Tag: Dating

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The Most Romantic Date I’ve Been On- My Date’s Perspective (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on by Lizzie Gomez

And we are back! I finally wrote part two of my side of this night, so here’s Chance’s side. Enjoy! 🙂 (If you have not read Part 1 of our first date click here for my perspective on it or click here for Chance’s perspective on the first half of our first date. I highly recommend starting with part one to get a gist of the story. Whoever’s perspective suits your fancy. :D) Alright, here’s Chance:

 

Waiting Out the Rain in a Parking Garage

We got to cover and there was woman waiting out the rain with us. We continued talking. Nothing specific from what I remember. Just that we both liked anime, movies, that sort of thing but we never got too specific other than the movie genres we like. We noticed some stairs and Laura decided that it would be a nice little adventure to see where they went. I thought “sure why not, seems like a romantic enough idea”. The stairs were part of a parking lot. It was big and had multiple floors. As we began exploring, Laura told me about one of her previous adventures in what seemed to be a haunted building.

Not really knowing where we were going we just kept walking and talking until we heard people having what seemed like a good time; they were screaming and yelling. There was a flight of stairs that lead to the floor above us; it was orange with green metal handles. We got to the top of the stairs. There was a gate there, closed. They closed at 7:00pm according to a sign that was hanging on the gate. The gate led directly to a restaurant pub thing. 

 

The Kiss

We had no choice but to go back and return from where we came. We started walking down the stairs. Right when we got half-way down, I stopped and asked her to stop for a moment too. Remember, this was our first date ever. We had officially met a few hours ago, but I felt like the chemistry was good and we were both having a good time. I had never done something like this. Not on a first date, but I decided that I wanted to take a chance and ask her a question. I was ready for her to say no or to simply change the subject again. I wasn’t really thinking about the result; I just went for it. There we were, standing face to face, both wet from the rain and sweaty from walking through that parking lot, in the middle of a flight of stairs. From what I could see, she was comfortable and relaxed. So, I asked her:

 

“Can I kiss you?”

 

“I thought you’d never ask.”

 

 

And like that, we had our first kiss. It went on for while. We had time and she really seemed like she enjoyed kissing me. I know I enjoyed kissing her. After a while, we got up and started walking again.

 

Final Moments

It was getting late and I had to take her home soon, but before that we got in my car and rode for a few minutes, then parked near the ocean. We got out and just talked about our sense of humor, the view, and old memories we had. We hugged and kissed and admired the beautiful view. After a while a security guard started looking at us kind of funny so we decided to leave. We went to Mcdonalds and then I took her to her apartment. Before I left we ate. It was like a little park square thing. I don’t really know what to call it, but it’s really small and has some benches, some trees, light post and what not. It’s a really comfy, relaxing little spot. When we finished eating we said goodbye and I went home.

 

It was honestly the best first date I’ve ever had. It felt like I was in a movie.

 

I hope you enjoyed Chance’s perspective of the last half of our first date. If you are interested in reading my side of things, click here. Other than that, come back on Mondays for my weekly blog where I write about my day to day life which (spoiler) includes Chance every now and again. 😀

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The Most Romantic Date I’ve Been On- Meeting Chance for the First Time (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on by Lizzie Gomez

Welcome back! At long last, I found the inspiration to do the final half of this night justice. If you haven’t read part one, I recommend you click here to read my perspective or click here to read my date’s perspective. Either way, it’d be good to read the first half (in whichever perspective you prefer) to have context into this post. Thanks for making it to part two and enjoy! 🙂

 

Waiting Out the Rain in a Parking Garage

Where were we? Oh, yes. The rain. The drops of rain slick on both our faces. Chance removing his glasses to reveal soft, kind, caring eyes. Us walking calmly and unrushed to shelter from the rain. Once we reached the end of the path leading away from the castle, it was a short walk to the nearest roof. The first space we found was tucked beside a plaza and in it was an elevator and a young woman, also waiting out the rain. We walked past her who didn’t seem to notice us as she was too busy leaning against the wall and gazing out the entrance at the drizzling rain.

There wasn’t much else in this little space. The woman at the entrance, and elevator inside to the right, and a few steps beyond that, also slightly to the right, was a set of stairs. Naturally, Chance and I settled to our left against the only wall not occupied by any objects or other person. There we came upon the topic of movies. I asked what his favorite genre was expecting to hear action or horror as most guys and friends of mine had responded before him.

 

An Anecdote on Movies of the Drama Genre

Instead he surprised me with “drama”. “Drama?! Did you say drama??” I asked trying to catch my breath. Had I heard correctly? Had he just said my favorite movie genre, the genre all my college friends had groaned about whenever I tried, unsuccessfully, to suggest a movie for us to watch and that indubitably did not get any votes when it came down to making a decision or if it did by some miraculous circumstance get chosen, it ended up being a drag in everyone’s eyes except mine which were glued to the screen through every 20 minute monologue.

“Yeah, drama is my favorite movie genre.”, he confirmed. I was beside myself! Who sent this man to me? I don’t know why this means so much to me. Maybe it’s because my friends were so against it. And my family, especially my dad. My dad would say there was too much talking and it was boring. My friends echoed these thoughts. They craved explosions and high energy scenes. I saw those things as artificial and over the top. I wanted raw and real. I wanted to learn something of the human condition through a movie, not just see pretty explosions on the screen. Maybe I thought this inquisitive thoughtfulness about humanity translated to him due to his answer. I don’t know, but I was taken by him more by the second.

After explaining that I’d never met someone who responded that dramas were their favorite movie genre and that it was my favorite movie genre as well, we wandered over to the elevator and wondered where it might lead. As we stood there, we glanced to the right there the woman remained leaning against the entrance to our little sanctuary watching thousands of droplets fall from the sky. I wondered out loud where the stairs to our left could lead to which Chance replied this was the entrance to a parking garage. I said we should explore until the rain let up and pranced over to the stairs leaving Chance a couple steps behind me trying to decide if to stop me or join me. Half a second later he was coming down the stairs with me.

 

Into the Parking Garage

As he had said, the stairs did lead to a parking garage. A huge, cavernous, underground one that turned my mind to spooky thoughts. I asked Chance, “have you ever snuck in somewhere creepy you weren’t supposed to?” He thought about this a second as we walked through aisles of cars up a slope heading to the parking garage floors above. “No, I don’t think I have.” he concluded at last. I smiled, a bit disappointed, then shared my story. Here’s the super short version: in my last year of university I snuck into an abandoned dorm on campus. A student was stabbed there several years before my exploration of it and the place was then quarantined due to asbestos. It was creepy with half the endlessly long quiet halls with most doors closed and others cracked open to reveal desolate, empty rooms. Maybe, I’ll write about that some other time.

By the end of my story we reached a green stairwell to our left. At its entrance was a sign that read, ” No access after 7pm”. Chance and I checked our watches at the same time. It was almost 9pm. Chance started to turn away from the stairs as I shrugged, smiled and asked him with raised eyebrows “Are you going to let a little sign stop you?”. I felt rebellious and alive after my recount of the abandoned dorm. He looked at me a little shocked, but not off put by my reaction to the sign and followed me up those forbidden steps.

 

The Forbidden Stairwell and the Kiss

Five or so steps up the staircase cut to the left at a right angle and continued up until reaching another 90 degree angle to the left where there stood the entrance to a sort of bar/outdoor seating area. It was beautiful, with string lights and plants weaving around the place. There were a couple of people in dark, classy uniforms and black aprons tied at their waists who seemed to be closing up for the night. The metal door at the top of the stairs was locked with heavy chains and a padlock and carried a sign that said “Closed after 7pm”. I crept down slightly to avoid being spotted by the employees and turned to smile at Chance about our mischief before motioning him, who was a couple steps below me to head back down.

We walked down slowly until Chance reached a wide, flat platform dividing the top portion of the stairs with the bottom part. Here he turned to me, still a step above him, and asked, “Can we stop for a second?” We stood on this staircase that jutted out of the parking garage looking at each other with genuine smiles as cool night air blew on us balancing out the incubating warmth we’d felt in the parking garage. A second. No more, before he asked, looking up at me on the next step,

“Can I kiss you?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Pause. I am not making that up for romantic effect. I actually said that. (*FACEPALM!*) I think I rolled my eyes at myself a split second before our lips met. After that, there was nothing to cringe about. It was natural. Our kiss had dept, in the best possible way (none of that tongue down an unfortunate soul’s throat stuff). Then, another tentative touch of his lips against mine to which I responded gently, but fully accepting. Our lips danced and slid slowly as he huskily said, “step down”.

