4 - Intercultural Communications, Robintino's & Baseball

This is post #4 of our love story. If you haven't been following, start with post #1 and read in sequential order. 

Post #1

Post #2

Post #3

4 - Intercultural Communications, Robintino's & Baseball

Summer quarter came around and I registered for 18 credit hours. Full-time was considered 12-18 credit hours and I liked to get the biggest bang for my buck...even if I was on scholarship.  I was a strategic, frugal overachiever. 😜 Plus, it's a little known secret that professors are generally just as lazy as students during the summer and the classes tend to be a bit easier. I was taking a class called "Intercultural Communications" that would fulfill one of my general education requirements.  I'd taken another communications class that I liked so I figured this one would be fun.  I showed up the first day of class and found out I had a paper due in four weeks (it was an accelerated summer class) that was based on interviews I would conduct with someone from another country. Each interview had to be at least an hour long and we had to meet with the individual on three separate occasions.  The paper would be based on what we learned about the person and their culture during our interviews. The professor recommended we go into one of the ESL classes and find someone to interview there. 

I went home and was talking to my mom about how awkward it was going to be to randomly walk into an ESL class and coerce someone into letting me interview them. Since I tend to share most things with my mom, she knew all about Marcos. 
"Why don't you just interview Marcos? Isn't he from Argentina?" 
Holy cow! Why hadn't I thought of that? He'll be easy to interview. Yes, that's what I'll do. 

I got his phone number from Sherice (the girl he'd been sitting next to when he first hit on me) and called him up. He agreed to be interviewed so I arranged to meet him at the home where he was living in Centerville. Perfect! 

I showed up with my questions prepared and was ready for the interview. He had other plans. I knocked on the door and he greeted me with a smile. 

"Why don't we do the interview over dinner?"  

I paused for a minute and then responded,  

"Okay.  Sure."  

I needed to eat anyway - I'd been at school ALL day and gone straight to meet with Marcos after my classes finished.

I drove to dinner since Marcos didn't have a car (well, he had a piece of junk that didn't run).  

We ended up at Robintino's. 

Okay, I can do Italian. 

I ordered the half and half - half spaghetti and half lasagna - and then he ordered the same. I wasn't sure if that's what he really wanted or if he was just trying to be polite. I started asking him questions about where he was born, how he grew up, what his childhood was like, etc. and found myself completely drawn to his story. The more he told me about himself, the more the butterflies in my stomach fluttered. I was really starting to like this kid. 

Dang it!  I do not want a distraction right now.

I have no idea how long we were there, but we had finished our dinner and were still chatting away. Sometimes I wrote things down for my paper, sometimes I just listened. 

We weren't finished talking so we decided to continue our conversation elsewhere. I went to pay for dinner since it was my interview, but he wouldn't let me. After all, he was loaded. 😉  

Marcos worked 20 hours a week at the Union Building making $5/hr. The kid was just rollin' in money!! 😂

**Sigh** He's such a gentleman!!  I guess chivalry's not dead after all.  **Heart pounding** Oh my heck...he's SO CUTE!!  **Deep breath**  Relax, Maria.  You're just here for an interview so you can write a paper for class.  

Marcos definitely earned points with his smooth moves.  Not only did he pay for dinner, he also insisted on opening doors for me the whole night and treating the evening as if it was our first date.  To him it was. Marcos decided to take full advantage of any opportunity he had to court me since it had been an insurmountable task to get me to agree to a date.

Once again he was the navigator and I was the driver. We ended up stopping at a junior high school and watching a baseball game while we finished talking. After I'd asked him all the questions I had prepared, he paused for a minute and then said, 

"Well, now that I've answered all the questions you had for me, would you mind if I asked you just one question?"  

Gulp.  Now what?   

"Sure!  I guess that's only fair," I responded, attempting to play it cool. "Would you ever be willing to go out with me if it wasn't for a grade?" 

Ouch! That hurt a bit. I guess I have been pretty hard on the poor guy. 

My face was a combination of embarrassment and flattery. I responded with a simple 

"Yes." 

I dropped him off, thanked him for dinner and the interview, gave him a hug and was on my way home. 

