Best. Weekend. Ever.

I’ve kind of put off writing about last weekend, first because it was so fabulous that it was hard to tear myself away from the weekend so I COULD write about it, and second because once I got back to Washington it was sad and rainy and… full of work… and it wasn’t easy to dwell on the wonderful New Mexico. But I think I’m okay now. 🙂

For one thing, I met my goal of eating green chile with every meal. Everything was pretty awesome, but I think the highlight was the chile rellenos at Si Senor. Or the tamales from Roberto’s. And Blake’s officially has a way better green chile cheeseburger than Whataburger. By a mile.

And the hockey! I was so stoked! I went to the high school game Friday night, and like three minutes after I showed up, one of my hockey buddies called me from another buddy’s phone, because our other hockey buddy’s mom had seen me at the game and called him, and they told me that the three of them (and a few more hockey players) were already over at somebody’s house drinking beers! So I got to hang out with them right away! Then on Saturday we played hockey for a few hours, drank some beers, played hockey again, and went out for Mexican food. As if that wasn’t enough for a fantastic day, when we came out of the restaurant there was a full mariachi band across the street in someone’s front yard, singing Las Mananitas, which my family can tell you is my most favorite song ever. I have never, ever just bumped into a mariachi band in Washington State. That kind of stuff doesn’t happen up here.

And of course my family, who I missed SO much. So much. It was so fantastic to hang out with them. I think our weekend family dinners is the thing I miss the most about New Mexico. Add a couple of my best friends and my dog into that mix, and I am a happy, happy girl.

So there you have it. Family, friends, sunshine, green chile, doggies, hockey, beer, Las Mananitas… the only way this weekend could have been more fun is if it had been Halloween, which, by the way, I am SO THERE. 😀

(Reverse?) Culture Shock, Part Three

I am completely excited to be in Las Cruces right now. So far this has been just about the perfect trip, and I think it’s only going to get better.

First thing on my list was to go to Blake’s for a green chile cheeseburger. HOW do I LIVE without Blake’s in Seattle? How? It was heavenly. I totally cried… because (culture shock!) the green chile was so hot. I thought, oh no. Either this green chile is really the stuff, or I’ve got gringo mouth! I couldn’t stop eating it though… so good. Luckily, that night at our family enchilada dinner, the green chile didn’t knock me out, so I think Blake’s was just serving the hard core stuff.

Culture shock number two came that afternoon when I was trying to buy a new phone. Okay…. it’s April. This is by no means the worst of the New Mexico weather. And as luck would have it, this weekend is like the coldest Las Cruces has been in quite a while, and the temperature in Seattle shot up like 20 degrees today, so the high and low for Las Cruces are both colder than the high and low in Seattle. Very funny, weather gods. You win this round.

But still, even in the relatively cold New Mexico April, I was burning myself on the car door handle and getting blinded by the sun, and my skin was freaking out. Yesterday was the first day since August that I’ve worn short sleeve. I had on like SPF 45, but my arms just couldn’t handle the sun, I guess. I got this sun rash on my arm. And it was just zapping my energy. Every time I was in the sun, I felt exhausted. That’s pathetic! I’m so soft now! I’m probably only a little bit tougher than people who have lived in Seattle their whole lives.

So of course, I’m exhausted, and it’s like 2 in the afternoon, and I am not a coffee drinker, okay? I’m not. But, God help me, I found myself saying, “If I don’t get some Starbucks immediately, I’m going to die.”

My friends told me, “You’re so from Seattle now!” That’s not cool. And you know what else? I felt great after the coffee. LAME.

Other culture shocks: what’s up with the dust here? Everything’s dusty. My dogs are filthy. How did that happen to them? Where do they find all this dust? Also, I’ve crossed over from the person who looks out the window in Washington and says, “So green!” to the person who looks out the window in New Mexico and says, “So brown!” And it’s just weird to see broken cars laying around, or cupboard doors painted bright lime green, or thuggish kids walking around being tough, and so forth. It’s the little ghetto things that make you feel at home. 🙂

Today I’m going to play hockey on Hugo, Diego, and Ray’s team! I’m so stoked! I haven’t skated since November and I’ve been living at sea level since August, and the sun might kill me, but it’ll still be fun. And I missed my family SO much! We’re going to have dinner, again! This is already the best trip ever. And it’s going to get better. 🙂

24 on the 24th!

It’s my birthday, I’m in New Mexico, and it’s raining. Figures.

Other than me totally screwing up the weather down here (apparently it was beautiful and 75 degrees until I showed up and now it’s like 45 and raining, and wouldn’t you know it? I didn’t bring hardly any warm clothes), this trip has been so much fun. I feel like I never left.

We sort of made a scene at the airport. Andy and Tracy came to pick me up. Tracy just dyed her hair bright red, the same color that Andy and I have naturally, so it was very apparent to everybody that we’re siblings, and if the hair didn’t give it away, me jumping overthe slow guy in front of me and his stupid rolley backpack so I run to them so we could all jump around and yell might also have been a clue. I missed them so much.

So, thanks to me screwing with the weather, it RAINED on Thanksgiving Day, which makes this year the first time in EVER that it hasn’t been absolutely beautiful for our annual Thanksgiving Day pickup inline hockey game, but did that stop us? Of course not. We played in our shoes, in the puddles. It was freezing. Oddly enough, I hardly noticed that we were playing without our skates. In fact, I don’t think anybody ever stopped and looked around and recognized what an unusual situation we were in– ten full-grown, responsible adults, chasing each other through ice-cold puddles for about two hours. It was great. I mean, not as great as it would have been if the weather had been nice, but still. I love that my hockey buddies will do anything to play.

So far we’ve had big family dinners every night I’ve been here, with my Grandparents, Aunt, Uncle, and cousin, and my thirteen-year-old neighbor, D’Angelo, who is kind of always around, but we like him, so we don’t mind. Tonight is the same– it’s my birthday, and I got to pick the food, and we’re having pizza, with GREEEEEEEN CHILLLLLE! Yum. This may sound crazy to some of you, but my favorite pizza topping is green chile and pineapple. Mmm, sweet and spicy… it’s fantastic. But you can’t exactly order a green chile pizza in Seattle, so now’s my chance.

And you know what’s really great?

I have a sleeping doggie sitting next to my on the couch. He’s so cute. I MISSED him.

(And I’m up to ~37,850 words on my novel. I think I’m going to make it!)