This trip to Scottsdale, AZ was my first trip back to Scottsdale without baseball. It felt weird to say the least. I couldn't get a grip on the memorable and uncomfortable feeling of it all. It was familiar and yet so much had changed, it didn't feel like it fit anymore. Even the airport had changed so much that the updates threw me off. I found myself falling into “tour guide mode” with Jon and Emily. Practically dying to show them everything I knew about the area. “Look at this, look at what I used to be, wasn't I cool?” I kept snapping myself out of it and attempting to just be present and enjoy our trip. We rented an AirBNB in North Scottsdale with a pool, hot tub, basketball court and pool table. We really should do this “work remotely” thing more often! Jon and Emily jumped into the hot tub immediately… and regretted it. The hot tub had not been heated yet so they were freezing! Of course they tried to make me believe it wasnt that bad, but I would not be peer pressured into joining them. I froze plenty on the patio to hang out with them. The weather was a bit cloudy and chilly the whole trip but was still warmer than Colorado so we couldn't complain! We had all agreed to “GO FOR IT” for dinner at MAstros. Started the night with cocktails and the seafood platter appetizer! Between steaks, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and spinach (obviously not my choice of side) we were full before I even had the chance to order the butter cake for dessert! Don't worry I still ordered it! During the back end of dinner and approximately 4 drinks in, we all hear an alarm going off nearby. The other tables and employees couldn't figure out where it was coming from. One lady at the table next to us was so flustered by the whole situation that she kept requesting her meal to be complimentary. Between the busers and waiters searching high and low for this alarming sound, the lady finally stood up and moved away from the table towards me. Of course Drunk Nikki leans in and says “Ma’am, its coming from your watch…” She immediately gasps and scurries out the room. Her husband was left at the table apologizing and paying the bill. We spent most of our time wandering around and hanging out by the hot tub and firefit. On our final night we were blessed with a beautiful sunset over the pool. Naturally we didn't get any photos, a trend from this trip. Maybe that means we were remaining present… maybe we need to just get better at taking the time to take photos. A few notes:
- Kia Kaha -
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eWould you believe me if I told you that I am one of the biggest scaredy cats out there? Sure I hold strange animals like crocodiles and sloths in the Amazon and I want to jump out of planes and bungee jump off Machu Picchu. The fear is what excites me however.
Humans naturally fear the unknown. I think we are either raised that way or it is simply in our DNA. Everything we know is easy, good and comfortable. I think most people would consider being comfortable is a good thing right? Who doesn’t like being comfortable? We like what we know. We like routine. We like familiarity. If I haven’t learned that after living in small town Nebraska for 4 years then I was oblivious to my surroundings. It is the new things, the future, the unknown possibilities that are truly scary because, by its very nature, we don’t know what it going to happen. It is unpredictable. It is uncomfortable. It could just as easily blow up in our face as it could be a huge success. And there lies the difference. Perspective and positivity. Embracing change is an internal battle that I struggle with every single day. I believe that the only reason I keep trying to embrace my fears is that my fear of the unknown is triumphed over by only one thing… my fear of regret. At the end of the day, I would rather tried and failed terribly than to not have tried at all. So after years of moments of catastrophic mishaps and failures, stubborn refusals and denials followed up with the most incredible experiences of my life, here are 5 reasons I have found why change is actually a GOOD thing and why we should all, even kicking and screaming, should embrace it. We take pictures everywhere. That’s what we do. We are twenty-somethings studying abroad in South America; of course we are going to take pictures. So walking down the streets of Centro de Lima was no different for us. We would listen to Amparo tell the history of each interesting building and take a shot of each one. There was always a landscape shot accompanied by at least one selfie or group photo, without fail.
So when we got inside the gate at La Iglesia de San Francisco (a massive cathedral) we started to do the same. Pictures, selfies and group shots. We even attempted to run through the pigeons with little to no affect on them. One of my favorite photos is even in front of that church. However all of the photos couldn’t have captured the way I felt once inside. One of the main things I began to look forward to during my time in Peru was the fact that my mom was coming to visit me.
SO many things went through my mind. Can she get through customs with out speaking Spanish? Where should we go? What should we do? And then I realized that all I wanted to do was show her the amazing place and people I have come to love down here. Then it hit me… what if she didn’t like it?
When my host family asked, “Want some more?” and I responded with “s’more of what?” they didn’t quite find it as funny as I did. That’s when I realized that sadly my Sandlot joke did not translate to Spanish.
While living in Perú for over two months now, I have loved one thing more than anything else… the food! My host mom, Amparo, is a wonderful cook! Her husband, Daniel, claims she was horrendous in the beginning of their marriage. This doesn’t scare me though, if anything it gives me hope for my future cooking skills. So most of you know that one of my greatest talents is my mastery of procrastination…. This skill has been used very wisely lately. I have been putting off writing :/ I’m sorry.
So in a nutshell here is what happened in the last couple of weeks… To say that I have had culture shock is an understatement.
When I first left for Peru it was a mess, I forgot things (of course) and saying goodbye to my mom for the longest we have ever been apart was to put it mildly, rough. After attempting not to cry and failing, taking a nap on the floor in the Atlanta airport, a delayed flight into Lima and over an hour and a half through customs, it was a relief to see the smiling faces of my host family at 2 in the morning… |