Roomie Roadtrip to Louisiana: An Adventure, continued
Gosh darn I've gotten behind journaling about a road trip I took in MARCH. :P I shall continue, I shall finish, I SHALL PREVAIL.
Day 4
So, I was sleeping on the couch that time. Lety was already up and about when the phone rang. I scrambled out from under the sheets and found the phone. Caller ID said something like Siemen's Subscription. So I was like, "Psh, telemarketer, let the machine get it."
But the phone rang. And rang. And kept ringing. And it was loud and Athena was still sleeping. Finally, Lety got fed up and answered, "¿Bueno?" After a few moments she looked very confused and fairly shoved the phone at me.
I answered, "Hello?"
The voice on the other line said, "Hi, this is Adam, is Ray there?"
LOL, poor Adam! Adam is my older cousin who was pretty much raised by Maw and Paw. I told him that this was Angie -- he didn't even know I was in town! He must have been REALLY confused. And so was Lety. Apparently, Adam's cell is covered by the company that he works for -- those the caller ID. When he heard Lety on the phone talking in some other language, he thought he must have dialed the wrong number. Then he remembered he had Maw and Paw on speed dial, so he couldn't have misdialed. Then when he asks for "Ray" instead of "Raymond" or "Mr. Lapino", Lety when that this was no telemarketer that she was dealing with and didn't know what to do so she pretty much threw the phone at me.
I explained what happened to Adam and he had a good laugh about it, but declared that Lety was now on his "shit list".
Anyway, we chatted for a bit and I told him what was up with Maw, but that I really didn't know much and that he should call Paw's cell or Aunt Joanne.
So, we were going going to try to make it to Gonzales around lunch time, but we ended up not getting up and ready to leave UNTIL lunch time. Plus, I wanted to see Maw again before we headed out.
I called Paw to get directions to the hospital. Well he was rattling off stuff like I actually knew what he was talking about, "Well, you could go here and there, then do this and that. But you, know a more direct way is go here instead of there and then do that and this."
I seriously doubted my ability to follow those directions. So I called my daddy. He gave me good directions that got us to the hospital. And all that with him not having lived in the area in about 20 years. :P
So we went to visit Maw in the hospital. When we got there, Aunt Barbara was there and they had just brought Maw her lunch tray. But she was so weak, she couldn't even open her fruit cup.
I felt bad for Lety and Athena. This had to be awkward for them. But I felt obligated to spend some time with Maw and they didn't suggest that they go elsewhere or whatever. So I dunno. Lety is chatty, so I suppose she's cool with whatever. At one point, Maw asks Lety, "So what are you, Republican or Democratic?"
-moment of awkward silence-
Then Lety responds, "I'm Mexican!!"
LOL, since she can't vote over here, she tends to stay out of the politics. But it made me lawl.
After awhile, we said our goodbyes to everyone and started to head out of the city. We were all getting the nomz at that point, so we stopped at the New Orleans Hamburgers and Seafood restaurant. Seriously, you don't see restaurants with that kind of combination anywhere but in Louisiana. I got the crawfish etoufee and was thus able to check another food off the list of what I wanted to try. It wasn't bad.
So to get to Gonzales, we had google directions and we had Daddy directions. And they were different. So this was going to be interesting. I was driving, and I forget who was navigating. But at one point, Daddy directions said to exit, google directions said to keep on the highway. But I felt that exiting there was right. AND, it turns out that I didn't have to consult the directions after that, I knew how to get to Nana's house on my own, even though this was really the first time I'd driven there. That made me happy. ^_^
So we made it in to Gonzales and to Nana's house in one piece. And Nana had different hair! For as long as I can remember, she had short hair. And it was like that when I had last seen her, the previous May at my graduation. And now har hair is longer, in a little bob. I made a comment about it, and apparently Nana had decided that her ears were getting to big and grew her hair out to cover them up. LOL! Whatever floats her boat.
I <3 Nana's house.