I did take the final step to meet him at the platform in the middle of this hidden staircase as he grabbed hold of my waist with both of his hands and pulled me closer to him. The heat emanating from his body, not an inch away from mine, was almost as hot as the kisses we shared, coming a bit faster now. Eventually, we parted and gazed at each other with oxytocin induced bliss.

 

Final Date Components: Walking the Streets of Old San Juan, Cuddling in Front of a Guard, and a Late Dinner Picnic (kind of)

Alright. Time to be real. This post is getting long and I do not want to make a part 3 (though I very well could). So, it’s super speed recap time! We sat on a step where we kissed, cuddled, and stuff for a bit before heading back to the parking garage and then outside since by now it had stopped raining. I thought this would be the end of the night but I’d told Chance I had to leave at 11pm. Remember, this was a Tuesday night and I had work the next morning. It wasn’t 11pm yet though, so we walked around the beautiful narrow sidewalks and crossed the brick lain streets of Old San Juan holding hands or with one of Chance’s arms wrapped around my waist before he suggested getting something to eat.

I could eat and wasn’t ready to let go of his hand, so we drove to another section of Old San Juan where he planned to introduce me to something tasty (a tripleta which is basically a sub with three kinds of meat). The stand was closed though. It was after 10pm at this point, so instead he lead us over to some benches in the area. However, I did not make it to the benches before I was called by the sea that could be seen from a concrete barrier that came up to my waist. I leaned against it trying to get closer to the water when Chance came up behind me and enveloped me in warmth. We spoke about humor and held each other. I found out he has the same dark humor as I do. At some point, a guard started looking at us funny which Chance said was pure jealousy as he pulled me to him for a final kiss for our only fan.

Since most places were closed, Chance and I passed by a fast food place and then had a sort of picnic outside my apartment in a little conglomeration of benches. It was sweet. A little late night picnic, just the two of us. Maybe not the most romantic end, but it felt peaceful and right. With a final kiss at the end of our meal I bid him a good night and waited for him to drive off into the night before entering my apartment. A girl has to keep a little mystery about her. 🙂

I fell asleep with a smile thinking that the last few hours of my life felt more like a dream than anything I would experience that night.

 

I hope you enjoyed my recount of that night. If you are interested in Chance’s perspective of the last half of our first date, click here. Otherwise, thanks for stopping by! Look forward to more adventures with Chance in my weekly blogs posted every Monday. 😀

 

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Week of February 25th 2019- Cafeteria (Pigeon Photography with Chance and Arcade with Joseph plus Internship Stress)

Posted on by Lizzie Gomez

Monday, February 25th– Stressing about Assignments, but No Progress

Have you ever stressfully thought about working on something for hours or days, yet you …don’t? That was me this whole weekend. Friday, I gave up. I knew I was exhausted from the food bank and wasn’t going to be able to discipline myself into doing anything productive, so I didn’t even try to lie to myself. Saturday, I was so stressed thinking about the week ahead that I couldn’t focus long enough to get started. Sunday, I tried to motivate myself to work on my assignments all day, but at the end of the it gave in and accepted working on my blog for this week. I did nothing this weekend.

Today was supposed to be the first day of our Cafeteria rotation. Instead the dietitian told us she could not receive us that day, so we went to the Department of Health to get our hours for the day. I thought I’d get the assignments for the rotation done, but instead it took the whole 8 hours to finalize the case study PowerPoint and report that Gia and I have to present on Friday. I thought it was late (that we had to turn in a draft last Friday), but when I told the director that we’d leave it in the box for her she looked at us confused and told us that it was due when we presented. Well, at least that’s done. At home, I was stressed and did nothing.

 

Tuesday, February 26th– Slow Day at Rotation and Future Travel Stress

I woke up late. I didn’t sleep too too late, but I was exhausted. There’s a bus that goes all the way to the hospital our rotation is at, but I missed the one that would get me there on time. So, I took an Uber. These things are killing me. We don’t get paid for this internship. No housing or transport help either. This is all out of pocket and unfortunately my pockets were essentially emptied after I paid the tuition for this internship. Ugh. It was a slow day. The dietitian let us work on our assignments after seeing that we didn’t have any of them done. Oops.

Went home and splurged on fast food. Unhealthy coping, guys. Try to be stronger than I am. It was irrationally justified though. I called my dad to give him a head’s up about a rotation in three weeks where I have to travel little over an hour to get to, a two-week rotation. But wait! It’s not in three weeks. It’s in two! Ughhh. And, there’s no reasonably priced place to stay over there. They say it’s the hardest rotation of the internship and I’d rather not drive two (or three with traffic) hours a day for two weeks. But I don’t have another choice. As if I wasn’t stressed enough.

 

Wednesday, February 27th– Donuts and Stressing about Assignments

Donuts. That’s what got me motivated to wake up today. I made it to the bus on time and was dropped off across the street from the hospital. Beside a Krispy Kreme. Yum! The rest of the day wasn’t quite as exciting. We mostly worked on the rotation’s assignments the majority of the day though I did once go into the hospital kitchen to help portion out fruit or juice, I forget which.

At home, I dreaded working on everything that is due on Friday, but somehow got my rotation stuff for Thursday done. The real accomplishment is that I finally began working on the second of three parts of this monster investigative proposal (that I’m sure I’ve been talking for months about) due on Friday. I didn’t finish much, but starting is a great step. I’ve slept about 3 hours a night for the past three days. Yet, I’ve not done much for that proposal. Ughh. I’m scared, but Friday afternoon can’t come soon enough.

 

Thursday, February 28th– More Donuts and Finally Working on that Assignment

More donuts today. I know I’ll find them useful for anxiety control later tonight. Again, do NOT follow my example. It’s a very short-term fix. And I have a very short amount of time to get this proposal done. …I need to start working on some long-term fixes like not procrastinating to this level. *sigh… someday. At the rotation we helped serve milk and fruit then gave a presentation to the kitchen staff. Only thing left to do is finish that darn proposal for tomorrow and maybe practice the case study I have to present with Gia tomorrow.

After the rotation, Gia and I went to a fast food place to work on that proposal. We worked from 5pm to midnight with light bathroom breaks and a short dinner break. It was intense, but worth it. I was able to sleep about two hours before arriving at the meeting on Friday.

 

Friday, March 1st– Case Study Presentation at Internship Meeting

Gia and I had gone over half the presentation and none of the data. We were going into this half blind. But fortunately, it all turned out okay. Half of the interns are completing their renal rotations. Little note about that: renal is the hardest rotation of the whole internship. Not only is there a travel component of at least 30 minutes by car, but the rotation is individual and involves a ton of assignments. (This is the rotation I mentioned earlier that I will have to travel over an hour for, but that I don’t have another choice.) Ah, and it’s with real patients. So. Yes. They weren’t going to be pulled out for our dinky presentations. Gia and I presented as well as Robin and Kayla (individually). After going over some practice questions we were able to go home.

I may have watched YouTube or something chill, but there was nothing left to do today but sleep.

 

Saturday, March 2nd– Pigeon Photos with Chance and Arcade with Joseph

Glorious sleep! I didn’t want it to end! So, I don’t think I mentioned it, but I’d been having some sick like symptoms all week. Sneezing, snot, and now coughing. But I didn’t feel sick and couldn’t afford to anyway. Well, that’s what I woke up to. So much mucus. :/ But I had plans! I begrudgingly showered and got dressed. I also got into another argument with Axyl. I couldn’t find my toothbrush. He got mad I didn’t ask for his help (he could have let me have a spare of his). I left without saying a word…. but had to come back because I forgot my camera. I suck at dramatic exits it seems.

I did think about not going back for my camera. Chance would just have to deal with it and we’d have to change our plans. I’m so glad I got it though. We went to Old San Juan and got something called piraguas. It’s like a snow cone and it was delicious. 😊 After that, we visited the Pigeon Park. Yes. The one Joseph had mentioned when I went on a date with him last week. …was it last week? O.o Oh my goodness! I loved it! So many pigeons!! I took countless pictures! When I broke down and bought corn to feed them a pigeon came to me and stood on my knee as she ate! :3 I was so happy! She was sooo soft! I didn’t know pigeons were soft!! Ugh!! I am coming back. X)

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Last event of the day was another outing with Joseph. Geez… That sounds a little bad… I don’t remember how it turned out that I scheduled things with both guys this day, but here we are. Joseph and I went to Dave and Busters. Haha! An adult arcade essentially. It was so much fun! He beat me in most things, but it was alright. We both failed miserably at Guitar Hero! X) (I got cocky and chose hard and he did the same!) Have you guys ever done any virtual reality thing? There was this ride. It was more realistic than I expected! I mean, I was still aware of where I was, but if I wasn’t thinking about it, I could have not known! The future is frightening!! Anyway, after our fun we got the tiniest prize with our measly tickets. He got a little orange bouncy ball and I got a blue plastic chicken X)

He’d asked me if I was hungry before heading to the arcade, but I’d said no. He asked me again now to which I responded not really. X) Haha, the poor guy was hungry, so I said I could eat something though I wasn’t really hungry. We ate at the food court of the adjoining mall. Mexican food. It was a fun moment when he was suffering after a bit of salsa and I, the brave one, got a chip drowned in the salsa and just smiled and said it wasn’t spicy. Haha! You guys should have seen his face! First when I smothered the chip in salsa he looked at me like I was a mad woman, then when I said it wasn’t spicy he looked incredulous. XD It was great!

