ONE LAST HOORAH!

It is 11:30 on Wednesday night. We had plans to go to dinner tonight with friends, but it was cancelled (feel better Montrez!). We just got done eating a dinner consisting of lobster that I caught with some friends the last time we went out on Shawn's boat. Since all of our kitchen utensils were packed, it made preparations very difficult and we had to eat it out of plastic Glad containers. Not befitting of a lobster dinner, but delicious none the less. This is actually the first evening that we have been able to just sit at home. I would like to say that we were able to do nothing, but I would be lying. Idalis went through a couple of boxes of historic memorabilia and cleaned out her files. We got to look at some old pictures and read articles about how awesome and talented she is. She also found a receipt for a Eurail pass she bought when she was nineteen. Suffice it to say that prices have risen dramatically. In fact, we went to our bank today to purchase some Euros to have for when we arrive in Spain. Five hundred Euros cost us about eight hundred bucks. Looks like PB&J sandwiches will be a staple throughout Europe!

We had a very interesting day Monday. So interesting, in fact, I have not gotten a chance to tell you about it until now. Anyways, we had a 10:30 appointment at the Dade County Health Department for our last round of vaccines. We arrived at the clinic, paid our seven bucks to park and went inside. We went to door number ten, as we have for six months now, and to our surprise, the door was locked and the lights were out. As we peaked inside to try to understand what was going on, the security guard advised us that the travel clinic was closed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. "Impossible", I said. "No", he said. I told him that we had an appointment and we told him that was impossible. He did not believe us until I showed him our print out and then he was as mystified as us. He advised that we call the main number. We did. We spoke to a very kind lady who advised us, once again, that the downtown clinic was closed on M,W &F. I told her of our dilemna and how we had an appointment. She offered to call the director of the Little Haiti clinic to see if they would see us. After a few tense minutes, she called back and advised that although they would not honor our appointment, we were welcome to go down and pull a number. So, we did. After announcing our arrival and once again explaining our dilemna, we were asked to fill out some paperwork and have a seat. So, we did. After witnessing an outburst, listening to some strange conversations and drafting a three page letter to the Miami Dade County Health Department, our number was finally called. We had finally made it to the end of this six month process to become immunized against every modern disease known to man, or so we thought. After being called in, we were promptly advised that the clininc had no more Japanese Encephalitis vaccines available. We explained that this was our last shot and that it had to be given twenty-eight days after the first. They were neither moved nor concerned. So, we agreed to at least be administered our last series of Hepatitis A and B vaccines. After paying, we immediately ran home and began some intense research to locate two Japanese Encephalitis vaccines. After calling all of the remaining Dade County Health Department clinics, we then proceeded to contact the Broward clinics, where I spoke to the rudest government employee I have ever encountered in my entire life and I worked for the government for fifteen years! We then hit up several private travel/adult immunization clinics until we found our saviours at the Concentra Medical Center. It was 4:00pm and we had to be at dinner with my brother Mike and his girlfriend Amail at 6:00pm. So, we ran to the car, hauled you know what to Sunset and 64th and parked at a meter. I began to feed the parking meter and it would only give us eighteen minutes regardless of how many coins I fed it. I drafted a quick note to any looming enforcement officers and placed it in the windshield. We ran upstairs and much to our surprise, we were treated like real people, ushered through promptly, given shots that we barely felt and made it back down to the car before the eighteen minutes were up. All in all, the experience of acquiring immunizations through the public health clinic, though the cheapest option, has been a total nightmare. I would go so far to say that it was the most difficult of all the preparations and spans a period of six months. I told Idalis that this was practice for what we were sure to encounter in various locations around the globe. Should any of you plan to follow in our footsteps, please be sure to either spend the extra money and find a real good travel clininc or give yourself plenty of time to deal with the bureaucracy.

