Friday, May 23, 2008

Funny Traveling Stories

I've done a lot of traveling and something funny always happens on trips so I'll share a few stories.

In Australia- I was on my homestay and the girl said, "Hey, do you want a -----?"(I can't remember the word now). And I said, "A what?" So she repeated, "A ------." I did not understand her so we walked out to the freezer and she got me an ice cream.

In Mexico- We were staying in a hotel that was literally on the edge of a cliff. It was a weird little motel, all the rooms faced an outdoor courtyard type thing so the doors from the rooms went to outside. One night me and one of my room mates were up pretty late and it had started to storm pretty bad. We decided to get towels to stuff under the door because there was a huge gap between the door and the ground so we didn't want our room flooding with rain overnight. We were both just standing up from stuffing towels under the door when either the hotel or the cliff was struck by lightning. It was one of the craziest things ever. We looked at each other and started to scream bloody murder and just stood there screaming and hugging each other.

In Ohio- I got checked out by more girls than guys. I was highly disturbed.

In Indiana- A guy I smiled at (because I'm a nice person and smile at random people) started talking to me and following me all over the convention center and wouldn't leave me alone. I would even say things like "Well, I better go find my parents." and he said, "Oh, can I walk you?" Yikes!

In Texas- I checked into the convention and got my paperwork and walked off. I waited a few minutes and wondered what was taking Missy so long so I walked back to the desk to find her saying in an extremely exasperated tone, "My last name is BARKER!! BAAARRRRKKKKEEERRRR!!!!" The lady kept saying she didn't understand what Missy was saying and was looking in the E's for her paperwork. It took Missy and I saying her last name over and over and me finally spelling it out for the lady to understand Barker through our accents.

Also in Texas, a few days later, Missy got way sick so we had to take her to a doctor. The closest one we could find was about half an hour away. We took her there and she got a shot that made her super sleepy so she crashed in the car on the way back to the hotel. She couldn't walk by herself because the medicine made her THAT sleepy so walking into the hotel we just wrapped arms around each other's shoulders and she staggered along with me. In the elevator she kept swaying and an old lady was glaring me down. Finally, when Missy swayed really hard, she said, "Is she okay?!" in this way rude voice, like I was bringing her back drunk or something. I explained. So we got to our floor and we were almost to our room and Missy tripped and she WOKE UP and asked me where we were. She had been sleep walking.

In Georgia- We stopped at a gas station that had a small ice cream parlor type thing too. I saw they had peach ice cream, and since they are famous for their peaches, I decided to try it. I knew our accents were hard for them to understand, so I spoke as clearly as I possibly could when I ordered my peach ice cream. This huge black lady was behind the counter and after I told her what I wanted, she just said, "WHAT?" In Georgia, peaches are "payches".

In Couer d'Alene- Right after I got back from Mexico we took a trip to northern Idaho. I was so tan from being in Mexico that I didn't look like I was caucasian anymore. We were in a gas station and this guy and my mom started talking. He had swastikas tattooed on his elbows (amongst a ton of other tattoos) and the classic buzzed blond hair and pale pale skin. I was freeeaking out.

On the way home from Michigan- This was around 11 at night and we had been driving since about 7 in the morning, so we were all exhausted. I knew we weren't supposed to drive through Colorado at all but I looked at a road sign as we passed it and realized all the mileages were for cities in Colorado. "Dad, why were all those cities for Colorado???" I asked. He didn't completely buy it but sure enough, we hadn't taken a turn we needed to and were in Colorado. We had to go about 10 miles into the state before we could turn around.

Colorado- On a different trip when we were in Colorado and meant to be in Colorado, we were staying in a teeny tiny little town. We were driving along and saw the sign for the town's tiny high school and on the sign was announcing the FFA meeting. That's Future Farmers of America. I cracked up because it was a town small enough to have an FFA meeting posted on the high school marquee.

In an airport (I can't remember which)- Our flight to taking us to that airport was extremely late so we got into this airport like 15 minutes before our next connecting flight was supposed to take off. My parents told me to run and tell them to hold the plane, literally. I scrambled out and found a map, and naturally our terminal was the LAST one in the hall. And this was a gigantic airport mind you. So here I am, sprinting through the airport in my flip flops and backpack so it sounds like a herd of elephants coming through. Everyone stared at me and it was seriously like a classic scene from movies.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

You Mean So Much

This is for my best friends.