It wasn’t all fun and games though. Eventually we got on the topic of the whole dating app thing and I used that moment to clarify any doubts. I’d told Chance I was dating other people, but I hadn’t told Joseph. Maybe it wasn’t necessary, but I didn’t want to mislead him or make him think that this was something exclusive. I felt him deflate. ☹ I hate that part. When guys get all quite and hurt. I didn’t want to keep seeing him without him knowing though.

I really feel like I’m a step below being Chance’s girlfriend (he doesn’t want to put a label on it, but I feel like we are in an unofficial relationship or even just a step after friends, friends who kiss and stuff, if you will). Because of that, I don’t feel right kissing or being physically affectionate with anyone else. *sigh I had to let Joseph know where I’m at with Chance. It took a few minutes, but the conversation picked up again and we ended the night well. I gave him my number and bid him a good night.

 

Sunday, March 3rd– Watching Silence of the Lambs Again and Making Up with Axyl… Again

Another late awakening. Nice. This time not to snot and sneezing! Woo hoo! Since Joseph is a huge movie buff, I promised to see a movie sometime this week. I decided on Silence of the Lambs. I’d seen it before, but it’d been a while. I think books will always have the #1 spot for me, but I love the story, so it’s interesting to see all it’s adaptations. Honestly, the series mayyyyy beat the book. The one exception to my books are #1.

Axyl and I talked. We are on okay terms again. Man, that’s exhausting. I don’t like being mad with him. I live with him! If I wanted a toxic home environment I would have stayed at the apartment with Karen and Robin!

 

***

Next week!

  • Gia and I go back to the Non-profit! For a week-long community rotation.
  • Chance and I have a spicy food competition! …it was one of those dumb ideas that just sort of happened. This Wednesday! We are going to cook food for the other person. It’s going to be a three-course meal. I’m thinking spicy ice cream for dessert!
  • Easy week. Hey! Not everything can be hectic and exciting! Your girl needs rest too!!

 

 

 

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The Most Romantic Date I’ve Been On- My Date’s Perspective (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on by Lizzie Gomez

Hey guys, guess what? Chance is a novice writer too. I was impressed by the first few excerpts of his writing he’d sent me, so I proposed an idea. After reading him part one of the post I wrote about our first date (link here), I asked if he’d be interested in writing about that night from his perspective. I thought it’d be cool to give you guys both sides of the story. He said yes! I was surprised, but ecstatic! So, without further ado, here is our first date from his perspective. 

 

Meeting on the Dating App

I don’t really remember when was it that we matched. It was January 31st when I sent that first message, “Hey” along with my favorite emoji, the one with the smiley face, the one with closed eyes and a big smile showing its teeth, to me, that emoji’s smile feels genuine. 

In my past adventures in the dating app world I would always break the ice with an over the top joke or comment, as you can expect, it did not work, at all. I also tried a more formal approach, it didn’t work either. One of the things I found out is that if you begin the conversation with a compliment about the person, from something you saw in their pictures, this gives you their attention, and from there you can work your way to getting to know the person.  But if you want to know the secret, the best way to get people interested in you is to, putting it in simple terms, be yourself. Not everyone is going to connect with you but when someone does, it feels natural, you didn’t have to pretend to be something you are not. And so, with that “Hey” and my favorite smiley face I decide, I’m just going to give this one more try, no tactics, no over the top jokes, no holding back, I’m just going to be myself.

Like that, Laura and I began talking. To me, it felt natural, we talked about different sorts of things, I remember deep conversations about pigeons and what not, really exciting, haha, but in all seriousness, I just felt like maybe she could be the one person I can get along with and just be me. We had been texting for a while. I didn’t want to ask her out too soon. I wanted to make sure she liked talking to me, you know, just feeling comfortable in general. I don’t remember exactly how it happened but she took the lead and we decided on a date together. Honestly she did most of the work. She found a place; I just helped her decide on the date and time. So we agreed to meet on a Tuesday. I was really nervous. It’s normal I think. After all, I was meeting her for the first time. I didn’t want to mess things up.

 

Meeting at the Café

Tuesday came, she sent me a text to confirm that we were indeed going on a date. I was really glad. I thought she might cancel at the last minute, haha. It began just like any other Tuesday. I went to work like usual, didn’t have class that day so after I got off work I went to the gym, took longer than I had planned, finished what I was doing, took a shower and headed straight to the cafe we agreed on. I was late. 15 minutes late but I finally made it there.  

We only texted in English so I wasn’t really sure if she spoke Spanish, and then she said “hello” and all I thought was “oh fuck, my English kinda sucks”. I guess she either read my mind or saw my scared reaction because she started speaking spanish, and when she did it felt just like when you find a bathroom after you’ve been holding it in at movies for like 3 hours. What a relief it was, haha. I’m too self aware so I was trying not mess things up. I opened the door and let her go in first, but I was so nervous I walked past her, and walked in front of her on our way to the counter. “Wait, I should wait for her, or let her go in front of me, or maybe go side by side”  my mind was doing overtime, I tried to play it cool but I knew she could tell I was nervous.

I managed to order coffee, and waited for her to order one as well, and then I picked a spot for us, it was kind of uncomfortable but it was near a window. When we both got called to get our coffees we moved to a more convenient table and began talking. Well she did most of the talking anyway as I tried to find the perfect combination of things to say, but my mind was blank, so I just listened to her talk. My mind was in potato mode and couldn’t think of something interesting to say. I just listened to her, and looked at her, and thought “man, she sure looks pretty, don’t mess this up, come up with something cool”.  So as I drank my coffee and looked at my cup hoping to find in it something impressive to say, I just asked questions about her work, and simple things like that. We got some cake, I got a carrot cake and she got a slice of cornbread. I offered her some of mine and she offered me some of hers. After that I don’t remember who was that suggested we get out of there. I gave her options, stay there near where we were or go somewhere else. I was tasked with this important decision and decided San Juan would be nice place to go to. It looks beautiful, it has date-ish feel and I just really enjoy going to San Juan.

 

Old San Juan

On our way to San Juan I could feel myself getting more comfortable around her. I don’t really remember what we talked about but I was having a good time. Even though I live here, I don’t know how to get to a lot places so I used my gps to get there. Eventually we arrived and parked. When I got out of the car I could feel the cold breeze. It felt good. The night sky was cloudy, the city was quiet, there were people walking by and having a good time. So, I asked her to follow me to El Morro. It was dark, with some light posts here and there. We sat at a bench and looked at what was in front of us, a beautiful view of a city across the bay, bright and colorful lights, small ships passing by, and the night breeze was cold, but not too cold. It felt relaxing. I asked her to come with me, to get a little bit closer to the castle. As we walked, we talked and I enjoyed being with her even more. We got to another bench, and then it happened. As I sat down, she fell, and I couldn’t help but laugh because she was bragging earlier how she almost always falls but never does. It was really funny. I tried to help but she insisted on getting up on her own.

I don’t remember how we got on the topic of kissing, but I said to her that I was a good kisser, or so I had been told. That maybe she could tell me how good I really was. From what I saw she didn’t really want to talk about that. It didn’t feel like she wanted to avoid kissing me, but I took it like maybe she’d rather talk about that at a later point. So, I changed the subject. I’d say I’m very perceptive. As we talked, drops began falling on my face, cold and wet, and somehow refreshing. I don’t really mind rain, but it was our first date and I was thinking I wanted to be somewhat dry just in case we might want to do something else. I remember back when I was in middle school and high school, I used to like walking under the rain. All the other students ran for cover or made a big deal about it, but I just walked and enjoyed the rain falling on me. Just to be sure, I often asked how she was feeling so far, if she was having a good time like I was.

