9/11/2001 was big.

I read this article this morning. It is called the Secret Lives of Passwords and it was written by Ian Urbina in November 2014. In the beginning he describes his path to finding that passwords of many of his co-workers who perished on that day. As I read it I cried. It has been over 13 years and I still cry. I wonder if I will ever stop crying.

That day has changed in meaning over the years as I have grown from an 11 year old child to an adult. I have gained understanding and moved from confusion to anger to sadness.

I think it is okay that I continue to cry.
I just wish I never had to.

The Grand Canyon

I finally made it to the Grand Canyon! 

When I was planning my trip to America, I considered going "home". To me, I have never really felt "home" was a certain state. My family is all over the country. My mom and my sister can't seem to stick to one place (which makes sense, because I can't either!). What I decided I really wanted to do was use my vacation to see my family and something new. The Grand Canyon instantly came to mind. The Grand Canyon has held it's place as the only place on my bucket list for at least 10 years. I'll tell you what, it did not disappoint. 

We started the day early. When my sister knew we were going to the Grand Canyon she told me she wanted to see it at sunrise. We decided we would go ahead and leave Vegas in time to arrive at the Grand Canyon for that event. I decided to go to bed around five so that I would be well rested to drive and to experience the Grand Canyon. 

We made it in time and Bella was happy to be there. I didn't realize just how cold it was going to be, so if you are going to go to the Grand Canyon in the morning to see the sunrise… bring a jacket. You should also probably bring a hat and some gloves. 

After we saw the sunrise Gabby was over the Grand Canyon. She felt a little sick and kind of decided, "Okay, I've seen it!" I sent her to the car to rest and relax and I made the trip around the rim myself. It was also really nice because I was on the bus with two women. When I later offered to take their picture together I found out that they were sisters who had come from Colorado Springs and had previously lived in Kentucky. How funny. 

In the end, I am so excited to have been at the Grand Canyon. When I first considered going to the Grand Canyon I pictured it differently, but in the end I think this was better. I do plan on going back, because there are parts that I didn't go to because I wanted to get to my Favorite's house and I didn't want to leave Gabby and Bella sitting in the car feeling junky and being hungry. 

Drive all night... And day.

Gabby, Bella and I had a great time driving. By that I mean we drove for close to 14 hours and made it to a hotel and then drove for 10 more hours. We spent the night in a hotel in Oklahoma City and that was some of the best sleep I have ever had. I broke out the PodCasts and made Gabby listen to them. Stuff You Should Know, This America Life, The Moth, Radio Lab, and FreakEconomics all came out. I don't think she would ever listen to Podcasts on her own, but I don't think she can say she hated them completely!

Leaving Vegas

On my lsat say in Vegas I finally at the waffle I have been wanting. My cousin, sister and I went to the local IHOP and ordered thousands of pesos worth of food! I even ordered extra butter to put on the waffle. My eyes were bigger than my stomach, because I didn't even finish everything, but it was delicious and worth the experience.

After that we headed to the container park in downtown Vegas. That is a really cool shopping center made out of the shipping containers used for importing and exporting goods to and from the United States. 

I also apoligize… this was written way after the experience, so I'm just going to end it here. Basically, Vegas was awesome. I miss my cousin and I hope that both of our current goals for the future put us in the same state when I am finished with Peace Corps. 

Forever laughing

So, We've made it to Vegas. I can't tell you how excited I was to see my cousin Chris. Seriously, it has already been great. We arrived to his home and he did what any great cousin would do and sat me down with a nice glass of wine. The bonding and planning and being together started right away. We all, Gabby, Chris, Chris's friend Brandon, and I quickly changed into our best and headed out to a local gay bar. It had kind of a western feel, but I really enjoyed it because I could hear everybody when they were talking, and we were given free t-shirts early on. Gabby, Chris and I all made it out onto the dance floor. There is a video of me dancing with Gabby. Maybe I will let that see the light of day. I never have boasted about my dancing skills! 

My sister and cousin on the other hand… this happened. I'm not going to say who won the competition, but I will say that it wasn't anyone I share genetic material with.

My cousin's friend Brandon was also out with us. Can I just say that this guy was fabulous? He kept me entertained all night long. Can we be best friends?
















Then things got a little exciting. When deciding what we should do next our options were go to an IHOP and get the waffle I've been wanting since I landed in the mother land, go to the vegas strip and do what your "supposed" to do when you visit Vegas, or go to a park and walk around late at night. We chose the latter!

I can't tell you the last time I laughed so hard. Once we pulled all of our princesses together we took off for the swings. There were only two swings, so we were alternating, but the people who weren't swinging were running through the swingers. I was laughing so hard my abs hurt. We walked around a pond, bonded with some swans, and continued to remember stories from the past that would crack us all up. If Brandon didn't know my family was wild before he certainly known now!

We also had a bit of time for some gymnastics. There are many more photos, but I will let you all fill in the blanks. This visit with my cousin has been great, and it's really just getting started. We got in late last night, went out, and I am probably going to wake him up soon so I can go get a waffle. He and I stayed up all of last night talking and catching up. It has always been super easy with this cousin to fall right back into cousin/friend mode. I sure do miss him.