Anyway, after we got our stuff somewhat settled in the house, we headed next door to see Aunt Mary and Uncle Vernon. And finally, after years of asking, Uncle Vernon finally gave me a tutorial on how to make jambalaya! I had some leftovers of his years ago and was surprised and how much his jambalaya tasted like Moma's. And since then, every time I came to visit, I would say, "Uncle Vernon, you've gotta teach me how to make your jambalaya!"
And we finally got to do it and it still delights me! :D
He had everything chopped up and ready to go, so we started right after everyone was greeted. I abandoned to Lety and Athena to chatted with Nana and Aunt Mary, but I don't think that's a bad thing. :)
So anyway, we would do whatever, explaining as he went. I furiously took notes on my notebook so I could remember for later. He had me actually do a lot of it too, so that was cool.
The only thing I wasn't sure about was that he used pork where Moma always used chicken. I'll try using chicken next time... we'll see how that goes. I've actually made it since we got back. It was kind of full of fail. Apparently, you're supposed to use white rice, when I tried to use brown rice. And furthermore, it still had the sheath or whatever on it, so that made it... "crunchier" than it should've been. And I took a look at my recipe again and it called for a LOT of onion. So I thought maybe I miswrote and used less than what it called for. But Daddy called me out on that. I got him to try it and he was like, "Needs more onion." He still ate it though. :P He's looking forward to eating the real thing, though. LOL. I should make some again. I guess I could try halving the recipe. Cuz that junk makes a LOT.
ANYWAY, back in Gonzales...
The jambalaya took a while to do, so by the time it was done, we went ahead and ate it. I think everyone enjoyed it, so that was good. Well, we started talking about politics again.
Boy, Uncle Vernon's a sly one. But in a good way, I suppose. He questioned us on our thoughts and opinions on different issues. Well, I had no qualms with sharing these, and so I did. And I gave reasons and explanations for my opinions, which made sense. And if I didn't know much about a topic, I didn't mind saying so and that my opinion on that topic was yet to be formed.
As we were talking, I could tell he was really taking in what I was saying, digesting it. Yet we never really gave HIS opinions on things. And now I'm curious. :P
Oh well.
Day 4
So, I was sleeping on the couch that time. Lety was already up and about when the phone rang. I scrambled out from under the sheets and found the phone. Caller ID said something like Siemen's Subscription. So I was like, "Psh, telemarketer, let the machine get it."
But the phone rang. And rang. And kept ringing. And it was loud and Athena was still sleeping. Finally, Lety got fed up and answered, "¿Bueno?" After a few moments she looked very confused and fairly shoved the phone at me.
I answered, "Hello?"
The voice on the other line said, "Hi, this is Adam, is Ray there?"
LOL, poor Adam! Adam is my older cousin who was pretty much raised by Maw and Paw. I told him that this was Angie -- he didn't even know I was in town! He must have been REALLY confused. And so was Lety. Apparently, Adam's cell is covered by the company that he works for -- those the caller ID. When he heard Lety on the phone talking in some other language, he thought he must have dialed the wrong number. Then he remembered he had Maw and Paw on speed dial, so he couldn't have misdialed. Then when he asks for "Ray" instead of "Raymond" or "Mr. Lapino", Lety when that this was no telemarketer that she was dealing with and didn't know what to do so she pretty much threw the phone at me.
I explained what happened to Adam and he had a good laugh about it, but declared that Lety was now on his "shit list".
Anyway, we chatted for a bit and I told him what was up with Maw, but that I really didn't know much and that he should call Paw's cell or Aunt Joanne.
So, we were going going to try to make it to Gonzales around lunch time, but we ended up not getting up and ready to leave UNTIL lunch time. Plus, I wanted to see Maw again before we headed out.
I called Paw to get directions to the hospital. Well he was rattling off stuff like I actually knew what he was talking about, "Well, you could go here and there, then do this and that. But you, know a more direct way is go here instead of there and then do that and this."
