#VegasStrong

After seeing my friends the night before, I took it easy on Leg Day Saturday.  I slept in; did my chores and went to the gym like I usually do.  Me and my brothers were celebrating my mom’s birthday that night and we decided to take her out to dinner.  We were having trouble figuring out where to go.  Luckily my mom had a suggestion and we were relieved.  Usually my mom has a terrible time deciding, that’s why we would have a ton of suggestions so she could choose from. 

She wanted to go to Legno on Central avenue, which is in her neighborhood in Portage Park.  I was surprised she knew about it, but apparently it’s nearby her church, and they give out vouchers to the attendees from time to time.  Lol.  I have to say, me and my brothers were very impressed!  It’s connected to a banquet hall next door, but the restaurant served us right away, despite it being a Saturday night.  Some restaurants in the north side of Chicago do not take reservations, but we lucked out with this one.  It was nice to catch up to my mom and my brothers.  We were obviously talking about Hurricane Maria and my dad’s family out there in Caguas.  Still no word on anyone, but people off of Facebook were checking in that they had spoken to family out there whenever they received word about their safety.  

Never in a million years did anyone expect what was to come next.  Sunday night, at a country music festival, Las Vegas encountered the worst domestic terrorism attack in United States history.  My mom cried to me the next day on the phone.  With the tube terrorist attack I had missed in London a few weeks earlier and now this, for the first time, she was worried about me.  “I know because you love to travel and go to concerts; I don’t want anything happening to any of my children,” she cried.  I was at a loss for words because I knew she wanted me to say something that would console her, but instead I said the opposite.  I told her that I was sorry for making her feel like this, but I can’t stop living.  I can’t help but feel this way.  At the end of the day, we are truly living during a dangerous time.  If anything, I want to experience more.  In the end, what would it matter anyways?  We all gotta go sometime…    

Cubbies

I’m recapping events that happened since I’ve been back from my trip.  Needless to say, I’ve been thinking about my time there a lot.  Part of it is because that was probably the last time I was truly happy in a long time.  Sometimes life knocks you down a bit and you get lost in your thoughts.  I try my best to keep a positive attitude but these past events have broken my faith.  It is times like these that makes you want to be surrounded by loved ones.  I just want them to be safe. 

Our friend that has moved to California came back for a visit that following weekend.  I have to admit, I was glad to get together with friends.  My friend was constantly telling me news about Puerto Rico and the lack of communication with the towers being down.  She was falling apart and all I could do was try to keep her spirits up.  I had faith that people in Puerto Rico were coming together, even if we couldn’t see it for ourselves.  I was mesmerized by the images of people pulling out survivors in the Mexico earthquake.  I reassured her, too, that the same thing was happening there.  Our coworker had finally left out of Florida on a flight to San Juan but we knew we would probably not hear from her until she got back to work.  All I did was pray that week and tried not to get too anxious.  I had to be strong for my friend.

Our friend from California had an itinerary for us.  Since her only day to socialize with us fell that Friday, she understood how it might be difficult for some to get through rush hour traffic.  I met up with her and her friends after work at her favorite bar in Lakeview called Schubbas.  She wanted to go to Wrigelyville to see the marquee and then make her way over to Andersonville to a brewery.  We walked over to Wrigely Field and took a bunch of pictures before we had a drink at Murphy’s Bleachers.  The Cubs were on fire and Chicago couldn’t be more proud.  Obviously they are not going to the World Series but they did get close.  Some of her other friends had shown up but couldn’t find parking to join us.  We finished up our tab and jumped in their car to head over to the next spot.

At Half Acre Balmoral we grabbed a table and that’s where more people showed up.  We had some laughs and caught up with one another.  Our friend has a bubbly personality.  I forgot how much fun she is to be around.  I miss her a lot.

