Shakira Shakira!

Hola!

I don't have to be at work until 10 this morning, so I'm going to write about my adventures from yesterday (Monday, June 10) :)

As stated before, Erin and I rock at having the best of luck with random events taking place. We're starting to question if one of us is just bad luck. We were given the opportunity to drive the pastor's car to run some errands. I decided to be the driver; easier said than done! Our first stop was at the Armijo Public Library which is on the other side of downtown from where we're located. That was the easiest drive for us, and we just had to pick up summer reading time sheets and registration forms for our kids. We then had to go to EPCC (El Paso Community College) and UTEP (University of Texas El Paso) to post flyers advertising for our program. Doesn't sound too difficult, right? Wrong! Ha.

As we were leaving from Armijo, we had an overall challenging time navigating ourselves. In case anyone was wondering, there are WAY more one ways down here than in Minneapolis. I'm actually laughing a little bit while writing this because we got SO lost. I took a couple wrong turns and before we knew it, we were on the freeway heading to the west side of El Paso. Totally not the direction that we needed to be going. We were kind of panicking, and I joked a little bit saying, "Watch, we'll be in Mexico before we know it." Erin then replied with, "We won't, just don't go over any bridges and we'll be fine!" (bridges are the checking points between El Paso and Juarez) Ok, terrible joke, because we actually were heading in that direction! We kept driving to out in the middle of nowhere, not even sure if we were in El Paso anymore, and all of a sudden saw Juarez and the fence right off to the left of us. Yeah. Erin took my phone to try to find us a new route before we ended up on some random port of passage. We had to exit the freeway asap and pulled over into a Big 5 parking lot. We decided to stay  off the freeway just so that we wouldn't accidentally end up in Mexico illegally. We finally found our path and stayed on it successfully! This was followed by some celebratory car dancing to Shakira to help us feel better about ourselves.

Finding EPCC was tough, but easier than finding UTEP. Erin quickly ran inside to EPCC to post some flyers. She came out saying that she's pretty sure that she posted some where they shouldn't be posted, but you know what, it's all good! We spent too much energy freaking out to care. UTEP was another story. When we finally found the school, it was PACKED. Students were walking around wearing red graduation robes, so of course that would happen when we have excellent timing. It was awkward because we just blended in with the rest of the cars. I said, "maybe they won't notice?" I dropped Erin off at the gymnasium and illegally parked on campus (sorry if I took your spot, proud parents). A campus policeman came up to me and asked what I was doing parking there. I was scared sh**less that I couldn't form words, and the only thing that came out was "Oh, I...just parked here because I'm picking up a friend" (good job, me). Silly officer believed me though. He replied with, "Ok! Well, carry on!" and tipped his hat to me and walked away. I'm such a smooth talker under pressure :P Erin called me and said that she couldn't remember where I parked. I tried to describe to her where I was, but she was on the way opposite side of the building somehow. When we were reunited she was out of breath getting into the car. Apparently, she somehow walked right into where the graduates were lining up! She started off the story saying, "I was standing outside some random room, and a woman opened the door and said, 'Oh good, you're here! You're one of the students, right?'" and she responded saying, "Ok!" (Ha!) She somehow ended up in the line where the students were and said that everyone was staring at her, and most likely thinking, "Who the heyl are you?" or "She doesn't even go here!" Bravo, Erin, for stepping into that one!

We decided to keep driving around the campus to find the main student union area. I decided to turn onto University Ave, just as a guess that it could potentially lead to a more popular student area. A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders when we saw the Student Union right to our left! We were saved! Erin ran in and, again, posted flyers in "illegal" locations. Again, we didn't care what so ever. Our mission was accomplished and we were safe to head home! This was also followed up by more car dancing to Shakira, and other various techno and old/trashy rap.

Moral of the story? Car dancing to Shakira helps you feel better about yourself. I guess I would also say to never get in a car with Erin and me when we're in a new city. It actually turned out to be a very fun afternoon, just a different type of fun! We were gone for 3 hours, just to give you an indication for how much we ended up driving around and rerouting ourselves. It is these kind of moments that will never be forgotten!


Once we were home after driving all over creation, we had to quickly get ready to head out to dinner at Lilly's (my other BSC friend and roommate) boss' house. It was such a fun time, and we made it there in under 3 hours! Leslie (the pastor/Lilly's boss), her husband Dan, and her two children Eva and Harry are such a precious family. They also have 2 beautiful dogs which had me sold. Eva, who is 11, and I played together and she ended up sticking by my side for the evening. We had a great time talking about our summers, our dogs, and middle school advice together. She is adorable, and wants to be an elephant biologist when she's older! It was very profound, mature, and entertaining to hear her state, "When I'm older I want to live in Africa and work as an elephant biologist." I had no trouble telling her, "You know, not many kids your age would say the same, or be as confident knowing that!" It's true, though! That's so awesome for her! Eva definitely has a kind heart and soft-spot for animals. Even how she treats her dogs is unlike most 11 year olds. I really hope she continues to pursue her dream of becoming an elephant biologist. We ate burgers, flaming hot cheetos (everything down here is flaming hot), and gelato. It was delicious and great grill/BBQ food! We all sat outside, laid on the grass, watched the stars, and talked. It was a wonderful way to end a chaotic day.

The people we have met down here in Texas have been far too kind. Everyone down here is super friendly overall. I have yet to meet anyone who has a rougher personality or is not welcoming. I feel like that is what makes El Paso so terrific, the people. I couldn't help but stare at the stars and think about how much I'm going to miss this place, that I'm definitely going to cry when our time is over, and that I'm going to miss who I am down here. Sometimes when we discuss plans towards the end of our time down here I even start to feel extremely sad. It is wonderful when you have the opportunity to find yourself in an unfamiliar place. You will almost miss the person you were just as much as the experiences and people you've met. That one guy was dead on when he wrote, "How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."