How Margo Got Her Groove Back

Alright, I am updating this blog because I am about to embark on another grand adventure and this is how I will assure you all that I have not been sold into white slavery in order to repay a debt aquired during an expedition regarding a helicopter that I managed to crash in Rio or something of the sort (my mom worries about those things). I leave for Sao Paulo with my dear friend Ashley (from Alaska) on November 15. She writes me limericks about animals dressed up as humans and such, so nuff said- we are peas of the same pod. We will first travel up the coast of Brasil learning how to surf and speak Portugese while testing caiparinas from each local village that we pass through. We will also visit Francisco in Recife and buy way too much ice-cream (it still won't be enough), we will stand on the edge of the Iguazu Falls (one of the most spectacular wonders of the natural world), and for all you moms reading this- we will NOT go to Rio simply to engage in the infamous cartel wars that are currently running rampant down there regardless of how charming the drug lords may appear to be. Somehow we will make our way over to Ecuador by December 19, because that is when my mom, dad, and sis will be arriving for the Christmas holiday festivities. Pifo, Pifo it's a hell of a town, the stadium's up and the parking lot's down. (And so we meet again white poodle. This time I am bringing my harpoon gun.) Anywho, it looks as if though my dear prima Ellen will be down there on the 28th of December, which may prove to be the biggest gathering of Gringos that Pifo has ever seen. I hope that the padrinos stock their tienda up with enough bottles of 78 cent rum to make Roman Coke Floats for the whole lot of us to sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" for 8 hours straight. And then it seems as if there will be some kind of huge beach party for New Years on the Ecuadorian coast. Ceviche, pan de yuca, espondylus, and lots of beer- Jesus Bendito it will be hard to drag me away from that beach.... as long as we stay away from those little pinche blue jellyfish.... they have caused me enough pain for one lifetime. So at the beginning of January Cath, Ash, and I will be heading down to Peru to trek Machu Picchu, another one of those amazing world wonders. It's about time. That's all I have to say about that. I will avoid llama spit, but I may have to start drinking te de coca in order to combat altitude sickness and the cliffs of insanity. We may or may not make a detour to the Peruvian army base in Iquitos. What happens after that? I have no idea. Possibly an Argentine tango. I don't plan on returning to the States until March 6 because of course that is when the Ecuadorian government will once again tell me that I have outworn my welcome. That is all. I refuse to announce any further plans, because I have decided that creating long term plans is one of the absolute stupidest things a person can possibly do, and let's face it- the odds of me not coming back from South America are now greater than ever. We will see. Now I have to go work on my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume. I am going to be Donatello (the purple one).

AY AY AY!!