Once we finished up the tab, our other friend suggested Estero bar in Logan Square for those who wanted to continue the party.  Unfortunately our group got smaller, but other friends of hers met up over there instead.  There the silliness continued and we had a blast.  I realized how blessed I was to be around my girls, mostly Latinas who suffered from the news like I did.  Some had family in Mexico, others were waiting to hear from loved ones in Puerto Rico.  But tonight we were here to see our friend who misses us tremendously in California.  I need to book a trip soon over there…

Hurricane Maria

Hello everyone.  I come to you with a sad heart once again.  I will explain later.  I’ve been pretty emotional all weekend.  Even discussing it now hurts.  In the meantime, I will catch up to where I left off from my trip.  I can’t believe so much has happened since then.  It makes me anxious to know what the future might hold for me; let alone my friends and family.  Let’s recap.

I left England on September the 18^th to come back home to Chicago.  I made it in work that Tuesday the 19^th.  It was nice to be back ,but there were disturbing news coming from Mexico.  An earthquake hit, and it was a big one.  Here in Chicago we have a huge Mexican community, so needless to say, a lot of my friends were worried about loved ones back home.  But that’s not all.  My friend reached out to me to warn me about Hurricane Maria.  Yes, another hurricane was coming straight for Puerto Rico, and unlike Hurricane Irma, this one was going to make contact on Wednesday.  At first I thought she was joking.  I felt bad because she was very anxious about Irma and Puerto Rico got lucky with that one.  This time it was a different story.

That Wednesday at work, we were hosting our annual Hispanic Heritage breakfast.  Our committee got together early in the morning and started to decorate the atrium.  Looking back, I remember my co-workers hugging and consoling one another about the events that took place.  Friends were asking each other about families in Mexico and Puerto Rico.  Once we were ready, people from the firm came down to have different variations of coffee from different Latin American countries as well as sweet treats such as panes dulces and churros.  It dawned on me how much we love this place and how much it meant for us to put this together so people could enjoy their morning.  It also got me wondering if people noticed too, how much we love being here, especially with what’s going on in politics.  Do people here value us as much as we value them?  Then Maria happened.

I’m very saddened by the slow response that Puerto Rico has received.  Not to mention, I’ve sent two care packages to my friend’s dad and he has yet to have them delivered.  I’ve tried using sites such as Amazon, and Walgreens to deliver goods out there but to my surprise, have had trouble using his address in Puerto Rico.  It took over a week for post offices to be opened, not to mention having flights go in and out since the airport’s tower was severely damaged.  I had a co-worker fly out to search for her mother that weekend, only to have her flight get delayed for days in Florida.  I luckily had the chance to get some supplies for her before she left.  When she did come back a week later, she had horror stories of desperation.  What she saw out there changed her.  It will never be the Puerto Rico she had remembered.  

I kept in touch with my friend daily on the whereabouts of her dad.  Other co-workers did not hear from loved ones either for days.  It was an agonizing ordeal seeing my friends try to get some form of communication.  Luckily in the end, my friend’s dad reached out to her, but that was after 2 weeks of nothing.  Everyone around me was hurting.

I got a chance to hang out with my friends over that weekend I had been back from vacation.  One of them was flying out to Tokyo for her birthday and we all came over to help her pack.  It was nice being able to be around friends and vent out our frustrations.  On Monday I went to The Violet Hour to catch up with a friend over drinks.  He wanted to hear about my trip.  I also had to apologize over an incident that had happened that Wednesday when Maria hit.  He understood that he caught me at a bad time.  It was nice making amends.  Sometimes, you need to…

Cocktails at The Violet Hour is always a good idea.

London: Day 6

Recapping my last day on my trip.  So much has happened in the meantime that it’s hard to believe that I flew out of London EXACTLY ONE MONTH AGO. 

