The last few months

Well, a lot has happened in the last few months, and I'm not sure how much I'll ever get around to posting about. This may be it.

March included a trip to Panama to see my boyfriend. It's roughly half way between Santiago and Seattle, so not only was it poetically fitting and all that, the flights were neither terribly long nor terribly expensive for either of us. The Canal was awesome; the service was universally horrible (except at the uber expensive nature lodge where we stayed the second-t0-last night); and I got eaten alive by all manner of insects. I wouldn't recommend Panama; I think there are much better places to be visited.

April included a trip to Dallas for the Aviation Electronics Association's annual convention. There, I represented my boyfriend's avionics shop, a task which required schmoozing, gathering information, and faking some knowledge of avionics. I was young and female for the crowd, but found most of the attendees and exhibitors friendly and delightfully nerdy. Of course, there are always a few snarky, egotistical, or lecherous ones in any large group setting, but I didn't let them deter me. I stayed with my sister's friends and then got to spend a few days in Austin with my niece, a fascinating little Weeble who occasionally fell down, but only from the seated position.

May was my birthday. The big 28.

June was my youngest sister's high school graduation and everyone was in town. We'd hoped my boyfriend could come and meet everyone, but the U.S. embassy was not forthcoming with a tourist visa, so that was a no-go. I consoled myself by playing with my aforementioned niece, who was then able to do all sorts of marvelous things, like reaching for something and sitting back up rather than doing a face plant -- and eating solid (i.e., pureed) foods. She was also starting to scoot ... and managed to scoot herself off the bed one night. I felt horrible. I'd gone to the kitchen to get her bottle and returned in time to see her dive off the bed. As it turns out, it was the beginning of a trend, as she pulled the same stunt several times after returning to Austin. That made me feel slightly less like the worst aunt ever.

July, so far, has included a trip to Chile to see Cristobal before I head to India. Ummm, yeah, so somewhere in there I accepted a job in Mumbai and bought myself a one-way ticket leaving July 30th. At this very moment, I'm so stressed out about everything coming together that I'm thisclose to bursting into tears. Doesn't bode well for handling the stress of actually BEING in India, does it?