Monthly Archive: November 2007

Hiding for Thanksgiving

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Thu. November 22, 2007

Today’s been tough. I’ve been on my feet for much of the day helping to get my aunt’s Thanksgiving bash off the ground. We’ve all been toiling away in the kitchen preparing things. I spent two hours in front of the barbecue in the hot Arizona sun cooking skewers of meat. We were well prepared.

I got all dressed up for the event. Though honestly I’m feeling really fat right now in what I’m wearing…staying here hasn’t been really kind to my waistline. If I stay much longer, I know I’m going to develop some really bad habits and set myself back a couple years. Anyway, it’s about 8pm right now. I’ve had my turkey. The guests are here and well fed. However, instead of socializing, I’m in hiding! I’m hanging out here in my room just biding my time and sort of hoping for everyone to just disappear.

Maaaaan. These people aren’t my friends–they are my aunt’s friends. I don’t know them, and I know that in all probability I won’t be seeing them again. There are some people that are sort of my age (younger by a few years) but I got mildly annoyed from watching them being all trendy and talking about Myspace.com. Blaaaaargh. I don’t want to say I’m beyond all that, because I’m not (I mean, for shit’s sake, I’m blogging right now)…but God damn. I suppose I could hang out with the men in the back, but I don’t feel like talking about firearms while getting drunk, know what I mean? Been there, done that. That leaves the older ladies, of which I’m really only interested in talking to family members–which isn’t exactly a novelty. Heh.

Socializing like this is just draining. I’ll be honest. I just wanted to help my aunt host: I did my duty. And now, it’s her show. I’m always like this, right? Although, I’m not so isolationist if I actually know the guests. Mmm. What the heck, man.

(Ugh…just took a break to eat some sweet potato. Je le regrette beaucoup.)

Well, in Canadian Thanksgivings past, it’s been recorded that I have trouble expressing exactly why I’m thankful. Well, as a result of being here in this new environment, I suppose I can come up with something now: I’m really thankful for my family. They are my rock. They are my support. Yes, they can drive me insane on occasion, but when push comes to shove they will always be there behind me to give me direction.

I want to write something longer of more profound, but the Thanksgiving stuffing is messing with my head. That’s all you’re getting for now. ;-)

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Thanksgiving prep

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Wed. November 21, 2007

We headed over to Scottsdale today to check out my aunt’s workplace. While she had a meeting, the rest of us ventures over to Fashion Square to peruse the mall and look at all the stuff that we can’t buy. $950 for a watch? Screw that! Eh, however, I did walk out of Macy’s with a bottle of Acqua di Gio. I’m not generally one to put on cologne but a lot of my family members have been encouraging me to start.

Anyway, my aunt wanted to take us around to North Scottsdale where everything rich live and shop. That would have been pretty damn interesting. I mean, as she described it, what I would have seen would have been close to Rodeo Dr. out in CA. Thing is, we were summoned back to the house by my other aunts to finish off prep work for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving party. Kind of a pity. It was a lot of effort to head out there, only to end up not seeing much and eating cheese steaks in a food court. I was disappointed.

True thing though, there really is a lot of leftover Thanksgiving prep work to do. The cooking started yesterday and still carries on today. Man, tomorrow is bound to be insane. My aunt is throwing a Thanksgiving bash and invited a load of people. There’s going to be a ton of food: both Filipino and more traditional fare. Yup, I’m getting my turkey. It’ll be fun, but oh man, it’s going to be exhausting. There won’t be any escape either! What if I need to get away? People will be crawling all over. Hoo boy. Well, I’ve done similar events at home. This will just be a bit crazier, and I won’t even be the host. Whatever happened to having a restful vacation? Bah.

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Broadcast, live!

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Tue. November 20, 2007

The family was gathered in the living room, commenting on just how they were impressed with Mel’s Viennese Waltz. Just as the judges were starting to analyze the dance, the cable went out, leaving us hanging. I think one of my aunts went into a panic: “What the hell happened?! Oh my gawwwwd!” 

