Adventure in the City

(This story is best read from the beginning. Click here.)

I went on an adventure today; possibly the only one for a while. Here, most payments for utilities and government fees and fines are paid at the bank. We paid the immigration fee last month but have another one to pay for the juzgado (judge and civil office) services. Ana needed to work all day today so I went to the bank to pay the fee. The only problem was that I didn’t know where to find a bank. I asked a few questions and took off with the car and an educated guess. It actually turned out well. I found a couple of banks within 10 minutes, paid the fee and, with minimal sightseeing, found the house again. I was fairly pleased with the accomplishment but Ana was a little crazy when she found out I was out alone in the city. I thought we had made these arrangements the night before but apparently she is still working on her Spanish. Her father warned me not to try it again because I have the face of a gringo and there are many muggers around. Well, it was fun while it lasted. After spending two hours cleaning dental instruments for the dental mission team this afternoon, we made it back to the house and called it a day.

Back to the story…
We are spending the evening completing and verifying our paperwork for the juzgado. Only three days to go!! What amazes me is how comfortable and natural this whole experience is. I feel like I’ve waited my whole life for this one woman. If only I had “waited” better. But that’s another series of stories.

History
In February of 2007 I received an email from Ana. As surprised as I was to receive it, I was more surprised by how pleased I was to receive it. If only it had been meant for me. Ana actually was writing to a friend of hers to make plans to get together. Somehow, she had included my address in the message. Fortunately, the month before, Ana removed many of the blocks that she had placed over the years. I wrote back asking her if the message was meant for me. Two days later, she responded with a polite note, apologizing for the mistake and asking about Joseph and me. We started writing more after that. She answered once more in February; five times in March and a little more in April. I think she might have been playing it cool. Women! We started chatting more online until I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to call her and tell her what I was feeling (Hmm. In print that doesn’t seem very masculine). On July 15th, 2007, after a looong weekend preparing for the call I sent Ana a message asking if I could call. She told me no! It was late and her father was already in bed, but maybe the next day. The next day I called her and told her how marvelous she was and that I couldn’t go on without trying to see if this was meant to be. Ana has several points to make about this period of time so I will leave her reaction for her to write. Fortunately for me and my sanity, she agreed that we could pursue something deeper. By this time I was pretty well convinced that she was the one and the following weeks confirmed it. We made arrangements for me to fly out and visit in September. Wait until you hear the thoughts going through her head! That was the most amazing trip! There is way too much information to start sharing it here so…