**Squeal**  Oh my heck!!  He's amazing.  Like truly amazing!! 

I'm pretty sure I replayed every single word of our conversation during my 30 minute drive home. 

Whoa...I have a major crush on the kid I turned down almost a year ago.  I can't believe this is happening.  Seriously!!  How am I ever going to live this down?  

Marcos says...

I remember that first "interview"...at least that's what Maria calls it.  I call it a date. 

We had a great time!!! We really connected. I already liked Maria, but I started to like her on a much deeper level that day.  When Maria drove away, I knew she was the girl I was going to marry.

3 - Spring Formal Saga

Disclaimer: This is post #3 in our story.  If you're lost or confused, start with post #1 and read in sequence. 

Post #1

Post #2

3 - Spring Formal Saga

LaDianaeda held an annual Spring Formal that was basically a required event. For the most part, you could get out of activities if you had to, but this was one of a few events that everyone attended. Sometime around March, I started fretting about Spring Formal. Trying to find a date for a formal dance pretty much sucks when you don't have a boyfriend. Formal dances are for couples or people who really like each other. My best friend, Lisa, got to hear me whine and complain and worry about Spring Formal for at least a month. Lisa and I are very similar in many ways, but we are definitely not the same. Lisa was much braver than I was, particularly when it came to boys. She saw my whining as an opportunity to coordinate fun dates for both of us, and eagerly set to work looking for potential candidates.  Lisa and I talked multiple times a day, but in between gab sessions, we would email each other life updates. There literally was nothing about me this girl did not know. Most of our emails at the time revolved around the upcoming dance. Lisa was in the process of finalizing a double date with a guy she wanted to take and his friend, someone she thought would be a fun date for me. In one email, I mentioned that I didn't want it to be this big ordeal where I'd feel nervous and all this pressure to have THE. PERFECT. DATE. The last "dance" I'd been to was Snowball. It was super informal and fun.  Snowball was a dance where we choose names and set each other up with secret dates. That had been a great success for me - I got set up with a pretty nice guy who was fun and who I considered a friend. NO PRESSURE! Our dance picture is me giving the kid a piggyback ride. Totally my style!!  Even though this was a formal dance, I was hoping it would still be fun and somewhat chill. At some point in the email, I mentioned that it might be a good idea to take somebody I already knew so it wouldn't be this awkward blind date - "...maybe I should just take Marcos." 

The email ended just like that. 

As luck would have it, Marcos walked into the computer lab while Lisa was reading my email. Being the friendly man that he is, he walked over to say hello and sees the phrase "maybe I should just take Marcos" practically flashing at him. The next day, I received an email from muboldi@weber.edu Who in the world is muboldi?  Who's sending me an email? What kind of last name is Uboldi?  How do you even pronounce that? 

I opened the email and realized it was from Marcos. I remember thinking to myself that Uboldi was sure a strange "latino" name. Huh? I thought his last name was Garcia or Valdez or something like that? Ugh! I would HATE that last name!! 

For those of you single folks out there, here's a piece of advice.  NEVER say or even think to yourself that you're glad you don't have a particular last name.  It's VERY dangerous territory!! Here's what I remember about the email I opened from muboldi@weber.edu 

"Maria- Hey, it's me, Marcos. I don't know how to tell you this and I really apologize, but I was in the computer lab the other day when Lisa was reading your email and I saw the part about you possibly wanting to take me to LD's Spring Formal. If you want me to go with you, it would be an honor. -Marcos"

Holy crap! What am I going to do now? By the time I read the email, I already had a date to Spring Formal - a blind date. Now I really felt bad. So I did what any freaked out girl would do in my situation...NOTHING. I left the poor guy totally hanging (AGAIN) and went to Spring Formal with the guy Lisa had arranged for me to take. But luck or fate or whatever you want to call it was on his side once again.  Although for the most part I would consider the date a success, it was horrible timing. My date had started falling hard for some other chick AFTER Lisa had talked to him about the dance. He didn't want to bail and look like a jerk so he came anyway.  By the time the dance rolled around, he pretty much felt like he was cheating on the girl he had recently started dating.  Oh the complexities of the dating world! My recap with Lisa sounded something like this.  "Well, it wasn't a horrible date, but it would've been nice to know he was attached at that point.  Seriously?? I HATE STUPID DANCES!! I should've just taken Marcos."