Well, after a while of wishing for it to come back, my aunts gave up and just turned on the karaoke machine. This session was a little bit more boisterous than usual because we were all being silly. We played a game where someone would sing a Filipino song and the rest of us would translate the lyrics into English in real-time. What was more fun though was when someone sang an English song and the rest of us would translate the lyrics into Filipino. Oh man, it was funny and really loud. I was saying, “good thing the neighbours can’t hear.” 

Anyway, as the other aunts (and my mother) were singing, I spoke with my aunt that owns the place about contracting. She wanted to show me the backyard to show just what was built. As the two of us stepped out and closed the door, we still heard everyone singing inside. I wondered out loud: “why the heck is is so loud?” I mean, it wasn’t blaring, but I was under the impression that you couldn’t hear anything out there. My aunt wondered too. That’s when I realized, “OH SHIT!” See, the house has outdoor speakers that are useful for parties when you want to pump music outside. Somehow the switch for the outdoor speakers was switched on, meaning that you could hear all of that craziness, and singing outdoors. Hoooooly shit. It wasn’t too loud, and the neighbours probably could only hear it clearly if they really listened. However, this is still the type of thing that could leave you mortified. 

All my aunt and I could do was laugh at the silliness of it all. 

LIIIIIIIIIIIVE!

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Farmland, dust, cacti, and Walmarts

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Mon. November 19, 2007

I’m staying at my aunt’s house while I’m here in AZ. It’s not in Phoenix, but in a new development that’s really barely a speck on the map on the online map tools. It’s a nice place, but damn it’s far from everything. I don’t recall, but I think it’s 30-40 miles away from the city. It’s like the area is made up of some sattelite communities connected by direct highways with very few branches off of them. It’s so different from Toronto where it’s like there are roads leading any place you want to go. The distance between places was accented for me today as we travelled from shopping location to shopping location. We seemed to be in the SUV for ridiculously long periods. I suppose it’s not so bad though because at least it’s air conditioned in there.

I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but man, the people I’ve met in the stores have been so darn friendly! As long as I’ve been polite, it’s been returned in kind. I guess in the big cities, polite attitudes are becoming rarer and rarer, no? I might also say that Toronto has a sort of…polite rudeness. It’s sort of amusing. However, here, there’s just a more mildly genuine feeling to it. It’s hard to put my finger on just why that is.

Out and about, it’s not uncommon to just see farmland, dust, cacti and Walmarts. Off in the distance are mountains that look as if they were taken right out of a painting. I swear, it’s all so very wild wild west. Sure, there are no cowboys or anything of the sort, but you get the point, eh? At night the way is pitch black with only the light from other cars lighting the way. Outside, I haven’t seen so many stars since I’d last been camping. 

As with any place, there are pros and cons about living here. I can definitely see though just why my aunt enjoys living here so much.

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First volley from Arizona

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Sun. November 18, 2007

Oh man, my first day in AZ came and went. I’m sitting in the kitchen looking out the window at clear skies, smelling what seems to be a “traditional” Filipino breakfast. Awesome.

The flight went by pretty quickly. Neither my mom or I got a window seat so we had to peer over this guy to get a glimpse of the scenery. Even then, we were too far away to see it all that well, which was really too bad because the landscape is amazing around here. When we got closer to the ground though, we started seeing the city. The trees looked certainly different from the types in Toronto. They weren’t palm trees, the looked…”southwestern,” know what I mean? The color of the ground was terra cotta and very dry. We soon landed and were picked up by my aunt and uncle. On the highways, the sides were fully landscaped. There were so many designs carved in the grounds and walls. They reminded me of those gigantic ground patterns near Cuzco, Peru. I saw freakin’ cacti by the highway. Cacti! Holy crap! Seeing all this made me want to yell out nonsensical phrases: “Chipotle!” “Saguaro!” Heh.

