachel and who I was delighted to see again;
- Played Whirlyball for the first time, which is a new sport where you sit in a bumper car with a short, plastic lacrosse stick and try to get the whiffle ball to hit the giant basketball boards on either end of the room. Exciting, fun, crazy and slightly jarring. :D
- Then went to get our nails done and eat Chinese food at an epic restaurant as the Bachelorette party. The Restaurant appeared handy as it was right next door to the nail place but it took more than an hour to get the food (they were really busy with take out orders and struggled to prioritize), and they gave Le'Nay shrimp springrolls instead of veggie ones which could have killed her (highly allergic to shellfish). It was exciting, to say the least. They did give us lots of free cookies at the end.
- Woke up bright and early Sunday October 14th to go get coffee for everyone and arrive at the hotel at 7 am to start getting make-up professionally done and hair done by other bridesmaids, dresses figured out (they are "transformer dresses") and pictures taken for the 3:30 pm wedding ceremonies.
- Had a fantastic time at Rachel and James' wedding, dancing, learning about Jewish traditions, meeting new wonderful people, eating good food and running around helping.
- Was able to spend the afternoon of the next day with James and Rachel going to see a movie and then crashing their special Jewish dinner to receive blessings as a married couple. Met more wonderful people there and felt very welcomed.
I arrived back in Santiago on Tuesday, October 16th at 11:45 pm. Antonio and his cousin with his truck were waiting to welcome me home. The next day I jumped back into classes with not too much jetlag. I am finally almost unpacked. Just the stuff that needs to be stored is waiting to be dealt with. As much as I loved seeing family and friends, there's nothing like being home and being able to relax. with my boyfriend and our little doggie Lukas. Lukas was EXTREMELY happy to see me and has resumed his usual duties as dedicated shadow. He follows me EVERYWHERE and gives me many kisses (licks to the wrist or arm). Apparently, the first four nights I was gone, he refused to leave his place on the couch downstairs to go up to bed as he was convinced that I would come home later that night. Such a sweetie!
I apologize to those of you who I didn't manage to see or spend more time with on my visit. As I said, it was really way to short a stay! Next time I will stay longer, although I don't know when that may be. Hopefully next year. It's expensive! It was so nice to see those of you I did manage to see! Thank you for changing your schedules late-notice to see me!
Here are the photos I took at James and Rachel's wedding. The Bachelorette and Whirlyball pictures are below. The Chicago photos will have to come in the next posting as there are maaaany of them. By the way, the last two photos are of the outside of the card I made for James and Rachel. It is of their two cats: one is a scared-y-cat and the other plays with the corners of walls. Guess which is which!
Love and hugs to you all!
Love, Kaia (^_^)
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| James and Rachel's Wedding! |
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| Whirlyball and Bachelorette Party |
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