Things are much calmer now. Thanks to Fernando at Beach Auto Tag, my sister ReAnne is now insured to drive our car while we are away. Thanks to Antoniette at HSBC we are now completely covered on all things relating to our travel account and thanks to Marshall's I know have the last few clothing items that I needed. The condo is a total mess and finding anything is pretty impossible as it is all packed away. One last trip to the warehouse this Saturday should take care of our remaining belongings and Saturday night will be the last evening we spend at home. Our take off is rapidly approaching, but I feel that we will make it out fully prepared and having covered all of our bases. Our tenants, Christine and Andres, will probably begin to move in shortly after we leave. Uncle Marty was kind enough to deliver the bike rack for the building this morning, my final duty as interim Condo Association Secretary, and everyone that is receiving our furniture has been scheduled for pick up. We have one last happy hour celebration at Monty's this Friday with all of our friends and a family party at Aunt Connie's house on Sunday. After that, one and a half tense and emotional days until take off. We made one last minute decision that may prove to be a life saver, if not just totally convenient. We purchased a compact computer, seven inches and less than two pounds, to carry around the world with us. At first we were committed to using internet cafes, and may still have to in some cases, but now, we are very happy with our decision as we believe it will make staying in contact much easier. I guess what this means is that there should be no excuse for not keeping this blog up to date. I just hope that you all enjoy it and follow along with us. There will soon be an advice and input option, so, if you have any ideas or things you would like to see, please let me know. After all, it was only a short while ago when all I knew how to do was to turn a computer on.

We hope to see you Friday at Monty's. If not there, we hope to see you at Aunt Connie's on Sunday. If not there, we are sorry that we missed you and send you our love!

UPGRADES

With all the chaos that is whirling around our heads these days, with only ten days until take off, it is hard to believe that we actually found the time to make modifications to our exteriors! However, we did. We took a 'Ferris Bueler's Day Off' and in between the various number of errands that we had been running, for several days in a row, we got tatted and pierced. Idalis had been wanting to get her nose pierced for some time. However, due to her obligations to the Dade County School Board, she never felt quite able to pull it off without appearing to become less responsible. Go figure! As for me, I have been shunning responsibility for some time now so I was a go for a new tattoo. I had taken my parents to a web site that gives exact coordinates for various locations throughout the globe. I asked them to point the cursor at the exact location where I had been born and thus the coordinates, latitude and longitude, have made their way onto my feet. It took me until the absolute last minute to decide exactly where to put them and I owe it all to the combined effort of Idalis and Katie. Idalis says that this way 'my feet will always guide me home.' I felt like it was more of a 'if lost, return to sender!'

Things are really cranking now and I think it is fair to say that Idalis and I are both a hot mess! Just after I was starting to feel like we were getting somewhere, I got some bad news. First, it looks like our little pug, Aphrodite, has osteo- arthritis in her two rear hips and 'grade-four' gum disease. Now, both of us will be taking glucosamine each morning and one of us will be getting a deep root cleaning. Aphrodite's next follow up appointment will be on Monday, August 11th. That will be the day before we leave, for those of you who are following along. The other bit of malinformation was delivered by our State Farm agent, with a smile I might add. Apparently after 22 years of consistent and timely insurance payments, on my behalf, they are completely unable to accomodate our request to cover my sister to drive our car and be insured while we are away. Therefore, we must now pay to transfer tag and title to my sister only to have to transfer it back to us again upon our return. Leave it to beaurocracy to tap one's wallet dry! I am glad I sold the Jeep (thanks Eddy, enjoy!) and don't have to give them another cent!

The apartment is close to empty and we have been sleeping on the couch bed, which will soon reside in our friend Rick's house, and spending the night on the floors and couches of friends and family, all the while living out of bags. Good practice, I suppose. Never in a million years would I have guessed how involved a process it is to disappear! Thanks to the complexities that modern man has bestowed upon himself, and us, the work to prepare never seems to end. At this point, I feel as if it will take a miracle to get us on that plane, but get on that plane we will. Believe it or not, we only recently secured a reservation for our first night in Madrid (thanks Mum!). Stick around folks, things are about to get interesting!