Las Vegas!

I After gathering all of our things together, Gabby, Bella and I were off to Vegas. First we made a quick stop to clear up some business and in Pasadena to have lunch with my wonderful Aunt. 

I kept thinking I should take pictures off the sushi but I didn't have time for that. It literally melted in my mouth. I really did miss good sushi. I didn't even know how much I missed good sushi. 

My aunt was very smart and decided we should all order a dessert and then share them. That's fine with me! Also, as a current Peace Corps Volunteer, I didn't have any qualms tasting the scraps of my sister and aunt's meals. 

All you get is this one picture. I'll pretend it's because I don't want to make my PCV friends salivate through their computers, but really it's just because I was too busy eating. That there is green tea ice cream. Also, I think I could make the guineo dish below, so this is a reference picture. 

After that Gabby and I drove and drove. I crocheted for a while and tried to sleep. If you remember though,my mind knows I'm not allowed to sleep for the next 18 days. 

I actually for behind the wheel pretty early. Gabby and I have been joking about the fact that I haven't driven in a year and was never a great driver to begin with, but in reality it was a straight shot, I could put it on cruise control, and Gabby actually has permission to sleep, so I drove. 

I loved getting behind the wheel again. It also means I get to choose the music, so some of my new playlists from my PCV friend made it into the trip. 

We've also decided that we will turn down the music to talk to Amanda while she's driving. I can only do one other thing while I'm driving, and listening to music is considered a thing, so driving, listening to music, and talking can't happen at the same time. That was a good thing to learn early on in this trip. 

Now I'm in Vegas with my cousin. We are out at a bar and I've already received a free polo shirt by simply asking for one. 

It is so nice to see my cousin. I haven't seen him in a few years and I always enjoy the time even if it's short. 

Also, how different could Gabby and I look? The first thing she said to me off of the plane was about how dark my skin was. I'm dark, my hair is huge, do we even look related these days? 

Officially on the road

We are officially on the road. I have my water and a craft to keep me busy. 

The first stop is to deal with some post rear end incident business and then hope to make it to my aunt's place of employment before her lunch break is over. After that we will make it to Vegas to see my cousin!  I really can't wait for that. It has been far too long since I've spent time with this particular cousin. I spent a great many years when I was a teenager wanting to grow up and be "just like my cousin Chris". 

Well, I'm going to get back to watching this California traffic. I'll let you know how the rest of the day goes later. 

Where I show pictures of food

When am I going to remember that we are allowed to throw the toilet paper in the toilet in this country? 

When we left off with Amanda takes on America I was wearing the same shirt I left the Dominican Republic in. After that I made my way to the best bathroom I've ever seen in a real life house and I took a bath in a tub with jets. There was aroma therapy bubbly stuff and creams and smells and a television and if I wanted, super fast wi-fi. I've also decided I should probably give up the idea of having children and just move my dreams to having a giant bathroom instead. (Okay, probably not. Don't panic Mom, I will still probably, most likely, have children, maybe.) 

After those shenanigans my aunt took my sister and I out for dinner. Did you knot that in America you can pay a guy to cut an onion, shape it like a volcano, and light it on fire? Yeah, we went out to this super fun Japanese restaurant. 

Of course I needed a giant helping of white rice to remind me of the Dominican Republic. I was afraid that I may have been gone too long and forgot what it tastes like. 

Because I am living in America for the moment, I was also able to have a person make me ice cream, wrap that in pound cake, and serve it to me with a sprig of mint and a bowl of chocolate. Way better than anything I've made my friends in the DR.  We ended the night watching Frozen. I was so tired during the entirety of the movie, but the only real advice I received about visiting America was "Don't fall asleep!" I'm doing my best!

 When it was over I was actually distracted by fast internet and didn't fall asleep until 2 a.m. and actually woke up around 6 a.m. I laid in bed until I heard my aunt on the sewing machine finishing up some of the projects from yesterday and I had to get out of bed. I can not waste a single day here! I don't get to see my aunt very often anyway. 

It was actually a great morning. We chatted about job type stuff, and craft type stuff. I'm a lot like this particular aunt of mine so it is always nice to run a lot of things by her. It has been such a nice time. 

We agreed to wake my sister up by 9 at the latest then we all walked down to Starbucks to grab breakfast. 

We brought Bella with us and were able to stop by the craft store to pick up some more supplies. Really, I am so excited about an upcoming project! 

This afternoon has been mostly a lounge day. We stopped by target so we could pick up some things to bake a cake. Went home to bake said cake and watch a movie. The aunt flipped through a neat magazine. The sister floated through some internet fun and took some pool time. The dogs were in and out. All the while Amanda crocheted and watched The Book Thief. It was a nice afternoon and now we are mostly resting. 

I'm not sure what the evening holds, but I am going to take another one of those baths I suppose, and we may be able to get a board game in. I definitely need to go lay down though. I think I am allowed to sleep if the others are sleeping. 

California, here I come!

I landed in the airport and as I turned on my phone I had a call from my sister. Aren't the people in the plane supposed to call the people outside to inform them of the landing? Well, that's not how we do things around here. After a funny conversation where we discussed which airports suck more, we finally found each other at baggage claim in the 3rd terminal of LAX.