 

***

I hope you guys enjoyed that little extra. Chance is a bit more on top of things than me, it seems, and already wrote the part two of our first date. I have not however, so! I’m going to cut his version off right there. I plan to write my side of the second half of our date on Saturday, March 2nd. Either way, whenever I post my part two, I’ll post his. I wouldn’t want to spoil anything. 😉

 

Photo credit to 3dman_eu from Pixabay

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Week of February 18th 2019- Food Bank (A Couple Dates with Chance and Couple Fights with Axyl)

Posted on by Lizzie Gomez

Monday, February 18th– First Day at the Food Bank and Cooking Salmon …kind of

I was late. Gosh! I feel like I am in a high functioning depression. Well, kind of high functioning. Because when I’m down, I’m much more tired than expected physically. Example, I slept about ten hours Saturday and Sunday, but I did not hear a single one of my alarms this morning. Not one! But luckily, Axyl awoke around 8am. It’s a holiday, so he has off. I do not, because it’s a federal holiday and the food bank does not count. So, I was supposed to be in at 8am, but the dietitian there did not respond to my phone calls or emails. Therefore, I planned to arrive at 8am and see if the place was open or not. But…. I hadn’t even woken up by then.

Axyl knew what my plan was, so when he saw me still asleep, he woke me, and I got moving. I called the food bank to at least know if it was open before making the long journey there. It was and the new volunteer coordinator told me to go ahead and come.!!! That’s why the dietitian hadn’t responded to me. She doesn’t work there anymore! Augh! So, I rushed to get ready and begrudgingly took an Uber over there. $25! Augh! I spent the day stocking the little shelves of the food bank. (A lot harder work than it sounds!)

Afterwards I found some energy to go food shopping. My backpack was already full and by the end of it I had a mega stuffed backpack and four heavy plastic bags I was praying would not rip on me. I got home twice as exhausted but showed Axyl the salmon I bought (he’s been talking about craving salmon for a couple months now) so I had to find even more energy to cook it. I guess I didn’t have enough energy because it ended up being cooked only on the outside. X) Sushi am I right?! (Axyl put it back in the pan, no worries!)

Tuesday, February 19th– Another Multi-part Date with Chance (Mall, Bars, and the Beach)

Surprise! I walk into the food bank today to find about five other workers. Yesterday there was only one. I figured it was like this all the time. But nope. And what characters too! I thought I was going crazy thinking one of the guys was hitting on me, but apparently not, because another one of the workers pulled me aside and told me to watch out for him because he would surely ask for my number. Oh goodness. I hate rejecting people, but I’m really not interested.

Speaking of romance, I had a date with Chance planned today. It was an ambitious one too. He planned to take me to the bookstore, a couple bars, and the beach. And he did! He picked me up and took me to the mall first where we’d find the bookstore, but I was ravenous. Today we were stacking and wrapping pallets full of donations for school children. This meant lifting boxes of supplements, milk, and canned goods. 40 pack supplements, 12 liters of milk, that kind of thing. It was tiring. And hungry-making.

So, Chance and I ate at the mall (he made a joke that I was forcing him to be healthy because I’m studying nutrition and tried to pick the healthiest of the fast food options available). I got on my mini soapbox about excess sodium consumption. (Even if you are healthy, most Americans consume much more sodium than recommended.) We swung by the book store, but there was a panel going on, so we didn’t go in. Then, he took me to a comic book store where he found the newest release of his favorite manga (Tokyo Ghoul). He was excited. From there we went to Old San Juan to a bar where we drank cranberry vodkas and played billiards. I started well, but he ended up winning. After stopping at one more bar, we headed to the beach.

Old San Juan Bar View from Above.jpg
View from one of the bars in Old San Juan

I have no idea what beach it was, but it was beautiful. It was a windy night and the sound of the waves filled the air. Then, the sound of Chance’s grimaces did. XD He forgot his sandals and didn’t want to get his shoes filled with sand so he walked barefoot over the painful little rocks on the path. We walked around enjoying the scenery with palm trees every which way. Eventually, we made it up to this structure overlooking the ocean. It was a concrete platform that sloped down back over the path to come up it. Chance said he’d sit on the slope, if I wasn’t afraid of heights and was willing to join him. (Again, I’m not afraid of heights. I’m afraid of falling!) So, to prove him wrong, I went about 3/4ths of the way down this slope about 9 feet above the ground and sat watching the mix of blinking airplanes and steady stars. It was so peaceful with the blowing wind and sound of waves surrounding us. Just us two in a magical little world.

Wednesday, February 20th– Too Tired to Cook

This day wasn’t quite as romantic. We are still making those pallets at the food bank, so it was just a ton of manual labor. When I got home, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t bring myself to cook. Somehow, I was able to finish writing the blog about last week before falling asleep.

Thursday, February 21st– Making Brownies with Chance

Even more manual labor. Yep. I was kind of tired at this point and the workers noticed and asked me what was wrong. I wish I was in the mindset to write more about them. It’s the first rotation that I’ve been able to connect with a team of sorts. Usually it’s just me and my partner and the dietitian in charge of us. It was amazing to come into a group of people by myself especially since I feel I did become a part of them.

Date with Chance to his place to make brownies. 😀 We had another little picnic type thing at the benches outside my apartment. After that we headed to his place. It was somewhat late by then, but plans are plans. I scrambled to get a quick brownie recipe together (I don’t have a go to for that) and a few of the ingredients before heading out. Other than making the brownies, Chance let me start reading his favorite manga (Tokyo Ghoul). I got through the first part before the brownies were ready. I would like to borrow it to keep reading, but I also feel like it’s a lot of responsibility. If something were to happen to it. O.O I could not forgive myself….

In other news, the brownies were awful. XD I thought the recipe was too simple! I was looking for a recipe without baking chocolate since I didn’t have any on hand, but come on! The best brownies are made with baking chocolate! We didn’t let that ruin our night though. Several cuddles later and it was midnight. I was tempted to stay the night, but tomorrow would be my last day at the food bank and I didn’t want to be late. So, I nudged a sleepy Chance out of bed so he could drive me home. *sigh* Responsibilities, why?!

Friday, February 22nd– Last Day at the Food Bank and Visiting Chance at Work

I made it to the Food Bank on time resolved to make it a good day. I was a bit off the day before, but no more! I would make the most of this day. There was a surprise hoard of volunteers that greeted me when I arrived which made the day oddly fun. Though I’d only been at the food bank since Monday, I’d gotten the hang of the basics, so I spent the day doing what I do best: staying out of trouble and helping out on the sidelines. This meant trying to do all the odd jobs the volunteers either didn’t know to do or didn’t want to. Since we were sorting products for most of the day, this involved cutting open the plastic wrap that surrounded the stack of boxes on the pallets and then moving those boxes onto the two workstation tables where the volunteers would empty them, sort the products, and then put them on their new respective pallets.

The person in charge (Mary) warned me the boxes were heavy and not to lift them, but I insisted I could shuffle over the the table two feet away from me. I could, just barely. Soon though, my body got used to the 65 pounds and I was able to carry those boxes to the other side of the room to the second workstation. I felt so cool. At one point one of the volunteers asked for one one of the guys to come pick up a box of supplements they had filled with loose bottles of a supplement. The guy was nowhere in sight and though I feared it could hurt my back (I assumed the box must have been heavy if they were requesting help) I decided to move it myself. It was about half the weight of those big boxes I’d been carrying all morning! XD I repeat, I felt so cool. When it was time to leave for the day, I took a couple pictures with some of the food bank workers and said a brief goodbye to Mary. I really will miss this place. :<

During breaks I’d been messaging Chance and noticed a shift in mood. He’s normally a happy go lucky guy, but he’d been quieter. I asked what was wrong but he avoided the question making me think it was one of those things that are best discussed in person. I went out on a limb and asked if he’d like me to swing by his workplace and visit for a while. He said yes, so I stopped by after the food bank. Tired, dirty, and in a t-shirt, I showed up to the little grocery store Chance works at. I stood awkwardly by the register he was at. Most of the time I spent it waiting for him to not be busy then we’d smile at each other for a bit, but he stepped away a few minutes and bought me this street food called a pincho (basically meat on a skewer). He’s so sweet. feeding me even when he’s at work. He thanked me for helping him pass the time as I was leaving. I hope I did help even if only a little. 🙂

Saturday, February 23rd– Meaningless Saturday

Another Saturday wasted. Axyl and I decided on Friday nights as an evening to relax so that we could recharge and use Saturday and Sunday to work and be productive. Yeah. It’s not working for me. I am extremely avoidant of my problems. So, when I have a ton of work to do, I do nothing. It’s very counterproductive and self destructive. Realizing what I do doesn’t help me improve upon it though. *Sigh* So I did nothing today. Oh, I did irrationally stay up until 3 am though.