I seriously doubted my ability to follow those directions. So I called my daddy. He gave me good directions that got us to the hospital. And all that with him not having lived in the area in about 20 years. :P
So we went to visit Maw in the hospital. When we got there, Aunt Barbara was there and they had just brought Maw her lunch tray. But she was so weak, she couldn't even open her fruit cup.
I felt bad for Lety and Athena. This had to be awkward for them. But I felt obligated to spend some time with Maw and they didn't suggest that they go elsewhere or whatever. So I dunno. Lety is chatty, so I suppose she's cool with whatever. At one point, Maw asks Lety, "So what are you, Republican or Democratic?"
-moment of awkward silence-
Then Lety responds, "I'm Mexican!!"
LOL, since she can't vote over here, she tends to stay out of the politics. But it made me lawl.
After awhile, we said our goodbyes to everyone and started to head out of the city. We were all getting the nomz at that point, so we stopped at the New Orleans Hamburgers and Seafood restaurant. Seriously, you don't see restaurants with that kind of combination anywhere but in Louisiana. I got the crawfish etoufee and was thus able to check another food off the list of what I wanted to try. It wasn't bad.
So to get to Gonzales, we had google directions and we had Daddy directions. And they were different. So this was going to be interesting. I was driving, and I forget who was navigating. But at one point, Daddy directions said to exit, google directions said to keep on the highway. But I felt that exiting there was right. AND, it turns out that I didn't have to consult the directions after that, I knew how to get to Nana's house on my own, even though this was really the first time I'd driven there. That made me happy. ^_^
So we made it in to Gonzales and to Nana's house in one piece. And Nana had different hair! For as long as I can remember, she had short hair. And it was like that when I had last seen her, the previous May at my graduation. And now har hair is longer, in a little bob. I made a comment about it, and apparently Nana had decided that her ears were getting to big and grew her hair out to cover them up. LOL! Whatever floats her boat.
I <3 Nana's house.
Anyway, after we got our stuff somewhat settled in the house, we headed next door to see Aunt Mary and Uncle Vernon. And finally, after years of asking, Uncle Vernon finally gave me a tutorial on how to make jambalaya! I had some leftovers of his years ago and was surprised and how much his jambalaya tasted like Moma's. And since then, every time I came to visit, I would say, "Uncle Vernon, you've gotta teach me how to make your jambalaya!"
And we finally got to do it and it still delights me! :D
He had everything chopped up and ready to go, so we started right after everyone was greeted. I abandoned to Lety and Athena to chatted with Nana and Aunt Mary, but I don't think that's a bad thing. :)
So anyway, we would do whatever, explaining as he went. I furiously took notes on my notebook so I could remember for later. He had me actually do a lot of it too, so that was cool.
The only thing I wasn't sure about was that he used pork where Moma always used chicken. I'll try using chicken next time... we'll see how that goes. I've actually made it since we got back. It was kind of full of fail. Apparently, you're supposed to use white rice, when I tried to use brown rice. And furthermore, it still had the sheath or whatever on it, so that made it... "crunchier" than it should've been. And I took a look at my recipe again and it called for a LOT of onion. So I thought maybe I miswrote and used less than what it called for. But Daddy called me out on that. I got him to try it and he was like, "Needs more onion." He still ate it though. :P He's looking forward to eating the real thing, though. LOL. I should make some again. I guess I could try halving the recipe. Cuz that junk makes a LOT.
ANYWAY, back in Gonzales...
The jambalaya took a while to do, so by the time it was done, we went ahead and ate it. I think everyone enjoyed it, so that was good. Well, we started talking about politics again.
Boy, Uncle Vernon's a sly one. But in a good way, I suppose. He questioned us on our thoughts and opinions on different issues. Well, I had no qualms with sharing these, and so I did. And I gave reasons and explanations for my opinions, which made sense. And if I didn't know much about a topic, I didn't mind saying so and that my opinion on that topic was yet to be formed.
As we were talking, I could tell he was really taking in what I was saying, digesting it. Yet we never really gave HIS opinions on things. And now I'm curious. :P
Oh well.