Random thoughts lingering post-vacation

So I already gave the overview of our vacation in Puerto Rico, but a few more specifics:

-- The little opening reception for this "work" trip included a buffet dinner followed by karaoke. I wasn't drafted, thank goodness; some friends around the living room on New Year's Eve is one thing, but a whole boatload of my husband's work associates -- most of them virtual strangers -- is quite another.

-- There were a ton of kids on the trip, and I was consistently amazed by how mature and well-behaved and self-sufficient they were. They really just sort of went with the flow; I guess a few of them have been going on these trips for several years, and they're certainly more well-traveled than I was at their age, so they know each other and they know the ropes. But I was awfully impressed.

-- One of these kids, a girl who's eleven, was particularly fascinating to me, and I hope her parents didn't think I was crazy. She's at that stage where she's all limbs, like a baby deer, and she wears braces on her teeth. But she's completely un-self-conscious: she smiled easily; held her own in coversation with boys and girls, kids and adults; and without a hint of stagefright belted out an a capella Disney song during the karaoke (the other little girls mumbled their way through that Lindsay Lohan song, and that godforsaken Hilary Duff "Beat of My Heart" crap, which gets stuck in my head like "Tom's Diner"), and was impossibly gracious with all of the compliments she got afterward. I kept hoping that when I see her on this trip next year, she won't have been replaced by a sullen adolescent who's uncomfortable in her own skin. Growing up is such a shame, sometimes.

-- The resort where we stayed was absolutely breathtaking -- huge rolling hills, lush greenery, picture-perfect blue water -- but the hour-long ride from the airport was horribly depressing. We passed nothing but fast-food restaurants and Condom Worlds (really), and it made my bleeding liberal side feel incredibly guilty to be cruising through all of this poverty to get to my spa treatment and my five-course dinner. Our shuttle driver on the way to the rain forest told us the bars on the windows of people's homes are to protect against hurricanes, rather than to deter criminals, but I'm still a little bit suspcious that they're at best dual-purpose and he was just trying to make us feel better.

-- Not from vacation, but related to the bleeding-heart liberal thing above: after the Smelmooo and I got married, I emailed some wedding photos to an old family friend who lives several states away. As a result, I seem to have been added to her mass email distribution list, which she uses primarily to send forwarded notes that are decidedly right-wing. I don't think she does this in an attempt to sway me, but because it simply doesn't occur to her that I might not see the world in the same way that she and my parents do.

-- Sometimes, I really, really hate flying, not because of the turbulence or the delays or the cramped quarters, but because of other people. The plane yesterday was full of "that guy": that guy who takes up two full overhead bins with his crap; that guy who is hacking up phlegm the entire plane ride; that guy who apparently ripped the pump off of the soap dispenser in the restroom, rendering the dispenser 100% useless; that flight attendant who was totally unconcerned about the lack of soap in the bathroom, despite all the horcking and hacking happening on the plane. I'm so going to be sick by the end of the week, if only because I'll talk myself into it. But we had our portable DVD player, and that was really fun, and mostly made up for the sheer grossness happening elsewhere on the plane.

-- The San Juan airport had no bar in which to watch highlights of the Pitt/Indianapolis game, which ended just as we reached the airport (the guy in front of us was constantly refreshing updates on his Blackberry), and all of the shops and snack places but two closed at 7pm, but what it did have was an endless supply of vending machines and, inexplicably, Ms. PacMan machines. There were literally three that we could see from our seating area outside the gate. I played pretty well, and made it to the banana board before I choked, but my score was still pretty pathetic, comparatively. I need to practice some more.

-- As squicked out as I get from germs and critters, I was pretty much unphased by all of the iguanas (iguani?), roosters and rabbits scurrying around the outdoor restaurant on the island. I think I was fascinated by such a random assortment of creatures, and I also was probably just grateful it wasn't cats roaming around and jumping up on the tables.