Dear Jade--January 5, 2004

Dear Jade, 5 January 2004

Hi! How are you? I hope that it is a beautiful day for all of New Jersy! I’m doing well. I’m glad to be back in Moscow, even though we have, like nine feet of snow! I can’t believe it! There’s so much snow…and it’s so cold that your nose freezes when you breathe! We’re supposed to have another bunch of storms come in and dump more snow. It’s amazing.

I had a good time at Christmas. I went too Jamie Freeman’s wedding reception and Marie looked so beautiful! I also went to Audra Mickulin and Daniel Turner’s reception. Audra is SO BEAUTIFUL that I just can’t believe it. They keep thanking me for helping them get together. All I did was invite them over to my party…they took it from there.

My mom and I went to Porter’s Crafts in Idaho Falls and we were entering this lady kept staring at us. She slowly walked over and I thought she knew my mom. She looked kind of familiar, so I figure it was someone that Mom goes to church with. I said, “Hi! How are you?” She said, “Fine…um…Davidson, right?” and I said, “Yes.” It took me a moment to realize that it was ME she was staring at me and not my Mom and then she said, “I’m Jade’s Mom.” Then I had the lighting bold of recognition! Hee hee hee!! I saw her again at Audra’s reception and I recognized her straight away!

Speaking of lightning, on Thursday I went up to Brian and Michelle’s house (my brother and his wife in Sugar City to visit with them. Well, nature decided it was a perfect time for a storm. Mom called me and told me to stay there. Anyway, I was stuck up at Brian’s house and my brother Jeff was at work, so Mom was alone. The storm was really going full force. She was watching the History channel—a story about the Apocalypse–during an intense part of the show, outside Mother Nature blasted a bunch of lightning and then it started to hail. Mom jumped up then turned off the televison. She was sure it was coming true!

We have some catching up to do. It’s been a while since I’ve written and I have to tell you my Pablo stories that you missed. It was December 10th:

I was working and while I work I always hope that I’ll see Pablo. BECAUSE I LOVE HIM MADLY. Anyway, I realized that the signs I’d made for the testing schedule during finals week needed a little clarification…so I was writing “No Retakes” on each of the four signs scattered about the halls of the Administration building. As I was writing on one of them, I saw Pablo out of the corner of my eye (as was established earlier by my friend Daniel Burton a few letter ago that I have amazing peripheral vision). He came from his side of the hallway to mine to say “good morning” and I said, “Hi Pablo” and he went on his way. He said HI first and he walked across the hall to do it!!

Wait, there’s more.

At 5:00 I was done working. I was walking out of the building and there’s always the temptation to walk past his office even though it’s in the wrong direction for me to go home. This was the direction Ben was walking and I was talking with him so I followed. I noticed two things, one was my friend Joel sitting in the hallway and the other was that Pablo’s door was ajar. Well, as I went past I peeked in and sure enough there was Pablo all by himself. I walked past and talked to Joel for a second. Then I told Joel that Pablo was there and I had to talk to him. I sat there for a second more and finally just stood up and went.

I knocked on Pablo’s door and opened it just a bit more and said, “Don’t you get to go home.”

He said, “No, not tonight. I have to go to the law school.” The he invited me in and gave me a chair. We sat and talked about school for a bit. I asked him about teaching and about where in Spain he was from. He talked about wanting to be a writer. Then out of the blue he asked me how old I am…which, since he’s foreign he can get away with asking. I told him. He said that he’s just a little older than me—he’s 36. We talked and he laughed and his blue eyes with the little winkles around them made my heart melt. He asked what I was writing and I told him. Then he told me that he’s more of a poet. He said he doesn’t do too many poems with lines and such and he said that he “used to write romantic poems when [he] was a teenager” and I fell just a little more in love with him. Anyway, we talked for about 25 minutes before he had to leave. I was so twitterpated when I got home that I had to tell Christina and then after talking to her, I called my Mom!

Moral of the story: I love Pablo Garcia!

Warning this next section contains things that will make you say “holy crap!”

Ok…so…this all happened on December 12th a landmark day:

Thursday. Pablo doesn’t have classes on Thursday so he’s never in his office. I decided to be cute anyway…because I was feeling like an “Australopithecus Spiff-a-rino”. I was working on tests until the very last minute…up until 3:25 p.m. and I had to be to class at 3:30. I walked out the door past Pablo’s office (this time it’s in the right direction ) and he was there! He waved to me and smiled and I waved back. Unfortunately, I was so late that I just had to go to class.

The entire time I was in class I just wanted it to be over because I figured if I hurried back to the Administration building I could catch him before he left. I’d use the brilliant excuse of using the computers in the lab to check my emails. Anyway, the dude that keeps talking in class kept talking so we didn’t get out THAT early. We did get out early enough that I thought I’d catch Pablo. Ryan Butherus (the guy that yelled “holy crap!” when I told him how old I am) and I walked up the steps from the Brink Hall, but by the time we got to the road that runs up to the admin, I could see that all the lights were out in the offices. I was very sad that I missed Pablo.
Ryan and I went into the Commons but I can never get those computers to work right for me to check my emails so I decided to go to the Admin building anyway. As I was walking up the hill I saw Pablo.

