So
it’s been a while without an update. And
I’ve been pretty bad at writing emails, too.
Sorry about that. I have an excuse! And a good one, too. I’m getting ready to spend three months in a
Guatemalan jungle with 250 children.
It’s funny, because it sounds like a joke, but it’s not.
Getting myself prepared for my summer plans has actually turned up quite a few more challenges than I thought it would. But now that I think about it, it’s kind of a miracle there haven’t been even more. I want you to imagine something: you are going to the jungle for three months. You need to buy certain supplies that are not commonly needed in every part of the world (super-strength insect repellent, for example). You need injections and malaria pills, and you need to decide what to bring to a place where you will have no electricity, no hot water, millions of animals and critters, and no department store just up the road. Got it in your head? Now do it while living in an Eastern European country where you have the language skills of the average 2-year-old, at best. Not that I’m complaining. It’s actually been a bit of an adventure already. And it’s given me the chance to let other people help me, and therefore made me appreciate some of the people in my life even more.
There have been several friends who have offered me help with their encouraging words, assistance with Spanish, priceless advice, phone calls to friends to get information, etc. I hope you know who you are, and that I’ve thanked you enough. Some of you have quite simply been life rafts on days when I’ve been scared and felt lost.
There is, however, one person I simply can’t thank enough, so I want to mention her by name. Natalia, who works at Bell as one of the administrators, is, to use a Spanish expression I just learned, un alma de Dios. (This is a person who is incredibly kind and for whom there can be no harsh words.) When I told her what I was doing, she went straight to her computer and her telephone and started asking everyone she could think of what kinds of vaccines I needed and where I could go to get them. She got the people at medicus to order the rabies vaccine specially for me, and when my doctor was lecturing me for not knowing exactly how many malaria pills I would need, Natalia spoke to her on the phone and made it better. When I overpaid at the doctor, she took care of everything again. I’m pretty sure I would’ve quit halfway through the medical process if I hadn’t had her to help me. Now I’m one rabies shot away from being vaccinated, and just waiting on a package from England with my malaria pills in it.
With just over three and a half weeks to go before the “real” adventure begins, I’m sure I’ll be pretty busy right up until the moment I get on the plane. I’m sure I’ll be some combination of scared, excited, stressed, and humbled. And I’m sure I’ll keep being touched by what wonderful people I know (and in fact, some I don’t know – I’ve been helped by total strangers). I wrote about responsibility a while ago. About taking responsibility for both the good and bad that I’ve created in my own life. And it feels amazing to be able take responsibility for having such people in my life, but I think I get to share the credit with them for a lot of the magical turns my life has taken, because I couldn’t have made any of them alone. And the more I think about it, I wouldn’t have wanted to. It feels better to share the experience with people who care about you.
Gracias, mis seres queridos.
Sorry, I guess I'm feeling quite sentimental today.
It’s funny, because it sounds like a joke, but it’s not.
Getting myself prepared for my summer plans has actually turned up quite a few more challenges than I thought it would. But now that I think about it, it’s kind of a miracle there haven’t been even more. I want you to imagine something: you are going to the jungle for three months. You need to buy certain supplies that are not commonly needed in every part of the world (super-strength insect repellent, for example). You need injections and malaria pills, and you need to decide what to bring to a place where you will have no electricity, no hot water, millions of animals and critters, and no department store just up the road. Got it in your head? Now do it while living in an Eastern European country where you have the language skills of the average 2-year-old, at best. Not that I’m complaining. It’s actually been a bit of an adventure already. And it’s given me the chance to let other people help me, and therefore made me appreciate some of the people in my life even more.
There have been several friends who have offered me help with their encouraging words, assistance with Spanish, priceless advice, phone calls to friends to get information, etc. I hope you know who you are, and that I’ve thanked you enough. Some of you have quite simply been life rafts on days when I’ve been scared and felt lost.
There is, however, one person I simply can’t thank enough, so I want to mention her by name. Natalia, who works at Bell as one of the administrators, is, to use a Spanish expression I just learned, un alma de Dios. (This is a person who is incredibly kind and for whom there can be no harsh words.) When I told her what I was doing, she went straight to her computer and her telephone and started asking everyone she could think of what kinds of vaccines I needed and where I could go to get them. She got the people at medicus to order the rabies vaccine specially for me, and when my doctor was lecturing me for not knowing exactly how many malaria pills I would need, Natalia spoke to her on the phone and made it better. When I overpaid at the doctor, she took care of everything again. I’m pretty sure I would’ve quit halfway through the medical process if I hadn’t had her to help me. Now I’m one rabies shot away from being vaccinated, and just waiting on a package from England with my malaria pills in it.
With just over three and a half weeks to go before the “real” adventure begins, I’m sure I’ll be pretty busy right up until the moment I get on the plane. I’m sure I’ll be some combination of scared, excited, stressed, and humbled. And I’m sure I’ll keep being touched by what wonderful people I know (and in fact, some I don’t know – I’ve been helped by total strangers). I wrote about responsibility a while ago. About taking responsibility for both the good and bad that I’ve created in my own life. And it feels amazing to be able take responsibility for having such people in my life, but I think I get to share the credit with them for a lot of the magical turns my life has taken, because I couldn’t have made any of them alone. And the more I think about it, I wouldn’t have wanted to. It feels better to share the experience with people who care about you.
Gracias, mis seres queridos.
Sorry, I guess I'm feeling quite sentimental today.
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