Saturday, November 15, 2008

Live happy :)

For those of you yearning to hear from me again…things have been, once again, hectic. Currently I’m sitting in the La Ceiba Airport listening to Nickel Creek and…well…reflecting. These last days have been filled with a lot of highs, the highest of which was my parents visiting. I missed them very much and it’s always amazing to be able to show them my life in every place I live…temporarily. I started thinking about the various places in which they have visited me, in a place that was really all my own: Baltimore, Dominican Republic, now Honduras…where will they go next? Who knows, but I’ve realized how truly blessed I am to have parents who visit me, who don’t expect to do the touristy thing, who are there to see me in my new element, to see my daily routine and how my life has changed on daily basis.

It was great to be able to show them my new job, have them meet my co-workers and friends, bring them to the Lenca pottery workshop in southern Honduras. But they definitely made me realize that this experience is going to fly by so fast that if I don’t take time for myself, time to decompress, reflect, STOP working a little, then it’s going to be over before I know it and I’m going to feel a little bit of regret that I was always working and not enjoying so much. I spend so much time traveling to purchase materials, in the workshop organizing the daily production, and then traveling again to sell, that I’m just always working. And I’ve come to a place where I’m sad and tired and jaded…which is good for no one. I want to work hard and it’s just what I asked for. But having the balance where I also take care of myself is something that I never really mastered before, especially not in school at Hopkins…I’d have rather study an extra half-hour the morning before an exam instead of take a shower, for example (and I know you other Hopkins students do exactly the same thing). But maybe that relaxing shower would have helped me even more than a half-hour more of studying. My mom always said I was addicted to stress…and in a country and culture so much more laid back, I’ve found any way possible to create an environment of stress around me. Always here or there, moving, traveling. But I’m starting to realize that it’s okay to sit, you know. It’s okay to take a deep breath. It’s okay to stop for a while, shave your legs and paint your toenails.

Since this week has been full of stress: we lost some very expensive materials in the workshop, one woman’s child is sick with pneumonia and hasn’t been HIV tested yet and it could become a bad situation, and then some more latin male issues; I’ve decided to take some time for fun for once. For those of those who might be feeling lonely too, I encourage you to just call someone to hang out…make the first step and who knows. One text to an American English teacher and now tonight I’m going camping with a group of American English teachers and peace corps workers and some Hondurans. Next week, I’m taking off work to go to the Honduran-Mexican World Cup selection game. FUUUUN!!! I will always be someone who works hard and strives for perfection in what I do…but if I’ve learned one thing recently from Honduran culture: Life is short, so don’t always live to work, instead work to live. And then live happy.

1 comment:

Julie Ann said...

Jo-
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who skipped showers to study now and then:) I keep praying for you, that God would use you, teach you, and show you amazing things through your work and relationships with your workers. I'm glad to hear you're going to do some fun things too. Go dancing! I mean.. come to Costa Rica where the boys know how to dance!

p.s. I just got back from 4 days in Nicaragua and now I know why you called Costa Rica a developed country! like, woah.