Sunday, February 24th– A Couple Fights with Axyl

Axyl said we’d wake up early to go do laundry, but we ended up waking at 9am. It was good though, because by the time we made it to the laundromat most of the early birds were gone and machines were available. That’s about the only productive thing I’ve done all day. Well, I did write this blog. I was so stressed yesterday just thinking about everything I have to do this coming week that I could not focus even for this. I’m just glad I made it to this point. Even though it’s not homework, it’s something and I’ll take that over anxiously playing Sims any day. (That’s what I did Saturday night.)

One last note. I got into two quarrels with Axyl this week, one on Friday night when we went out for sushi before the movie night that then did not happen and the other today (Sunday). The first was because I insinuated Axyl isn’t open to experiences or people here after he was complaining about Puerto Rico again. It was uncalled for and I’m probably just as mad at myself as he is with me about it. It was the way I said it. I took my own stress out on him and that was wrong. I said, “Well if you’re always complaining about this place and its people maybe the problem isn’t Puerto Rico, maybe the problem is you.” Gosh. What is wrong with me?

The second thing was when I was on the phone with a friend of mine asking for advice. I’m not very experienced with this whole physical contact thing. Axyl overheard and when I got off the phone asked me what my conversation had been about. I shouldn’t have told him. I didn’t have to, but I did and got the “be mindful of STDs” talk. I was upset by that. I know he cares. I appreciate that. However, that’s not the reaction I hoped for. I felt he was treating me like a naive child. Which, honestly, that’s fair. I just admitted I don’t know much about this stuff, but I know about STDs! Ugh. He just got mad that I got mad and told me he’d butt out in the future and not ask about my life anymore. That he was just worried about me and that I shouldn’t be reacting this way when he was only being realistic. -____- He says ever since I started dating Chance that I’ve changed.

I hate when people say that. YEAH. People change. People are changed by their experiences and the company they keep. That’s natural. That’s called learning from your mistakes. It’s an important part of life. Ugh. Let’s end that topic here.

***

Coming up next week:

  • Cafeteria rotation. They say it’s a tough one with a ton of assignments, but the dietitian just emailed us back and it seems like the normal amount. Except she told us she couldn’t receive us on Monday and we have an internship meeting on Friday, so a typical week is going to have to be jam packed into Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Joy. -____-
  • Food Service Case Study Presentation during the Friday internship meeting. Case study report due that day as well as that research proposal I’ve been procrastinating on since December. Can not turn it in later. Ughhhhghhhghghghhh
  • Maybe a study date with Chance. I’m going to be majorly stressed though, so it may not be the best idea. But when have I ever gone with good ideas in my life, ha! (….I wish that was a joke, guys).
  • One short somewhat sad poem to be posted next Wednesday.
  • I’m trying guys. I’m sorry I didn’t get around to writing part two of my first date with Chance. The plan is to write that during the weekend and have it to you guys by next Sunday. Things are going to be getting very stressful from now on and I don’t feel ready for it, but I don’t want to abandon this blog again. I’ll keep forging on. :/
Posted in Uncategorized

Week of February 11th 2019- Non-Profit Food Service (Going to Chance’s House for the First Time and More Adventures in Dating)

Posted on by Lizzie Gomez

It is Wednesday, February 20th as I write this. I’m sorry. This time it wasn’t that the week was so awful I didn’t want to think about it. I mean, yes and no. Well, just read on…

 

Monday, February 11th- First Day at the Non-Profit

First day at Community Center. Our rotation this week is at a little non-profit that provides a service to people in need. This includes ready-made food and health checks by nurses and dietitians. Only problem is that this week, Axyl is away for his rotation. I know I depend on people more than I should, but it didn’t become apparent how much I rely on Axyl until this week. Well, Axyl didn’t leave until Tuesday, which meant I made it to my rotation on time today. (Spoiler: I didn’t on Tuesday.)

It was pretty boring. The dietitian in charge of us just briefly explain the goals of the non-profit and made us input some numbers into her computer then sent us home early. That was good because I’d stayed up all night working on the food service binder that was due today. Gia and I stopped at a café after our rotation to finish putting together our binder before turning it in. That’s when I got a call from Axyl.

He didn’t have a ride to his out of town rotation and for some reason he wasn’t able to rent a car. So, I went with him to rent a car then we took a fun detour to Costco with me leading him every which way but to Costco. …I’m not the best co-pilot.

 

Tuesday, February 12th- First Movie Date with Chance

Another boring day. This time, the dietitian assigned me and Gia a ton of work then banished us upstairs to get it done and be out of her hair. From her super early dismissal yesterday, Gia and I already expected as much attention, so we brought snacks and started the work calmly.

After the rotation, Chance said he was going to cook for me before taking me out to a movie. He picked me up and drove me to his house where he began the laborious task of feeding a fellow human being. He made pasta. X) I love pasta though, so that was great. He served the alfredo pasta (sauce from a jar) with these cheese balls he heated up in an air fryer. It was nowhere near a five-star meal, but I saw the effort he put into it. It was really cute how he was flustered at trying to scoop the pasta out.

After that we wandered into his bedroom to eat and chat. Chatting turned to kissing and kissing, well, I’ll stop there. I’ll probably write a full out post about my opinions on intimacy. (No, it didn’t get that far, but it’s an important topic to discuss.) Eventually, Chance’s mom got home and I gave her a quick “hi” before she wandered away. I’m not sure what she has heard about me, but she didn’t seem too eager to speak to me. Chance’s brother, however, was much more enthusiastic. He smiled real big as he shook my hand. His eyes seemed to say, “so this is the girl who Chance was talking on and on about”.

I also got to say hello to Chance’s uncle before going to the movie theatre. There we watched the second Lego movie. It was nice and I got to cuddle Chance’s arm for most of it, so no complaints here. Aw, Chance lent me one of his sweatshirts to keep me warm. I accidentally took it home with me at the end of the night, and forgot the book he lent me, but no matter! It was a very memorable night.

 

Wednesday, February 13th- Random Stress and Chance to the Rescue with a Hug

Today I woke up at 8am. I go in at 8 am. -____- So, I was late to the non-profit. Gosh. We spent the whole time upstairs out of our preceptor’s sight and mind, so it wasn’t too bad. I told Chance I wanted to go home. He said, yeah, play hooky, but I said, “no, home to Texas.” I may have worried him a bit, because he was going to swing by to give me the book I forgot yesterday and to pick up his sweater I accidentally kept, but now he said he was also coming to give me a hug and talk if I needed to. Why is he so sweet??? It makes me want to cry happy tears…

So, we sat outside my apartment in this little area with benches and a couple trees. He hugged me and I tried to put on a brave face which he could see right through. He just hugged me tighter and told me to hang in there. I am so thankful for him.

 

Thursday, February 14th- Making Cookies with Chance

Wasn’t sure if I was going to see Chance today, since I’d already seen him the past two days, but he came over and finally got to come into my apartment. Before today, I’d made sure to wait for him outside in a public area and wait for him to drive off before walking into my apartment. However, since Axyl is away this week, I figured it a good day to invite him in. We made cookies together. Well… a monster cookie bread thing. Sooo, I used to live in a better apartment. It had a much nicer kitchen and a bigger oven. Now, in my crappier apartment, the cookie sheet doesn’t fit in my much smaller oven. Soo, we used a bread pan. Ha! The result was interesting since it had a crust on the outside, but the inside was still soft and gooey. I may do this again, on purpose. 😊

 

Friday, February 15th- Date with Joseph

Today, I went on a date with Joseph. Okay, let me explain! My two closest friends in this internship are Axyl and Amanda. Amanda recently has been invested in my dating adventures. I don’t want to blame it completely on her age, but she is older and more experienced than me, so she gives me a lot of good (though sometimes antiquated) advice. Either way, I like to listen to it, because I don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to dating. I’ve had one boyfriend and had gone on a date with only two different people before trying this dating app. Amanda and Axyl told me to keep dating. Sure, I like Chance, but they said I shouldn’t put other good guys on pause because of that.

I used to think that way too. Before I met Chance. Now, I don’t feel like meeting other guys. Not for romantic reasons at least. It’s a strange thing, but I don’t want affection from people that aren’t him. His hugs and kisses are all I crave. Having said that, I decided to still meet up with Joseph. I met him on that dating app before Chance and I figured it was fine as long as I didn’t lead him on or anything.