I woke up in the morning at 7am to get my stuff ready.  My train to London would depart at 9am so I asked the concierge the day before what time should I get to Gare du Nord.  “Um, about 40 minutes you should be fine.”  I was skeptical if anything.  I remembered how chaotic the station was when I first encountered it coming into Paris.  Plus I would have to go through passport control; a line that I’ve seen over the years as nerve wrecking.  I wasn’t going to chance it.  I checked out at 7:45am and was directed to a metro station down the street that would take me to the Gare du Nord by the concierge.  I was waiting and waiting on the platform that felt like an eternity.  Technically it was about 10 minutes but my anxiety got the best of me.  I didn’t see my train approaching anytime soon and more and more people were starting to gather on the platform.  I asked around to see if my train would be coming to this platform but people had no idea.  They were going elsewhere.  I couldn’t take it anymore and ran out of there.  Once I got out I flagged the first cab I saw and off we went.

I got to the station in less than 10 minutes.  I have to say, Paris looked beautiful early in the morning.  Hardly any people were on the streets.  It was then when I realized I wished I could stay longer.

At the station I ran to get in line.  Sure enough, check-ins were long and then we still had to get through passport control.  I saw other people joining in with anxious looks on their faces.  I’m glad I avoided that feeling. 

I knocked out for a bit before I got to London.  I knew once I got there I had to find a hotel to book.  Most Europeans go through  Booking.com and that’s what I did.  I even found a cheaper rate than the one I originally had a few days earlier.  Maybe it was the timing…

I settled for the Best Western Victoria Palace near the Victoria Train Station which was a few stops away.  Once I got off, I got lost of course.  I am TERRIBLE WITH DIRECTIONS.  I knew I was nearby but there was construction going on which threw me off.  My suitcase now was heavier than before since I added my souvenirs.  I was exhausted.  After about an hour of going in circles, I finally asked a cab driver to take me, but he ended up giving me directions.  No wonder I couldn’t find this place!  The office to check-in was around a corner and then a bellman would walk you to your hotel which was 2 blocks away.  I would have never have found it on my own. 

I was so glad to see my room!  My hand was sore from pulling my heavy suitcase.  I dropped off my things and ran down the street to this restaurant I kept passing up.  St. George’s Tavern was running a brunch special, but of course I missed it from getting lost.  I settled on Gloucester Old Spot Sausages (aka bangers and mash) and devoured the whole plate!  I was starving, but at least I had a traditional English dish.

I went back to my room and dozed off.  I got up an hour later and knew I had to take advantage of London before I left the next day.  I went back to Parliament Square and saw a group gathering outside of Westminster Abbey.  I thought it was a tour group, so I waited in line as well.  At one point a priest came up to everyone in line and handed them a program.  I was confused.  “What is this?” I asked.  “It’s for tonight’s service.  It’s why you’re here.”  Oops!  I had no idea they were about to have Sunday mass.  I couldn’t turn this opportunity down.  I walked in along with the other surprised patrons.  We all took a seat inside.

I did not take any pictures but I have to say Westminster Abbey is definitely one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever been to.  I even got emotional during mass.  I was extremely grateful to experience a church that has so much history in London.  Afterwards I headed back to my hotel but stopped at an Indian restaurant that was nearby.  I knew this might be my last time having some Indian cuisine, so I ordered chicken tikka masala and it was delish!  I was very pleased but knew I had one more thing to do to call it a night.  I wanted to go out before I headed back to my life.  I looked online to see if I could find a good club to go to, but was disappointed to see that not many clubs were open on a Sunday night.  I decided to checkout Café de Paris once more and headed to Leicester Square.  This time I rode the bus instead of taking the tube.

Well you can imagine my disappointment when I saw that it was closed.  Great.  Now what?  I walked around the square and saw a large group outside of a bar.  This was the only happening spot around there so I figured I’ll check it out. 

Zoo Bar caters to a younger crowd.  Maybe too young for me because everyone in there looked like they had been drinking for 6 hours straight.  Considering it was barely midnight, people was either slobbering all over each other or taking shots at the bar.  I tried to ride it out as much as I could but decided to leave once this drunken guy kept trying to talk to me.  The scene from the outside was just as chaotic.  People were staggering and I heard ambulance sirens non-stop.  I think I got more than I bargained for and couldn’t wait to get back to my room.  In the morning I checked out and had one more brunch back at St. George’s Tavern before I took off.  I had the eggs royale which was a perfect way to end my stay in London.