Tino: It's awesome to tell you people not only are you one of my very best friends, you're my cousin too. Remember how we didn't like each other when we were little? During a round of Candyland if someone would have ever told us we'd get so tight, you probably would have killed me just so it wouldn't happen. Haha! You are an amazing person. Your ability to do what is right no matter what the situation is or who is involved is incredible. You are an example to everyone around you. You are someone I can always run to. You really are my personal counselor. :) Thanks for being your amazing self!

Bug: I can't believe you're getting married this summer! And to think, two years ago I was SO mad when you started dating him because I wanted you to go for Miguel.. Haha! You give awesome advice and you always stick up for me no matter what. Thanks! We've done some crazy things since we met in fifth grade. Probably 90% of the crazy stuff I've done/has happened has been with you. Let's just never fall through ice again, ok? Once was enough. :) You are the only person I can NEVER fool when I'm sad or mad or any other emotion. And you are the only person I can absolutely 100 percent guarantee can cheer me up no matter what. Thanks for always sticking with me even when our lives have take turns in different directions!

Kywie: I can't remember when we stopped being enemies and started being friends, I'm just glad we did! I love how you are always so happy! You're just awesome like that. Thanks for always making time for me even though I'm sure Rusty would rather you be with him. :) And speaking of Rusty...I'm so excited for you guys!!!! Every time I think about Olive Garden I think about you. We have had some good times there. "It's like raspberry ballerinas doing pirouettes across my tongue." Only you would think of something like that. You are so much fun and I just love being around you.

Reese: You are such a strong person. I love that about you, but I also love how you aren't too strong to cry. I remember when that kid freaked out at you and I gave you a hug and you started to cry, I got so furious at him for making you cry! I also admire how you love people unconditionally. If you love someone, no matter what they do or what happens, you still love them. That's a special trait. You could make any situation fun. You are also the best cook ever. You are going to make your husband a very fat (happy) man someday! I'm not kidding when I say your eskimo bars are the most divine substance known to mankind. I can trust you with any secret. Thanks for wanting to hang out with me more after that fateful game of Apples to Apples. :D

Tato: You always stick up for people. For every bad thing someone has to say, you have like 5 good things to say. However you never let people say one bad thing about your family or friends, which is awesome too. I love our heart-to-hearts late at night and how I can trust you with any secret. You could also make any situation fun. You haven't had it easy but you are always ready for a new day. I admire your career because it's something I could never do and I bet most other people couldn't either. You not only make a difference in their lives but also everyone around you. The same line of Reese's applies to you too. :)

I love you guys!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Life Isn't A Game