I suggested something causal like getting drinks, but we ended up having dinner. The conversation was good. It flowed and he didn’t seem nervous or anything. It was natural. After dinner we walked around Old San Juan. My heart kind of tugged when we passed places I’d seen first with Chance. A little guilt. :/ (I did tell Chance I was still dating other people, in case you are wondering.) At the end of the night, I was just certain of two things. One, that I must visit the Pigeon Park in Old San Juan. Apparently, there’s a guy who sells corn or something to feed the pigeons and it’s a whole thing there. Two, that I clicked with Joseph, but not romantically. He came off as too grown up. He has a starter company and goes to bed at 10pm. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with mature, responsible people, but gosh, he made me sound like a wild child. And trust me, I’m not!

 

Saturday, February 16th- Ehh, Don’t Remember

I really don’t know what I did today. I didn’t see Chance. I didn’t do homework. Must have just been a lazy day?

 

Sunday, February 17th- Date with Santiago

Do I have a problem? I woke up around 10 or 11am then just lazed around. I’m stressed and it feels like my head is full of static, which is not conducive to being productive. Eventually a guy matched with me on the dating app. I didn’t expect that. I haven’t been swiping since I met Chance, but he was one of the guys I had swiped yes on before. He asked me out after messaging not even ten minutes! I wasn’t doing anything, so I agreed. He gave me a place, I gave the time, and two hours after that we met up at a hippie type lot with different food trucks. It was cool.

Ah, maybe this doesn’t need to be said, but I feel like it’s an important detail. He’s American. From Seattle. He’s here for work and it was kind of nice to have a fellow American to talk to about the experience of moving out to Puerto Rico. I was going to say his charm ended there, but he did pay for my dinner. I felt kind of bad about that, since I am not looking for romance. I don’t know why I feel that I have to be into a guy to accept him paying for me. Honestly, I don’t think guys should be pushed by society to pay on the first date. But! That’s a topic for a full out post.

Anyway, after we ate, he suggested we walk for a bit. Since he doesn’t know the area and I did, I subtly led him to the train station, so I could leave once we got there. Instead we sat on a bench and chatted a bit more. During this time a guy came to ask for money. I told him I didn’t have any change (I only had a few coins and I don’t know, but ughhh, I’m not opposed to giving money to those who ask on the street, but I didn’t this time). Santiago does not speak Spanish, so he didn’t understand what was going on when the guy kept asking me. When I explained the situation, he just turned mean! He got this hard look on his face and practically snarled! He said, “No. Go Away.” in the sternest tone. That was extremely off putting.

Sometime after that he told me I was very pretty and asked to kiss me. I gave a small “I’m sorry” smile and shook my head no. He recovered from that well and continued talking. About five minutes later I said goodbye and got on the train home.

 

***

Sorry it took so long to write this. I’m stressed even though I shouldn’t be. The hard part comes soon but isn’t here yet. Oh well, I’m doing what I can. Next Monday’s blog (I do plan to post on time!!) will be about my time at the food bank. Manual labor 8 hours a day. It’s been interesting. The most manual labor I’d done before this was stocking candy and chips at a little store during my university days. Strangely though, I enjoy it. It’s nice to move and work instead of sitting and working. Things to look forward to in the next weekly blog:

  • Manual labor at the food bank
  • I am not making this up. One of the workers at the food bank hitting on me.
  • Another date with Chance. To the mall, a couple bars, and the beach. 😊
  • One more date with Chance. Brownies are planned!
Posted in Uncategorized

The Most Romantic Date I’ve Been On- Meeting Chance for the First Time (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on by Lizzie Gomez

I met a guy. On the internet. Well, technically on a dating app. And technically I met three guys before him. But this post isn’t about those other guys. This post is about Chance. I gave him that pseudo name a couple days after we matched. It just felt right. He’s a year younger than me and while I haven’t done a ton of dating myself, I clearly remember wise women in my life telling me not to ever date younger men. “Guys mature slower than girls”, they said. “Only date younger guys if you want a boy not a man”, they said.

 

First Impressions

So, even though Chance is only a year younger than me, I was wary. He didn’t have much on his profile either. Just a few pictures of him in a cozy sweatshirt with his curly hair or him on a beach. His scant profile was generic with the typical interests cited: anime, movies, and one somewhat standout thing- that he is learning to play guitar. What can I say? He’s cute. I swiped. A few days later so did he. And like that we matched. I understand that’s not the most romantic story, but what would follow comes close.

He said “hey” (plus a happy emoji). Not something cheesy or a pick-up line. Just hey. That was red flag number one. Haha, just kidding, I remember thinking that was odd as it had not been my experience with the other guys. Either way, I forged on and we struck up a conversation. We talked about several different things. Not at all forced or overly formal like it had been with the other guys. I remember thinking he’s super chill. We eventually got to the topic of him learning to dance. To which, I replied I’d like him to teach me a few moves. He said he was just beginning and that I’d have to be the judge of his dance skills. I saw my chance and I took it!

Mind you, I’d been waiting for this guy to ask me out on a date for a couple days now. So, what did I do? He said I’d be the judge of his dance skills, so I slyly responded, “When’s judgement day?” That’s (sadly) one of the coolest moments of my life. X) And just like that, I had a date with Chance. That whole process was different too. I guess I did ask him out, but I assumed he’d take over from there. Nope! He gave me a range of days, I gave him a range of times then he asked if I had any place in mind. It’s kind of cool how we decided on the date together.

 

Date Part 1: The Café

Tuesday sometime after 5 pm at a random café I picked from Google maps. Those were the official date plans. I got out of my rotation early that day to procrastinate for our date. I ended up showering and getting dressed then dashing out the door, wet hair and all. I almost jogged to the café (which was about ten minutes away) where I waited in front of a big green bush until Chance arrived. He was about 15 minutes late. It was cute how we found each other. He sent me a text he was outside but couldn’t see me, but that he was wearing a blue shirt. I’d already told him I was wearing a black and white shirt. We both turned a corner in the tiny parking lot in front of the café and seemed to notice each other at the same time. That was cute.

Ah! Detail. We’d been messaging in English ever since we matched. So, I said hello in English when I met him. He responded in English with saucers for eyes. I smiled and laughed internally, deciding “Spanish. Definitely switch to Spanish”. X) With that, I began speaking to him in Spanish. I could see him breath again and knew that was the right choice.

I’d never been to this café before, so it was a tad awkward to go inside and try to order. He’d never been to this café either. Eventually though, we ordered a coffee and sat down to talk. It was the epitome of small talk. All polite and neat. Eventually we finished our drinks and I waited for him to make some excuse to leave.

Instead! He asked if any of the pastries/ baked goods had looked appetizing. He wanted to keep talking! ❤ Aw! I’m not a complete idiot, so I followed him to the counter to pick out something sweet. I got some corn bread and he got a slice of carrot cake. A few moments later as we sat nibbling our respective treats, he asked if I’d like a bite of carrot cake. Cute! I offered him some of my corn bread and we continued chatting. Eventually he asked if he was everything, I expected he’d be. I said, mostly. However, I expected him to be more extroverted. He seemed to be by via text, but here I was chatting incessantly to fill up space. Boring stuff about my internship mostly. :p

He said he’s usually shy around new people, but is a completely different person with his closest friends. I smiled. I’m the exact same way. I suppose many “shy” people are this way. There’s just has to be trust to be oneself. Cake was gone. What now? He answered that quickly. “Want to go for a walk or something?”, he asked. My heart sang. “Yes!”, I replied.

 

Date Part 2: The Drive

Once we got outside though, he paused and asked if I preferred to walk or drive around for a bit. I thought for a second then said that as long as I ended back in my neighborhood, I was good with either. He chose the drive, so I hopped in this red Mazda to parts unknown. I didn’t ask and he didn’t tell. Maybe dangerous, since I don’t really know this guy, but definitely exciting. Here, in his car, he started to ease into the moment and the conversation. From this point onward, my memory turns hazy. It feels like a dream.

He told me he’s clumsy. I bragged that I’m also super clumsy, but oddly I stumble at least three times a week, but never fall. “I’ve mastered the art of catching myself!”, I said proudly. He told me about someone robbing his car some time back. I shared I’ve only had my bike stolen before and that broke my heart, couldn’t imagine someone robbing my car (which is back in Texas). He verified that I’ll only be in Puerto Rico till the end of my internship in June. Five months. I’ll be here for another five months. I asked what his future plans are and he said after graduating this summer, he plans to stay in Puerto Rico for a few more months before probably moving to the United States (Miami, Florida).