Versailles: Day 5

I’m back after a crazy work week.  Last week was super busy for us.  I stayed in this weekend to catch up on some much needed rest.  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  Time to recap my time away.  I’ve missed Paris terribly and hope to be back soon.

After a long and crazy night in Paris, I knew I overslept to catch my train to Versailles.  I woke up, showered and made my way to the concierge.  I asked if it was too late to go, but he insisted they stay open late on the weekends.  I ate some croissants and had an espresso next door at the café and off I went!

I had to catch 3 different trains to catch the train to Versailles because the one line that I needed to connect to was out of service.  Go figure.  Luckily the ride wasn’t that bad and I caught my train.  I noticed a lot of Americans right away so I knew I was heading to the right direction.  It started to rain when I got on.  Unfortunately, I’m use to fast trains moving here in Chicago, and that is not the case on this train.  Regardless, I enjoyed the view on the way there.  

The train ride to Versailles is about an hour.  I did not know where to walk to once I got off.  The crowds were going in all types of directions.  Once I ventured off I found the Palace of Versailles on my own.  It was huge from afar.  Little did I know how big this place was!

By the time I walked up to it, I didn’t have to wait long to walk through the gates.  Once inside, that was a different story.  I probably waited about 45 minutes for tickets.  The lines were long and more and more people joined in.  It was such a relief to finally get a ticket.  

I made my way inside the palace (along with a couple of hundred other people).  It was filled with so many people; it reminded me of being back at the Vatican in Rome.  No matter where you looked, there were people everywhere.  Most of them were classrooms of students listening in on audio.  I tried to walk my way through as quickly as I could but it was impossible sometimes.

The best part of my visit was when that the rain cleared up.  It became sunny and by this time, I was making my way to the Jardin de Versailles.  I took off my jacket because it grew warm out.  Not only could the palace host 4,000 guests, but the garden was just as impressive.  I was a little skeptical when the pamphlet mentioned that it would take 2-3 hours to get through the garden, but they were right!  I spent most of my time there and enjoyed every minute of it.

I took a moment to grab another espresso because I needed a pick me up.  There are restaurants alongside the garden but you are not allowed to bring food out.  By the time I left Versailles I was beat.  I touched base with my friend across the street from the train station at Starbucks and headed back into the city.

After another hour long ride back to my hotel, I grew hungry.  I asked the concierge what would he recommend for dinner and he mentioned Entrecourt; a French steak bistro.  I must have been delirious, but it took me an hour to find this restaurant which was down the street from my hotel.  UGH!  I knew I couldn’t get out of getting lost ONCE in Paris!  Oh well, what can you do?  By the time I found it, the line was down the street to get inside.  That’s when I knew this place was good.  Unfortunately my hunger could not wait and I decided to go to Café de Flore nearby.  I had French onion soup and to my surprise, saw on the menu that that they had my favorite champagne.  It was a beautiful crisp Saturday night and I sat and people watched while I sipped on my exclusive treat!  I couldn’t have ended it any other way.  When I got back to the hotel, the concierge and I started to have an interesting conversation.  He was different from the concierge I had when I first checked in, but was very curious to ask me where I'm from.  We started talking about cultures and politics but he was a true sweetheart!

I had to get up around 7am to catch my train back to London at 9am.  I opted to go back in and crash instead of another evening out.  I didn’t know how the train schedule would run on a Sunday.  It was bittersweet leaving Paris.  I didn’t expect to enjoy it this much like I did.  I wish I could have stayed longer.    

