Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Back in Inaction
My travels have ended and I am back in Chicago, primarily devoting my time to crossing items off of the two-page "to do" list I have composed to make sure my life is in order before I turn it over to my law firm. So far, this has involved a surprisingly surly conversation with the representatives at Comcast, the ritualized joining of (and subsequent failure to use) a gym, and the disturbing discovery that I now genuinely find Kelly Ripa funny. Obviously, it's been busy times.
Mexico was, all things considered, fairly amazing. We quickly tested the limits of the concept of the all-inclusive resort, ordering upwards of ten chocolate cakes a day and basically consuming margaritas intravenously. We nearly created at least six international incidents through our complete failure to understand both Mexican culture and, more importantly, Mexican currency. But the trip wasn't all just gluttony and ignorance, there was also learning: we made the obligatory climb up the pyramid at Chicken Itza, where I for the first time discovered I have a fear of heights, and nearly had to make my descent by construction crane. Frankly, I consider it somewhat amazing that the U.S. Embassy didn't have to intercede.
Of course, whenever air travel is involved, there will be irritations. Our original flight down there got cancelled, giving us the opportunity to make a completely fruitless one-hour Blue Line trip to the beautiful confines of O'Hare to be lectured about weather and aviation safety by a woman wearing a vest and neck scarf. Then our flight back was completely packed due to other cancellations, allowing us to sit behind the single most overprotective father I have ever seen as he hectored his children repeatedly about topics ranging from their choice of soft drink to their attentiveness to the cabin screening of Miss Congeniality 2. So in some ways, it was a relief just to get back here.
But relief or not, I am back, and I'm going to go defrost a pizza. More stories and pictures to come in the next few days.
My travels have ended and I am back in Chicago, primarily devoting my time to crossing items off of the two-page "to do" list I have composed to make sure my life is in order before I turn it over to my law firm. So far, this has involved a surprisingly surly conversation with the representatives at Comcast, the ritualized joining of (and subsequent failure to use) a gym, and the disturbing discovery that I now genuinely find Kelly Ripa funny. Obviously, it's been busy times.
Mexico was, all things considered, fairly amazing. We quickly tested the limits of the concept of the all-inclusive resort, ordering upwards of ten chocolate cakes a day and basically consuming margaritas intravenously. We nearly created at least six international incidents through our complete failure to understand both Mexican culture and, more importantly, Mexican currency. But the trip wasn't all just gluttony and ignorance, there was also learning: we made the obligatory climb up the pyramid at Chicken Itza, where I for the first time discovered I have a fear of heights, and nearly had to make my descent by construction crane. Frankly, I consider it somewhat amazing that the U.S. Embassy didn't have to intercede.
Of course, whenever air travel is involved, there will be irritations. Our original flight down there got cancelled, giving us the opportunity to make a completely fruitless one-hour Blue Line trip to the beautiful confines of O'Hare to be lectured about weather and aviation safety by a woman wearing a vest and neck scarf. Then our flight back was completely packed due to other cancellations, allowing us to sit behind the single most overprotective father I have ever seen as he hectored his children repeatedly about topics ranging from their choice of soft drink to their attentiveness to the cabin screening of Miss Congeniality 2. So in some ways, it was a relief just to get back here.
But relief or not, I am back, and I'm going to go defrost a pizza. More stories and pictures to come in the next few days.
