The last month has been amazing! I have attended some business workshops, visited my favorite Jazz place-The Clef Club a few times where they play grassroots Jazz, took Jordan on a career field trip to a technical school and a cooking school demonstration, went to NY with Steve a my friend Trina to see a fashion show, attended a friend's Jazz Brunch Fundraiser with great music and people and where Steve won a Dave & Busters gift certificate, celebrated my sister in laws birthday with lots of laughs and dancing, met Terence Howard who was filming a movie in Philly, tried a new Chinese Buffet place-Ruby's-pretty good food, went to Dave & Busters with boys, saw the movie Avengers-Awesome movie, and just got back from Puerto Rico after a week there.
I have had two interviews with city officials for a great job opportunity in the housing department with the city before my vacation. They will be deciding and making an offer by the end of this month! I hope I am the one they offer the job to! Of course, I continue to apply and look for jobs in the housing and educational field. I would love to work with a university so am concentrating on applying there now that I am back from vacation. I have applied to a few jobs at a few universities but have not heard back yet.
I just got back from a week in Puerto Rico. The purpose of the trip was to take my dad to visit his family. He has had some serious health issues in the last year and found the need to see his loved ones. It was amazing to see family from my dad side, see how alike and different we are, and how much love there is. Jordan had a tough time because he doesn't speak Spanish. I need to be more diligent in teaching him. We started lessons, but dropped them after he showed little interest, but this is his heritage and should at least understand the language. Steve had similar issues when we all spoke Spanish. I tried to translate most of the time, but it's hard to keep up with all the talking going on..lol. You know we Puerto Ricans can talk, and fast too.....lol.
They both seem to have enjoyed the food, and the time by the beach, and by the mountain side. It was beautiful scenery almost everywhere we went on the island. I wish we have had more time, we would have visited Vieques Island-where the bio-luminescent lake is. I went there last year with Steve and wanted to take Jordan, but we had little time left and reservations were needed because we need to take a ferry to the island, then a 30 minute bus ride to the lake. I also would have liked to have visited Rincon beach, which I hear is one of the most beaches in the Caribbean. Hopefully next time....
One of my uncles, lives by the mountainside in Toa Baja and he showed us a 15 pound Iguana that was eating his plants and veggies he grows on his land. The Iguana was huge! Apparently he swung his tale at my uncle a few times and hit him before my uncle got a hold of him...lol.We don't have those issues here in Philly...lol. My uncle's wife Amelia showed me some pictures of when I and my brothers were babies. I didn't recognize my mom at first, who was holding me in her arms....lol.
My dad's family met at my other uncle's house in Aguadilla where they proceeded to conduct an intervention for my dad who was just diagnosed with Diabetes. It wasn't meant to be an intervention, but they all noticed how he was not taking care of how he eats. They proceeded to take his blood glucose level then started the intervention process...lol. It was funny how it came about, serious, and I think necessary. I think it made a good impact on him and has helped in focus on eating better. Of course that was almost impossible in Puerto Rico with of all the yummy and fattening food..lol.
My dad's family met at my other uncle's house in Aguadilla where they proceeded to conduct an intervention for my dad who was just diagnosed with Diabetes. It wasn't meant to be an intervention, but they all noticed how he was not taking care of how he eats. They proceeded to take his blood glucose level then started the intervention process...lol. It was funny how it came about, serious, and I think necessary. I think it made a good impact on him and has helped in focus on eating better. Of course that was almost impossible in Puerto Rico with of all the yummy and fattening food..lol.
We got to visit Luquillo beach and Posuelo beach while there. Both are beautiful beaches. In Posuelo we stopped by a beachfront restaurant with awesome octopus salad, alcapurrias (meat fritters), and arepas (sweet cornmeal cakes). We also made sure to stop by the street side during our trip where you find a lot of food kiosks, where we stopped for alcapurrias with land crab meat (fritters), pinchos (chicken kebobs), bacalaitos (cod fish fritters), and of course fresh coconut and mango. I even found tamarindos and tamarind juice, which is my favorite fruit on the island. We also found a kiosk that made fresh Pina Coladas! So good.!!! We got to visit the Caves in Camuy...what a site! We were all mesmerized, especially Jordan. Close to the caves we stopped by a restaurant called Tainos, which was the name of the native Indians on the island. I had the best fresh Grouper fish salad ever! I plan to go back there just for that one day.
I also took Jordan to see his grandmother (his dad's mom), uncle, and aunts who live on the south side of the island. They had not seen him in at least a year, and he has grown so much since. His grandmother had a video of Jordan's Baptism, when he was 6 months old. He was such a beautiful baby! We also got to watch a video of his grandfather and great uncle playing the guitar. His grandfather was a musician. He died before Jordan was born. His grandmother is such a wonderful woman, kind, and loving. We hope to see her in July when she will be visiting her daughter, Jordan's aunt and godmother, in Lancaster.
We also spent some time with my cousin Rosita in the San Juan area, who was the woman who came up with my formal name, Ivelisse. She is an awesome person! She took us to the Camuy Caves and cooked us a great meal one evening. We also spent time with my 82 year old aunt Maria. She is a wonderful woman full of energy and love. We had a wonderful time bonding with family, something my dad needed desperately. I saw how emotional he was there on his way back home. I think he realizes now more than ever how important family is.
We also spent some time with my cousin Rosita in the San Juan area, who was the woman who came up with my formal name, Ivelisse. She is an awesome person! She took us to the Camuy Caves and cooked us a great meal one evening. We also spent time with my 82 year old aunt Maria. She is a wonderful woman full of energy and love. We had a wonderful time bonding with family, something my dad needed desperately. I saw how emotional he was there on his way back home. I think he realizes now more than ever how important family is.
Now, we are all readjusting to our regular lives back home again, which is not easy after spending a week in paradise...lol. But home is where the heart is. I love my city and couldn't do without my mom and brothers who live nearby as well. But I may consider retiring in Puerto Rico when the time is right, in 13 years or so......
Today is my sweetie's birthday! Steve and I will be celebrating his birthday with the boys tonight and then out to dinner with a good friend at our favorite fish place tomorrow night. I am starting to apply for other good job opportunities, while I wait for news from the city job. I am also working with Jordan on finishing up his 8th grade curriculum strong by mid June. We are all getting back to our normal routine. Looking forward to the summer, some local road trips to the beach, maybe DC, Baltimore, and NY.
Thanks for the love and support friends and family....and sharing these special moments with me.