 

Date Part 3: Old San Juan

When we stopped, we were in Old San Juan. Everyone I know says it’s a must visit. They quote the nightlife and the art and history. What they didn’t mention is how beautiful the architecture is. The streets are big and open. A giant plaza. Here we started walking (again, I have no idea where to) and talking about his photography. That’s a big thing that stood out to me: his appreciation of beauty. So genuine. We found a bench to sit and chat. It was peaceful. There were lights in the distance from ships and buildings. The bench we were sitting on was a few feet from the marina and on the other side was the path to what Chance referred to as “the castle”, a historical looking building.

After some time, we walk up that path and find another bench by the castle as we chat about tattoos (Chance has two; I fear permanence). There are other people here hanging out around the benches a little ways away from us. Two steps- no, not even! Chance goes around the left side of the bench and probably sat down the exact moment my ankle gave out and I fell shin first onto the gravely rocks surrounding the bench. Ouch! Haha, real life foreshadowing. I shouldn’t have bragged about my not falling skills.

Luckily though, as part of that conversation, I’d also mentioned how I hate it when people try to help me up if I do fall and how my first instinct is to hop up and pretend like nothing happened. I don’t like making it a big deal. And that’s exactly what I did. I was laughing so hard! I jumped up cackling and limped to the opposite side of the evil bench to sit next to Chance. He was laughing too, asking if I was okay between chuckles. I assured him I was perfectly fine. And that if I wasn’t, I would never admit it. X)

It hurt, guys. A lot. Later when I assessed the damage, turns out I earned a conglomeration of about four to five big, ugly, green bruises on my right shin, one deep brown bruise on my left shin, and even a tiny brown bruise on my inner forearm. What the heck? Who knows, but at the moment I just laughed it off, trying not to let my wincing let on how much pain I was in. Who decorates the last step around a bench with rocks?!

Who knows how, but the next memorable part of this section of the night, apart from him asking me to ask him questions (he said he liked seeing how flustered I’d get trying to think of something) was when he subtly bragged about his kissing skills. It was something like “people say I’m a good kisser, but I don’t know, that’s just what they say…”. Oh, I got the hint, guys.

 

Interlude: A Word on Affection and Promiscuity

Let me be real for a sec. I told you guys I’m not promiscuous. Uhh, yes and no? See, I like affection. Physical or otherwise. But I don’t often get physical affection. At home, yeah, my mom and dad (even my brother sometimes) would give out free hugs. My best friend greets me with a hug. I have a cuddly dog. Here? For seven months I’ve been on a literal island. No family. A different version of friends (all interns which means they are also my peers). None of which are huggy types. Least of all the one I spend most time with (my roommate Axyl). It’s not like I need hugs to survive, but I admit they do help immensely.

Mini rant over. My point being, I’m deficient in hugs and cuddles. I figured this whole dating thing could give me a version of that. Hand holding and maybe a kiss at the end of dates, I didn’t think it’d be something I’d be morally conflicted about. I figured it’s logical. I want affection. Here are people who are looking for some sort of romantic relationship, which last time I checked, usually involves physical contact to some degree. It’s a dating app, not a church group. People know what they are signing up for. I figured, a kiss is a kiss. It doesn’t have to mean anything. I don’t have to be attracted or want a relationship out of someone to kiss them. That’s what I wanted to believe.

But when Chance brought up the topic, hinting at an opportunity to prove my new life philosophy right, I changed my mind. I thought, “I don’t really know this guy. I can’t kiss him!”. I did want that connection. Kisses do mean something to me. I still feel bad I held the hand of the first guy I went on a date with a week prior to writing this post and not going on a second date with him. Gosh. Do I feel bad. But yes, so I care. I’m a hopeless romantic who craves the touch of another human. Nothing strange about that.

 

Date Part 4: Romantic Rain

So, I glazed over his comment and changed the subject. I think Chance got the hint, because he didn’t insist. A guy who understands subtle hints. That, I like. It means he truly understands how I think. Or that’s how I interpret it. At this point, it’d started to sprinkle, so the people around us started walking back to the safety of their cars or restaurants nearby. On the other hand, Chance and I, though I don’t remember the topic, were engrossed in conversation, so I only mildly noticed the little droplets from the sky. Soon though, those droplets turned into drop-lots! (….I’m sorry. I had to.) We looked at each other and agreed to start walking back down the path away from the castle.

And walk we did! I mentioned to him how he’s the first person I know that doesn’t exaggerate about the rain. He walked. Didn’t run or try to even cover his head from the sky water. He just walked, calmly and contently. Right by my side. 😊 It was beautiful.

The crystalline water dripping off his strong jawline and the curls in his hair shone a light on his attractiveness and made him the epitome of male beauty. Maybe I read too many romance books… And the night isn’t over yet! Maybe about halfway there. But I hardly expect anyone to make it through what I’ve already written, so, this calls for a part two! Now, I’m a lady, but you turn on the heat and water turns to steam. If you didn’t understand that… don’t worry about it. XD If you catch my drift, come back for part two to read about the exact boiling point. 😉 Okay, I’m done with the lame chemistry puns. (Ha! Chemistry!) Okay, okay, I’m seriously done!

Thanks for reading. Expect part two by next Friday, February 22nd!

Posted in Uncategorized

Week of January 28th, 2019- Food Service Week 3 (I Got to Help with a Catering Event and Had My First Date from that Dating App I Joined)

Posted on by Lizzie Gomez

Long post warning! I had to describe the whole date. I just had to! XD

Monday, January 28th– Time and Temperature Study

Woo hoo! We actually did something at the rotation today! This is the third week at this hospital for our food service rotation. …Is it bad that I’m excited we had something to do? Today we did a time and temperature study. Basically, Gia and I measured how hot or cold different food items were when the kitchen staff was making the food trays for patients. Then we took the temperatures again when they arrived at the room our fake patient was. Instead of throwing my tray away, I asked if I could eat it for lunch and discovered that just because something is safe to consume according to the time and temperature measurements Gia and I took, it’s not necessarily ideal. I’ll just say this: most things were the perfect temperature to enjoy, gelatin was cold, soup was warm, but others could have been better.

Gia had to leave early today. She had an appointment, so at mid-day she was gone, and I was left in the rotation. It was nice. I got all my work done for the day. Then I went to the kitchen to see if I could help in some way. They were pretty much done for the day though, so I just chatted with one of the cooks. It’s no one’s fault but my own, but the fact remains that I do better by myself. After the rotation, I got home, changed, and went exploring. Specifically, I went in search of a print shop so I wouldn’t have to rush the next morning. Usually I have no choice but to print in the morning since I take my work home with me, but since I’d finished at the rotation today, I figured why not?

Then I slept. Gosh, Axyl left the apartment to go play tennis and by the time he came back I was still sleeping. Even more tired than when I had fallen asleep! This internship… I hope I survive.

 

Tuesday, January 29th– Gia Made a New Friend

No rush in the morning. Not at all. I didn’t want to get up. Axyl woke me when he got home last night around 7 or 8pm, so I got up, ate toast, and stared at a blank computer screen until midnight when I went to sleep again. *Sigh* This internship is exhausting. I woke up about half an hour before I had to go. Axyl is so sweet. He can see how exhausted I am. He tries not to make too much noise in the morning or turn on the overhead light, so I won’t wake up. I thank him for being so considerate.

At the rotation, we haven’t really done much. I’m writing this at 1:45 pm. We were supposed to be back from lunch at 1:15 pm to do some inventory/accounting stuff so I’ve been sitting here waiting. Gia, however, seems to have befriended the intern from another internship. They got back from lunch not even five minutes ago.

At home I spent my time dreading working on assignments and procrastinating by talking to my matches from the dating app. It’s a bit strange. I have three matches at the moment. Only have a pending date with one, but they all seem like cool people. Who knows what will come of this? I’m just glad to have people to message with.

 

Wednesday, January 30th– They Fed Me till I Wanted to Puke! Helping with the Catering Event

Gia and her new friend seem happy. They went to lunch together while I stayed eating a sandwich in the office by myself. When the dietitian, who graciously shares her desk with us interns returned, I left to get a coffee so she could have her desk back. Our preceptor had left to buy some things for this special event the kitchen was in charge of catering for that night and wasn’t back by the time lunch was over. Gia and her friend weren’t back yet either, so I went to the kitchen and helped with the event preparation. That was super fun! I got to help one of the chefs make a chicken dip, decorative lime display, and mousse cups. In return, the kitchen staff gave me a taste of pretty much anything they could. Oof! I wish I hadn’t had that coffee. I was already full before they started feeding me.

