Days 5 and 6: Poisoning Myself and Burning Toilet Paper

January 25th & 26th, 2013  (No, I'm not a month behind on my dates...just a month behind on my posting)

Friday, Friday, Friday!!!! I love Fridays! I worked out in the morning to a “video” on my MAC and Aniceto delivered my brand-new shelves and nightstand for my room.  He’s a carpenter and built them himself for me.  He also asked me for a list of anything else I wanted so I requested a toile-paper holder and….ask and you shall receive!

I would have never thought to make a toilet paper holder out of wood...but I try to avoid plastic so I'm very happy about it!

I went to work in the morning and had a meeting with Josh to go over the week.  After that, I called it a day and went to town to buy some veggies and head home.  I met a really nice local girl at the veggie stand and I’ve seen her almost daily since and we always say “Hola, amiga!” since neither one of us remembers the other ones name but know we should J  I made myself a shake and then took a nap…and then I woke up, violently ill…really VIOLENTLY ill.  I was up all day and night sick, out both ends.  I’ll spare you any more details, but suffice it to say, it was not fun! 

Thankfully, by Saturday, it had stopped, but I was still weak and scared to eat or do much.  I was craving a ginger ail so I staggered into town to get one and that was all I had until late afternoon when I had an egg and some beans I had made the day before.  During the day, I just napped, watched movies, and tried to gain back energy.  I did manage to wash a few clothes, which actually takes energy here since I wash them by hand, but that took it all out of me so I called it a day. 

My multi-trashcan set up---food waste, plastics, paper all separate.

Oh, and I cleaned my house a bit, including the fun task of burning my toile paper.  There is not trash collection here so the system is as follows: organic waste—you compost, plastics, paper, etc.—I collect and hand over to Aniceto (not sure what he does with it), and toile paper—well, you burn it! We also burnt our trash in Paraguay, and anyone who has ever lived somewhere that they do this knows the distinct smell of burning trash that hits around 5 or 6 pm every evening.  I made my way to the TP burning pit and was too scared to do it alone so I asked 2 construction workers (who are building a house next door) to help me.  Nothing like burning someone else’s used toilet paper for them for a first meeting!  I was glad they had strong stomachs ‘cuz mine isn’t  that great to begin with and after a night like mine, I wasn’t sure I could last throughout the burning.  Gross, gross, gross! I’m still not sure what caused the food poisoning--there are too many “could be’s” like the water or fruits/vegetables.  Since I’m not giving up water or fruits and veggies anytime soon, I’ve convinced myself that it was the shake I had before my nap since the next day the milk smelled bad.  So there we have it, I poisoned myself.  Way to go, Dan.

Day 4: Unsuccessful

Day 4: January 24th, 2013

Thursday morning, I went into work all gung-ho to get lots done.  But, alas, the universe had other plans for me….nothing I tried to get accomplished worked…I mean nothing! My printer wouldn’t work, I couldn’t get the internet to work, I couldn’t open files I needed, people I needed to talk to weren’t there…it was just one of those days. Oh well, life could be a lot worse!

So, after a morning of getting a whole lot of nothing done, the entire staff and I went to eat lunch at Comedor Susi, a local family-style eatery. Every Thursday, the kids leave early and we have lunch together and a meeting.  Since the kitchen still wasn’t ready, we all went out.  Most places here have a meal of the day and it’s the cheapest and freshest.  Menus aren’t that typical and there are usually just a few options.  Since we were a big group, Josh and I had arranged it the night before on our way back from the docks to just have one meal for all.  Everyone had fried chicken, except me—I had vegetables, rice, and beans.  It was pretty good; although by the time we got it (around 2pm) I was so hungry I thought I might eat the whole chicken, my arm, and someone else’s. 

After lunch, we returned to school to finish up the meeting and it went until after 5pm.  As we were finishing up, I noticed clouds and heard thunder and mentioned that it looked like rain. Everyone laughed and assured me it couldn’t rain because it wasn’t rainy season. Sure enough, 5 minutes later, it was raining!  I was really glad for my short 1-minute walk home since it was raining and it was the one day I had brought my laptop with me!

