The Mini-Menace has been in California for the past 2 weeks, on his annual pilgrimage to visit his father and paternal grandparents, and, as usual, I am bored to death without him. The first few days are great--freedom to go where I want, when I want, and to watch movies with all sorts of child-unfriendly language, etc.--but after the 3rd day, the house is just too quiet. The dogs were depressed too--they both stopped eating for the first few days, and would go into his room to look for him. We're fine, but I'm definitely looking forward to his return in 1 week. Just in time for his Young Diplomats' Day and Youth Security Overseas Seminar, and the start of his Saturday Spanish classes!!
In other Spanish news, I'm still plugging along in class. I had my first progress evaluation and did much better than I'd anticipated. It felt like a fluke, though....I was really on top of my game that day, whereas in class, I still feel like a total idiot. I have until early September to get my act together. One of my classmates was able to convince his CDO and post to let him test early so that he could arrive earlier than planned in order for his kids to start school at the beginning of the school year.....and he passed!!!! So happy for him! I hope his luck is contagious.
Had a little bit of drama with the car--there was a massive flash flood in the 'hood two weeks ago, and the 2.5 feet of water in the street got INTO my car and damaged the interior, the hybrid system, the brake system, and the power steering. No verdict yet on whether or not it can be salvaged. I love that car, but am starting to think about replacements. Since the roads are pretty rough in Nicaragua, I'm actually thinking about getting a Jeep. The dilemma, though, is do I go with the soft top, or the hard top for security reasons? And since the Mini-Menace isn't old or big enough to sit in the front, plus my family will be visiting, do I go 2-door or 4-door? Ay caramba!!!
Thanks to my mom for sending the Mini-Menace a massive care package with 15 different kinds of Oreos. That's one item off his bucket list. At least one of us is accomplishing something!!
Four door, with hard top. As an officer, you may sometimes need more room than the 2-door.
ReplyDeleteOf course, you could also just go with the Jeep Commander.
Thanks for the advice! The verdict is still out on the Highlander, so I'm starting to seriously look at Jeeps....I think you're right, hard top and 4 door is the way to go. I'm not woman enough for the Commander, though. When my car was taken in to the shop, the rental company gave me a ford F-150 with the double cab, and while it was fun to drive, it was effing impossible to park anywhere, and I ended up taking it back after three days.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely go for the hard top. The advantage of a soft top is that you can take it down often, but in Nicaragua you can't really do that. In the city you won't want to drive around without the top on because of the fumes and the people begging or trying to sell you stuff at every intersection. And you wouldn't really want to take it down outside of Managua because it's probably going to be either blazing hot or raining depending on what month it is! With your hard top, 4-door you will be ready for anything Nicaragua throws at you - in style!
ReplyDeleteTotally go for the hard top. Out here in Addis if you had a soft top jeep, you'd risk thieving hands finding their way into your vehicle. And when you're behind the exhaust of a minibus blowing out thick clouds of black fumes, you'll definitely want the hard top.
ReplyDeleteYou'll really love Nica, and I have fond memories of my 2 summers there. People are really sweet and fresh foods abundant. I look forward to updates !
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