Hurricane Irene

Supposedly Hurricane Irene is on it’s way to Maryland.  We are in a state of emergency.  It is only raining right now though.

However, Ivan is quite worried.  His only experience with hurricanes was Hurricane Mitch in 1998 – the most deadliest hurricanes to ever hit Honduras with over 9000 deaths.  When I was living there in 2005 people still talked about the destruction caused by this hurricane.  This photo is from the area near where my husband is from:

Yeah, quite serious.

So, because of this, we are overly prepared for Hurricane Irene (in some ways – I mean we haven’t evacuated or put plywood on our windows, but this was not suggested).  This is what we have done:

• filled the bathtub with water, in case something happens to the water and we can’t flush the toilet (I’m not sure what would happen to the water though, but just in case)
• filled every bottle, thermos, jug, and cooler with water to drink (again, if the tap water is compromised)
• filled our cabinets with non-perishable foods (which turned out to be Tostitos, pringles, pretzels, powdered milk, cookies, and cornflakes – I guess we are planning to survive on junk food)
• bought flashlights (ok, so there were no flashlights to be found so we had to buy headlamps instead – yup, we’ll be sporting headlamps if the power goes out)
• washed all our clothes (in case the lights go out all week, at least we’ll have clean clothes)
• moved our bikes inside
• parked our car under a small tree instead of a large tree (we looked for tree-less spots but they didn’t exist)

That is the sum of our preparations.  I think we’re pretty prepared.  Oh, and I set up a meeting place in case things get serious and our homes are destroyed.  At least my sister and I will know where to meet and find each other.  Except I’m not sure she took my suggest seriously.  So, I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that!

If you are on the East Coast – be safe!!  An earthquake and now a hurricane – what is going on!!

A washing he will do

I have made some serious progress.  I’m not sure how long it will last but I will enjoy it while it does.  What is the progress???

IVAN IS WASHING THE DISHES!!!!

Yes, you read that right.  For two days Ivan and I have had a new schedule.  I come home from work, run, cook dinner and then Ivan washes the dishes while I watch TV.  Yup, I have now watched NCIS two days in a row.  And it’s been great.

Ok, so I had actually seen both episodes already but I sure wasn’t going to tell him that – I kept watching while he kept washing.  I even got to change the channel while we were eating dinner.  This is big people, really big.

Our deal?  As long as we are done eating and he has time to wash the dishes before his favorite novela comes on at 9pm I am golden.  I am totally enjoying my new found TV time and reconnecting with the bean bag.

It’s been lovely.

I wanted to document this with a photo but I thought that that would draw too much attention to his dish washing…so I didn’t.  Maybe one day.  As for today, I am turning into a couch potato and loving it.  I did not even mention the egg still left on the frying pan.  There will no critiquing his dish washing skills – a little dried egg never hurt anyone!

A Healthy Diet

 

           vs.     

I have come to discover that what I think is a healthy diet is not what Ivan thinks is a healthy diet.  And even though I’ve taken nutrition, read a bunch of nutrition articles related to running, and studied public health, my husband refuses to believe me.  Apparently he is a nutrition expert.  Here is an example of his expertise:

Him: “Honey, I think I’m going to stop drinking Pepsi and Coke because it is making me fat.”

Me: “That’s probably true because Pepsi and Coke are not the healthiest drinks in the world".”

Him: “I think I should drink Fanta instead.  When you go grocery shopping, can you buy Fanta instead of Pepsi.”

Me: “Umm, Fanta is just as bad as Pepsi is.”

Him: “No, Fanta is much healthier.  Fanta and grape soda are much better for you than Pepsi or Coke.”

Me: “No, they are the same.  If you want to drink something healthy, you should drink water or flavored seltzer water or something.  Anything with less sugar.”

Him: “No, Fanta is healthy.  Can you just buy me Fanta?”

Me: “Ok, whatever, I’ll get you Fanta.  But it’s not healthier.”

 

Yeah, that was our conversation.  So, instead of Pepsi, I bought Fanta.  I also bought soy meat and turkey bacon – real healthy food.  He is a funny guy.  It’s amazing what he learned as a kid – and still believes.  And what he refuses to believe.  I told him if he is worried about getting fat there are MANY other foods he should eliminate from his diet starting with buffalo wings, hot dogs, bags of chips, etc.  He’s apparently only ready to change from Pepsi to Fanta.

Small steps right?  I’m hoping he makes a small step toward washing the dishes too….

Maybe there are some good things

On Sunday I made a quick call to Honduras to wish my host mom, Alba, a Happy Birthday.  Her birthday was actually Saturday, but I was so busy on Saturday that I remembered in the morning but forgot to actually call her.  I’m a bad host daughter.  That’s her on the right – she’s super sweet!

Anyway, after a short time she asked how Ivan was so I passed the phone to him.  As I was washing up the dishes I heard him talking to her, and it made me smile.

He talked about our new apartment, how we’re trying to buy a new sofa, that I changed my last name, that we’re trying to save for a vacation, how I start classes at the end of the month, how he’s starting English classes this month, about our trip to Minnesota for my Uncle’s funeral, etc. 

Why is this significant?  Well, because I would venture to say that about 60% of the time hubs misses home.  Although he’s been here over a year, everything is still a mystery.  I know that often he doesn’t feel comfortable, he doesn’t have a place to “hang out” where he can go to and expect to run into a bunch of friends, he doesn’t have family, he doesn’t have the same type of friends he has in Honduras, he doesn’t speak the language well, he still can’t drive, and many other things.  To those who don’t know, it is HARD to adjust to a new place.  Many people move from say Boston to San Diego and have a hard time adjusting – and he was moving from the rural areas of Honduras to suburban DC. 

Quite a big change.

And I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t worry about him every single day.  It wasn’t made apparent to me until we went back to Honduras for a visit and the Ivan I knew and fell in love with emerged again (and according to him, the Kattrina he knew and loved re-emerged too – apparently we are both more relaxed and fun in Honduras).  He was smiling all the time, in a great mood, and genuinely happy.  I only see that person every once in a while – usually in the US he is more subdued, has lots of headaches, is tired, and way less sociable.  I know it’s hard for him and I know he came here because he loves me.  However, every once in a while I wonder if he thinks it’s worth it or if he would do it again given the choice.  I wouldn’t say that he doesn’t have fun and we don’t enjoy our life together here – we do – but he still feels the pull of his old life.

Plus, I remember how it was when I was there.  A lot of times I wanted to just hang out in my house all by myself and not have to talk to someone in Spanish or sit around feeling like an outsider.  It is exhausting trying to fit into a foreign culture!

So, just listening to him talk about our life here and talking about the future and things we’re working towards made me so happy.  There are things that he’s excited about here and there are things he looks forward to and ultimately, maybe there is hope that he’ll adjust and learn to like it here.

I know that the US will probably never really be his home, but I really hope that one day he sees it as one of his homes.  And of course, I want him to be happy here so badly.  And that little glimpse into his mind makes me hope that maybe things are changing slowly.  Very slowly, but slowly all the same.

And either way – I still love him lots – cultural differences and all!!!