One more day...

CANCUN COMING UP!!! It's hard to think of anything else!!

Except her. Just today I realized I forgot to give her the second picture I had printed and framed for her. I'll have to give it to her somehow... how else is she supposed to get it? And what I am supposed to do with it if not give it to her?

I wish I was still her friend.

...

As for Cancun, my bag's all packed up already! I packed excess clothes and excess money - I'm really planning on squeezing ALL the fun out of this trip!!

As for her... I think I'll write to her. Yeah...

CANCUN'S GONNA ROCK!!!!!

Almost there...

It's Dec. 26th, and I've got about 50 hours to go to get ready for MY TRIP TO CANCUN!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!

Yep, I got excited about it again! :D I was looking at some vids of some parties @ the famous Coco Bongo disco in Cancun... it's AWEEEESOME!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

I've got to get my clothes ready, tho... I've only got one semi-decent pair of jeans, and lots of khakis... but I really don't think khakis will do... I'll have to do some quick shopping today! :O

My lovesickness is all gone now. I managed to talk to her for about 5 minutes, I gave her a Christmas present, and at least I cleared things up. The way I see it, I showed her how I was feeling, and now if she doesn't respond to it, well... that's her issue. I've done my part. I'm not about to force her... It's almost like Christmas made it all so much better! :D I feel much happier. She's leaving on Thursday... maybe she'll write or call before that? I don't think so. Too bad.

When I say that I'm going to Cancun to new people, they always tell me how GREAT it is there! They tell me "have fun, but be safe!!" Oh, I plan to! I wonder how promiscuous will I become.

So, things to do today:

• Get my stuff ready for CANCUN!!!
• Get money
• For my expenses on the trip
• To pay Marcelo & Chino
  
• Buy protection
• Get clothes
• Plan it over with my trip-partners
  
• Read a little about Struts (Java)
• Go and give a Christmas card to Kira
• Talk with Hamilton about the program I made for him - payment and follow-ups.
• My FJBG Farewell party @ Vesuvio at 1230. (What should I take?)

Oh yeah, and I finally finished the program for Socorro, and she paid me! (I think she was surprised by the Q4000 price, but... oh well... she was one who told me that I should charge what I thought was right. And... yep... that's what I think).

Now I'll read some Struts. Bye! G'night!! Wish me luck ON CANCUN YEAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

XD

In other news...

Lovesickness issue apart, I'd like to mention my other recent events:

• A goodbye party for me has been organized by FJBG. It will take place on Wednesday, December the 26th @Vesuvio's, 12:30. I was thinking of saying something jokingly solemn as a farewell speech... I'm still pondering.
• The Cancun trip is confirmed. My passport is approved for entry to the Mexican territory, the ticket is bought, and now I just need to get some money. I think my mom has a few hundred $s stocked up somewhere... I'll just borrow them. Why am not THAT excited?
  
• I already submitted all my paperwork to go work @Reddwerks starting January the 7th, 2008. Seems like everything's set. But I'm still hoping on some miracle that will allow me to get to know a certain person here in Guatemala better...
• I bought 7 little fiber optic color lamps in Z.1 a few days ago. They cost me Q6.30 each, and the batteries were Q1.75 per pair. I'd say it was a good deal. I'm planning on giving them away as Christmas presents. I have one in my room right in front of me right now, in fact. I like it.
  
• Christmas is looking VERY dull this year. I had no idea that a Christmas eve could be SO... un-Christmas-ese. For all I see around me, it could VERY well be June 17th. It's kind of sad... there are no children running around, playing soccer, and I don't see any people getting together... of course, it's hard to see all this if I stay locked up in the house all day. But still... I can't feel any Christmas spirit at all. Is it only me??
• During a sudden discharge of feelings two days ago, I wrote a pleading letter to my sister, asking her to work on our family's communication. And then she wrote back, telling me some of her love adventures in life, and I replied with mine. I wonder if this will change anything... (The discharge was caused by she who causes my present lovesickness).
• I'm invited to Pajaro's party tonight @8, Nais Lounge Z.10. I hope the event can take my mind off my present gloomy thoughts.
  

Yeah, I guess that's it for now. I'm still expecting a little clarifying text message or call from her... if she doesn't reply I'll be bummed out for a few days, including Christmas Eve. I just hope to recover for the Cancun adventure. (Yeah...)

