keeping my cool in uncomfortable circumstances...

i am enjoying this internet access business here at andrea and carlos' apartment since i get to blog basically whenever i want... so, i'll tell you about a little adventure i had today on the bus...

anyone who knows me knows that i like to know what direction i'm going, like north, south, east or west... well, in most major cities i've found that the natives don't actually know directions like N, S, E or W, they just know where they're going... makes it kind of hard to give directions to out of towners, ya know?

anyway, back when i first arrived in houston and i'd be bored or just have some time to kill in between going places, i'd get in my car and drive somewhere and explore neighborhoods... i loved the sights, sounds, smells of all the different places you can go in the metro area... the west end is nothing like the neighborhoods on the east loop, and the washington strip is nothing like the suburbs in spring... well, it's taken me nearly 3 years to really know the highways, major streets and bypasses in houston from humble to katy and from cypress to pasadena and everywhere in between, so i think i'm pretty good with directions these days, if i say so myself...

but i realize now that i'd taken for granted the independence and liberty i had to be able to get in my car and go exploring... here in belo, i've got friends or friends' parents who are willing to drive me wherever i need to go, which has been great, but i've also been worried about getting lost in the city when i'm by myself... for the first 3 weeks while at bianca's house, i only had to take one bus a day and that was just half of the way home, a ride of about 20-30 minutes... now, at andrea and carlos' apartment, i take two buses each way for about an hour to an hour and a half, depending on traffic... i've only been doing this by myself for a week, and it's been interesting!

well, long story short, today diego and i took our regular bus from the creche to downtown to visit the mercado central where i was sure i could find some jalapenos... the boys and i have been craving some serious tex-mex, so i am DETERMINED to make some chips and salsa for us, even if i have to fry up the tostada chips myself! (more on that later!) anyway, after finding said jalapenos at the market, diego and i grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant across the street from the market, and then headed out to find a bus stop that would take us to our different neighborhoods... i found my bus number and stop pretty easily, but we had to walk a few blocks to find diego's... we both caught our busses and parted ways...

i was tired, so when i got on the bus i closed my eyes for about 5-10 minutes or so, and when i opened my eyes again i realized the bus i was on was going in the wrong direction!!! my heart sank into the pit of my stomach as my worst fears were being realized, i hate being lost... that's why i learn directions! lol i noticed that we were passing all of the landmarks that my morning bus passes on the way to the creche! and i love the creche, but it's not exactly the safest neighborhood to be in during the day if you don't have business there, i didn't want to find out how safe it was at night, if you know what i mean. so, i pulled the string and got off the bus, pretty sure i could walk across the street and take the bus in the other direction...

in our training, we were told that if you have to stop and ask for directions, you should ask 3 different people for directions to see if you get the same answer... basically, you need to be as aware of yourself and your surroundings as you would be in houston, times a thousand!!! just to be careful... anyway, the neighborhood i got off in looked pretty shady, but there happened to be a little pizza place open and a girl talking to a guy behind the counter... i asked them for directions to the stop back downtown and they said i could walk across the street and catch the same bus back the other way... on my way across the street, i asked another person and got the same answer... well, by the time i got across the street, the bus i needed had arrived so i didn't have time to ask a 3rd person--i just hopped on the bus! thankfully, it was the bus i needed going in the direction i needed...

had i not recognized those landmarks i've been staring at for the past couple of days, who knows where i would have ended up! just wanted to say a word of thanks to patti and all the past bip's who prepared us for this trip! the weeks were numerous, the hours long and sometimes inconvenient, but i really, really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and helping us prepare for all kinds of unforseen circumstances... much love to you all!

since my experiences this evening, i plan to figure out directions asap... i carry a map with me of downtown, but i kind of want to walk the streets to figure out exactly where i am at all times... perhaps a project for this weekend?! :)

on a sidenote: to everyone back home in lubbock or in houston, i hope you're staying cool in that crazy texas heat! (i do have to say that i don't miss it yet!) it's crisp in the mornings here, blazing during the day and chilly in the evenings... definitely not the summer i'm used to!

peace and love,
crystal