Sweet Jesus!! What a long time since I have written! So sorry, my greatest apologies. I live quite a busy life these days. I have not had a day off in who knows how long. Not only do I have my AmeriCorps position and my extra community service committments, I now have a new weekend helipcopter job. Yes I am flying helicopters, it only took 2 days to learn. No, just kidding, I am a tour attendant, so I get to push people into the helicopters. It is cool because now I get to do all the touristy stuff in Juneau for free- helicopter up to the glacier and go dog sledding and whale watching and whatnot. The question is, if I work everyday, when will I do these fun things? Good question, if you figure it out, please let me know. I actually finally have a day off on Monday since it is Memorial Day. Don't tell the helicopter people that I don't have to be at my AmeriCorps site that day, or I am sure that will change. We plan on going up the tram (we did a huge service project for them and got free tram tickets in exchange). I also want to go ziplining. I did that in Whistler once and it was a swimmingly good time. I am moving into a new apartment this weekend. The crazy old bastard we were living with is kicking us out because his daughter is coming back from Europe and wants her room back. Although we will have to pay slightly higher rent, it is actually a blessing in disguise because we will be living in a sanitary place where rats and dog poop aren't covering the floor. A small price to pay for not getting the swine flu or something of the such. I organized a high ropes course for the AmeriCorps kids to do tomorrow- that should be fun. We will see. The weather better stay nice!!!! I am actually pretty famous in Juneau now. I organized Global Youth Service Day and got over 250 volunteers to go around town on April 22 and serve at various non-profits and parks. I was in the paper like a million times last week for AmeriCorps week. I had all the AmeriCorps people around AK send in quilt squares representing their service sites. Then, I put the whole dang thing together. Who knew I knew how to quilt? I guess Catho is my sister. http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/051009/nei_438341204.shtml That is the link to see my front page pic! So, anywho, what else has happened- well I guess I haven't updated anyone on anything in a while because I don't think that I wrote about when Cath and Mike and Elvia came for a visit! What a glorious time! It was so nice to have some visitors! It was still snowy and cold though, the ice has since melted. Now if you come visit me I will not live in squalor either, so doesn't that make it all the more enticing? Well, I have a salsa class tonight. I am learning how to move like a latina. (So is Daniel- even though he is Dominican Republican, he can't dance even the tiniest bit hahahahaha!!) We are coming down to WA/OR/DR in July. So, mark your calendars! Time for family/friend reunions galore! (You all know how I love those!!) And what am I going to do when my term ends in August you ask? Well, I would like to know as well. hahahahha what else is new. Acutally I have decided to stay until December at least because that is when Daniel's term ends and let's face it, we'll get married someday. So, I have applied to be a substitute teacher so that I can make some quick cash in the fall (I don't want to commit to a long term position because I want to get the heck out of here after XMas...) They are actually hurting for subs here, so they are paying pretty good money. Then, I will save that and try not to buy plane tickets until.. well lets face it... not happening, I plan on going to Ecuador with Cath and Daniel after XMas, and actually the entire Novak family might end up going in December, we are still figuring that out. Then, Daniel and I will trek down to Machu Picchu (finally!) and that is as far as I got. So, love you all miss you all and see some of you relatively soon.
xoxo Gossip Girl
hahahahahahhahahahahhaha why did I just admit to watching that show?
Margomargo :)

More Pics

VALENTINES DAY, DANIEL'S BIRTHDAY, THE GLACIER WALK, AND THE OSCARS PARTY DOWN AT THE LOCAL BAR (This kind of ended up looking like a Margaret and Daniel photoshoot.... Cath, don't be jealous.)

Update

So, I know I have been slow on the blogging once again, but life is busy in the Arctic. Let's see, since I last wrote, much as happened. Daniel and I spent a couple of weeks at the beginning of February house sitting a tiny chihuahua and two very fat cats. It was kind of fun having a place all to ourselves and made us want to get our own place, but alas, we are AmeriCorps members and can barely affored top o ramen. Then, there was another retreat put on by the National Coalition for Alcohol and Drug Dependency. This one was a drug and alcohol retreat put on for the 9th graders. Unfortunately, one of those kids thought that meant bring your drugs to the retreat and had to be carted off to jail..... Valentines Day was super fun. I got the deluxe treatment with roses and balloons and dinner and bowling and even Godiva chocolates that had to be flown in on ice..... seriously. Like right out of a movie. And then Daniel's birthday was last week. I made some Dominican Republican food (garlic fish and coconut rice) and an ice cream cake and then on the weekend the entire city of Juneau showed up for his party at the local bar. Needless to say, karaoke ensued. As a present I decided to take him up to Anchorage for the kick off of the Iditarod, so we leave for that next week. That should be pretty awesome. Let's see, we volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club one day and hung out with a bunch of young hoods (jovenes if you will) which was fun, and I organized another day in which everyone got conflict resolution training. After the class, we all went on a hike at the Glacier. The lake is frozen, so we got to walk right up to the darn thing. It was a little scary, seeing as how it could calve (SP?) at any time, but we all survived. I have been planning many events, such as Global Youth Service Day, the Winter Jamboree, and various All Corps Days, which are basically days when we all go volunteer out in the community. I also wrote a grant to try and get money for Global Youth Service Day, so that was new for me. I am super excited for next month because my dear friend Elvia is coming to visit the second week of March and then Cath and her pal Mike will be up the next week!!!!! Yay I love visitors!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And tomorrow we are going snowboarding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, update- Daniel and I will be coming down to WA/OR when my parents are there. So, we will be in that vicinity from July 3-12. So, clear your calendars people. Love you all!! :)

Out at the Eagle Valley Center Lodge

It sure was a long plane ride..... PART 2!!!!