London/ Paris: Day 4 Part Two

I dozed off and on again during my train ride to Paris.  Unfortunately it was not vey scenic.  When the train pulled up I knew things were going to get chaotic.  I found my metro stop downstairs, but there were so many people.  Once the metro train pulled up people were shoving themselves on.  I was super nervous but I had to endure two more stops of this before I transferred over.  Paris metro system is a lot busier than London’s.  Maybe because London’s tube is much longer (?)  I got confused walking around the underground subway tunnels.  I couldn’t find my train stop to get on.  I had to find Metro 4 and I was lost.  I walked into an African man who asked if I was ok.  He spoke to me in English.  I asked for his help and we walked together.  He asked where I was from and I told him Chicago and that I just came from London.  He explained that he wanted to go to London to finish school.  Again, he applied for his visa and he got denied.  For the time being he is working in Paris, but his eyes were sad like the girl I had encountered at the mall earlier.  Once he showed me where to get on my train stop I gave him a hug.  He looked like he really needed it.

Two more stops later I got off the train.  Last time I was in Paris I got lost for over an hour once I stepped out of the metro station.  The rues in Paris run small and you are constantly looking for new street signs on the buildings.  I do not know how I managed to pull it off, but I found my hotel right away.  I lucked out big time!

Once I checked in I asked the concierge for help on directions leading me to the Apple store.  I couldn’t believe my luck again.  He told me there was a huge Apple store right down the street.  “But you need to hurry; they close an in hour!”

I literally ran out of there.  I wasn’t sure if they would be able to see me right away.  My anxiety shot back up again.  I was too excited when I spoke to the French associate.  I got some looks from the workers but I didn’t care.  I just really needed to know what was wrong with my phone.  I told the associate that I got it to charge in London but wasn’t sure what was wrong, the cord or the power adaptor connected to my cord.  It turned out to be both.  But then my luck ran out.  I realized I didn’t pack my European converter and needed to get that as well.  60 euros gone, just like that.

I decided to charge my iphone at the Apple store so I could finally calm down.  I messaged my friend and told her my status.  By this time, I was getting hungry.  Once I was fully charged I decided to venture around my hotel neighborhood.  I figured I would grab a sandwich to eat since I already spent my daily budget on the phone. 

I liked my hotel neighborhood.  I was surrounded by high end retail shops.  I knew I was in a shopping district although I felt I wasn’t around too many tourists with selfie sticks.  I felt safe.

Once I got back to the hotel I asked the concierge if I was far from the Louvre Museum.  I knew the train stop from the metro was around the corner but I wasn’t sure where I was from all of the tourist attractions.  I had to get on at another metro station down the street but he said I was two stops away.  I was curious if I could make it on time to go to their museum shop before they closed.  I really wanted to get the museum book of the Louvre.  I regretted not getting it back when I was in Paris 2 years ago.  It’s a huge book and at the time I figured I could order it online.  Unfortunately, the English version was sold out and it has haunted me ever since.  With limited time in Paris I wanted to knock this out the way.

I messaged my friend and off I ran.  Sure enough, there was a metro stop that landed you underneath at the Place du Carrousel at the Louvre.  I ran inside and tried to find the museum shop.  I was getting confused because there are other shops underneath, but none were the official museum shop.  It was nearly 8:40pm and I was worried they were about to kick people out since it closed at 9pm.

I got inside and ran to a shop.  I was in the middle of buying the book when I noticed another book in the background that looked similar.  I asked the sales rep if I could see the other book.  “Is that the official Louvre book?” and she quickly snapped back at me, “No!  THIS is the official book.  Can’t you see that THIS is the official book?  That is what is here!”  She motioned to my book on display.  I was fed up by now.  “I was ONLY ASKING!” I snapped back.  I was done with sales associates today.    I don’t think this lady knows what I went through.  Geeze!

Since the museum was now officially closed, apparently so was the metro station I tried to get back on to go to the hotel.  Great.  I had to walk outside to find another metro station.  Looking back at it now, I’m glad I got a chance to see the museum at night.  It is truly breathtaking.