Anyway, as I was walking toward him I slipped on the ice (but stayed standing) and he said, “Oh don’t slip!” (Ah, concerned for my well-being…Mmm…I love him more and more.) We said our hellos and then I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was going first to the Commons and then home and then he and two other Spanish teachers were going to go to the Beach (for country swing dancing). I told him that I had a study group to go, to which he responded, “Oh, so you’re busy them.”

And the little gnomes (in my case the Nac Mac Feegles—6 inch tall blue men with red hair and most definitely Scottish) who help me with life switched the light bulb on. I said, “Well, what time are you going?”

“At a quarter to ten.”

“Oh, I’ll be done by then.” I said.

“Ok, you can come and show us how it’s done!” He said with a smile.

To be honest, there was further conversation, but I don’t know what it was. All I can say is, HOLY CRAP! A boy I like asked me out while still in the time frame of me liking him. THAT hasn’t happened since Wade Bybee back in my senior year of high school. (Oh cultural explanation here: A lot of Europeans don’t date one on one until they are serious, they go out in groups…that’s why this counts as a date!)

I went to the nearest phone and I called Christina…and I got her machine. I said, “Christina…Christina…” I could hardly breathe, “I must talk to you. You’ll never believe it…I’m going to my study group but I’ll call you later.” And I hung up.

I tried to concentrate during study group, but only two things ran through my mind…1: Pablo Garcia asked me out and 2: the theme song form “I Dream of Jeanie.” The only one I felt like sharing with my study group was the song so I kept singing…Dee DE de-de-de Dee DE! Until they all had it in their heads as well.

The study group ended at 6:30 and I floated miles above the sidewalk as I walked home. First thing I did was call Christina. HOLY CRAP! There were no words to express my excitement at having been invited by him, and I stumbled over simple things as I tried to tell her what happened. Then I called my mom. Then I called Michelle. Then I tried to call Amy but had to leave her a message on her machine. ARE YOU KIDDING!! If Pablo Garcia asked me out I was going to tell EVERYONE! I did. After I talked to everyone on the phone I walked over to Mandy’s house and told her.

At 10:00 I left the apartment. I figured I wanted them to get there first. I got there, wandered around a bit and found Pablo with Itha (Inigo had decided not to go). I walked up and said HI. Pablo pulled up a chair for me and we sat and talked for a while watching the people dance. I discovered that Pablo’s very funny in a sarcastic way. Perfection. He said that he decided that enough girls don’t ask him to dance. I said, “You realize that you’ve got that backwards, don’t you.” He responded, “Times have changed.”

We decided to head out to where the dance floor was more accessible…it was totally crowded. A girl from Pablo’s class asked him to dance. I was slightly (okay, EXTREMELY) jealous, but what can you do, eh? Then I saw Blake Manly (Yes, I promise that’s his real name) and I talked to him. While the music was really loud I asked him to teach me a little bit of the country dancing. Between the spinning I caught Pablo watching me a couple of times. (Silent “thank you” to Blake Many for being there.)

Then they started one of those line dances where everyone does the same thing. All three of us jumped in. We’d decided earlier that we’d give it a try. We came to the conclusion that if we’d just had a couple more goes at it, we’d have figured it out. Well, after a while there was another line dance that I decided to try. Again I noticed Pablo watching me. It made me feel good. There was one more that all three of us tried and I fell down! Not while dancing, but while walking down some stairs. Then it was time to leave. We walked most of the way home together…because we just happen to live in the same direction.

Well, that was dead week. During finals week, I did mythology testing in the room directly across from Pablo’s office. There was a little bit of flirting going on…but to be honest both of us were extremely busy…but it ended on Thursday December 18th at 4:30 pm when Pablo walked into the room while I was doing testing with 12 students and said, “If I don’t see you tomorrow, have a great vacation.” Here’s a poem I wrote about one of the very silly things that happened that week:

I Sit Here Giggling Over Mostly Eaten Fruitcake

He walked into the room handing me a bundle wrapped in Saran wrap and said,
“Here, you should try this, it’s really good.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Fruitcake. It’s homemade.”
And then in response to the approving sound I made he continued,
“I didn’t make it, one of my students did.”
“Oh, ok” I smiled.
“I already ate most of it,” he said as he walked away.
He doesn’t know how much I cherish
The fruitcake he already ate most of.

Well, there you go Jade m’dear! You’re completely up-to-date in the crazy messed up adventures of my mind. OH wait…I forgot to tell you something. Something vitally important that will make YOU say HOLY CRAP once again:

Pablo is a Libra…his birthday is October 16th. Yep one day after Brian Passey’s.

IRONY RUNS MY LIFE!! I HAVE NO CONTROL!!

That’s the story. I don’t know when he gets back to Moscow…but I’m assuming not until the end of the vacation (he’s in California and Nevada visiting his brother and a friend).

I hope I’m not driving you crazy with my Pablo stories. I know I’m beginning to drive my family nuts. While I was home I got to tell my friend Jana the whole thing because I’d been having email problems and hadn’t heard any of the story. ACK! I want to believe that I just might win once. Maaike Garcia. Would that confuse everyone?

Lots of love,
Maaike