karen contacted me around 6:30pm, said she was already on my street. she arrived much faster than i anticipated, at least 30-60 minutes early. i texted her i was on the way and would be about another 15 minutes. i made it back in 13 minutes and immediately texted her to let her know i was back. a few minutes later she sent me a message saying she was right outside. apparently she had a friend here in the greater boston area (lives in natick) who had a car and went to the airport to pick her up, that's why she managed to get here so quickly. she had a backpack, a small suitcase (almost a long briefcase), and a larger suitcase. her friend left soon afterwards. i gave karen the quick tour of the house. she was wise enough to take off her boots, saves me from having to embarrassingly bring it up. while i was briefly chatting with her, i could hear her receiving text messages on her phone. i gave her some time to settle in and she called her parents and boyfriend.

out of all the spanish-speaking countries, mexico is the one i'm most familiar with. at the very least i've visited there before (though it was cancun, not sure how authentically mexico that really is) but mexicans and americans share a lot of cultural customs, from our outlook on the world to the food we eat.

so here's what i know about her: she was born in 1980, so not too far from my own birthdate. she grew up in mexico city. she and her current boyfriend have been together for about a year, although they've both lived in the merida for 4 years. she spent half a year in montreal while she was still in school, and says her french is better than her english. the last time she was in boston (only for a few days), her travel group also went to new york city for a few days as well. she gave me a gift of jalapeno sauce, because she heard i like spicy food.

after a shower, she went to bed early, before 10pm. she'd been up since 5am this morning, driving 3 hours from merida to cancun to take a direct flight to boston. i told her i'd give her a tour of boston tomorrow, as she didn't really get a chance to see the city the last time she can here (for a conference in the seaport district).