Days of Absence
i`m not the type who writes much about everything on daily basis in the net but as i`ve been gone in circulation for some time, i want so leave some sweet excuses.
…first things first, my little family meaning my hubby and i with my 4 year and 2 year old son embarked on a UN mission, first plan was one year then it turned out now to be over 1 year or maybe more.my husband was recently promoted as a Major and COO for the Austrian Battalion, making him the second highest officer in command of the Austrian Mission in UNDOF-Syria and the youngest (29) Major of this mission (proud of you buddy!).
…next, i am so getting weary of this travelling.i am seriously having a nervous breakdown.if others think its cool flying from place to place, crossing continents, living off in 5 star hotels…try it with 2 little boys and a husband that u often don`t see.i am having a hard time making homes in countries and houses that are not mine…if it`s not hard enough, arabs are charging us 800-1,500 USD on cockroach ridden houses that i swear, not even roaches would want to live on.i desperately miss Iloilo with 200 USD houses fit for a queen.
…i am at the moment so bored out of the cyber life, i manage to quit chatting in the messenger.it helped on my aching back—try it, get out and have a normal face to face conversation and regular social life, or bury yourself in the garden and plant crocuses or better yet, maggi kraut…it’s best at keeping those shell-less snails, the little bastards ate most of my plants out last year! and if it’s not even better, i came home last month in Austria to find my grass competing with the height of my toya trees.
…in Austria.i spent the weeks in my house trying to accept a life of a single mom as i did in the Philippines (Tom’s on a military mission to play with guns).my day starts with making creamed cacao for the boys, breakfast, lunch,vaccuming,washing—-oh, one year of absence creates one year of dirt!, buying new orchids(they all died, but not my tree, thank God!) , going for the groceries(we need all the fresh milk we could get), to the bread shop, and yes, to the playground, and make the boys walk for an hour to generate more heat as Winter knocks on the door and for me to lose more weight—for the record, walking plus worries and all the drama made me plummet to my college weight, a whooping 58 kilos—i didn’t really lose my excess skin on the stomach nor my stomach from the pregnancy, but from 64 to 58 is a good start, but the worry lines and my tragic heart dramas…NO.
…i lost 2 ipods, fuck that bastard that stole my shuffle! i gave my self a kick in the ass for washing my Nano and thank goodness, i convinced my husband to buy me itunes 8 with alot of conditions though.i found a new way to channel my anger instead of chatting and sitting for hours and getting fat, i went back to the gym.
…i nearly smashed the new imac Tom got.version 10.5.5, not a single internet wireless connection available, the latest is only for version 10.5.3 and i cant wait for 1 month til i get an A1 connection again.no sense to downgrade a program.i must admit it is the best computer i ever laid my eyes on.apple knows how to make the best, only if u are literate enough to use an apple and i have been using only microsoft for the past 15 years! it became my sons new dvd player, the poor imac.but the vision of 2 behaving toddlers sitting and watching lightning mcqueen in angelic behavior suits me well enough.so yeah, i learned to say ta tah to cyberspace.
…i manage to exchange some dollars to euro, i nearly dies with the exchange and destroyed my father in laws car(nearly, i wanted to throw a fit!)…1000 dollars is only 700 euro plus 12 euro in bank service charge.wanna live in Europe? well, u are free to come.
…i made way for media markt and got me the tiniest notebook i could find.an angelic little ACER with a linux program that took us weeks to crack until Tom found a genuis soldier that in the end set it up in windows like we all planned.learning to use apple and linux program, will be one of these days my mission when i fly back to Austria.i promised to enroll myself in a 3 week course and we will see if my apple wins over me (my imac might have the last laugh and if so, i wont tell u!).
…flew in to Damascus weeks ago.booked myself in Sheraton and freaked out with how much money comes out…transferred in Le Meridien that charges a whooping 150 euro for a regular room without breakfast freaked me more.plus, i just managed to ward off the advances of a real life sheik only to have my light bulb blinking afterwards and kicked me off-balanced…”u just ruined ur chances of having ur own personal chopper woman!!!”…oh, thanks but i’m married, not blissfully perfect but happy.have several fights with realtors that think Tom and i make money fall down from the sky by saying lalalala….well, they met me and i must say, i guess they dont want to meet me ever again, tsk.tsk.dont worry about me, u should have seen the other guys.
…im back in my old flat, from 700 USD a month(any flat in the Phils. can compete with this number, it was reduced to 600 after i threw another bitch fit—why do people dare to always take advantage of others?) , well, seems all is well except that im not on the city center.not bad though, with a toyota prado, i couldn`t care less, i just don`t want to see that arab smiling in victory if i agreed to get a 30sq. meter flat for 1,200 USD a month or the other one that wants more commission for a flat on the 12th floor with a broken elevator! i will sit and argue with the only 5 arabic words i know to any taxi driver that will take me to the center if Tom is not around but they will definitely not have my money.
…my new passion is drowning myself to sam and dean winchester, i dont have an Impala to love but i have my new travel companion, more precious than my notebook or ipod…my tiny portable dvd player.i just love it so much!if i get extra 300 USD maybe i`d get that gardget that can store about 10,00 books.saw it on Oprah, i forgot what`s it called.dont help!!!!i’ll find it later when i click on the next window.i just need to rattle.
…i spend the day yesterday scolding Tom for being late and run across Damascus looking for shoes to pair for my gray dress.1 new Zara bag and one Zara dress later i end up wearing a lace number from the high street that knocked its way to Mango and sky high pink heels that nearly left me on a wheelchair.i might go there tomorrow and peel the skin off the saleslady that convinced me that it’s real nice.40 minutes late for the Ambassador’s Reception, i finally found not one but 3 babysitters, thank god!
…4 Seasons Hotel.i walked bravely and pittifully in the cobblestoned path to four seasons.the Argentinian ambassador decided to park his amazing Mercedes in the middle of the road blocking what would be a good parking.With my new Major Thomas Pittracher on an A-dress, i was introduced to the new Austrian Ambassador, got kisses in my hands from the military attachés, leutenant colonels and all, i treated myself to 3 glasses of redwine to ward off the cold i feel as a result of wearing a tiny little lace dress.oh, did i mention the chicories are nice?the little burgers are damn sour and the cheesecake is heavenly.gulash for an Austrian night is a must.so, a few smiles to the photographers, and meeting everybody that thinks they are all important— what did i get?
…i came home minus 300 USD for my entire ensemble and find myself in a house of mess, created by my sons and the babysitters for the night.the CINDERELLA game is over.i am back to scrubbing floors and pots once again.on the brighter side, Dean and Sam are waiting for me…
