Going Crazy

Day number one. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! That is all I can say or think.  Maia and I got one of the 5 boxes today.  That is.... we looked over things and  split them into stack of pictures, letters, documents, irrelevants, newspapers, REALLY important, etc.  Then I picked up the thinest stack of letters that my Oma (grandmother) had already separated and labeled, and we began.  Maia is typing out the letters that were typed with a type writter and plugging them into Google Translate. (yes, yes I know this is cheating but there is just no way).  After she sends me the HORRIBLE translations, I read the German letters and re-do the translation, so that it actually makes sense.  The only reason the translator helps is because there are some words that I don't know, and it saves me the trouble of looking them up.  This is the easiest part.  Then comes the reason I am going CRAZY!!! The rest of the letters are written in old German scripts, Sütterlin.

Talk about a headache.

We've been working on these since noon and it is now 7:13 (with breaks, of course)...   I have barely made it through about 1 letter and a half (and that is simply adding the pieces of each that I can read).  I don't know what I'm gonna do.  Tomorrow we are gonna start scanning (more like Maia is gonna start scanning, and I'm gonna go nuts some more). 

Well, aside from how hard this is going to be, I want to share everything I have found… First, I found my grandmother’s notebooks from school in Berlin before they left in April of 1937. Here is a great drawing of how plants work.  Maia got a great kick out this, AND the fact that some of her, obviously really cool, friends are reading this blog.

    Maia's  new project at the end of the week will be to expand the family tree that I made and add the pictures that my grandmother had (again, very neatly labeled).   I can’t even begin to explain how shocked I am at the labels she put on some of these stacks.  They vary from:  “letters from my mom to my aunt” to “ information on such and such family.”  It is sooo crazy to think that she kept all of this labeled for someone to come and look at it.  At the same time, I have to say that it would have been nice if she hadn’t written her diaries in CODE!!!! Her own code!!!! My aunt informed me today that sometimes she wouldn’t even remember what she meant to write.  It looks just like Arabic to me, and the combination of that and the old German script, this project is starting to look scary.  Anyhow, I have got to get back to work!

                                      Here is the list of what went in each box on the boat over to Uruguay.....

Fun story of the day:  My aunt was at work all day today, and after lunch I went to wash the dishes to find no water… So, of  course, I called her and she told me to go across the hall and see if the apartment next door had water.  Since they were not there, Maia sat by the window and CREEPED on some neighbor who was cooking in his kitchen to see if when he went to wash his hands, there was water in his sink… Turns out the water came back and it was only because it had to be shut off for 10 minutes, due to some bathroom remodeling upstairs.  I have to say it was totally worth it, because watching Maia creep on the neighbor was priceless!!!!

Settling Down

We have been here almost 5 full days, and I am just now feeling like things are getting back to normal. We stayed at my parent's apartment and I got to skype friends and enjoy some down time with my cousin and her boyfriend. Then, we went out to eat with a bunch of my dad's friends, who use to all take percussion lessons with him. It was so cool to see how successful they have all become, and how happy they are with their lives. They were all so thankful towards my dad, one of them even tricked us and paid for the whole table. We felt AWFUL!!!!! So nice though. On the way there, we encountered the first cat ON A LEASH. Sooooo odd! Today, we woke up to the WONDERFUL view of Montevideo from the 21st story apartment. Then the crazy last day began. Last minute errands everywhere. So... I just took off and headed to my aunt's, where I just sat and enjoyed some quiet, posted some pictues, and laid down a bit. Then off to the airport to say goodbye. We had some coffee with the parents, some friends, and my aunts as we waited for the time for them to head to the gate. After the left, we took a taxi that toured us around Montevideo by night. It was the greatest investment because I got to see the side of the city where I grew up, which I had not seen till then. It is such a pretty side, I can't wait to share it with friends!!! After getting home, we ordered some empanadas and are still up chatting and drinking coffee at 2am. Tomorrow is the start of the scheduled project. The work is gonna be tougher and longer than expected, but I'm excited! I will keep the updates coming!!! But now i'm gonna go back to watching this guy (Brazilian guy) trying to speak Spanish on tv and preaching some real intense sermon on "pestes malignas," if you don't know what that means, look it up! Hahahaha

Catching my breath...