Bad medicine

Three days later and still lovesick. Remember this song?

I ain't got a fever got a permanent disease
It'll take more than a doctor to prescribe a remedy
I got lots of money but it isn't what I need
Gonna take more than a shot to get this poison out of me
I got all the symptoms count 'em 1,2,3

First I need
That's what you get for falling in love
Then you bleed
You get a little but it's never enough
On your knees
That's what you get for falling in love

(Sigh...) I just got a call and I thought it was her. And nope, it wasn't her. I wonder what she'll reply... I asked her if I had said anything wrong on Tuesday (over a text message...). That is, IF she replies, of course...

It's not everyday you meet your soulmate...

Lovesick...

There IS such a thing as Lovesickness. I thought it was just an expression. It happens when you give yourself to someone, and that someone doesn't give herself back. Makes sense?

Multiple adoption

I ran into Julita, Scarleth's mother, at the bank near my house today. She told that her family and she loved me very much and that she was my mom.

My mom??? That comment sounded so familiar...

You know, during these last months, I've been receiving so many of these comments... and repeatedly, too... I think I have seven moms:

1. The original one, you know, the one who's in Chicago. She doesn't actually TELL ME she's my mom... I guess she assumes that I know.
   
2. Aunt Violeta, the aunt who has always told me she loves me very very very very very very very very very much, and that if she were 15 years younger, I wouldn't be alive anymore. That can has made me wonder about accidental homicide.
3. Kira de Abreu, my abacus teacher. She doesn't really come out in intense emotional outbursts like my aunt does, but I recall her telling me once: "since your mother isn't in the country, I'll be taking her place with some of my advice". She has already told me not to marry either a native USA girl or a guatemalan girl "tirada con onda" living in the USA, and I intend on following that advice. Strictly.
4. Norma de González, a 75-year old classmate at my abacus class on thursday morning during the past year, and my computational-usage student tuesday mornings at her place. She half-jokingly tells me that I need motherly advice because I'm at a very important stage in my life - a stage of change. She's told me lots of funny advice, but the kind I remember most is the dietary and culinary kind. She's told me how to save on food, which good foods to eat, and how I should NEVER, NEVER throw food away.
5. Isabelita Gutiérrez de Bosch, the woman who financially supported most of my higher-level education from 2004-2006. We're not THAT close, and she just made a slight remark about being my mom, but it ought to count...
6. Miriam Hernández, my transpersonal therapist several months ago, and now a good friend of mine. I also recall her saying something like that to me. Her advice, of course, was so much and varied that it's hard to write it all. But in a nutshell, she tells me I should look for myself, and live my life exactly as I want it to be. And achieve supreme happiness and consciousness. Yep.
   
7. Julita Pérez de Arévalo, my friend Scarleth's mom. She's HIGHLY religious, an AVID rule-follower, and she says she loves me very much. Thank you for everything, Julita. Oh yeah, her advice: she's told me that the most important thing in life is God, and that I should seek it during my life. Sort-of makes sense.
   

Maternal instinct seems to abound around me.

Thanks moms! You've been a great support for us all! We thank you all from a certain point in our hearts, different for each one of you.

Lots of things

Lots of things happened today. I'll be brief.

1. I bought my trip package to Cancun for New Year's, Dec 28th-Jan 2nd. Now I have to go to the Mexican embassy on Monday and get a tourist visa.
2. I took a C# test at noon at New Horizons and passed with a score of 840 out of 1000. Passing score was 700.
3. I picked up my financial solvency document from UVG today.
4. Went to Richard's graduation ceremony, and then dinner at his house on the afternoon. Spent all night there playing Scrabble and cards, just came back about half an hour ago.

And today, Saturday the 15th, I have all day reserved to work with Dr. Hamilton Abreu on his dental XL worksheets...

That's it for now. Bye.

Got money today

I received Q4500 today. (And used up Q208, so a surplus of Q4292 today). In fact, I'm carrying about Q2600 in my wallet right now. Anyone curious as to why?

Well, I may be curious in the future when I wander off to read my own blog. The thing is, ETA paid me Q2500 in the morning for having created a program for them that they will use in the future to certify new drivers at their school. The parking lot just across the street from ETA charged me Q8, and I paid Q200 to Kira for tuition during the month of December.

