Monday, October 29, 2012

Robots in Disguise

It dawned on me the other day that I never did a write-up on our car. And that I haven't told very many people about the best part of our car . . . it's a transformer!

image source
No, no. Not THAT kind of transformer.  But it's kind of fun to think about driving Bumble-bee.

Our car, in reality, started off somewhere across the ocean where everything is in reverse.  Back in 1997 when it was brought over to the Americas, the dash was switched around, but there are some key differences. Some key ANNOYING differences.


The gear shift still faces the passenger seat. That is, the display showing whether you're in reverse, drive, neutral, etc. is on the right and you can't see it when you drive. You either have to count clicks or watch the display next to the odometer.  And you have to push the gear shift button with your pinky because it, too, is on the passenger side.



The "wands" on either side of the steering wheel for the blinker, windshield wipers and headlights are on the opposite sides.  I can't tell you how many times I've gone to turn on the blinkers to make a turn and ended up raking the wipers across a dry windshield.  And it's customary to use the wipers to indicate that you don't want your window cleaned by the street kids; I've had quite a few unwanted washes when I turned on the blinkers instead of the wipers.  Grrrrr.


The panel for rolling up/down the windows that is on the driver's door is also a bit tricky.  The top row - the one for the driver and front-seat passenger - is in reverse.  The bottom row - for the back seat windows - is normal. So, top left: front-seat passenger. Top right: driver. Bottom left: driver-side back seat. Bottom right: far post. Got it? Yeah, me neither.


Until this week, we thought those were the only things weird about the car (aside from the minor curiosity of the hazard button being closer to the passenger than driver).  But on Wednesday, Brandon took Bailey to school in the morning and accidentally left the headlights on.  Thanks to some good friends, we got Bailey home from school and got a jump for the battery.  Later that evening, we were in the car, headlights on, when we pulled up to the house. Brandon left the lights on (again) after he stopped the car and when he opened the door...no warning *ding*ding*ding*.  But when I opened the passenger door...*ding*ding*ding*  The warning is still wired to the old driver - now passenger - door.

So there you have it.  That's what it's like to drive a transformer.  It's not nearly as glamorous as Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox make it out to be.  Figures.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Lost and Found

Last Sunday night, I thought that this might be the last picture I would ever take of Nala. A picture originally part of a series of pics for a yet-unwritten post about my now-failed attempt at a garden; more to come on that later. Maybe.

Inspecting the depth of the hole for my zucchini plants  

We came home from a bar-b-que with some friends around 7:30 and saw that the large gate (our "garage door") was ajar.  It wasn't swung all the way open, just a foot and a half or so gap.  We left the girls in the car to check on the house (no signs of an intruder, phew!) and I cried out "Nala! Nala girl!"

"She's not here, Stacy," Brandon replied (without even looking, I might add).

He was right.

She was gone.

Caring for our girls trumped the Nala search (sorry pet lovers, but baby beats dog every time) and I choked back tears as I got Boston and Bailey to bed.  It had been an especially long weekend for Bailey: 10 P.M. bedtime Friday night (yikes!) and 9 P.M. on Saturday (plus the loss of an hour, so it might as well have been 10 P.M. again).  Understandably, she was out of sorts and needed some extra love at bedtime.  I laid in bed with her for a while, praying safety for our precious dog.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, Brandon took off in the car, searching the neighborhood for our pet.  He asked the guards along our street and our restaurant owner neighbors . . . no one had seen her.

Bailey drying the rain off of Nala

Once the girls were settled and Brandon done with his search, we talked about what we were going to do.  For safety reasons, we didn't feel comfortable leaving the gate open overnight in hopes that Nala would return on her own. Dogs do that, right? Remember where they live. Go back home when they're done with their galavanting.  All we could do was listen for the neighbor dogs to bark and check if it meant that Nala was back in the area.

It didn't seem like enough.

I had to go out myself and look.

It had nothing to do with me not trusting Brandon's search, I just know myself and know that I wouldn't ever forgive myself if I just sat around the house and did "nothing".  So I backed the car out of the driveway and took off, windows down, crying "Nala! Here, Nala-girl!" all the while.

One of our FIRST pictures of Nala

I drove down our street for a while- tracing the path that I used to run along with Nala - then went a few blocks off of our familiar trail to talk to different guards. "Te viste un perro negro?"  Nothing. No one had seen anything.

I crossed a fairly busy street (think Hermosa if it were only two lanes wide with store fronts and parking spaces lining the curbs), praying that I didn't see her sprawled out in the street. Praying that I wouldn't be the one to hit her as I searched.  THAT would have put me over the edge, for sure.

Near the mall, I came across a guard who said that he saw her about an hour earlier, and he pointed toward another main street (this time, think Foothill, by Victoria Gardens, but only two lanes each way with busses weaving and out of traffic).

Bailey has grown up SO MUCH since then!

If the guard was right about Nala, she was headed in a straight line.  After a detour at a park cady-corner to the guard (what dog doesn't like a good romp at the park?) and a few more "te viste un perro negro" 's with the street kids (mad that I didn't have any change for them), I made my way across the busy street and resumed asking neighborhood guards and families enjoying the cool night air if they'd seen our dog.

No, lo siento senora.

Maybe she didn't come this far.

Back across the street and headed home. Slowly. Not wanting to admit defeat.

Oh, and I just remembered that tomorrow kicks off "dog week" during learning time with Bailey. Figures.

I wove up and down countless side streets, asking families walking home from the grocery store and parking attendants alike if they'd happened upon a black dog. "Un perro alto y un poquito flaco?" (Yes, Nala's a girl, and I know I should end everything with an "a" . . . I just have a hard time calling her "perra"; it just doesn't seem right).