The trail from school to my house is a dirt path with lots of rocks and boulders aligning it.  As I walked, I crossed paths with another guy who decided to go up and around me a bit.  While doing so, he knocked off a giant rock from someone’s retaining wall onto the back of my ankle.  It sliced it open and hit me right in the Achilles so that I had to limp home, bleeding, and carrying my cargo.  I was a sight!  Luckily, Don Lucas, the hotel owner of the property that my house is on, had a band-aid so I was all right. 

Type of rock that fell on my achilles. 

I ended working at home that night until about 11pm.  Fell asleep and then woke again at 3am, not able to sleep again.  So, I decided just to keep on working and was able to finally understand a lot of my new job.  Until then, I had just had information spewed at me and didn’t have time to really process or retain it.  So, after a rough start to the morning, at least I ended the day (albeit technically the next morning) with some success.

Day 3: Pupusas in Pana

23, enero, 2013 --Day 3, Guatemala:

We started the school day with another Mayan ceremony today, but this time just amongst the staff.  It was also in honor of Nicolas, a great man who had been at the school since the beginning and died in a tragic fishing accident last year.  His son currently works at the school with me and it was an emotional event.

After the ceremony, Josh and I went to Panajachel—known locally as “Pana.” It’s the closest “city” about an hour away by small motorboat.  The town of San Marcos reminds me of a weird mix of Asia and South America in so many ways, especially with all the hippy travelers everywhere.  But I was reminded, once again, of my backpacking Asia days as we boarded the small boat and were herded in like cattle for the bumpy, wet ride—it was just like Thailand and Cambodia!!! Also similar was having to not get ripped off for the fee.  Josh explained to me that the locals pay 8 Quetzales one-way and foreigners who live in town and are known pay 10 Q. However, there are always drivers who want to charge more than double and ask for 20 or 25 Q.  The best defense is to hand over exactly 10 Q and keep on walking.  We did this and were harassed for a minute but calmly stated that we live here and kept walking.  

For all my fellow Asia-backpackers, Pana reminds me of Luang Prabang in size.  It’s still a town and not a city by western standards, as you can walk the whole city in a few hours, but, after spending tranquil days in San Marcos, it seems overwhelming with the cards, noise, traffic, etc.  We spent all day walking around doing the week’s errands for the school---going to the bank, buying things that you can’t buy in San Marcos, etc.  It was hot and a long day.  We had pupusas for lunch and they were pretty good.  Josh had a beer at lunch and I couldn’t help but smile inside at my boss drinking a beer “while on the job” J I had hibiscus juice instead and it was yummy. We didn’t make it home until around 6pm and it sure felt like a long day!

My boss, Josh, after a lunch of Pupusas & beer.

The docks at Pana.

I was finally able to pay rent that night (a few days late) since I was able to get money at the bank in Pana (I think I mentioned already that there is no bank in my town.  There’s also no grocery store or lots of other things.  I’m slowly learning what things I can and can’t buy here and am grateful that I will have to travel to Pana almost weekly for work and can take advantage of the trip to do shopping.  Especially looking forward to grocery shopping, as there are a few places where you can buy anything! I couldn’t believe it! They had gluten-free EVERYTHING, Godiva brownie mix, anything I could want! Of course, you pay a hefty price for it so I won’t be getting much, but it’s nice to know the option exists! Oh, and since I’m writing this retroactively, I’m have to report that yesterday I discovered that I can also buy home-made granola, almond milk, and Godiva brownie mix in my own town—good to know for emergencies! J

Day 2: Mayan Ceremony

Day2: January 22nd, 2013

Tuesday morning was really great! The start of it, not so much, as I awoke to no water coming out of my faucets again.  I was really nervous this was going to be a routine thing, but I talked to the hotel owner, Don Lucas, who's son, Aniceto, owns my house, and he was able to get it turned back on in a second.  Turns out my neighbors had turned off the key because they had a leak.  And, I'm happy to report, I haven't had a problem since.  That was nice and all, but the really cool part about the morning was the Mayan ceremony at the school!

The kids still had not returned to school yet so it was just the teachers all week, and to begin the school year off right, we invited a local Mayan woman to perform a cleansing ceremony for blessings and good luck in the year.  It was really amazing to be a part of and I wanted so badly to take a photo of the amazing circle of colorful candles, flowers, elements to represent the earth (sugar, flour, water, etc.), but didn't, out of respect for the ceremony.  She told me I could “take a photo with my heart” : ) Love it!
I did, however, find these online. It looked similar to this...but way prettier!



