Fue poco el tiempo
que me tocó conocer a mis abuelos paternos. Nunca supe de sus viajes, y mi papá nunca me platicó de sus viajes, fuera de un video que llegué a ver de cuando mis
abuelos fueron a Argentina. Hace poco me topé con estas fotos que me dicen de
algunos lugares en los que estuvieron ellos, que yo no supe que habían visitado
hasta que reconocí las fotos, después de haber visitado esos lugares yo mismo:
Moscú:
París:
Londres:
Lourdes:
Barcelona:
Granada:
Atotonilco:
También fuimos a Roma,
pero ese viaje fue el único viaje fuera de México y Estados Unidos que no pagué con mi propio
esfuerzo. Puedo decir entonces que mis abuelos tenían buen gusto.
You don't get to value what you have until you lose it. This includes running water. It was Monday night, February 3rd, when I noticed that there was little to no running water in my apartment. I prayed that water would come back in the morning. This apartment complex has been known to shut the water down during the day without warning if there's a leak out somewhere, but why would they do this in the middle of the night? I woke up on Tuesday morning, and after I realized that there was no running water in the restroom I checked downstairs and noticed that there was a little water running from the kitchen zinc. I brought liquid soap and deodorant to wash the most important parts. I counted the last water drops while I tried to finish rinsing. I took my toothbrush, mouthwash, and toothpaste to school, washed my face there and tried to act normal. As I was about to leave the parking lot from my apartment complex, one of the apartment ladies who works in the office told me that there was a huge leak and they did not know where it was coming from, so they had to shut the water off.
I called my apartment office during lunch, and after being told that we still had no water I remembered that I still had a gift card that Mr. Bushman, the owner of the MCM Hotels (and a bunch of other places) generously gave us, so I booked my first night at the MCM FunDome. While I could've also chosen the MCM Elegante, the FunDome is only a block away from where I live. At around 5:30 PM I confirmed what I was predicting: due to the upcoming snowstorm, no school the next day. At 8:05 PM, I was parking outside the hotel and I noticed that a little snow had started to mix in with the rain. After checking into my room I realized that I forgot something at home. It was 8:25 when I went back and snow was already accumulating on the street. Luckily I made it back to the hotel in 3 minutes, as I watched HEAVY snow falling down quickly. I don't think I've ever seen that much snow falling from the sky.
I called the apartment office the next day. After being told that the plumbers had left the day before without knowing where the leak was and that due to the weather they would not be coming back until the next day, I booked a second night. As snow did not taper off until the afternoon of Wednesday, February 5th, I was expecting a second day off, as any melted snow would re-freeze at night. I was able to run a quick errand, which was to document how beautiful east Odessa looks under the snow:
Plumbers had not arrived by mid-morning on Thursday, February 6th, so I used my remaining balance on that gift card to book a third and final night. I ended up paying about 24 dollars out of my own pocket, and I'm glad I did. After most of the snow had melted, I saw a note outside the apartment office stating that water would be back at 6:00 PM that day. When I got there, there was no water, so I went back to my hotel room after dinner. Luckily we had water on Friday, February 7 in the afternoon. I learned from the office that after fixing the leak the day before, plumbers did not wait for the seal to dry out, so when they came back for the third time that week, they had to wait until it dried up completely.
I came back home from work that Friday and noticed that we had running water. Despite not resting as I had wanted on these two snow days, I was thankful for having a comfortable bed and running water. This just made me wonder how life was like before we had running water. The hotel itself is not a luxurious place but I would stay there again as I slept really well. I would definitely recommend that place.
