What Nancy DIDN'T Tell You

---

As Nancy's other and better half and official holder of all important information (información importante, for you Spanish-lovers) I feel it is both my calling and, dare I say, my obligation to fill you in on all the happenings that Nancy neglected to mention in her entry.

Happening #1: The Sr. Catia As Jesus Incident
As the good, open-minded volunteers that we are, Julie, Kerry, Nancy, and I were sitting attentively in the parlor listening to Sr. Catia explain the layout of the neighborhood (barrio) we'd be living in, what we are and are not allowed to do, etc. As she explained that we are more than welcome to use the pool at the neighbor's house, she pointed at the wall in the direction of said neighbor's house. This, however, was the subject of mass confusion, because as she uttered the word "neighbor" she pointed directly at a crucified Jesus hanging on the wall. Kerry was quick to inquire as to whether Jesus was the neighbor to whom she was referring, at which point Catia exclaimed, "OH NO! I was pointing through the wall at the house. But Jesus is a good neighbor, too!" She explained all of this while holding her long, wobbly arms in a T above her head. "I'm like Him; all skin and bones!" she laughed heartily. The four of us nearly peed our pants.

Happening #2: The Tennis (Tenís) Incident
As the good, open-minded volunteers that we are, Nancy and I agreed to play a couple friendly games of tennis with Sr. Lupe and Sr. Maria, despite the fact that neither of us had ever really played tennis before. After a brisk walk to the tennis courts and a few warm-up stretches, Lupe and Maria began instructing us eager students in the rules and regulations of the beloved sport. It went a little something like this: Maria hit the ball to me, I chased after it, swung the racket, and hit the ball back to one of the other two courts nearby. Lupe hit the ball to Nancy, Nancy swung and didn't even bother hitting the ball at all. The warm-ups progressed in this manner for a good 20 minutes or so, at which point Lupe decided we were ready for some real competition. So we paired up: Maria and Nancy versus Lupe and I. Now, I've got to be honest; Nancy and Maria's greatest efforts were no match for my tactical skills and energy and Lupe's 300mph serve and pinpoint accurate backhand. Truthfully, though, Nancy and I spent much of the match turning our heads to watch the ball bounce past us and swinging our rackets only to make contact with nothing but the cool evening air. After 15 minutes, Lupe suggested Nancy and I go to the farthest court and practice on our own. We haven't played since.

Happening #3: The Lupe-In-New York (Nueva York) Incident
As the good, open-minded, visa-needing volunteers that we are, Nancy, Kerry, Sr. Lupe, Sr. Jornah, and I all headed to New York City to visit Kerry's family and obtain visas from the Jamaican embassy. It was an early morning. Too early. The bagels from Kerry's dad were a nice addition, but they didn't make up for the fact that the sun was privileged enough to rise after us. After a long morning commute to Queens, we took the train to Grand Central Station and from there started our NYC adventure. First stop: Jamaican Embassy. Now, as Nancy explained, things did not go as smoothly as anticipated. First, we needed to fill out Visa applications, AGAIN. Then, we needed our flight itinerary. So we went next door to Kinkos, printed off our itineraries, booked a flight for Jornah and headed back to the embassy. But wait, that wasn't all! We still needed passport pictures to attach to our applications. So we crossed the street to SOHO FOTO, primped a bit, and took passport photos, AGAIN. Confident that we couldn't possibly have to run around anymore, we headed back to the embassy, smiled politely at the nice official who kept sending us out of the building, gave them our $115 dollars, and left relieved. We escaped just in time to head downtown and catch the 12 noon mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, where we just happened to be surrounded by several dozen dashing young priests on a field trip of some sort. Following mass, we started to make our way to Central Park for a pb&j lunch when the noise started. It was quiet at first, subdued, but the decibel levels quickly increased the longer and farther we walked. The noise, we found out, was Lupe. It was barely 1:00pm and she was tired of walking. We bribed her to continue on with promises of mouth-wateringly delicious pb&j, but I'm pretty sure she saw right through our "big, fat, American lies," as she was fond of saying. Following lunch, another sojourn to find a restroom was interrupted by Lupe's mumbling. "You guys go ahead, I'll meet you back here." We tried explaining that we probably wouldn't come back to that particular location in Central Park. "That's okay, I'll meet you here." I asked if her feet were sore, if she was tired or hot or had a headache. "I'm too hot," she said, "We don't walk this much in Tonga." I commented that Tonga was a tropical island and that I thought it got much hotter than New York City. "But we walk with umbrellas in Tonga!" she quickly countered back. I had forgotten to bring my umbrella that day. Lupe had to continue to suffer. The complaints from Lupe quelled a bit later into the afternoon, as we made our way to Ground Zero (taking the scenic route via Brooklyn, courtesy of Kerry's innate sense of direction) and then back downtown to meet Kerry's sister Erin for dinner. Lupe was happy about dinner - Indian food - but the walk back to Grand Central, through Times Square, proved too much for her aching feet and again we heard her barely audible mumblings...."Are we almost there?" Back on the subway, Lupe collapsed into a seat and let out a great sigh of relief. "I'm never coming back to this city again!"


My fingers are sore and suffering from acute carpel tunnel, so I'm going to finish up now. Besides, Nancy and I have a tennis date to practice our mad skills so that we can show off to Lupe during our next game. Hope everyone is doing well! love (amore), meg

---