The other Q2000 were a surprise. I've been urging Andres to pay me the money I once lent to him more than a year ago, and although he promised to have Q6000 before December began, he didn't because of several excuses he had, like he always has had... but anyway... his friend deposited Q2000 today in my account. Yep, I already confirmed it online. It was a cash deposit, it seems. Either that or a same-bank check. Either way, there's more money there for me to withdraw now, and more importantly, to use.

This was it for today. Cya later...

Determinant Saturday

Saturday, December the 8th, 2007 was a neat day (for me).

But my last blog closed off on Thursday, so I'll narrate my Friday first.

I had offered Kira to help her on Friday in the arranging of the auditorium for the abacus championship. She told me to arrive at 10AM, but I arrived at 11. Not TOO big a deal. So I got there and began to get busy. My first task was to put together several pieces of japanese armor so as to give the impression of a fully dressed japanese warrior. There was already a girl at the site putting together the first pieces, so I joined in and put the thing together. As a sort-of sculptural task, it was kind of hard for me, but after about an hour or so, we managed to put it together. It came out neat. :)

Later I helped with hanging some japanese kites off the auditorium balcony. Along with Maria Socorro and Daniela, we used fishing line and tape to hold nine paper kites to the wooden handrail above the lobby. It was good teamwork. :)

But aside from the decorating labor, what struck me the most was meeting Daniela, the famous undefeated Guatemalan japanese abacus champion for 8 years, from 1999 to 2006. A nice, slim, black-and-jeans, friendly girl, we didn't talk much about anything beside the decorations during most of the day. But then when the decorations were finished, we had a chance to talk a little bit more. I usually began saying anything that occurred to me, and then she'd reply with something related, and so small bits of chit-chat occurred. Just normal conversation, you know... She told me something about wanting to finish 70 abacus exercises in one week :O, and that she only had to do 5 to reach that record for this year. And then her mom arrived, she left, and then I did the same.

Upon getting back home, I turned on my PC. As usually happens with me, I procrastinated my planned labor (abacus exercise) several hours, and then it was time for me to leave with Elisa to Manfredo's graduation party, near Antigua. So we left (I drived), and though we got lost for a while, we found the place. The party was nice... there was food, drinks, wine, and even music and a dancing area. And even I danced! :O Yep, with Estebaneiro's girlfriend, almost fianceé. The place was really nice - it had lush, pretty gardens, a waterfall, it was christmas-illuminated, and there were even a couple of peacocks walking around! I liked them a lot! I also spent some time playing with Daniela - she's so lovely! (I mean my 1-year old niece Daniela).

Then I got back home. It was almost midnight, and I had not practiced ANY ABACUS that day for the championship tomorrow. So I thought, "well, it has to be done...", so I did it. I finished up my affairs on the computer, turned it off, and cleared up my desk. And then I practiced abacus. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten... I'm not sure how many exercises I did, but it was DEFINITELY more than... what... more than my WEEKLY average, I think? I finished a few minutes before four. Sleep was already hitting on me, and I needed to save energy for the real thing. So then I went outside the house, walked a while under the 4AM sky, tried to pray for good results in the championship, and then went to sleep.

I was supposed to arrive at the championship at 8AM. I got up at 7AM... yep... late already. My body wouldn't help me in getting up any earlier, but I managed at 7. I had some cereal for breakfast, took a shower, got dressed, and hurriedly drove towards the abacus championship. I entered the university parking lot at 8:08AM (my parking ticket says so), so my arrival was not AWFULLY impunctual. I got a little red card with the number "2" on it that I pinned on my shirt, and then I placed my abacus on the desk on the stage with my name on it. Before the competition, I talked to some other participants, we joked around, and stuff. I found Dyana (yeah, her sister is an abacus student, too...), and while we were talking, Daniela (the abacus participant) came in asked me where was I going to sit. After that, we began talking a lot. We sat together before the competition, we sang the Guatemala hymn, we listened to the japanese hymn, and then we were called to occupy our desks on the stage. (I got a purple little pencil, Daniela got a green one). Daniela and I were on the front of the stage, side by side, so we exchanged some last comments before the competition, like "are you nervous?", "my fingers are cold", "I'm trembling like crazy", "good luck!", and stuff like that.