After that I wandered back to the office and found the preceptor. We were about to go to the finance department to get some paperwork when the nice chef I’d been helping came in with another delicious sample. It was a “superfood” salad. Please don’t ask me about superfoods. There is no one food that solves all of a person’s health problems or prevents them. Diet variety is key. Moving on. But anyway, this salad was a grain and greens salad with chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, and other things in a balsamic dressing. It was so good! I felt like I was about to throw up though. I was so full! X)

Eventually the preceptor and I made it to the finance department. On the way back, she started reminiscing about her intern days, which was really sweet. It’s nice to be reminded that these dietitians that allow us to come into their workplace and try to teach us about their specialty went through the same thing. Nutrition internships are intense… Anyway, when we got back to the office Gia was back from helping her friend do an acceptability study. I helped the preceptor balance the invoices Gia and I need to work on  for this case study I suggested. (It’s about analyzing purchasing order errors. Like accounting. Kind of lame, but I thought it’d be interesting.) Still, the kitchen staff kept feeding me. Gia looked at me a bit jealous, but whatever.

 

Thursday, January 31st– Working on an Accounting Case Study

This morning I asked for my corrected menu assignment back. The preceptor had had it for about two weeks and still hadn’t gotten it back to me. She gave it back and I started working on it. Then she called me and Gia into her office and went over the pending assignments making a comment about how the time we have in the rotation should be used to work on group things not our individual assignments. Guess what Gia was doing all day yesterday while I was balancing invoices with the preceptor for our shared case study? She was working on her menu! Why? Because it was supposed to be a two-week menu and she somehow only turned in one week of it. How is that fair? Mhm ‘kay.

So Gia and I went through all of the invoices and extracted data. Before starting that, we went upstairs to buy some breakfast. So, by the time lunch came around neither of us were very hungry. Gia suggested just going to get some coffee, and I obliged. It was the cutest tiny coffee shop across the street. After drinking a cup of coffee Gia left and I bought some Doritos to make time. 30 minutes later I returned to the hospital where Gia and I kept going through invoices.

Back at home I got a new match on that dating app I joined. Let’s call him Chance. He’s a year younger than me. I don’t usually go for younger guys, but I’m all for benefit of the doubt.

 

Friday, February 1st– Renal Orientation and Amanda Chopped Off My Hair

I stayed up all night working on an important assignment. Gosh, that was some strong coffee! At 6:30 am I rode with some of my fellow interns (Sue, Amanda, and Axyl) to go to an orientation for our renal rotations. Renal is one of the few rotations that are individual. This means I don’t have to go with Gia for this one. This is good and bad. Good because being with one person for a year will drive anyone insane. Bad because- well this can also be good, but- no shared work. Everything will be up to me. Eh, I’ll survive. Renal is notorious for being the most difficult rotation though. That’s why they give all of the interns an orientation at once.

It was intense. Imagine four two-hour lectures back to back to back to back. Oh, and the topics are stats, anatomy, physiology, and medical nutrition therapy. All about kidneys. I took a ton of notes. Not just because notes are a good idea for long lectures, but more so I wouldn’t fall asleep!

After the orientation, Sue drove Axyl and me home. Amanda tagged along as she had promised to cut my hair and recently Axyl’s hair too. Axyl went first and he turned out okay. I told Amanda I wanted bangs and a trim but that I trusted her to decide how to do that. Welp. The trim part was lost in translation. I see her cutting my bangs, a little snippet to the side then a big snippet towards the back. Not in bang territory anymore. A big chunk of hair. I asked what she was doing and she replied she was giving me a new look. ….it was too late to salvage my long hair. A whole chunk was missing! So, I told her as much and she kept going.

I was growing out my hair. It was almost down to my hips. Maybe an inch or more to go. …Now it’s about an inch or two away from my shoulders. It looks great! But it wasn’t what I was expecting. I was in shock. Goodness. Oh well. It’s just hair. I told Amanda if I were another person she would have been in trouble. You have to make triple sure before you lob off a long-haired girl’s mane! That takes dedication! *sigh* Nothing left to do but embrace my new short look..

 

Saturday, February 2nd– First Date with a Match from the Dating App! …He Took Me to the Mall…. -_____-

Got a hot date! XD I need to write about my matches. It’ll probably be its own post. Haha, I sound like such a slut…. At least that’s what Axyl calls me. We get along a little too well now. X) The date was interesting… Let’s call this guy Jay. So, Jay was my first match on the dating app. He made me laugh right off the bat and seemed decent. He’s the geeky type who likes anime and video games, but from the conversation I’d had with him through the app, he still seemed capable of talking about other things. Which is important! That’s why I asked to meet up with him. He said yes and suggested going to the mall. -____- That was odd.

Okay, I know age is just a number, but I feel it necessary to say this guy is 29. And he suggested going to the mall. I still went. It was the most awkward thing at first. He didn’t seem to have a plan at all. I asked if we had an end destination or if he just wanted to walk around? He opted for walking. We ended up going inside a store where we stood awkwardly by the anime rack chatting. More like him talking about anime. I have nothing against anime. I like it. However! I haven’t watched many, so I can’t really have a good conversation about it.

Eventually we moved to a bench and just chatted there. That was the best part. The conversation started flowing and I started to relax. He complimented my hair and told me I looked pretty. Hee hee! At some point I remembered Axyl had asked me to text him sometime during the date to make sure Jay wasn’t some psycho. I did and that’s when we noticed we’d been talking for two and a half hours! I asked him what would happen then because I was hungry and he could come with or without me. He opted to come with and so I asked if we’d be going in his car since I got there by train to which he responded there was food at the mall. -____- When a girl says let’s get out of here…. Oh gosh. This boy needed a slap across the face.

So, we ate at the food court. He, the gentleman he is, gave me a coupon for free fries. That’s what I ate. I got anxious and didn’t order a sandwich. My explanation? “I like potatoes…. Not a lot! Just the normal amount! ….” *face palm* Why am I so awkward?! I joked that my friends had asked me if he was going to take me to the arcade since he’d suggested going to the mall. …so, we went to the arcade. I sucked at air hockey and pac man but completely crushed him at Mario Kart! So, it was okay. Then he suggested going to the bookstore. Alright. At this point I was ready to go. I gave him about ten more minutes before saying it was getting late and that I should be going.

He offered to drive me to the train stop and asked for my hand as we walked to his car. Holding hands was nice. He’d mentioned he liked to go slow on the whole physical thing. :/ I’m not anything close to a sexually liberated human being. But… a girl has needs. This boy just stood there awkwardly when we got to the train station as I said, “well, looks like this is goodbyeee….”. I was waiting for him to do something! Hug, kiss, a handshake even! Nothing! This boy just stood there!! So, I put my arms out for a hug. That was nice. Gosh. I don’t want to sleep with a ton of guys, but I am deficient in hugs. I just want some hugs! We agreed to hang out sometime and with that I went inside the train station.

 

Sunday, February 3rd– Errands with Axyl

Got up late. Axyl had told me to set an alarm early to go do laundry, but we both ended up waking up around 10am… oops. After laundry we tried going to Costco, but it seems that bus doesn’t run on weekends. Instead we went to a regular grocery store. Then I got irrationally sad and have been procrastinating since. Gosh, I have to finish a case study for tomorrow. :p

***

QUESTION TIME!

Hi. ^-^ I know I’m super busy all the time, but I want to hear from you guys! Maybe I’ll make it big one day and not have time to respond to comments but for now I do have the attention span to go through the one comment a month that I get. Take advantage of that, guys! (I mean maybe I won’t make it big ever, but hey! No need to be so pessimistic!)

If you have a follow up question about something I mentioned like “so what happened with your new match?” (hint, something is happening with him), or if you have a comment like “I can’t believe he asked you out to the mall!”, or even a similar experience like “ooh! This last time I went to get my hair cut the lady ended up making my hair green! And I didn’t even schedule a dye that day!!”. Anything! I’d love to hear from you guys. Okay, well anything as long as it isn’t mean/bullying. That’s not cool. Other than that, have at it! Let me know what you think! 🙂

I want to try something. I hope it inspires some comments. I’ll leave you guys a question at the end of each weekly post… until I am convinced it won’t work, I guess. I’m curious,

How would you have reacted if someone drastically cut your hair without you explicitly agreeing to it?

 

Coming Up Next Week:

  • Accounting case study due
  • Date with Chance
  • Last week in food service rotation

It’s not much, but I can’t predict the future. Other exciting things could happen. Come back next Monday to find out! 😀