Marcos Says...

Yep! I remember bumping into Lisa at the computer lab!!! I don't make a habit of looking over someone's shoulder while they're at a computer, but I'm glad I did that time....MARIA should've taken me. Period. Peace!!!!

2 - Black Book, Spanish Class and Soccer Games

If you haven't read my first post, you'll want to read THIS first. The numbered posts are a sequence of events in mine and Marcos' early relationship. Start with #1 and read them in order. 

2 - Black Book, Spanish Class and Soccer Games

For those who may not know me, I have a somewhat conflicted personality. I am driven and ambitious, but super tender-hearted. I am direct to a point, but I often fret about what I have said or done after the fact wondering if I should've handled things differently. Overanalyzing is a major problem for me (but that's a different story)!!  After my first two encounters with Marcos, I found myself feeling badly about the whole situation. It wasn't so much a "I wish I had said yes to him" feeling, but rather a "I hope that wasn't too harsh" type of thing. The poor kid had two major things working against him. 1. He came off as a total player, which wasn't really my thing, and 2. I had just broken up with someone I had dated fairly seriously and wasn't at all looking for a relationship. Marcos went out with my sorority sister once but nothing came of it (the one who volunteered to go out with him after I completely shut him down).  Apparently his focus was still on me. But I was right to worry about our initial encounter damaging his ego a bit. After I turned him down, Marcos was convinced he'd been put in some sort of sorority "black book". It's not true, but it's what he believed.  And of course that's the story he insists on telling people to this day.    

Did I mention Marcos worked in the Union Building? Remember the building where I attended orchestra class three times a week?  Oh, and also the location of the Greek offices, where I spent a huge amount of time?  Yep.  That's where Marcos worked.  I thought I was going to DIE when I found out. Seriously??!!  Can't I just move on with my life?  

I basically ran into him several times a day. I have a difficult time getting over embarrassing situations like that (overanalyzing...remember?) so luckily Marcos is a much bigger person than I am. Despite being publicly humiliated and "black booked" 😉 by me, he continued to say hi or wave when he'd see me on campus. Before long, the awkwardness had mostly faded and we were becoming friends.

Winter quarter had started and I had a pretty difficult Spanish literature class that required A LOT of reading. I'm not exactly a great reader when it comes to Spanish. I can understand most things I read, but following an entire story - difficult literature - was not easy. Somehow I found the courage to ask Marcos for help me with my homework one day. I had read the story and answered the questions, but I wasn't sure I followed the sequence of everything. I asked him if he could read the story and check my answers before I turned in my paper. These were not short stories - or very interesting for that matter - but he was always willing to help me out.  Admittedly I took a little advantage of his generosity. I promise I did my own homework. But it was so much easier to have him read the story and make sure I hadn't completely missed something while I was reading. He still laughs about how he'd read this long story for me, translate and paraphrase it in English, and then I'd simply respond, "Okay, great!  That's what I thought it said. Thanks for your help!!" Poor guy!!! Surprisingly, I was clueless about the fact that he might still like me after all the torture I'd put him through.  But his kindness, generosity and contagious smile were starting to affect me more and more as we became close friends.  I looked forward to running into him and loved seeing him light up when I walked into the room.   

During the same quarter, several members of LaDianaeda and Pie Kappa Alpha (one of the fraternities on campus) put together a coed soccer team. The Pikes knew Marcos from around the UB and asked him to play on their team. I went to support my sorority sisters and was shocked when I realized Marcos was playing on their team.  Seriously?  How is it possible that this guy shows up EVERYWHERE I go??  The truth is I was there to cheer on my sorority sisters, but it was definitely a bonus getting to watch Marcos in action.  He's convinced I started to fall for him after witnessing his mad soccer skills.  😂  It was so fun seeing his competitive side, but it wasn't his "mad soccer skills" that were getting to me.  It was his heart.  

Marcos says...

