anyhoo, i ended up getting to the airport early and had to laugh when i saw that they had a twisted root in terminal A; good to know, as we'd just spent a couple days wanting, yet avoiding the shakes.
anyhoo, just as i'd walked by, i got a text from julie k asking if i was there yet, if so, to meet by the gate. she invited me in to the special admiral's club-hook a girl up! i was impressed-no lie! we sat for about an hour and had very meaningful conversation to catch up-i knew i liked this one! then we made our way down to the gate area and found miss angelica (always good to see her-there's a special bond with the ones you start with).
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| #suckerforgoodburgersandshakes |
unfortunately we found out that we had just lost one of our partners in crime-another newbie, who was actually able to jump into something that is going to be very beneficial, and through a strange and difficult series of events, God has provided for her in a most beautiful way-which puts my heart at peace, although we will miss her greatly-her humor, loyalty, thoughtfulness, and intelligence...
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
we sneaked on the plane with julie-taking care of her girls! oh the perks! when we finally arrived, we quickly found a car and made our way to the hotel. it was a beautiful hotel! after settling in, we were off to dinner at mojitos-latin cuisine. when we crossed the road into city place, it was an adorable little area with shops and restaurants on the lower and upper decks. the food and drinks were fabulous, the service, on the other hand was found lacking slacking. i mean, when the only person we can find to ask for salt is the cook who doesn't speak english...you get it. and when we actually did get the salt, there was so much moisture that not even the rice was able to salvage these tiny granules. i tried vigorously shaking, hitting it on the side...nothing. i think julie k asked the waitress when she made her way around again. the meals were great-i couldn't help but get me some paella! and i think i may have eaten most of it with the barbie-fork...it took me a little longer, but i thought maybe they put it there for the challenge. small fork challenge!!
went out front with julie for a couple minutes and when we came back in, there was angelica, chatting it up with the neighbors at the next table..i mean literally sitting at their table and eating their food!! oh, it's good to be uninhibited! she's such a friendly, outgoing one, that this was not surprising and we had to coax her back to our table eventually! we walked around the block and back to the hotel, getting a better feel for the area. then it was off to the hot tub! (after donning our bathing suits, of course!)
when we got down to the pool area, there was a group already in the hot tub, so we joined them and started chatting it up-they were down from new york for one of the girl's bday. young pups. we got out for a minute and enjoyed the little cabana by the pool (since it was deserted, surely no one would care, right?) and then we got back in after a bit and a new set of folk were down in the hot tub, they were business peeps from london, selling jewelry.
julie k: oh! is your necklace one of the pieces you sell! it's beautiful!
katie: NOOO!
boys:NOOO!
hmm. shouldn't you be advertising your merchandise? market the crap out of that stuff!
we made our way to bed, as it is always a good idea to wake up in a timely fashion the day of your training! which would begin in its own magical little way! while stopping for breakfast at starbucks, we sat out in the peatonal--pedestrian area, and along came this squirrel. she had no fear. she knew her gig well! she came up and started talking to us and asked what kind of food we had and told us she had zero use for egg and bacon crap, where were the nuts. so angelica did her best to sift through her meal to locate some almond slices, and a kind, older gentleman brought over some almonds as well. she was all up in our business!! she took one right from my hand, and said thank you..she got spooked easily and at one point took a flying leap from the table to my shoulder to the back of the wicker chair we were in...crazy little hazel. so, when you have an experience like this, you get pics! and we did! she was so photogenic! the pigeons were pissed, because there was a sign that said we couldn't feed them...besides, they were thugs.
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| for real, though! |
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| fascinated by the audacity exhibited by little hazel |
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| not nervous at all!! |
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| not afraid to go through our food... |
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| this |
then we made our way to the hotel to dress-up, grabbed some lunch snacks from the grocery and off to the races. we got to meet the west palm beach crew-very hospitable and very attentive! julie of course gave a great rendition of: basics 101; it was good to hear the bilingual/dual language presentation. the participants were all-in, they had some great questions, and seemed highly engaged and interested, as they would be taking it back to their campuses. i love watching the interaction when the trainers already have the connections with the contacts-that personal relationship is EVERYTHING! once we finished and discussed a little bit, we headed back to the hotel to slip into something beachy and first went to dinner-thank God for people who like sushi! not everyone does-but when with those who are like-minded in their fishy ways...
it was then a race to the beach to see the sunset and feel the magic! parking was, for lack of better phrasing, not a walk on the beach...but we found a spot and took a hike! when we finally got to the public entrance, we found a spot (the entire beach was pretty barren, so that was not a difficult task). amidst some calls, texts and emails, we were able to enjoy the breeze and the majesty! angelica did her thang-she has this little thing she yells into the vast enormity of the cosmos when she reaches the beach (the same thing happened on the west coast), and all was good. the conversation-rich. the moon came out, and we all shared some of our favorite songs-and my heart was at rest. (why aren't there any public restrooms on the beach? asking for a friend...)
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| there it is! |
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| these two! love em! |
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| magical. |
when we made it back to the hotel, there was still time to go down to the hot tub, so hot tub we did-although this time angelica only joined in for a minute (granted it was really almost too hot)-probably had a phone date with the fam or something fun like that! this time, a young man joined us in the hot tub, and his was an interesting story. we're calling the b.s. card on him!
ju: so what do you do?
young man (ym): i'm an entrepreneur
ju: what type of stuff do you do?
ym: sell things
ju: like what?
ym: clothes, jewelry, you know..
ju: oh, so where is your business?
ym: up and down the east coast, new jersey...
(sketchball)
ym: but i'm not doing that now. i'm looking for the next thing.
ju: oh, where did you go to college?
ym: some college we were unfamiliar with
ju: what did you study?
ym: i have a degree in cancer
(cough, more like a degree in b.s. and not screaming bachelor of science...just bachelor!)
older man approaches and gets into the hot tub, julie and i excuse ourselves, as she "gets a call or text" and we sit there ripping his story apart. enter hotel worker, ym gets to looking a little nervous and jets out of the hot tub, disappears for a hot minute and returns fully dressed in jeans, shirt, backpack...squatter? intruder? the world will never know, but we have our suspicions!
before going to bed, we did meet one more group of people. they actually sold computer diagnostician equipment. that particular conversation seemed a bit more legit! one of the young girls made fast friends with julie k, due to the whole brazilian thing she's got going on (now is THAT a conversation starter, or what?!) anyhoo, that was a fun little group, mostly bilingual group-most unlikely to be mistaken for a bilingual group at first glance-
the following morning was a relaxing preparation for departure-and an uneventful trip home. i realize that not all trips are like this, but you have to take advantage of your surroundings when you get the opportunity, right? (at this point everyone should be nodding their heads and shouting "amen!" as if they were part of a very charismatic congregation!!) so i don't hold my breath, but in all honesty, the best part about the trip wasn't the things we did, it was the satisfaction of once again being a part of a group of educators seeing the value and understanding a program they could really implement with their teachers! along with that, of equal value, was the cementing of relationships- if you know anything about me, you know that i truly value relationships!
encore? may it be in the stars!
julie