Lately I've gotten really sick of the crappy dating stuff going on for myself, my friends, and people I know. Granted this is about guys, and I'm not saying girls don't do bad things too (cuz they totally do), but this is from my perspective. Anonymous stories but I promise they are true.
1) A girl met a guy in class and they hung out after. They held hands a couple hours later and although that is really fast, he made no move to kiss her when she left so she wasn't worried he was only in it for that. He started talking to her a lot and showing a lot of interest. The next week he suggested doing something after class if he was able to. She sat down in class, he came and sat next to her, and another girl came and sat on his other side. She started putting her hand on his leg, playing with his hair, grabbing his hand, writing stuff on his back for him to guess...you get the idea. After class he talked to that girl and her friend and left without saying goodbye.
2) A girl decided to open herself up to a good friend who had become extremely interested in her. Things went wrong from the start when he wouldn't completely commit and suggested they date other people. Neither of them went on other dates but after a short while he ended things with a reason he should have known before he started anything with her.
3) More than one guy I personally know will date a girl for somewhere around two weeks, drop her, and immediately have a new girl. Even to the point of this: cuddling and holding hands with girl A and the next time she sees him (a couple days later) he is cuddling and stuff with girl B, but he never broke it off or said anything to girl A. Another of these guys is even a little scary about how obsessive he is over whatever girl he has at the moment.
The moral of the story is that this kind of treatment isn't okay! In situation one, the girl got lead on and burned pretty bad. Holding hands obviously meant basically nothing to the guy, but to most girls (like this one) holding hands DOES mean something. But these types of guys have to realize that when they hold hands with a girl and show a lot of interest, yeah the girl is going to think he is interested! Also, guys always say they can't stand "those kind of girls" that are all over them, but look at this situation. He soaked it all up, even when the girl he had been showing tons of interest in was sitting right next to him.
In situation two, the moral is don't start something with someone until you're sure it's right and you're sure you want to. This guy could have saved a girl's heart and their friendship by just staying friends.
The third situation is perhaps the most irritating to me. These guys think it is okay to bounce from girl to girl to girl with no thought of what they are doing. Let me give you a hint: when you meet the new hottest girl, don't just pounce and start dating her immediately and then two weeks later realize you don't like her. It would save a ton of trouble if these kind of guys would actually get to know a girl before they decide to date them. Wow, what a radical thought it is to actually know someone before you date them.. Having flavors of the week is not okay. Plus watching this from the sidelines, my friends and I have lost respect for these guys and would say no to a date with them without even the slightest hesitation. What is going to happen when these guys decide to they want to settle down, and realize the new hottest girls out there may not be what they want in marriage, but the girls they have known and trusted for a long time refuse to date them because they don't want to be the next flavor of the week? Good luck with that one. And honestly, what are these guys getting from doing this? A bad reputation, hurting girls, losing respect...is it worth it to have every girl you want every other week?
Life isn't a game, and people need to stop playing with other people like toys. The end.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Thank you Juan!!

Here is my funny story of the week.

Before I start, let me just tell you that I honestly had a really great time, this is just some of the quirky stuff that happened. Last night I helped a Latino club I'm in set up stuff for the Cinco de Mayo festivities going on yesterday. For helping, we got free tickets to a dance. I went with my friends from the club and felt a little out of place for awhile. I didn't know how to dance to the music so Juan and I just stood on the side. The rest of our friends hadn't showed up yet. He introduced me to another guy he knew there. After awhile, the other guy asked me to dance and was really patient with me while I learned how to dance. He would ask me to dance every few songs and it was fun. The rest of our friends came and we stood together and talked.

This guy with a cowboy hat came and asked me to dance, and I said "Sure. I don't really know how..." and all of the sudden he turned to Joy and asked her to dance. I was confused and thought he wanted to dance with both of us, but I realized he must have thought I said no. How lucky that turned out to be! He started asking Joy to dance almost every song and she came back disgusted once and said he had started kissing her neck. YIKES!!!! After a while he asked me to dance a couple times and I had to push his face away from my neck a couple times. I dunno if he was just leaning into me or what, but after what Joy said, I was pretty creeped out. Joy got a little tactical about avoiding him when she could...she saw him coming towards her so she snatched Juan and asked him to dance right before the creeper got to her. Then, we went to throw our gum away across the room once, and a new song started. She grabbed me and said something like, "Wait! He's looking around." So we stopped walking and sure enough, he was looking right where we had been sitting. So we hid behind this really tall guy until he asked one of our other poor friends to dance.

Close to the end of the dance a guy I hadn't danced with before asked me to dance. It was a dance I hadn't really done before, and the guy doesn't lead (you're completely apart), so I was kind of winging it and hoping I didn't have a neon light over my head that said GRINGO! A few songs later (the last song of the night) he asked me to dance again, and we did the same dance. He never said a word to me other than when he asked me to dance. I went back to my friends to talk because the dance was over. A guy I hadn't even seen walked up and asked me something like "My friend would like to know your name." So I looked, and back a ways there was the guy I had been dancing with that last song. What are we, in eighth grade again?? Who sends their friend to ask me my name?!? So I told him, and was hoping he wasn't about to ask my number, but luckily he just walked off. I was scared the guy I had danced with would follow me out or something to get my number, so I walked up to Juan and whispered "Hold my hand!!" So he grabbed my hand and walked out with me. I'm not good at shutting guys down so I usually just chicken out and give them my number. I didn't want to take chances so I had Juan save me.

Joy just told me today that as she and Trina were walking to their car last night, creeper cowboy yelled out to them so Trina just yelled "ADIOS!" and they ran for the car. Haha

So that's my crazy story.