I finally made my way back to the hotel and messaged my friend.  I was exhausted.  She joked if I was going to go out.  I forgot it was Friday night.  I told her I wanted to, but I needed to rest first.  I knocked out for an hour.  Once I woke up I messaged my friend again that I was still exhausted.  I wasn’t up for it, but I knew I would regret staying in on a Friday night, especially being in a beautiful city.  My friend asked again, what was I going to do?  I didn’t reply back because I FELL BACK ASLEEP.  Hahahaha!  Once I woke up again, it was now 11pm!  It kept getting later and later by the minute.  My friend thought it was hilarious, but I was perplexed.  I told her if I did go out somewhere, I would have to go to a club so I could stay awake.  I needed some good music to keep me up.  

I jumped out of bed and quickly got ready.  I looked for an uber but the rates were ridiculous!  70 euros for a 10 minute ride???  What a rip off!!  I told my friend I was stuck.  Now what?

I made up my mind.  I messaged her that I was going to go back to where the apple store was.  Out there were a bunch of bistros and bars surrounding the store.  I’ll go and walk down there and have a glass of champagne.  I just had to.

She told me to be careful and off I went.  There were people on the streets so I wasn’t worried about my safety.  Plus my hotel had a 24 hour concierge which I liked.  I looked for a busy bar and quickly found Le Germain.  From the outside window I could see people dancing and enjoying themselves.  My kind of place!

I went inside and made my way to the bar.  I waited and waited.  The bartender did glance at me but he continued to talk to a group in front of him.  Another woman walked up beside me and was waiting as well.  He looked over and again continued to talk to the group.  I felt shunned but wasn’t going to walk out of there.  The music was too good.  Lol.  Finally he walked over and asked if I needed something.  I ordered my drink but waived to him to take care of the lady next to me before he got back to his group.  I joked to that lady about the bartender but she replied back in French.  I told her I didn’t understand and she spoke to me in broken English.  We were getting along well.  She told me she got into a fight with her boyfriend and that’s why she was alone.  

After our drink she asked if I wanted to go somewhere else.  I said sure.  “It’s around the corner”, she said.  We walked around onto a busy side street.  There were a bunch of pubs and people were all over the street.  We walked into a pub and headed downstairs.  I’ve never seen so many happy-go-lucky French people singing along.  I was surprised but I loved it!  I like seeing people having a blast.  I bought a drink for my new friend and we walked in the other rooms.  At one point we headed to another area downstairs where they had dance music.  I really liked it in there!  One thing about Parisians is their love of dance music!  I ended up meeting more people and we were all dancing and having fun.  My new friend went upstairs to talk to some friends she knew.  My new group wanted to go to another club.  They asked if I wanted to go and I said yes.  We went to look for my new friend and we exchanged Facebook information to keep in touch.  I was excited to see where the night would take me.

We took a cab to the other club.  It was at the riverwalk by the Seine river.  We walked into Faust nightclub and I was blown away!  Disco led lights filled the ceiling.  People were going crazy for the music.  I felt I was at a rave but filled with beautiful people.  Lol.  I got what I came for; good dance music and a night out in Paris!  I’m so glad I met such wonderful people.  They made my night!

London/ Paris: Day 4 Part One

I sprung out of bed to check on my phone.  Nothing.  No charge whatsoever.  It stayed at 20 percent.  I was panicking.  I quickly got ready and made my way downstairs to have breakfast.  I was puzzled because I wasn’t sure if it was my phone that was the problem or my chord.  I had difficulty charging my blue tooth as well.  I was praying it was the chord.  I called my friend up to see if she had any suggestions.  She advised that if I did run out to get a chord, to buy an Apple chord and not a cheaper version since they may not work with my iphone.  That’s it!!  I needed to find an Apple store!

I asked the concierge if she knew where the closest Apple store was.  She told me there was one at the Westfield shopping mall, not far from the hotel.  I was starting to panic.  My train was scheduled to leave for Paris at 1:30pm.  I figured I should to the station by 12pm just in case.  Although I printed out my tickets beforehand, it stated to check in at least 30 minutes prior to departing.  I was weary and considered getting there much earlier. 

I had to catch a bus to the mall.  I rushed back upstairs and grabbed my suitcase.  The concierge insisted I could leave my bag behind.  She thought I had plenty of time to go to the mall and come back for it  in order to leave for Paris.  Luckily, there was a metro Underground station at the mall.  I told her I will checkout and take my bag.  I’ll just take it from there.