For those of you who have been following this blog, you are starting to realize that I have somehow become philisophical. So, let me continue, lest I disappoint the readership. The newest lesson is a lesson in clarity. I think it is safe now to say that we have pretty much become single track minded, in a good way. What I mean is that we have pretty much managed to dissolve all aspects of life that do not directly correlate to this trip. In doing so, a lot of the customary clutter in our lives has been eliminated. This, in turn, has allowed us to streamline thought, eliminate clutter and refine focus. You would be absolutely amazed at how receptive the mind becomes once it is devoid of distraction. Another way of putting it is that we have actually become kind of good at recognizing signs and listening to that little voice in our heads. When something is good and right and in line with the powers of the universe (What?), then things just fall into line. Such has been the case with this dream of ours. The more we just allow things to happen and follow our instincts, the less resistance we meet on our path. I assume this is the goal of meditation and the concept behind nirvana. I am fairly certain that it can be applied in all aspects of life or any goal or dream. I suppose the simplest way to put it is, practice not doing and everything will fall into place.

UNEMPLOYED, PART II

Well, it's official. I have now joined the ranks of the unemployed! I was in Charlotte, North Carolina working as a trainer for National Board. It was a wonderful experience. The people I worked with were wonderful, and Charlotteans are just so nice! I was able to finish early, and came home on Thursday. As the plane was landing, I was thinking that in less than three weeks, I would be back on one again, this time going in the opposite direction for a very long time!

It feels very real now. With only 16 days before departure, we are working hard to get everything done. This weekend was spent packing up boxes and taking things to our tiny 5X10 warehouse space. I told Kevin he must be a master Tetris player, because he made everything fit (with a little brute force)! We are living with the bare bone essentials in an apartment that is so empty, it echoes! This week will be spent running many errands, squeezing in last minute visits, and packing! In fact, Kevin's new real estate purchase showed up last week in the form of a North Face backpack! It is SOOO nice - the BMW of bags. As it will be his home for the next couple of years, it was important to get a good one!

We want to thank all of you again for all of your love and support! So many of you have offered to help, whether by loaning out a truck (thank you Gary/Dad!), loaning a backpack (thank you Shane and Amber!), providing a hot meal (read: all cooking utensils have been packed!), or by purchasing a gift that keeps us in touch with English-speaking short-wave radio stations and the latest weather reports (thanks, Dan!). We often reflect on how overwhelmed we feel (in a good way) at all of the love and support that has so graciously been bestowed upon us from our circle of friends and family. You guys are the best and we hope to represent you and carry thoughts of you through our travels. We hope that you will stay in touch with us, as this is what will keep us going.

Much love and many, many blessings ... Idalis and Kevin

UNEMPLOYED

Hmmmm? I am here at work, sitting at my desk, pecking away at this computer for the last time! Today is finally, and really, my last day of work. Monday morning I will wake up and be unemployed. I will still be working, but this time for myself and for our dreams. Since I last posted, I have accomplished some of the bigger ticket items, such as purchasing travel insurance, getting an international phone and acquiring our visas to India! The remaining duties include clearing out the apartment, packing and taking care of some last minute items. That is the thing with this type of endeavor, most of the important matters can't really be done until the end. It serves to make for some stressful times. It is a good stress though. One that precedes a life altering change.

Idalis is still toiling away in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she wraps up her first week of working for the National board of Professional Teaching Standards! She is such a genius, you have no idea! I am extremely lucky and honored to have found someone so wonderful! She is also the perfect travel companion. The only person I know who can actually endure more inconvenience and hardship than myself, oh and with a smile on her face the whole time.

I actually typed this in a comment on the previous post. I liked it so much, I decided to use it again. It kind of explains our current state of mind. "It is absolutely amazing how little one needs to find happiness. Clutter cuts clarity. Remove the distractions. Remove what does not work. Find peace. Find happiness!" I don't think either Idalis or myself had any idea how many people would be affected by our little decision to travel. It has been incredibly inspiring! One of those little things in life that you don't really expect but that end up presenting an incredible amount of value and life lesson!

