 |
Hi! My name is Rosanna
and I live in Chicago. I'm originally from Lima,
Peru (South America). I lived there until 1997 or 1998 (I can't remember now!!!),
when I decided to move to Chicago to go to school, but most importantly to be with my now husband Mike.
We met in 1995. I was spending my last long vacation after finishing school in Lima, because my parents
gave me a trip to France as a present. I was going to spend two months there,
and then go to Chicago and visit one of my mom's friends for another month. I
had never been to the States before. One Saturday night, while still in Paris, my friends and I went to a bar called
"Guinness Tavern"; it was close to Rue Saint-Denis (very famous for its "nightlife").
Once we got there, a guy came to my table and started talking to me.
He said he was alone and could barely understand any French. He also
said his name was Mike and that he was from Chicago. I couldn't believe it. I told him I was going to Chicago in three weeks, so he said he was going to give
me his phone number so if I wanted to go out around the city, he could give me a tour.
He seemed to be a very nice guy, so we kept talking for a while. In the middle of the conversation, he told me his
next stop was Amsterdam and then London. By this time I thought something was
really weird: I had already bought my ticket to London, and we were going to be there the same days. Later, he asked me for my phone number in Paris, so that he could call me and arrange a time to meet
in London, since neither of us really knew the place. After a while he left,
but before he did, he gave me his numbers in Chicago and I gave him mine in Paris. My
friends and I stayed until 6 a.m., so we were pretty tired the next day. Suddenly
the telephone rang. I answered and it was Mike, the guy from Chicago. He asked me if I wanted to go out for a drink and I said yes. We
met at the "metro" station close to my place (cause he got lost!), and then started walking until we found a nice bar where
we were drinking and talking until it started to clear up outside. He took me
back home. Later that Monday, he called to say good bye and asked me if I wanted
to meet him from some drinks before he left, so I said yes (do we see a pattern here with all this drinking business!!!). Then he left to Amsterdam. Tuesday afternoon
the telephone rings. It was Mike telling me where to meet in London and at what time. We talked for a while. On Wednesday morning my friend and
I left to London. Her husband was going to leave on Thursday and so was Mike. We met the two guys and went out that night.
Mike and I stayed until a little later that night. Then we met again the
next day and said bye, because he was going back to Chicago and I was going back to Paris.
By this time I thought I was never going to see him again, because I don't like calling guys and it was going to be
hard to call someone I barely knew. Time passed by and I left Paris and came
to Chicago. When a friend went to pick me up from the airport, he mentioned
someone had called asking for me, saying that he had met me in France. He left a number for me to call him back. Since he called first, I called back. We
started going out, and by the time I had to go back to Peru we were already involved.
A week after I
was back in Peru he called me and said that he had already bought his ticket to come visit me for New Year 1996, and
that he had two tickets for us to go to Macchu Pichu, an ancient city in Peru. When
he arrived, we went beach-camping with my friends and then to Cuzco and Macchu Picchu; it was very nice. Then he left but in June 1996 I came to visit him. I couldn't
stay too long. It was really hard, so I came back again in
October for just one week. Then he went to Peru to spend the New Year there again. In June 1997, I quit my job and decided to come again and this time stay with him
(all the other times I had stayed with my mom's friend), to see how things worked between us, and if the relationship was
serious. It was really hard at the beginning.
In Peru we have maids and I wasn't used to cleaning, washing clothes/dishes, and I didn't know how to cook. But with a little bit of practice (and my nails broken!) everything seemed to be easier. In December of that year I had to go back because my 6-month Immigration period was almost over, but
I came back in January to go to school. We lived in an apartment in the city
and it was really cold. Mike had always told me that he wanted to move out of
that place, so we started looking for houses and it was on February 14th 1998 (Valentine's Day) when our bid for a house was approved and we moved in March 14th. Then July 3rd we went downtown to see the fireworks and he proposed to me that night. It was so sweet and magical. We got married June 12th 1999. People came from all over the place; that made
us feel very good.
We kept partying and having lots of fun with our friends, and then in April 2002 a
little angel came to make our lives so much better. Andrea was born at the end of April, in Park Ridge, IL at 8:10 p.m.
A lot changed since then, and our lives will never be the same.
Then to shake things up a bit more, Jimmy was born five days before Andrea's
5th birthday in 2007. Now we are complete, and to my relief we are four (I just don't like odd numbers!!!). We
are as busy as ever, sleep deprived, older, etc., but everything is well worth all the effort when you see these little "angels"
smile... now, when you hear whining and crying that's another story that I would not comment on here!
What can I say, we have all been pretty lucky, but to be quite honest, I consider
myself the luckiest of all with incredibly awesome friends, family, husband, kids, and even the best
in-laws anyone can ask for!!! Besitos,
Chanie
|
|