Whew!!!  I'm posting lots today, because I don't know when the next breathing point will be. Atlantida turned out to be the shortest breath away from Montevideo.  After enjoying a little more of my family, we spent the night and woke up early(ish) to walk to the beach and around the peaceful surroundings.  After the quick walk, we returned ate lunch, (by the way the normal time for lunch here is around 1, and on sundays way later) and then off to the bus station to get back to Montevideo in time to get ready and get to my cousin's birthday party.  The bus ride is about an hour, and isn't really bad at all.  The way to Atlantida was kind of painful cause we took it at the worse time, it was packed, and we  stood almost the whole way.  On the way back we were even serenated by 2 men and their drums, singing two songs that sounded exactly the same.  After getting to Montevideo, the parentals went to their apartment to get ready and we went to Elena's, got ready, and took a taxi to Lucia and Nacho's apartment.  I didn't really go knowing the amount of people that were going or how big her apartment was.  Turns out the apartments was way bigger than I imagines, and so was the number of people there! I'm pretty sure that was the first time that our family got together since about 3 years ago.  It came to a grand total of about 18 people (just family) and then there were her friends, Nacho's family, etc.  It was lovely, hats off to her for having the courage to invite the whole fam.  There were some truly great moments, like getting my poor grandmother up and down 3 flights of stairs! (she was a champ!) I will soon be posting some pictures of all the family, because I took lots but forgot my camera there!!!  After that party, we left because my parents were having friends at their apartment.  The party there on till about 1:40 in the morning, when Maia and I were returned to Elena's house.  We quickly got to bed and before we knew it, the doorbell was ringing and my parents and aunt were back to get us to go the cemetary, which happens to be VERY VERY far away!)  Now, back at Elena's we ate lunch and are ready to head to my parent's apartments for more friends and family.  Though seeing people never gets old, I thought the fact that I would be here for 3 months would make the rythms of everyday life a little slower.  It's great though! I'll try to post the pictures tonight !!!!

P.S. : Another fun story!  Last night leaving my parents apartment, there were 10 of us going down 21 flights of stairs.  There were 2 elevators, but we decided since the limit was 8, 2 more would not make a difference.  The whole way down my dad and his friend jokes about how "the more people in the elevater, the faster it goes."  Then they would joke about how we would have to climb out because it would keep going down too far.  When we get to the first floor, the door wouldn't open. Sooooo.. The two clowns had to open it, and the doorman came to the rescue opening the outside door so we could climb out. TOOOOO FUNNY!!!!

Dipping my toes in.

Today, I thought, would be spent visiting more family and going about the city.  Instead, it turned into a lovely relaxing day.  Maia and I stayed at my aunt's house this afternoon while my mom and dad were out running errands.  Though I promised myself that I would take a break till June 1st, the boxes and my desk were screaming my name. My aunt Elena and I stayed up late talking last night, and we decided to just take a peek at the boxes.  I immediately got chocked up.  So today, as Maia took a nap, I decided to dip my feet into the pool of history that is in these 4 boxes. I soon realized it is a lot more than I thought.  The paper, isn't just regular paper, it is what I call "bible paper."  The writing is either typed out by a type writer, script, old German, scribbles, or even morse code.  The years range from the 1900's to 2000's.  The next thing I realized is that my grandmother has helped me out a lot already, it is as if she knew I would be doing this.  She left all of her letters, documents, and pictures very organized and labeled. It is crazy...

The millions of letters and pictures begin, box 1

 The first folder I opened included letters that she wrote (but never sent) during the late 30s and early 40s to her best friend Hannele, who was still in Germany.  Here, I first saw a letter writen  in the 90's where she tells her friend that she has attached all the letters she had sent her and her mother.  Then she goes on to attach a guide with the year, place, and topic of each letter. This was a bit too much already.  The letters kept coming, I found diaries, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, etc.  There are even copies of every email she sent me, every chat we had on msn, and then copies of every note.  Following, I found emails she wrote to my dad, my dad's sister, and my mom with stories about her childhood, etc. There are pictures, videos, and documents from 1900s ... (I found one huge picture of her and placed it on the desk to have.)

A picture of my grandfather (dad's dad) and my grandmother (mom's mom) watching me on my desk.

looking through box 2

I truly don't even know where to start.  I saw my cousin German today, who told me he still has an interview that he did with her for school.  Then, my mom informed me that she has a recorded interview that was on the radio in 1995.  All of that will be used, as well as my aunt Marianne's wonderful memory. 

Mountains of letters

When my aunt came home, she informed me that she had 2 patients today who were survivors of 5 different concentration camps. As she told me the story, and my mom and I looked through letters, it was hard for the three of us not to tear up. After some intense hours of reading and organizing, we left for Atlantida where we got to see my aunts new house.  Atlantida is magic! After the rush of the city, the quietness and peacefulness is lovely! 

Fun fact:  My dad was at the national archive all day researching for his disertation.  We had no contact with him.  At some point during the day my mom decided to go get coffee at some random place in this city of 1.5 million.  She tried to pay with her card, it didn't take it.  The lady said, "wow, a man tried to pay with one like that today, and it wouldn't work either.:"  She tried her other card, to which the woman said, "wow, the other man tried to use that card too."  Turns out that "that man" was none other than my father.  This wouldn't be surprising in our little town, but here, we all got a kick out of it. 

