Conference call chaos

Sunday afternoon family calls hit different when you’re both homesick at the same time. Jake’s sister called from Portland right as Abuela Rosa was calling from San Antonio, so we ended up on opposite sides of the apartment having completely separate conversations with our respective families.

Conference call chaos

He’s over there trying to explain his latest work project while I’m here getting the full update on my cousin’s wedding drama and Abuela’s neighbor’s new puppy situation. The acoustics in this place are questionable at best, so we’re both doing that weird whisper-yell thing you do when you’re trying to be considerate but also need to be heard over three time zones.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the apartment.

Twenty minutes in, we made eye contact across the room and just started laughing. Jake’s sister apparently heard me crack up in the background and asked if ‘Elena’s having her own family drama moment,’ which honestly, yes. Always. It’s like we’re running parallel customer service operations for our respective childhood homes.

But you know what? There’s something oddly comforting about being homesick together. Even when we can’t hear each other’s conversations, just knowing we’re both doing the ‘catch up with everyone back home’ thing makes it feel less lonely. Plus, Abuela specifically asked me to tell ‘ese muchacho guapo’ that she’s saving him some flan recipes for next time we visit.