As of today, we have twenty-six days until our departure. I can guarantee you that these next twenty-six days will be filled with blood, sweat, tears and incredible emotion! I really wish that we could jam every last one of you into our luggage so you could come along. Since I don't imagine Homeland Security would approve, this blog may be the next best thing. Please promise to check in on us every once in a while and please promise to send us messages. Afterall, you are our only connection back to 'home'!

WE ARE FAMILY

My family has only been gone a few hours and already Kevin and I miss them :( The house is way too quiet and we're not used to all of the space! Eight people may seem like too much for such a small apartment, but it felt just like old times: loud, crowded, and lots of fun! I'm so glad I got to see my parents and my brothers one last time before our trip. It has filled me with a sense of joy and peace, and has made me see how truly lucky and loved I really am. We have not all been in the same room in over 13 years, and I feel that this reunion has helped to heal old, tired wounds and to reconnect with each other. I have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude, and lots to be thankful for.

Rami: Thank you for coming several days in a row just to spend time with us, and for being the first Alvarez family blogger.
Andrés: Thank you for driving through the night just to be here for our party.
Magali: Thank you for being such a wonderful partner to my brother and for making him happy. He is a very lucky guy.
Adrián: Thank you for the entertainment (you may need to replace those guitar strings!) and for being a great salsa partner.
Iván: Thank you for the comedic relief, the best t-shirt ever made, and for your thoughtfulness.
Mami: Gracias por coordinar este viaje, por tomar vino y reirte conmigo, y por el regalo de tu sonrisa.
Papi: Gracias por romper el silencio entre nosotros, por ponerte pantalones cortos, y por nadar en el mar.

I would also like to thank our friends who joined us and spent time with our family. You all made it so special. Now you know why I am the way I am! Thank you, also, to the Perkins family for your continued support, chocolate chip cookies, and for making my family feel so welcomed. A final thank you to my Amor: Thank you for putting up with inflatable beds and lines for the bathroom, for talking to my dad, for making my mom laugh, and for showing my brothers such a great time. My family now knows why I love you so much, since they've been able to experience the same feeling for themselves.

Much love and many blessings to you all ... Idalís

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Lots to celebrate these days. Independence of America from the motherland, the end of fifteen and a half years of employment, the beginning of a trip that is bound to change our lives forever and a celebration of friends and family that are so incredibly special to us. The last few days have been quite profound and incredibly special. From the 'Mid-Life Retirement and Bon Voyage Party' to the late night inpropmptu musical rap session. The party was an overwhelming success and incredibly fun. A total of 142 of our closest friends and family took times out of their busy lives to join us. For this, we are incredibly humbled and honored. Of all the lessons we have learned throughout this process, the incredible importance of friends and family shines through. Last night, after running home from the beach wih tons of party supplies in tow while in the midst of a torrential downpour, we settled into our small seven hundred square foot apartment with twenty people and were serrenaded by Idalis' brothers Ivan and Adrian, my brother Mike, my father Gary and one of my best friends, Nate. It was unplanned, improvised and full of love and emotion. It was incredibly special and Idalis and I were touched by the show of affection and thank everyone involved for their most creative verses!

Idalis' family will leave on Sunday. Despite the house being a mess and possessions being scattered throughout the entire space, we are seriously dreading their exodus. This experience has been incredible for me, so I can only imagine how Idalis and her family must be feeling. I believe that this visit has done so much to reconnect the family and heal whatever wounds may have existed. Everyone of the people that we have been blessed to spend time with over the last few days is so special to us and are extremely beautiful people. I attempted to express this to eveyone at the party in person, and in spite of my jovial spirit, as a result of some spirits, I hope that everyone understood that I was sincere!

Tonight, we get together for what will end up being our version of the last supper with Idalis' family, my family and some of our closest friends. We are so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people and again, will carry these sentiments with us as we discover the world, ourselves and each other!

PARTY TIME!

Impossible! I can't believe that July 3rd is upon us. Today is our "Mid-Life Retirement and Bon Voyage Party". It has been a while in the making and has arrived with great haste! We would like to welcome all of you that attend the party live and in person as well as those who will accompany us in cyber space. It has been an incredible ride getting to this point. We hope you all have a wonderful time and continue to share our journey with us!