Valentine's Day, Revised

This is the cookie Alma made me (and all her friends). Nakis is a name she uses as a term of endearment. It actually stems from a word meaning idiot more or less, but her group of friends uses it like a good thing. The cookie says, "Nakis, I made this for you."

So Tania called me around lunchtime to tell me that plans had unfortunately changed. Her friend from Los Angeles (well, from Culiacán, but has been living in LA for two years now) was in town for her niece’s quinceañera and she was going to meet up with her for that. If she could get another pass (an entry into the party room, a ticket more or less) for me, she would let me know.
I pretty much gave up on having Valentine’s plans at this point. It kind of burst my bubble about how I felt about my friends in Culiacán. That’s probably a bit dramatic. But it’s like I had had this amazing weekend with Ashley. My friends had totally shown out. I had an afternoon at the movies and had been invited (by the actual birthday boy) to a birthday party on my own accord. Suddenly there was no one to hang with. What happened to my friends?
I went for a jog on Saturday afternoon and considered running up to Walmart to buy a DVD to watch. Walmart would’ve added about 20 minutes to my jog, so I opted out. When I got back home, Tania called me saying that she couldn’t get in touch with her friend to get the pass for the party, but that we should go get coffee or something around 8. There’s my friend. I got in the shower and got ready leisurely. All day, mind you, I had neither seen nor heard from Mabel.
Tania came and picked me up and we went to Starbucks where she had plenty of stories to tell as usual. She told me how to pick out the drug lords’ families (by their last names). We talked education pedagogy. That was actually really fun. Two languages teachers sharing strategies and thoughts on teaching in Spanish. It was also fun to hear her battles with teaching English (as well as some of the tricks for teaching certain things- the rules that I know because it “sounds right”). We had a good time as usual. I was prepared to head home and catch up on seasons 1 and 2 of The Office (I am just now really getting into it and I must say I LOVE it. I want Pam and Jim together. Badly. It’s hilarious! Where has this show been all my life?!), but I checked my phone as I was getting into the car and Alma had texted me saying there was a party if I wanted to go. She and Lenin were at a wedding, but if I wanted to go, they would pick me up around 1 am. I told her to text me when they left the wedding (it was still only 10:45) and if I were still awake, I would go with them. I put on my pjs just in case and popped in The Office. I watched several episodes and at 12:30 was ready to call it a night when she texted asking if I were awake. I told her yes and they came by to get me. We went to Ocyé’s house (her friend who works at the radio station) and there was karaoke, like always, food and fun. We stayed for a little over an hour and they dropped me back off at home. After discussing some things about my living situation, she offered her house. Her brother apparently doesn’t live with them anymore (I don’t know if he’s married or on vacation or who knows) and she said I could stay in his room. She followed it by saying, “I’ve never had a sister.” Love that girl. She said she’d call on Sunday and I could come by and meet the fam and check out the digs.
Awesome.