As this has become one of my only remaining English outlets, this has also become my place to share the lessons I learn... as I learn them. I'm of the belief that you should love your enemies. I mean, love everyone else too, but love your enemies. Having said that, it's no easy task. So... make less enemies. Simple enough, eh? Kinda.
It's hard to yell at a smile. Granted, some people get even más enojado when you do so, but then it just makes the situation that much funnier. If someone is yelling their heads off and you're smiling, trust me, the situation will seem quite a bit funnier. For example, at frisbee tonight (I'll explain more in a second) a woman yelled down field at another player "teach him how to throw a forehand" in a not too pleasant tone. I, of course, was "him." Now having played ultimate frisbee before, I felt immediately offended at this... I had been throwing forehands all night, hadn't I? Well I had two roads. One, I could label her as "crazy intense", not too gentle with words, and just a unhappy person in general. Second, rationalize that there's probably some reason she said what she said and in the tone that she said it. Maybe she'd just been fired and wasn't so happy. Maybe she wasn't too skilled at expressing her thoughts in a more peaceful manner. Either way, it doesn't really matter. But in the second way, I'd go up to her and as sincerely as possible say, thanks for the advice, thank her for playing with me, and ask what else I could do to improve? Needless to say, the second way was much funnier given the bedazzled look on her face. It's rare to see a face of shock, confusion, anger, happiness, and speechlessness all at the same time. But at least by going to second route, it meant I wouldn't be playing "avoid crazy lady" and instead, now have a friend (who considerably loosened up after that interaction).
Now, this is all Barney-give-me-a-hug and after school special-like, but hey, Barney and friends and the Power Rangers had reason. And either way life is just a lot more fun when funny.
Oh and I stood on my head today. An Argentinian guy was doing after the game (seemingly to de-stress) and said "try it." And hither to the first line of this post, I did... though with much less skill, and much more blood rushing to my head. Ponytail dude (I forget his name) instructed me how to do it better next time. I hope I remember his name.
And another point. By try everything, I mean that if your foreign country mom invites you to church, temple, grocery store, or something else, do it. If "guy in car" asks you to get in and go hit the bars... use the thing between your shoulders.
The breathing thing. You'll hear this a lot and I've said this already once, but remember to take a break from the world to truly relax. Stress builds without you knowing. But don't cling onto your "relaxing agents" too much... you have limited time in a FOREIGN country. Or if you're applying advice to life, you have limited time in.. umm.. on this planet.
Hmm... so quizás (perhaps) the advice is a bit too crazy optimistic/unrealistic, but as it turns out, the optimists tend to have a lot more fun. And yeah, it's hard... and at times it sucks (when it's just much easier to judge and be angry)... but it gets easier. :)
This is seeming a bit more like an advice column. To news! I'll try and recall to the best of my ability everything that's happened since the last post... so since... Tuesday.
There was a new happening with the Spanish teachers, but again I'm not at liberty to write them on the internet. Let's just say the choice 1) choice 2) advice came in handy their as well, though I didn't deal with it as well as I could have... because at the same type, I do believe you should speak your mind. Sorry, this is a bit cryptic. Hmm.
Moving on, we returned to the forest with Dr. Roy Thursday morning, this time the Parque Metropolitano (last time was Soberania) which was very cool. Didn't get to see much in terms of animals, but studying vegetation is actually really interesting. Plants are pretty dang smart. Oh so are bugs. By the way, skip some of the pictures if you're scared of spiders.
Like this one. :)
Hail Caesar!... Dr Roy and the magic of candidity.
So the plant he was explaining in the previous picture is this one... whose name escapes me at the moment, but it tends to grow in "light gaps". Plants of this type sprout up quickly but aren't of the long-term type.
I spent most of the morning actually watching people watching other things. The dynamics of people are just amazing to me. The actual number of thoughts that go through our head without us being aware of it is staggering. And it fit, seeing as though in order to enact change in Conservation and Development, we must also understand people, eh? Conservation Biology really is an extremely multi-disciplined subject.
A very "band of brothers (and sisters)-esque" picture
This forest is much younger, and thus has a lot of "jungle" quality to it.
Arachnaphobes... beware.
The view from the hill we were on.
A flower imitating bug. Just for reference, it's about the size of my pinky fingernail.
A clearing at the top.This... was our Saturday.
Our huts.(People in college) "Hey guys you guys want to go hang out at ______'s apartment tomorrow night? Yah! Awesome man."
(Us) "Hmm how about we go to a tropical beach this weekend using public transportation that costs us less than gas would if we used our own car?" Yeah. That's right.
Haha, it was fairly amazing, reading, swimming, relaxing on the beach. It was a 2 hour trip out and two hour back, but well worth it. Careful though, be prepared to pay for every little aspect, as the beach at Santa Clara is less developed with fewer amenities, meaning a dollar here or there for hut and hammack rental, beach entrance, shower, bathroom, etc. Considering it was our first time out as a whole group, it think it was pretty successful.
And after sleeping a complete 12 hours Saturday night, I went to Mass with my mom the following morning. For me, it was fairly moving and culturally rich and a reminder that even though we're all from vastly different cultures, we all still share various important aspects of our lives. Turns out the human experience between cultures isn't that unique. We're all still human, ne?
And in the afternoon, Becky and I set off for the City of Knowledge (Ciudad de Saber) where we had our frisbee games. There were enough people for 2 games going on at once with subs and we pretty much played as long as light allowed. It's nice too, rain doesn't stop you. The rain's not freezing, and still 90 degrees outside so it's rather refreshing. Anyways, Becky and I had a lot of fun and got a ride from Joel (a nice guy we met) for home.
Tengo mucha tarea. Hasta luego chicos.
-Timó or as everyone else pronounces it... Tímo.
1 comment:
WOW, you were really starting to sound like mom in your writings... who knew what Panama could do to you?? ;)
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