I was SUPER NERVOUS.  I just wanted to know what was wrong with my phone.  After a 10 minute wait, the bus finally arrived.  Sure enough, just like the concierge said, the mall was a 15 minute bus ride away.  I rushed into a gigantic mall and asked around for the Apple store.  I came across a young lady working at a spa kiosk.  She told me the directions to the Apple store, but insisted I try her samples spa treatment.  I was hesitant because I was in a hurry, but then I said why not.  I was finally at the mall and needed to calm down a bit.  She lathered up my hands and then followed up with a exfoliator.  I have to admit, it was working.  Once we started small talking, she asked me where I was from.  I told her Chicago and she got excited.  She was a singer and had applied for a visa to come to Chicago to go to school.  Unfortunately her visa was denied.  I didn’t know what to say.  She seemed sad about the denial.  I apologized but her eyes said it all.  She was crushed.  For the time being, she will stay in the UK but my heart felt for her.

I rushed upstairs to the Apple store.  By now it was 11am.  I ran up to one of the associates, but the staff was getting bombarded.  I had to wait my turn before she got my information for an appointment.  Currently the wait was for an hour for them to look at my phone.  I was going into panic mode.  I knew no matter what, I had to leave the mall at 12pm.  I got desperate and asked the associate if I could use her phone cord to see if my iphone would take the charge.  She seemed skeptical about handing hers over to me, but I told her if it works, then I knew that was the issue and could get out of her hair.  Unfortunately my stomach dropped.  I plugged her cord to my adaptor with the UK converter plug and nothing happened.  UGH!

I waited for my turn.  What made it worse was that the associate told me they would text me when my turn was up.  I told her I had to keep my phone off because it was not fully charged.  This lady was driving me crazy.  “Well then, check up with me every 20 minutes,” she said.  I went and sat down to mope.

I moped until I noticed a display of ipads.  Again, I was desperate.  I unplugged one of the cords and plugged it up to my phone.  To my surprise it was charging.  I was so excited.  I waited for it to charge up a bit before I turned my phone on.  All of the sudden, I got a flood of texts.  My mom, my friend in Italy, my co-workers.  People kept asking me if I was ok.  I didn’t know what was happening but I messaged my friend in Italy that I was fine.  “Be careful!  There was a terrorist attack on the tube!”  I didn’t think too much about it.  I told her I was fine and turned my phone back off so it would charge faster.  Whenever I turned my phone back on to see if I received my appointment text, my phone would blow up again with messages.  I finally swiped over to an ipad next to me to see what was the commotion about.  Sure enough, the tube was in lock down due to the explosion this morning.  It was all over the internet.  I was in shock.  When did this happen??

I decided to message back everyone that was concerned about me.  I then posted on Facebook that I was fine and en route to Paris.  I didn’t want to think about what was going on.  I was worried about catching the train out of Westfield to get to St. Pancras International station.  

After an hour my phone was fully charged.  I went up to another associate since the one I talked to earlier was nowhere in sight.  “Um, we texted you 4x this past hour.”  WHAT??  I explained to him that I was 10 feet away from them and that the other associate knew what was wrong with my phone.  I couldn’t leave it on since it wasn’t fully charged.  I was beyond frustrated at this point.  Unfortunately, he explained there was nothing he could do but to put my name back on the waiting list.  I was livid.  “Where is there an Apple store in Paris??  I have to catch a train!”  He wrote down the address and off I ran.  I had to get out of there and find my way to St. Pancras.

Luckily, I found the metro station at the mall.  By the time I got to St. Pancras station, I had to go through passport control.  I knew there was more to this.  Luckily I gave myself enough time or I would have misjudged this altogether.  My anxiety was in full swing that I had a glass of wine at the station to calm down.   I messaged my friend that I was off to Paris when I had Wi-Fi.  Once I boarded on, I tried to relax.  Paris here I come!