The Mayans have something called a “Nahual” which is similar to a Chinese or Horoscope sign (as far as I can tell so far) and I learned that my symbol is 7, Kawoq.  You can calculate your Nahual and read about it here. Not sure what all that means yet, but anxious to learn more about it! After the ceremony, I met Manuel, a Chilean guy who worked in my position the year before.  He was able to train me some which was quite helpful.  He had his 2 adorable children with him and we all ate lunch in town at a local comedor and saw his house.  It had a GIANT and GORGEOUS patio, and if I shared the house with a roommate would cost me less than I'm paying now…later that day I ran into Andrea, a colleague, and went back to her house to have cookies and lemonade while her son, Antu and 2 friends played.  Her house and patio were also ginormous and beautiful and she pays the same amount I do…I may have to rethink my living situation here!

As we were opening her gate, we saw Lassa, Josh' dog, so we brought her inside and called him to come get her as she had escaped.  So, when he got there, I walked with him and Lassa to see the lake, finally! I hadn't even seen it yet! It's SO beautiful and amazing (see photos below) and I'm really happy to live in such a peaceful place.  Even the spiders and scorpions are peaceful here and don't sting :) The ants do, but I can deal with that.

Lake Atitlan and some of the surrounding volcanoes. I'm told they are dormant (thank goodness) and make for good hiking.  See the stone wall and submerged trees below? About 50 years ago, it rained so much that the lake rose by over 4 meters (quick, google it to convert it to feet, I don't have internet). Anyway, it's a lot and you can still see houses and other structures overcome by the water and in complete ruins.  There's a stone oven just beyond the stone wall in the photo that makes for a cool under-water cave now.

My weekend hangout spot for some sandy shade while looking at the images above.







Woke up to this poor little guy smooshed in my mac in the morning : (

Day 1: Russian Roulette Shower

January 21st, 2013

If you don’t know it already, I’m working at Escuela Caracol, a Waldorf/International School in San Marcos, La Laguna, Guatemala (small, remote town near Lake Atitlan, surrounded by volcanoes, full of 3,000 people).  It was founded by Josh and Courtney Wilson, a couple from Falls Church Virginia! Most of the kids are indigenous, Mayan, with a large number of international kids as well.  The school teaches in 3 languages, Spanish, English, and Kaqchikel (the native, Mayan language in this region).  There are many things about this area that remind me of Paraguay, the use of the native language and the socio-economic disparities tied to it, being just one of them.

My official job is the Development Coordinator, although the day before I arrived, the head administrator quit so I’ve also been taking over lots of his role since here.  It’s all new and I’m learning  a lot.  My co-workers are all super friendly, supportive, and patient and I ease into this new role as supervisor to some of them.  As with any new job, it’s been hard to actually get any work done.  Monday was a team-building day and it was very nice to get to know everyone and a great way to start off the year.  Most of the teachers are local to the community, one is Guatemalan but from a city, 2 are American, and one is Colombian.  It’s a great group! 

My “treehouse” office—I love it! And check out my view to the school grounds!

Normally we eat a morning snack and lunch prepared by the school (all vegetarian and home-cooked!) but the kitchen was under remodel so we had to fend for ourselves this week.  I still had no food in my house but Josh, Karin (the Colombian, and also new) and I went out to eat. I had a burrito at a place near my house, pretty good. To be fair, everything is near my house.  The school is in my backyard and a 1 minute walk, the “grocery stores” are another minute in the other direction, and the center of town, restaurants, and lake are about a 4 minute (hilly) walk. There are no cars, other than the occasional motor taxi, and I love it! It’s peaceful, except for the barking dogs, chickens, firecrackers, and digadaroo playing from my Aussie neighbor.   I digress. 

Josh and I worked until about 6 that night, trying to cram in 2 weeks worth of training into a few days.  I was eager to get home and test my running water since it hadn’t worked in the morning, which meant I left a sink full of dishes and came home to a house full of ants.  Luckily, it was working when I got back.  I was too tired to go buy food.  Fortunately, I brought a few packs of quinoa and rice from home and was able to heat those up quickly to eat. I didn’t have any salt yet (me, of all people!—I’m a giant salt-tooth!) so I had to flavor it with balsamic vinegar. It was….interesting. J