So, yes we did make it back to Alaska finally on Friday, January 9th. There was like 6 feet of snow on the ground and icicles hanging from the roof to the ground. I would have taken pictures, but I was so frickin mad at the weather that I just holed up in my room for the weekend with nothing but a bunch of movies and blankets. Since I have been back, things have been crazy busy. We had a huge event for Martin Luther King Junior Day. We had a "community needs drive" in which we were able to obtain over 80 boxes of donations for needy people around the community, including clothes, food, blankets, baby stuff, and kitchenware. It was quite successful. I had to organize a celebration over at the University and the speaker I got to come was actually a pallbearer at Martin Luther King's funeral. He was so interesting. So, that took a lot of time (especially since I was gone for an extra week), but it ended up being pretty successful. I also organized an All Corps Day with Perseverence Theatre in which we shoveled their snow in exchange for theatre tickets. So, we got to go see the play "Wittenberg," which was pretty cool. However, the smoke in the special effects kind of got into my contacts, so I couldn't see for the last half hour. Last weekend Daniel and I went to this "beer tastint" at the Alaskan Brewery, which was pretty cool. I mean, it was free beer. Also, AnnMarie's last day was on Friday, so we had a SAGA celebration for that out at the lodge as well as a huge beerfest at our house, so this past weekend was one of many parties. I just switched offices yesterday and spent the whole day reorganizing everything, so now I am finally back into the swing of things. I organized an ice-skating outing for our AmeriCorps members tomorrow, so that should be fun. it has started snowing again though, so that makes me nervous. It isn't all that fun walking home in 4 feet of snow. I love and miss you all and thanks again for your help during my troubled travels.