I would do anything to spend time with MARIA, even if I had to read big, long literary works in Spanish.... for like 3 hours. And then just have her say, "Oh yeah. That's right. I got it. Thanks! Bye." 

Really??? Oh well. I really liked this girl!!  

Things really turned around when Maria saw me play soccer!! She thought I was a stallion!! Yea yeah!!!  I always joke that she was impressed when she saw me play. She says she wasn't, but deep inside I know she was!!! 

My official LaDianaeda sorority photo

Trying to balance classes, sorority activities, dating (not Marcos), work and family life...and LOVING every minute!! 

Marcos playing indoor soccer

Mad soccer skills... 😜

1- Our Story Begins

Some years we've made a big deal out of our anniversary.  Others have been simple but memorable.  Last year was rough.  Our anniversary came and went without so much as a blink.  It was painful.  And frightening.  Like all couples, the past 18 years have seen us through many ups and downs, but surviving 2016 was nothing short of a miracle.  As the date of our 18th wedding anniversary approaches, we are humbled and grateful as we reflect back on our relationship with new light and hope.  

Several years ago, I attempted to answer the question of how we met in story format.  We decided to do something similar this year to help us reflect once again on the early moments of our relationship.  Since the story is written from my perspective, I promised to give Marcos free reign to add any comments he wants without editing them.  YIKES!

1- OUR STORY BEGINS

Fall is my favorite season!  I love the anxiety and excitement of a new school year, especially when you're in college and have some say over your future - new classes, new teachers, new friends, new possibilities. My story with Marcos started as an average, ordinary Wednesday on campus in the Fall of 1997. I was diligently trekking up the stairs of the Union Building (UB) heading for my afternoon orchestra class. Weber State was in the process of remodeling the Browning Center (fine arts' building) so we got moved to the Ballroom of the UB for a few years (not exactly what you'd call good acoustics, but we made it work). I also happened to be a pledge of LaDianaeda, a local sorority at Weber State. Wednesday was "letters" day, when all Greeks on campus wore their letters and had meetings and activities. With violin in hand and my LD sweatshirt tied around my waist, I headed up the stairway of the UB. Halfway up, I heard someone yell out
"Hey, Maria!" 
I looked around trying to identifying the owner of the voice, but could not for the life of me see anyone I knew.  Sensing my frustration and rescuing me in the midst of discomfort, Sherice (a girl from my sorority) finally called out from the chairs below,
"Don't worry, Maria. It's just my friend Marcos."  
Huh?  Why in the world is this dude calling out my name?  
"Oh, okay.  Hey!  What's up?" 
I waved, gave an awkward half-grin and walked to my class.
What the...what? That was weird.

Two days later, I was studying outside the Greek offices on the other side of the UB. Let me preface this by saying there were at least 50 other people hanging out or studying in the same area. And remember, I'm one of the new girls - I was still a pledge. My best friend, Lisa, was there but other than that, I was just getting to know most of these people. I didn't notice as Marcos approached me and leaned on the arm of my chair.  I turned to see who was there just in time to hear,
"Hey baby! You want to go out sometime?" 
*Blush* Who is this guy?  Seriously!! How embarrassing. How many people just heard that lame come-on? 
I attempted to hide my face, which I'm guessing resembled a tomato at that point, while I muttered,
"Um, no thanks.  I'm good." 
 Persisting despite my obvious humiliation, he continues,
"Okay, yeah.  I totally get it. You don't even know me. But you know Sherice. She's in your sorority. We could double with Sherice and her boyfriend, Danny, sometime."
With a look of complete shock on my face, I manage to somehow say no once again.

Sensing an opportunity, one of my sorority sisters quickly slips into the conversation and blurts out,
"I'll go out with you!" 
Oh my heck!! Could this moment be any more public?

Marcos Says...

Yes!!!  This is pretty much how it happened!  I saw a beautiful girl that I wanted to meet and I just went for it!  Nuts right???  But when you like someone, who cares??

Letters' Day

A typical Wednesday hanging with Lisa

LaDianaeda

Just to give you an idea of the number of people hanging around the Greek offices when Marcos decided to make his move (plus there were people from other sororities and fraternities everywhere)

Mr Rico Suave himself!!