I hadn’t showered since arriving in Guatemala and was really looking forward to a nice hot shower.  I didn’t get one.  While I do “technically” have hot water, it’s by no means the same standard as Western hot water showers.  The warmest setting is luke warm, at best, and comes and goes every 30 seconds or so.  When it goes, you have to adjust the nob ever so slightly to find the exact spot where it clicks again, wait a minute or 2 for it to reheat, and then proceed in the same manner the entire time.  Needless to say, I was not that clean, not shaven, and freezing with goose bumps by the end of the shower. I’ve since figured out a little bit better how to work it, but it’s still like playing Russian roulette eveytime I put shampoo in my hair and I risk having to wash it out in ice-cold water.  I’ve learned that my best bet is to just not get dirty so I don’t have to shower.  And then when I must, I just wash all the important parts REALLY quickly, try to only wash my hair when it’s super early in the day and it’s less likely that other people will be using their water, and shave outside in my pileta---not sure what this is in English, wash bin maybe? I’m also really glad that I brought a hairdryer with me.  Not because I want to look cute (I don’t even use the thing at home), but because it gets pretty chilly at night and in the mornings (my office at school is freezing all day since the sun doesn’t hit it) so it’s nice to have dry hair.

Guatemala Day 1: Arriving to Guate!

27, January, 2013 (no, I’m not dyslexic, that’s the way most of the rest of the world writes their dates)

Arriving in Guatemala:

It’s Sunday afternoon while I write this and it was exactly a week ago today that I arrived in Guatemala.  I’ve accomplished so many things in just one short week; including but not limited to moving into a new house, working a week at my new job, almost dying and then recovering from food poison, slicing open and twisting an ankle on a giant boulder, swimming in lake Atitlan, and learning how to cook anything, including pizza on a stovetop.  It’s been quite an adventure so far to say the least!

Cooking pizza on the stove. I don’t have an oven (but my friends do) and it’s a gas stove, but luckily, I don’t have to turn the gas on and off each time like I did in Paraguay and freaked me out every time.

So, where do I begin? I suppose the beginning.  After a flight delay of 6 days (yup, you read that right, see previous blog entry), I arrived at BWI airport on the 20^th at 5am, fingers and toes crossed that my flight would actually be leaving that day.  Luckily, it did, and the girl who checked me in helped me force my overstuffed bag closed and didn’t charge me extra for the other, overweight one.  My first flight from BWI to Ft. Lauderdale was pretty uneventful, although uncomfortable.  The flight was full and the seats did not recline at all (again, budget airline) and I was glad to have my water with me since they even charged for that.  Although seated like a contortionist, I was tired enough to sleep an unrestful sleep for about an hour of the 2 hour flight. 

I was a bit nervous about my connection in Florida since I only had about 30 minutes in between flights. Luckily, the terminal was the smallest (and most crowded) I had ever seen and the next gate was right next doors.  It was so small, I even had time to go to the toilet and buy an organic salad (it was good)! I felt like I was already in Guate since everyone around me was speaking Spanish.  Actually, everyone at my gate in Baltimore was speaking Spanish too since most people were headed to Central America and it was comforting to know that, even after years of not living in a Spanish-speaking country and at 5 in the morning, my brain slipped right back into el español.

I lucked out on the next leg of the flight from Florida to Guatemala City (also about a 2.5 hour flight) and had an empty seat next to me so I was able to lie down, although ironically, couldn’t sleep. Towards the end of the flight, I met a Finnish girl seated behind me who had already been to Guate several times.  We exchanged stories and emails, and she may come visit me next week.  Plus, if I’m being honest here, it was nice to have someone to leave my bags with while I went to the bathroom.  J  No problems with the bags, they were there waiting when I got off the plane, customs was a breeze (although I did have a slight panic when I realized I didn’t have a return flight and quickly invented a story in my head just in case), and my shuttle driver was outside with my name on a sign waiting for me.  I felt special! J

The school had arranged for the driver, Domingo, to meet me and I was glad since I was running on little-to-no sleep and had some errands to run that could only be done in the city, before heading to my remote village.  The first sights I saw of Guatemala as we left the airport included Dominoes pizza, several Citibanks, the zoo, lots of Burger Kings, and Shell gas stations. I mentioned to Domingo that I wanted to stop to go to an ATM, buy a cell phone chip, and eat lunch.  He said he knew just the place for us to go.  I was excited to have my first Guate experience and curious to know where he would take me—It was none other than….Walmart! Yup, my first “local” experience in Guate was at Walmart.  And he was shocked to learn that we had Walmart at home too. J

Nonetheless, it was still an experience, and nothing is ever simple! My first “to-do” was to take out money from the ATM for the month since my village has no bank.  The first 2 machines I tried gave me error messages.  I was starting to panic that it was my card when the 3^rd one finally worked (except, it would only give me a minimum amount and only let me do that 2 times).  So, I left the city with less than half the amount I needed for the month.  (Luckily, later in the week, I took a trip for work to a town with a bank and was able to get more money because by that point I was already down to 90 Quetzales (about $10) for the rest of the month. 