Another fun story, is Maia at the "doctor" today, but I'll get her to write the story, because I was not there.

Made it.

We made it!!!! Sooo after writing in miami we waited our 6 hours, and then.... well our plane was declared "out of service" at 11 o'clock at night... Then we changed from our gate D1 to gate D50 (at 1 o'clock at night)! However, these extra hours were great for us to worry about everyone in town, since CNN was reporting a tornado touchdowm.  After finding out that everyone had survived, we fell asleep. We finally left at 2 and therefore out arrival time was delayed, and we didn't get to Montevideo until 11:00 a.m.  

It felt great to land into the new airport in Montevideo, but as Maia said, the landscaping around the airport could use some of Ole Miss's landscapers... it left a bit to be desired.  Once into the airport we faced a line at immigration of about 300 people. After an hour and a half of waiting, we got a real nice welcome into Montevideo.  Some guy, who really looked like my uncle, decided he had waited enough and started filming the ever growing line... Then he realized that out of the 14 booths for immigration, only 1 was functioning... so that was obviously enough and he cut the line and started filming the empty booths... Bad move dude.  If he had been in Miami, he would have been taken out sooooo fast.  But here, the poor little polite police officer asked him to erase the video.  To which, Mr. Grumpy responded by asking the 300 people if they thought he should delete the video.  The crowd breaks out in a NOOOOOOO.  So long story shorter, more and more polite workers got together, man claims to be a journalist AND lawyer, more polite officers show up, man is walked out, and we loose sight of him. 

                                                  Here is Mr. Grumpy and the cops

When we finally get through the line, we get our bags, go through security (just to get into Uruguay), FINALLY get to see the fam.  My mom, dad, cousin, aunt, and other aunt were very very happy to see us (all grossness and bags under our eyes included). 

Part of our wonderful welcome group

There we found out that the man had come out and said he had already talked to some senator and radio stations about the horrible service, blah, blah, blah... My dad's sister, smart as she is, texted my uncle, who is one of the most well known journalists in Uruguay and works at one of these radio stations, to tell him that his radio station was being mentioned in this ridiculous scene.  So in 2 minutes the radio station found out about the issue, which by the way, the mad hadn't actually talked to any of them.

     An eventful arrival ends in some laying around time in the airport

After our eventful arrival, I headed to my aunts house.  She had already prepared Maia's favorite meal last night, and we all got together (all 8 of us) to eat.  Hm... food brings people together.  Since then, we haven't left this living room.. Just enjoyed the visit of some wonderful friends, my grandmother, and calls from other family.  Later we are heading out to watch a HUGE soccer game at some pizza joint. THEN, we will get to sleep some!!!! By the way, I'm loving watching people all huddled up in clothes complaining about the cold, as I walk around in my T-shirt, CAUSE IT IS NOT COLD!!!!!!!!! 

Now, I'm heading to get cleaned up for this soccer craziness, so I am off!

Miami, no mice spotted

I have to say that my 5 checklists and the extra hour I scheduled came in handy today.  We left town at around 8:50 in the morning.  We had to be at the airport by 11, instead arrived at 10:15 to FastPark.  Here we left the car, took the shuttle, got made fun of for the amount we packed, and finally made it to the Airport by 10:25, WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE A BLESSING.  I have never seen the airport that packed.  Due to the storms there were tons of flights cancelled and so many people that ended up there because their planes couldn't land in Texas.  After standing in line till 11, my father, from Uruguay, sent me a text suggesting I go to priority check-in because it was an international flight.  When we got to the airport that line was as horrible as the rest, but by then, it was empty.  We went there and got everything done in time to get lunch, board, and take off before the storm hit.  Now we are sitting in Miami and will be for the next 6 hours.  We  usually get little rodent visitors at this airport, but we haven't seen any just yet !!! We were told to go eat at a Cuban restaurant so I am going to try to drag Maia there. Till then I'll get back to my book, as you can tell i am THE slowest reader on this planet.

Nerves...

