Woke up at 3am… got picked up at 3:30am… went to the US embassy to watch the Super Bowl and see YET ANOTHER one of “my” teams (i.e. the team I was rooting for) LOSE… first Michigan in the Rose Bowl; next OSU; and finally, DA BEARS. I lived in Chicago for 4 years and my sister’s boyfriend’s uncle is Dick Butkus, so these are the reasons I had to root for DA BEARS.  Alas, I must be bad luck.  And oh, dang, so much RAIN!  Also, why PRINCE???  I like him as a musician, but it makes NO sense, I thought, to have him as the halftime show. Bruce Springsteen; John Mellencamp; Garth Brooks… but Prince???

The best part about watching the game was getting to eat an AUTHENTIC egg, sausage, and cheese biscuit (heart attack anyone?) and drinking Starbucks coffee.. Others stocked up on A&W Root Beer, Diet Coke, Dr Pepper, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups… all precious…

Didn’t get to see any Super Bowl Ads, as we were watching the Armed Forces Channel.

Now I am at work – 8:55am… going to try to finish up early so I can leave a bit early…

Story #1

Taxi driver: So, you’re from Texas – El Paso?
Me: (thinking: out of all the cities, how does he know about El Paso?) no, Houston.
Taxi driver: Have you been to LA?  San Francisco?  Florida?
Me: Yes, yes, yes.
Taxi driver: Florida – that’s where Sylvester Stallon lives, right?
Me: I don’t know.

Story #2

I wish I could’ve taken a picture of this, but you’ll just have to use your imagination. Some foreigner friends and I go to lunch at the Bek Hotel, which has reasonable prices and serves very good Western-style food.  As we’re leaving, I notice that one of the walls is filled with pictures.  First, Khruschev.  Then Hugo Chavez.  Then Castro.  Finally, a picture of Bush as a terrorist.  All of this at a restaurant with good Western food.