After the ATM, we went to buy a SIM card chip for my phone.  It’s a phone I bought while in Jordan and I’ve used it all over the world: Europe, Asia, etc., simply buying a local chip in each new country.  I bought the chip, the guy put it in and….voila, nothing! Damn thing wouldn’t work here.  I was so tired and hungry, I just bought the cheapest phone they had (about $12), and we got on our way to eating in the food court.  I will say this, although it was Walmart, it was a Sunday and was a hopping place for the Guatemalans so I didn’t really feel like I was in Wally world.  And it’s definitely a different clientele than the ones back home.  Food court options were slim (except for Taco Bell) for vegetarians, but we found a Ma and Pop place with local food.  I had some sort of egg-covered asparagus with beets and tortillas.  Not the best, but it filled my belly.  (Lucky for me, my town, San Marcos, La Laguna is extremely vegetarian-friendly!!) After lunch, I quickly bought some things I thought I might not be able to by in my town or knew would be cheaper in the city (toilet paper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, etc.) and we set on our way. 

By this point, it was close to 3pm (I landed around 1) and as much as I tried to persuade Domingo to stop at Office Depot for a filing cabinet the school had asked me to buy, it was a no go.  SO, a double-fail for me on the first 2 assignments I had for work—arrive on time and get a filing cabinet L The trip took about 3.5 hours, including all my private bathroom stops, and was a good chance to catch up on sleep (had the entire van to myself) and learn about Domingo’s family.  We even picked up his wife and daughter for part of the way.  The first part of the drive was not much to write home about, but the second half was a bit slower as the roads would disappear at times and turn into giant potholes of dirt (reminded me of Laos roads) on windy, mountainous routes.  As we approached my town, San Marcos, it was right around sunset and it was a beautiful drive overlooking the lake and the town, with all the lights. 

My Kitchen

I was nervous we wouldn’t find my contacts since we hadn’t established a meeting point, other than “in town” and was wondering why no one else seemed to notice this oversight. And then we pulled into “town” and I saw why.  There’s literally (like that, Jenny?) one spot in town for a car and sure enough, that’s where Andrea, a teacher at my school, was waiting for me.  She was sweet and bought me a 5-gallon jug of water as a house-warming gift, for which I was VERY grateful! She showed us the way to my house where Josh, the co-founder of the school (American) had prepped the house, down to fresh flowers on the table!

Pieces of Home to watch over me :) 

Kitchen, Desk, Bed

                                                    

We took a quick 20-minute walk through town (it’s only that big) and then said our goodbyes for the night.  It was around 7pm and I was feeling good and anxious to unpack.  It had been over a year and a half since I had lived in my own place…or any place for more than a few months for that matter and I was quite looking forward to settling in.  I was so gung ho and after about 30 minutes of unpacking, I hit a wall and called it a night.  It was a good thing I got that rest because the next morning, I hit the ground running at work and haven’t looked back since!

What a Cop Out!

Hello Blogger World. Sorry I've been MIA for a bit. Life has been a bit crazy coming back from over a month out of country and away from home to prepping for a move to Guatemala in just a few days.  As most of you know already, I was set to move to Guatemala this past Monday.  Apparently the universe had other plans for me, as I'm still in the US of A several days later.

Since my family was out of town but set to fly in on Tuesday, I drove myself to the airport at 4:30 am.  The plan was to leave the keys in the trunk and the parentals would pick it up the next day when they flew in.  Something in my gut told me not to put those keys in the trunk until my bags were checked in, and boy was I glad I listened to that inner voice!