The weather is certainly hot. It’s like a Toronto summer but a lot drier. Luckily I’m not here during July when the heat is ridiculously more deadly. Anyway, later that night, my aunt invited me to her friend’s house. I hung out with the guys in the backyard. In conversation, the topic quickly turned to guns. Arizona is a very gun friendly state. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised but I was. Can you believe that I got to hold someone’s firearm? Holy crap. First night here, and I’m holding a gun after three beers. That’s bloody fantastic. Heheh.

Anyway, my time here is going to be fun. There will be lots of family bonding. To my chagrin, there will also be a lot of spending on my part because are apparently a lot of good deals to be had. Mmm. I’m scared. :lol: Man, already from my first day, I know I’m going to gain some mad weight while I’m here. Everyone is stuffing me. :shock: Not that I’m complaining (too much), but yeah, gonna be one of those weeks. You know what though? I’m gonna take in every minute and enjoy it.

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Leaving on a jet plane

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Sat. November 17, 2007

It’s 4 in the morning. Still a bit groggy. Flight leaves at 9, but the airport says that for flights to the US we should be there at least 2 hours early. We’re gonna use Park ‘n Fly which says that due to shuttle waiting and transit time we should allow for 30-45 extra minutes travel time. As a result, looks like we’re leaving here at 5:45. Damn. Heh, even when I’m on vacation, I’m still stressing out.

Anyway, I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to get to a computer, so blogging will be lighter than usual.

I’m (almost fully) packed. Itinerary is printed. Documents are in order. I’m ready! See you all on the other side.

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Running log: 2007/11/16

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Fri. November 16, 2007

This 10K clinic is getting me to do things that I would never have expected. It’s all quite challenging, but at the same time a lot of fun just because a lot of it is new to me. On Wednesday, we did some hill training. We did a continuous 2K run to the hill area where the instructor made us run lightly down this really long slope. At the bottom, we ran all the way back up for about 400-500m. Craziness! I was wiped out for the first climb probably because I just didn’t know what to expect. The last few were a lot better. Man, they were tough! Despite that, I found it to be a lot of fun. We repeated the climb four times before heading back to store. I thought that the run back would be horribly tough because I’d spent most of my energy on the climbs, but honestly it wasn’t too bad at all. When I got back I was all smiles.

Yesterday, as it would happen, the guest speaker spoke about biomechanics. A lot of what he said emphasized a lot of points that the clinic instructor was telling me. All of the info was useful because it was an indication that I need to break out of some bad habits that I’ve developed. Anyway, when we stepped out of the store to begin the run, the instructor announced that the 6K we were going to do was going to be continuous. I was kind of in shock. Every time I’d run with the clinic it’s always been with the run/walk principle. He did tell us to take it easy, but I was still apprehensive. How would I manage? Well…I just did. When we got to the 3K turn around point, the experienced people seemed to speed up (or I slowed down..which is probably likely). I just stayed at my pace and kept at it. I was pretty exhausted by the last 500m, but somehow pushed through without a single walk break. In the end, waiting at the stoplights, I was just amazed at myself. I think my instructor was laughing with me in my happy state. I was feeling a lot of pride that I’d come so far.

As I spoke with my instructor, I said something that stuck with me…and will probably stick with me as I continue this running journey:

“It’s not that I didn’t think I could do it. Rather, it’s just that I didn’t know that I could do it.”

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Finding time to pack

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Thu. November 15, 2007

I’m honestly starting to feel really pressed for time. Between late days at work, running, and general house-stuff I’ve hardly found any time to start packing. What little time I do manage to schedule in during my day I’m usually too tired to do anything terribly productive. This is not good. Tonight, after running, I need to do laundry and start ironing things that I plan on bringing to Phoenix. I don’t even have my luggage in my room. I think I need to drag that up there tonight, if only to act as a reminder that I need to get my act together.

I’m seriously worried that I’m going to forget something important. Passport? Document? Itinerary? Ugh. It’s a lot of trouble, eh? I’m already not going to get much sleep Friday night. With so much stuff piling up, it’s just going to increase sleeplessness (though I know I can sleep on the plane anyway). Whoo. I just need to get through two more days of work. No problem!

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