Then... the competition. Precise details will be ommitted here, but it was exciting :). Daniela always signalled her results to her sister on the front row after each stage, while I just watched and discerned whatever I could. We also talked between ourselves a little, to ask how did it go and stuff. And then the competition ended, and we went down to eat and spend time with our families.

Elisa, Manfredo, his family, and Olga accompanied me. :) It was nice to eat pizza, churros, and drink a little fruit juice with them. Then Kira put a video about Japanese culture and technology on the main stage, which we watched. And after the video... well, several things happened. Kira sang honoring her daughter graduating from high school, we got our participation diplomas, and finally the prizes were awarded.

I was almost certain that I would get 2nd place in the competition (in the "super experts" category), but I was not aware by how LITTLE would my place be decided. Nearing the end of the award ceremony, she mentioned a large part of my academic achievements throughout the years, and then announced that I had gotten 2nd place under Daniela's 1st place by a difference of TWENTY POINTS!! :O And I REALLY gaped my mouth at hearing this... TWENTY POINTS!! OUT OF 1500 OR SO!!! 20 POINTS!!!

I still don't know if the corrector/s was/were biased on my favor, but I was TRULY surprised to hear this. As we got up on the stage, I was mouthing "TWENTY POINTS" to myself, still quite unbelieving. And I was given my second-place diploma I see before me right now and a small box with some japanese paper art. I was SO happy... I had no idea I'd really reach that high. Of course, a little frustration also sank in, saying "if you WOULD'VE gotten 20 more points, you could've won!", but I was OK. I'm still happy with this result :)

Almost everyone gladly got up and began to walk away as soon as the awards were over, but I was happy to stay. Daniela and I heartily congratulated each other, still joking a little about it. :)

Then, after some parking fee jumble and some helping Kira boxing all of her japanese stuff from the auditorium, we were ready to leave. Then Daniela had to leave, but not without exchanging her emails with me. I hope to meet her again soon. I still want to ask her and tell her some stuff. I'm not trying to gloat or anything, but being the top two abacus participants at Kira's classes, I do believe we can happily exchange meaningful experiences, impressions, opinions, thoughts, feelings, etc... I mean, we share a common, unusual hobby. I believe that is good grounds for nice conversation and friendship. I even felt we had a hard time saying goodbye. Oh well...

On another topic... Reddwerks... Time DID tell.

Yup. I got a job offer. And less than 24 hours later, on Saturday afternoon, I took the offer. And a couple of hours later, I printed out the contract, signed and dated the last page, scanned it, and sent it back. So yes, I took it. I am now scheduled to arrive at Austin and work for Reddwerks, starting on January the 7th, 2008. Wow.

I'm still a little unbelieving. I've never lived too long far away from this house, my house. I believe never for more than 2 months. And now I expect to leave for at least 6 months... seems it's as some other people call it: a new stage in my life. It'll definitely be a new experience. I'm not TOO sure what to expect. But... oh well, as everything has been up until now, "Time will Tell".

The salary's not bad at all. How's 40 a year sound? (I know, I KNOW it's not good practice to publish information like that on a public blog... but anyway, how many people actually READ my blog? Besides, on a US standard, that's not exactly Forbes' idea of a generous salary. I hope Reddwerks doesn't mind too much about my publishing information on their salaries...)

What a big deal with the salary. Anyway... now my days in Guatemala are counted. My travelling date was conveniently pushed until January, and now I may be able to finish all of my remaining projects here. Maybe I'll even apply to some New Horizons exams and get some useful MSDN certifications... And then there's also Marcelo's vacation. He's going to Cancun for New Year's... so THAT'S an EXCELLENT option to say goodbye to my life here in Guatemala!! Don't you think? Don't you? Don't you?? :P I know Cancun is not in Guatemala, but hey, it once was, so who cares about a 150-year gap? I'll be saying goodbye to Guatemala in a Guatemala-owned, Mexico-administered city, which makes sense 8-). Well, at least that's the plan. I believe I can spare about $500-$600 just this while...