What would Bailey do without her friend? 

Back home.

Search "complete," but not complete.  She was still out there.

Ten o'clock rolled around and so I snuck into Boston's room for her last feeding of the night.  As I held her, I again prayed for Nala.  I prayed for her safety. I prayed that she wasn't hurt. That she wasn't pregnant. I prayed for forgiveness when the thought "I won't have to pick up poop anymore" snuck into my head.  I prayed for her return.

Just as I was about to lay Boston back in her crib, Brandon pushed the door open and mouthed the words: "She's back!"


Our Nala-girl, safe and sound

Turns out, the neighborhood dogs were happy to announce Nala's reappearance in the neighborhood. Trouble was, when Brandon went to the door and he saw Nala at the gate, Nala bolted!  Brandon was shirtless and shoeless and locked in the patio.  As Nala sprinted away from the house, he scrambled for his keys, unlocked the front gate and took off after her.  She made it (safely) five blocks away from our house before Brandon finally caught up to her.  

We gave her a preliminary check-up and there wasn't a single mark on her. No bite marks, scratches, nothing.  God heard our prayers.  

And the vet says that as long as she wasn't in heat (we're 99% sure she wasn't/isn't) that puppies are out of the question.  We take her mid-November to check for pregnancy and - if she's not - take care of "things" for good.  

We still don't know how she got out; the gate's been secured in the same manner for the past sixteen months and this is her first escape.  But the gate swings IN, towards the yard, so there's no way she opened it herself.  Our theory is that there was someone walking by, Nala barked, and they kicked at the gate to scare her.  And at that point, I think it's safe to say that they BOTH took off running.  Go get 'em, Nala! :)

Monday, October 8, 2012

Iguazu Falls, Take 2

In April of 2011, we visited the Iguazu Falls for the first time (see post).  This past weekend - a three-day-er due to "spring break" on Friday - we journeyed back to Ciudad del Este with another family from ASA to take in the sights once more. This family, too, had been to Ciudad del Este once before, but had not seen the falls due to a rainy day (*foreshadowing cue*) and sick baby.  They were determined to see the falls.

On Friday morning, we loaded the girls into the car and set off on the "five hour" journey across the country.  Literally, we drove from one side of the country to the other in 327 kilometers (230ish miles). Highways have a max speed of 80 kilometers an hour (50 mph), but there are several - no, TONS (of) - places where the highway traverses a town and the speed limit falls to a whopping 40 kilometers an hour (25 mph).  Even if you wanted to tempt the national police and blaze through town at break-kneck speeds, the speed bumps would not just slow you down, they'd bring you to a screeching that-used-to-be-my-car-but-now-it's-a-pile-of-steel halt.  So we inched our way cross-country, dodging big-rigs and playing chicken with oncoming traffic all the way. Throw in a bogus stop by the police where we (once again) bribed our way out of an imaginary ticket and you can see that there was nothing relaxing about the journey to the city of the east.

Bailey taking a nap
We all feel that way, Boston!

We reached the hotel just before the car imploded with the emotions streaming out of it's four occupants.  Phew!  We quickly unpacked and spent the afternoon lounging by the pool, burning off the stress that the drive added to our shoulders.


Before dinner we decided that it would be a great idea to put all four girls in the bath together. There's a giant tub, they all need baths . . . why not?  It was a slippery, splashy mess of a good time and they all survived. Once the little girls were out of the tub, Bobbie turned on the jets for Bailey and Lola. But apparently 2 year-olds don't like "more bubbles" when "more bubbles" is accompanied by some unknown motorized sound beneath their bums.  Live and learn.


The hotel room was absolutely perfect for our family.  Bailey had her own twin bed and we used the love seat from the sitting area to create a toddler rail along the side.  With the love seat out of the way, we moved the hotel-provided crib from the side of our bed into the curtains.  And, no, that's not a typo. We literally put her IN the curtains.  We closed the curtain liner, shoved the crib against it, then pulled the "decorative" curtains in front so that she could have her own little space (and we could walk around during nap time without disturbing her). 


 

Saturday morning arrived, and with it . . . rain. Of course.  I had heard thunder during the night and prayed "Oh God, please don't do this to the Bumgartner's again!" but I guess rain was in His plan for our trip.  After their failed trip last year to the falls, Bobbie and Andrew were set on seeing the falls, and Brandon and I are up for anything. So we loaded up a van and headed into Brazil (along with three other single girls from ASA who intended to go to Encarnacion but ended up in Ciudad del Este...look at a map...I don't quite know where they went wrong).

Dirty looks and snide comments ensued as we disembarked the 15-passenger van with the four little girls in tow, but we just smiled and kept on keepin' on.  And it was SO worth it!





Boston was due to eat when we were about half-way along the trail (of course) so I grabbed her from Brandon and took off on a speed walk past the other hikers in search of a spot to pop a squat and nurse.  But because of all the rain and some construction, the tables that I remember being at a particular spot on the journey weren't out.  So I found a wide staircase (where people could easily walk around us) under a tree (it's much more pleasant to be hit with occasional drops off a leaf than the constant drizzle in the open air) covered up (I'm not that Paraguayan) and nursed Boston with this as my view:

There was a brief moment with no one on the platform

If only the railing wasn't blocking the view...

By the time we were done with the hike, the rain had subsided a bit and we had four happy girls to show off to the ladies who told us, point blank "it's too cold to have these girls out in the rain!"

Happy little camper!

Playing around after the hike

With the falls checked off our to-do list, we had nothing left but to enjoy our time together away from Asuncion and away from the heat.  And God blessed us with a peaceful - and uneventful - drive back to our house.  We can't wait for the next long weekend! 

View from the car