While driving to my aunt's house at 1:30 in the morning Gabby asked me if I wanted anything to eat. I couldn't think of anything other than a bed. Except a few minutes later I decided I really wanted a waffle. I miss waffles. So she asks Siri to find a Waffle House, we make a U-turn and drive for another 15 minutes, realize the Waffle House is over 16 miles away, make another U-turn, have a hard time finding the highway because of the many detours, end up in the same spot after following a detour, get rear ended (We're fine, the car is okay-ish), call the local police, find out California doesn't make police reports unless state property has been damaged, take down some information, leave the scene, make it to my aunt's house, try not to wake anybody up, wake somebody up, find a bed, share some stories, realize I am freezing, go to bed and wake up. It all blurs together, because that's what it felt like.

This morning was better. I woke up around 6:30 which is 9:30 DR time, so I think I am doing pretty well. I looked in all the cabinets in my aunt's kitchen looking for cold cereal and milk. Found it.

The rest of the morning was a nice mix of chatting with my aunt and crafting. She and i shared stories about our current life situations and our current hobby situations. She passed on some quilting wisdom and I shared what my current crochet status is as of this morning. We also found it vital to our being that we go to JoAnne's fabric right then to buy some new yarn. I am not going to reveal everything, but I have a few new projects up my sleeves.





Around this time Gabby woke up. She had to diaper the dog, because well, that happens sometimes. We are currently working on some quilting wall hangings. My aunt had a bunch of fabric for us to choose and we went to work. I won't go into details, because reading about a fun time isn't always fun, but I will add some pictures using this awesome american Wi-Fi. I miss American Wi-Fi!

Gabby and Aunt Beth are currently working hard on quilts whilst I sit on the computer. That sounds about right. 

Anyone who saw me before I left the Dominican Republic (John Serpas) knows that I haven't actually changed my shirt since I left the country. I should really partake of the amazing hot water in this country. Don't worry. I heard their is a jet bath tub that has my name on it for later.

Here we are. Day one back together. My hair, super enormous, but because I am no longer on an island I don't have a huge desire to shave my head. Oh America, I have missed you!

Notes from the trip

JetBlue should know that when the in-flight crew says "Terra" blue, potato chips over the loud speaker it sounds as if they are announcing "terrible potato chips". The guy was making jokes about having tostones and sancoho so I thought he was still joking. (P.S. Those chips were awesome.)

The NYTimes in-flight television makes me want to move to NYC and go to shows on Broadway every weekend. Maybe I'll have to move to the city after Peace Corps. 

As I flipped through the channels to find the live map I was stopped by FRIENDS on not just one, but two channels. They must be doing something right. 

I constantly blinded the two people next to me with the brightness of the clouds because I couldn't wait to get my first glimpse of America. 

The most exciting thing ever!

I am so excited. I passed through customs. I pulled out my American passport. I am sitting in front of a sign that says "New York". I had my last phone call on my Dominican phone with my good friend dishing about it all. I am about to be home, in America. Who would have thought I would be so excited to spend three weeks in America? I'm going to put away my computer now and pack up to sit on the airplane. Next time you hear from me I will be in America. I can't contain my excitement. See below for my excited face!

Vacation

Today is the first official day of my vacation. I woke up at Serp's house around 4:30 a.m. Great start.

For now, my vacation is going to be travel and travel and Internet, and my American cell phone will turn on. I am looking forward to customs, because that means I'm home. I am looking forward to the flight, because that means I am traveling.

Ahora mismo, I am at SDQ. I spent money on a weird sandwich so I could charge my computer and use the internet at this weird bar. I really wanted YogenFruz, but I am apparently willing to give up delicious frozen fruit for electricity.

America though, I can't wait for you and your electricity. I look forward to the clean tap water. I am going to drink while I am in the shower, I am going to make ice from the tap, and I won't use special water to cool down my hard boiled eggs. I'll order water at a restaurant and not pay extra and it will be from a tap and I won't worry about things living inside of me after the experience.

Really though, America, I can't wait.

First stop JFK, second stop LAX, and finally I should get to see my sister. It's going to be such a great trip and I hope you keep this blog updated daily.

Amanda Cham

Each time my life takes a new direction I think it is time for a new blog. Now that some of those blogs are out gathering dust I've decided it's time to bring everything together. I still have some embarrassing blogs that I don't plan on making easy to discover, but for the most part I think my blog life needs to be compiled together into one place. 

I don't plan on making it a habit to post individual blog posts on this blog very often, but I also thought it would be a good place to offload those blogs that don't make sense in my blog of the moment. For example, when I want to talk about emotional pain, but I am currently using my Peace Corps blog. When the emotions aren't able to relate back to Peace Corps at all but rather fall into a general "Amanda" post I will post them here, in this space that is all about me. That way all the Peace Corps blog readers don't have to keep wondering why I go off on a tangent about past pain in the middle of a post about the beach. 

Hopefully I don't show too much "hubris", but I think in the end that is what most blogs are for, so look forward to that.