As I tried to get my 2,000 pound suitcases onto a luggage cart, I was reminded once again why it sucks being a tiny, bad-backed girl.  I looked around the deserted parking garage (again, it was around 5am) for someone to help and I spotted a lone man walking towards his car.  While I'm not too keen on approaching strange men in a dark, isolated parking garage in the wee hours of the morning, I quite frankly didn't have any options to physically get my luggage out of my car and into the airport.  Turns out the man was not a serial killer (or at least didn't get me this time around, thank God), and instead, was a kind man from...Guatemala!

I could tell he spoke Spanish so we switched gears to hablar some espanol.  I mentioned that I was heading to Guatemala and that's when he said it, "No, no creo que te vayas a Guatemala hoy. Hoy no sale el avion.  Mi senora se iba tambien pero acaban de cancelar el vuelo." Did you get all that? Basically, what he said was I was F****ed! Yup, his wife was set to fly to Guatemala on the same flight and they had just told her it was canceled. Fabulous.

With this piece of wonderful news, I made my way to the check-in counter of Spirit Airlines (note to reader, do NOT fly them!) to be told exactly what the man had just said.  The plane I needed to fly to Florida hadn't arrived the night before due to fog so I was not making it out in time to make my connecting flight in FL to Guate.  Because of this, they wouldn't allow passengers to go.  Now,  in all my worldly travels, I've never actually had a flight canceled on me.  But from what the rest of the world has told me, usually they get you on the next flight available so I wasn't too worried. Until I found out when the next available flight was....in 6 days! Yup, you read that right.  They could get me on a flight in 6 days! As I stood in disbelief, trying to figure out what to do, all I was grateful for was that 1. this happened in Baltimore and not in FL 2. I still had those darn car keys to drive myself home and 3. I had  brought my cell phone with me last minute "just in case" since I knew I couldn't use it in Guate.

To be fair, they did offer to fly me to Florida later that night or the next day...but I still would not have been able to fly to Guatemala for 6 days and the hotel bill and all else would be at my own expense in Florida.  Needless to say, I decided on a big fat no for that offer.  I tried calling my boss in Guate to inform him and see if he had any other ideas but couldn't get ahold of him.  So, I threw my hands up in the air (singing eh-oh, baby let's go) and decided to drive back home to Columbia.  Only problem was I now had to get those same 2,000 pound suitcases back into my car.

As I started towards the parking garage, I noticed about 8 cops standing around just talking to each other and drinking coffee. "Perfect!," I thought. After all, their job is to help people, right?!  I kindly approached them, explained my situation, and asked if they knew who I might be able to call to help me get the bags into my car.  I might as well have asked them to hand over their first-born children.  After about 15 seconds of awkward silence and staring at me, one of the elder policemen offered to take all of Policeman X's calls if he wanted to help me.

Policeman X continued to hem and haw and ask me any question he could think of that would get him out of the situation when Policeman Y stepped up and offered to go if he wasn't going to.  Finally shamed into it, Policeman X reluctantly followed me to my car (while I maneuvered all the luggage myself) and begrudgingly assisted me in getting the bags into the car. The entire situation left me a bit...I'm not even sure what's the right word here.  While I was grateful that he did eventually step up to the plate, I'm also stunned at how our society has taken such a turn that with 8 big, strong men (policemen nonetheless, who have taken a vow to help people), it was such a task to get assistance for a lone woman.  Granted, I do understand that their job does not entail helping people with suitcases at the airport, but shouldn't it involve just plain helping? Couldn't they have at least offered to call someone else who might have been able to help (I mean, that's what I originally asked for anyway)? Or even just as fellow human beings (forget the Cop part), shouldn't they have offered to help? Am I expecting to much from people to be kind and helpful towards each other when someone is in need?

Anyway, that's what happened to me on Monday.  All in all, it's worked out fine.  Luckily, my job was understanding (they had also experienced travel nightmares with Spirit Airlines) and because of the canceled flight, I was able to: a) see my family before I leave  b) repack and rearrange things amongst my suitcases to avoid fees  c) talk to my boss and get more clarity on my job description, things I don't need to pack, and confirm that I will indeed have electricity, a fridge, and a stove {3 things I didn't think to ask about until my dear friend, Becka pointed them out to me and worried me a bit : ) }
Oh, and the few things that I had ordered and hadn't arrived in the mail yet arrived on Monday so I now have them in time to take with me....and of course, more time with family and friends! So, I say, THANKS, Spirit Airlines.  I won't be flying you again anytime soon, but thanks this time around! : )