Tomorrow is the big day!!!! It is now 1:08 in the morning and I'm laying on my bed for the last time before I start these 3 months, and all I'm feeling is nerves.  Maybe it's because tomorrow morning I will be in charge of making sure that all of our 4 bags and 4 carry on items make it to the airport.  That we get there in time, park the car, have passports, e-tickets, etc.  Maybe its because I'm scared I'll forget to leave everything locked here, or that I forgot to do something crucial before I leave for 3 MONTHS!!!!  Maybe it's because it will be the first time in 11 years that I spend more than 10 days in Uruguay. Maybe it's because I truly have no idea what I'm about to find with my project.  Maybe it's because I truly have no idea how I'm gonna do my project... Or maybe its because I'M LEAVING FOR 3 WHOLE MONTHS. (ok maybe 2 months and 20 days, but its close enough.)  No matter what the reason is, I better get over it quickly because I have 7 hours to sleep before we start checking off things on the checklist and head to Memphis!!! AAAAHHHH scary thought! On the other hand, Montevideo awaits us with open arms and i CANNOT wait to see my family.  That's the best part of this trip, oh yeah.. and getting to share it with friends isn't so bad...  Well I'm off for now.  I'm gonna go attempt to sleep (A.K.A. roll over and keep adding to tomorrow's checklist)  I'm sure I'll post something during our 6 hour wait in the airport tomorrow (unless I really do decide to read the 4 books I packed!) Till then, wish us luck on!

A new person

So I wanted to give a post leadership conference update, since I am officially a new person.  After a combined 13 hours worth of inspirational speakers, motivators, life coaches, and advisors I feel like a new me. Now I am just all about positive thinking,  empowering questions resulting in silver clouds instead of silver lining, focusing on the now, making no excuses ("because your friends don't need them and your foes don't believe them"), reading, and (my personal favorite) running a marathon (since every accountant apparently has at least run one marathon).   This new me is now unpacking the cooler, beach towell, blanket, clock, hat, frisbee, pens, cups, etc that the firm provided, and at the same time I am greatful (another praised quality this week) for all the new lessons I leared. My personal favorite was the need to define your V.I.B.E, that would be your values, interests, beliefs, and energy sources.... I do have to say that my next favorite is my discovery that "your network equals your net worth..." (Scary thought)   After sponging up all this information, (which in all seriousness was actually very interesting and helpful when my plane was late and my time between connections was already 20 minutes) I did realize that this new attitude is not everyone's favorite, and some might have to make some adjustments to put up with this  "new me." ... Especially when we're playing tennis and I'm beating you but still egging you on. Its tough but I'm just trying to instill my empowering thoughts on to you!
Aside from these tips that I received this weekend, I also got some reading suggestions (since I found out that the average human only reads 2 books after  college) and was inspired to train for a marathon (it'll never happen, but it's a nice thought! oh wait... empowering thoughs "what can I do to make this happen?" hahahahaha we shall see how this goes.  But for now I am going to return to my VERY interesting book (now this is FOR REAL believe it or not) and go to sleep since i've been up for now 22 hours.  I will post again once I start the packing process, etc...

A mini star up adventure...

Ok, so I still haven't really started my big adventure for the summer... However, I am currently laying on the largest/comfiest bed in a REALLY nice hotel in Charleston, South Carolina.  Why?  Well back in December, I thought it would be smart to apply for this leadership conference hosted by an accounting firm (AKA recruiting),  right before I LEAVE FOR 3 MONTHS.  I know, I know, my intelligence amazes me...  Well anyhow, after a very very short night, getting to the airport at 5, 2 flights, and a bus ride I arrived at this wonderful hotel, and have been at a motivational speaker since 1. (it is now 6:16)  All I can say is that I am just soooooo inspired.  Just to give you an idea, i'm so inpired that i'm laying in bed waiting for this cup of coffee to be ready so I can make it through dinner and the Ghost tour that we have scheduled for tonight.  All kidding aside, it really has been great and if it weren't for how tired I am it would be perfect.  I am collecting brochures out the frame and food is everywhere, good thing the only thing speakers talk about is fitness and being healthy... Aside from the conference side of this conference I got 30 minutes to walk around Charleston today, and I think I might be in love....  IT IS PERFECT! I don't need a conference or a job really, to picture myself here.  But anyhow, i wanted to write something before I left for dinner. Tomorrow we will be doing community service, having another speaker for 4 hours, and then going on a dinner cruise around the harbor.  Friday, after 3 hours of speakers, and a carriage ride around town I will be off to home. Where the packing and preparing for the real adventure will begin... Till then, I plan on "making sure that today is a success," as my little motivator said!

And the adventure begins...

So the adventure isn't really beginning cause I haven't arrived at my clicking tribe or climbed up to my tree house in the jungle, BUT I am beginning the "pre-departure" process for a LONG three months.  The parentals are off on their journey to Uruguay, and I am slowly getting things ready to leave in exactly 9 days.  Before that, I have 4 plane rides, and three days of conference in South Carolina... so the next 9 days will be crazy.  For now, I am just cleaning, moving, packing, and throwing as many parties as I can while my parents are gone (Ich hab dich lieb mama!)  hahaha! Since I have so many people interested (thanks mom!) I'll post something when its closer to time! Till then,  click click clickclickclik!