So that's what happened on Saturday. I got a second place in the abacus championship, met and contacted a really cool girl who also happens to be the undefeated Guatemalan japanese abacus champion, and accepted a job offer away from home. As I told my brother, I think Fate took me literally when I said "I want to take a year off". Yep, Fate (through me) has already scheduled 2008 for something besides "off". Normal activities... work... money... yeah... not my ideal... comfortable. I wonder what will happen? Will I stay long? One year? Two years? More???

Time will Tell.

Changing my mind?

I believe to possess a healthy dose of stubbornness. But these last 3 days seemingly overwhelmed my healthy dose. I do think I may be changing my mind.

I wanted a free life. Moneyless life. Traveler life. A "pack-your-two-t-shirts, universe-contemplating, walk-when-you-can't-ride, destination-unknown" kind of life.
But the dark side is seducing me...

Approximately 69 hours ago, I was innocently chatting on the net, when all of a sudden my oldest brother tells me to pack up to go to fly to Austin as soon as possible for an interview at his job site. I had kept the impression upon others that I was moderately interested in applying for a job at Marcos' company, so as to keep people's expectations just high enough to keep them from bugging and pushing me into doing something "productive" for my life. But now I was called for an URGENT INTERVIEW with flight expenses to Austin and back completely covered by the company. What could I say? "Sorry, I've got a VERY important abacus competition on Saturday, maybe later..." But then they offered me a very short trip, just long enough for the required interviews to occur, to which I had no honest and reasonable excuse to use against.

So I flew... six hours after chatting with my brother, I was at the airport, boarding a plane to Houston, TX. I can't remember much about it. Two sleepless nights had sucked away my energy, and I just remember waking up when everyone was leaving the plane. The Houston-Austin flight was the same story, only shorter (though I wouldn't know... I was so deep asleep...)

Once in Austin, I was picked up by Carlos Luis Rendon (an ex-student and ex-teacher at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala whom I once served as teaching assistant but lost his students' tests so I was fired but he didn't remember about it so it didn't really matter) in his light blue BMW. I was taken directly to their office, and interviews began pouring in.

I was interviewed 4ice that day - mostly technical questions - data structures, algorithms, databases, and networking configurations. That night I slept at Marcos' apartment, and woke up much refreshed for my other interviews at 7AM the next day. Thrice was I interviewed that day (each interview was led by a different person), and two of them were mostly business-like interviews. No real technical chat here - but mostly "what are your goals?", "what would you like to work at in Reddwerks?", "How much do you expect to be paid?", etc... Despite all my hesitation and reluctancy, I believe it went out good. I expressed my concern and fear of being trapped working for a company for too long to several of them, and even so, they seemed to understand me and respect me for it. However, their arguments were subtly convincing. "You're young, you can save money now and travel later... Work here at Reddwerks is never boring... you're always doing new things...".

And that all sounds true. I saw the working conditions at Reddwerks. Liberal, easy-going, innovative, and fast-paced when needed. Honestly, a decent example of a technical developer's dream job. So why was I reluctant? Because, as my last blog will testify, my mind is set on what I believe to be "higher goals" than money, career, and job stability. I don't want to be an extremist, but I don't want to be one of the many specimens who worship the money idol above all other things. Or like those who feel cannot SURVIVE without their plethora of surrounding, luring technical and luxury commodities, like McFlurries, banana milkshakes, iPods, Big Macs, Coca Colas, and 6" and 12" honey mustard, spicy mayo, mozzarella and parmesan melted cheese sandwiches.

But depending on the offer, I might take the job. :O I know... I know... but it is A step towards independence. And that's one more than I've taken so far this year! Isn't that a good thing? I sure hope it is.

Of course, they haven't made any offers yet, but I'm about 85% certain that they WILL offer me a job with them. Will I take it? Will I take it? Will I take it?... Time will tell.

And then I came back to Guatemala at 1PM, had some lunch at home, attended the thursday afternoon abacus class, spent about 3 more hours with Kira's husband helping him out with his maxilofacial measuring and diagnostics system in Excel, and then drove back home along with Elisa. And now I write this blog which, finally, had something concrete to be written about.

Oh, and this saturday @9AM is my ABACUS YEARLY GUATEMALAN CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D I sure hope I win!!!!!!
(Yeah... I hope... 8-)

Antonio.