It sure was a long plane ride..... PART 1

So, my holiday vacation this year trumped even the Mexico City incident..... It started off with a simple delay in Seatac.... which turned into a two hour wait on the plane which turned into a 6 hour wait at the airport which turned into Anut Shen and Uncle Rog picking me up at about 11pm. The weather was crazy, I don't remember that much snow in Seattle since the silver thaw in '92 when Grandma and Grandpa were staying with us while the parents were in Hawaii (why do they always seem to be in a sunny, warm place during those blizzards?) and we made french toast on the wood stove. I also wrote a nice book about dogs with Grandma that winter. Anywho, thank the stars for the Engbergs because they rescued me from that hell that they call Seatac and brought me home. It seems as though every time I stay with them, I have neither toothbrush nor underwear..... You think I would learn to always put those in my purse, but that would just be too easy, now wouldn't it? So, back to my story. The people at Seatac the night before had announced that everyone should just go home and call Alaska Airlines to reschedule via the phone or do it over the Internet, so that is what I did. However, they neglected to tell anyone that the phone lines would be down or that the only way to do it online was to buy another ticket for the following week at an exorbitant price. I must have called both the 1-800#s as well as the customer service # at Seatac at least 1,000 times. I even woke up at various points in the night and tried to call, but the I never once got through. So, the only thing I could do was go back to the damn airport. The lines wrapped in a snake-like queue all the way back to the security entrance. I got there at 11am and literally didn't get to speak with someone until 7pm. I was in line for 8 hours and I am not kidding. Luckily the lady behind me was super nice and gave me a few chips at one point. The only thing that kept my sanity intact was the fact that I had Twilight (book 4) which was a few thousand pages and just long enough to last 8 hours. I had my vampires, but that book was so damn heavy that I had arm cramps for days.... So then the blessed Engbergs retrieved me once again and we headed back to their house. We spent the next few days circle knitting and learning the Benny Lava dance, which I must say we got pretty good at. Things worked out nicely because I got to go to Grandma's house for Christmas. It was really nice to see all the Fords because who knows when I would have been able to otherwise. The one thing that was missing on Christmas was my immediate family. It's not that I wished that I was in Arizona, I just wished that they could have been at Grandma' s house with the rest of us. I only had one break down, but it was poorly timed. I accidentally burst into tears right when Eric stole my present in the white elephant gift exchange..... (sorry about that Eric, I still feel bad.) Luckily it only took about a day and a half to become funny. The only downfall to that Christmas celebration is that I was unable to get out to Aunt Pat's to see the Novak family. Unfortunately, I was snowed into Grandma's house with no chance of getting out of town safely. But, it has been quite obvious that the weather was not on my side this winter. I finally made it down to AZ on the 28th. My time there was a whirlwind as every single day was filled with excitement, so time really flew. I only got to see Cath for one day, which sucked. But then the Engbergs came down and we all had a great time. New Year's Eve was fun. I went to hang out with my old friends at the Tempe block party, and silly stringed many things. The next day I drove up to Sedona to hang with mom, dad, Engbergs, and company. We went on a really cool hike and in Uncle Rog's words, "How often do you get such a nice day?" (For those of you that are a little slow- every single day in AZ looks like that.... he will never hear the end of that one....) On the way back to AZ we got a flat tire and dad had to drive home slower than Cath would have. I got a little panicky my last day in AZ because time went by way too fast and I didn't even really feel like I got to be home. So, my mom and I had to watch a full season of Project Runway on DVD; it was the only remedy. So, Jan 4 I made my way back to the airport. I made it to Seatac, and then of course we were delayed. Not surprising, mind you, but annoying nonetheless. So, we went up north, hovered over Juneau at abut 2pm (an hour later than we were supposed to) and couldn't land so continued on to Sitka. We refueled there, and then tried to land in Juneau once more. They told us that if we couldn't land we would go either back to Sitka or on to Ketchikan. However, after we passed up Juneau, we were told that the crew had to return to Seattle, so I was to be reunited with my new favorite airport once again. However, of course the weather in Seattle was not "ideal for landing purposes" so we ended up going to Bellingham. Were we just going to fly out of there in the morning? No, that would be too easy, so they stuck us on a bus and drove us down to Seatac. Seriously. We ended up back in Seatac at about 2am and I had to stand in the 8 hour line again. Luckily this time the line didn't really take 8 hours, but it was somewhere up that neighborhood. And in all this time they had only given us 2 granola bars. In 24 hours that is all I had to eat. So, seeing as how once Alex proclaimed me as being the mintiest in the family, I considered eating my own arm. Luckily, I managed to hold off a little while longer. By this point I was going slightly crazy. I was wandering the airport at about 6am dragging my suitcases that weighed 50 pounds each (of course the wheels had broken by now- that shouldn't surprise you) until a super nice person asked me if I needed help and pointed me in the direction of the airporter. You see, I didn't think it would be fair to ask someone to come pick me up at 3am, especially on a Monday morning, so I waited until the airporter started to run again and headed off to Grandmas. Of course although they told me that they would take a credit card, the machine wasn't working. And even though I had no money in my bank account, I tried to get some out, but luckily the ATM was broken, and they wouldn't give me cash back, so the guy just said Merry Christmas and sent me on my way. So, at least I got a free airporter ride out of the deal. Then Uncle Joe picked me up and I arrived at Grandmas house at about 8 something, ate some pizza, and crashed on the couch. Since I hadn't seen Cath much during this holiday, we decided that I should make my way up to Port Townsend and hang out with her, especially since it was her brithday that week. So, thanks to Grams and Aunt Gin, I borrowed Grandma's car and made my way up to see Cath. We had a good time there- we watched Sex in the City, went to the local pub (very happening on a Monday night), hung out with small Elliot, ate some Thai food, and even had a little birthday celebration. It worked out nicely that I got to see her. Then, I made my way back to Grandmas house and later that night went to my favorite place in the world for the 983492347329874th time in three weeks. But of course there was flooding on the freeway and poor Uncle Joe took hours to get home. But, no my story doesn't end there. My new boyfriend was at the airport because coincidentally we were on the same flight back to Juneau. We made it to Ketchikan, and then they canceled our flight. They wouldn't let us stay in the airport, so we had to take a ferry into town and then a taxi to a hotel. (NO, the airlines did not pay for anything.) They told us that if we had no money we could find a church to sleep in. Seriously. And, mind you, there was an arctic blizzard blowing all the while and we had about 78 suitcases, half with broken wheels. Thank the stars for Daniel because if he wasn't there to carry the broken suitcases and make accommodation arrangements, I would have fallen into a ball right there in the snow and started to cry. I mean, a person can only take so much. So, we stayed in Ketchikan for a night and couldn't get a flight out until 8:45pm the next night. We explored the town a bit during the day, which was pretty darn cute. But, the weather really sucked, so we didn't make it very far. Of course our snow boots were at home. To be continued.....