baby steps (oct 24)

Today I write because it was a hell of day. So many things happened to me, for me and with me. I woke up late again… 620 but didn’t get out of bed til 720..seems like that not wanting to wake up early thing followed me here. Anywho, I showered, dressed in my painting clothes and headed out. I painted for most the morning. I took on this job because one…I want to help do whatever I can and two… I really enjoy painting and physical work, so in a sense it was just as much for me as it was for my counterparts office make over. Turns out my second day of painting, when my mind was absolutely blank and my eyes only reflected the stokes of my paint brush in mint green, was not just for the sake of paining. The immortal advice of fellow PVCs and my program managers, “just be present” never felt more apt. A man in a ball cap came in mid morning and I was introduced to a man that had a lot of ins in the community. Quite an understatement since he sits on three boards, 2 for development, the Junta of education. But I was reassured that somehow, he understood my purpose and that he works with low income, low resource families and great people. He gave me his phone number and invited me, with opens arms and enthusiasm I have yet to find, to their meeting tomorrow. Of course there isn’t a time and of course it’s a day that CJ is visiting but this literally fell out of the sky, into my lap and seems to be one step closer to wedging myself into the community. What luck! In the afternoon, because I had no idea that the afternoon classes at the high school start at 12:10, the same time I left the escuela, I felt a sense of urgency and it was unsettling. I felt late and rushed.. and how are those things possible here? Latent remnants of my US “punctuality”, I'm sure. My host mom reassured me to take my time and eat and I’ll get there when I get there. When I did eventually get there, there were no sentiments to the contrary and I sat in on Yesi’s English class. I was invited to sit in on another English class next door. I should mention here that it rains, every afternoon, pretty much without fail. I was in a hurry and wearing open shoes seemed like a dumb idea, so I strapped on my hiking boots, to walk faster and keep the water out. Whether it was because of the boots or not, I was invited my one of the other teachers to their hiking group that goes out on Saturdays! How perfect! It’s like someone pulling the strings of fortune was listening to my thoughts. All in all I saw three different groups of students, and I feel, finally, like I’m chipping away at the mountain of ambiguity and the how and what my next two years may look like. A.great.day.