My Experience with the Move as of Now Week 12 By: Gabriel Johnston

 Monday, August 30, 2021

A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. I have started working at a taco-stand, we went to San Diego, and I turned 13.

Ever since we talked about moving to Asuncion, one of the things I have wanted to do is work at our friend's taco stand. And while he has agreed it was not until about six weeks in that I started to work there. Not long after my father and I returned from San Diego, we had a night where we did not want to cook and would rather just get take-out. So, we went to Chiquiringis for some tacos. That night I decided it would be a good time to talk more about me working with him. With some help from my parents we decided I would work with him Fridays and Saturdays doing various tasks. After that I helped him with our order a bit and we went home.

Two days later was my first night. When I got there I started with cleaning the tables. It was a slow night but that night I ended up making Papas Rellenas for one of our old friends. Papas Rellenas are a dish with Mashed up potatoes and butter served with cream, meat, corn, and mushrooms. It is one of my favorite dishes and it is one of his specialties. Something I noticed that night is that many nights can be very slow. So I decided that the next night I would bring a book to read in case it was a slow night. The next day as I came I noticed something was wrong. His main entrance was blocked up by chairs and tables. Well, It turned out that he decided to paint the floor that morning and it had not dried so there was no work tonight. So I got the day off.

The other weeks have faded together but I do remember most things I have done there. I have cleaned tables, been a waiter, set up the toppings, made the guacamole, prepared the Papas, and cooked the Papas, shredded the cheese, cooked tacos, cooked tortas, grilled meat, squeezed limes, and served drinks.

Over my time working there I have occasionally made tips.

And while I appreciate them, they are not the reason I go to work. Why I do it is to learn to cook, and to gain the experience of working in a restaurant. I have gotten plenty of new skills and gotten a lot of advice which I have used every time I work there. Overall, working there has been incredibly fun and rewarding and I hope it continues for a while.

Something else that Has happened recently was a trip to San Diego. For a number of reasons we made a trip to go, and it was crazy. On the first day, we drove on up to Ensenada where we stayed at a Hotel we visited when we came for a wedding. Once we checked in we went across the street for dinner then back to go to the pool. The day we visited was on a Wednesday so we figured that no one would be there but we were wrong. Immediately as we got out of the elevator I could tell we would not be alone in the pool. We walked out and saw that it was crowded. There are at least 10 children all in the pool. And I wasn’t worried about Covid or anything like that, I just wanted the pool to myself.

As the night got later it became better. We talked to some really nice Mexicans and ended up taking some pizza to our room. Now is a good time to mention that recently Mikayla and I have been making Pizzas from scratch which has really raised our standards. On this trip we had three Pizzas and only one of them was really good compared to our new standards but we’ll talk about that later. This pizza was very bland and did not look like anything special. We also got nachos but they weren't that good either.

The next morning after breakfast we were on the road again. After a thirty minute Sentry wait we were in the states again. We went to our mail place and picked up our mail and went to the park to get a few things sorted out.

Then we dropped our truck off for an oil change and had some lunch with a friend. As we got back from lunch, a series of inconveniences began to happen to us over our trip. Basically, we had an appointment and arrived an hour early. We went to lunch and returned two hours after our scheduled appointment. But, as we were walking back we saw our truck just start its service. We had to wait an extra 45 minutes and then went to Old Navy for some clothes.

As we walked in the store we noticed something wrong, we were the only ones wearing masks. Where we lived if you came into a store without a mask they would ask you to leave or hand you a mask. But here no one was wearing masks. Once we left we were leaving to the house of one of our closest friends which was where we would be staying for the night. 

As we pulled up I saw that a car was parked outside of the garage which was unusual, but  I didn’t think much of it at the time. Then we walked into their yard and I was shocked to see who was on the deck. My Grandma Rosemary was just watching a movie on their deck. It was later explained by my dad that she was invited at the last minute as a surprise. But I was shocked that she was there because there was nothing besides her car to lead me to this conclusion. Once everyone was done hugging, we went to the patio to hang out, and then eat dinner. After that we went inside, opened my presents and had some ice-cream cake. Then me and Mika wanted a TV show then went to bed. 

The next day I woke up early and it was my birthday.  Helped one of our friends make some coffee, and later make some eggs.

We left at eight to do more errands. We started by setting up an investing account for me and Mika. Then we went to Costco where they were having an event where only seniors can go in to shop alone. So we waited for thirty minutes and went shopping. We did other things then went to get C02 for our beer where we waited thirty minutes and got it empty in return. Then we crossed the border and went to dinner and went to bed.

The next day, we drove all the way to Asuncion and arrived at around 2:00. We unpacked, went to the beach and I went to work. When we got back from the trip we realized that we got so much more stressed as we crossed the border and loosened up as we came back. 

For the most part that was all the interesting things that happened here. It has been a fun few weeks and I have learned a lot. Work has been fun and has taught me a lot, our trip has been stressful but productive and I had a really fun birthday. But until next time this has been Gabriel, see you next time!