Ola!
For those of you wondering how my daughter is liking her service trip to Guatemala. . .
The answer is, I honestly don't know!
I do know, however, that she (correction, someone) withdrew $100 from her account earlier today.
Yes, I have been forced to revert to the sleuth tactics I used when she spent the semester in Florence.
The other day I told you about the panicked(drunken) phone call from the streets of Rome. That phone call, my friends, set the standard that would serve as our routine for the next three-and-a-half months. Daughter Number One called when she needed something, and I tracked her whereabouts on the continent by watching the purchases on her debit card . . . The Fish ‘n Chips in Dublin . . . the nightclub in London. . . the boutique in Edinburgh. (Let me tell you, it was better than having a G.P.S. device plastered to her forehead!)
And each evening before I went to bed, I transferred more money into her account and prayed that the dollar would grow stronger overnight.
Then one day, after she lost her phone along with the brand new digital camera we gave her as a going-away present, along came a call from an unknown number. I was tempted to hit the ignore button, but for some strange reason I answered the call (mother’s intuition if you will) only to hear, Mom, I’m in Paris right now and the stupid machine won’t let me withdraw any money. (Aha ! That’s why I didn’t know where she was!) I only have five dollars in my account and I need to get back to Florence and so do Greg and Kim and they don’t have any money either.
Neither, obviously, do they have a fool for a mother - for I was the only one answering my cell phone that day!!!!
So, Hija de un número, if you happen to read this. . . I pray that you are safe. . . careful . . . and happy. I hope you're not drinking the water and that your host family understands what it is to be a "vegetariano. " And remember. . . It's okay to withdraw money. . . it lets me know you're alive and well. . .
Just don't withdraw demasiado dinero!!!!
