To start this entry off I thought I’d talk about some of the
weird stuff that I do and that happens to me. Most of it probably won’t kill me
but probably isn’t great either. I also know that most of this stuff may happen
in the States but here it’s on an almost daily basis.
These
wonderful things include:
- Inhaling (yes, directly up my nose) all sorts of insects.
- Accidentally consuming more fish bones than I could count.
- Trudging unknowingly through what may or may not be sewage wearing flip-flops.
- Bathing in water that is tinted brown or has dead things floating in it.
- Eating food dripping with oil (quite delicious, might I add).
- Squatting precariously over questionable holes doing mother nature’s business.
- Getting all sorts of interesting insect bites (good thing I’m vaccinated for everything under the sun!)
- Going for hours without saying or understanding a word of what’s going on (can’t be great for my mental health, right?)
Lately I’ve
been feeling a little down. I’m finally at site, no longer a trainee. This
means I’m feeling isolated and scared. Also I feel quite bored. I am not
supposed to start working yet as I’ve previously mentioned so I have A LOT of
down time. I’m trying my best to learn the language and be present in my
village but sometimes I just need to escape to my room and read or watch
movies. One of these times that I was feeling overwhelmed (this morning), I re-read
some of my entries in my diary from years ago. I’m pretty good at keeping a
diary and have entries dating back to when I was about 7 years old. Those ones
are quite boring as my life really wasn’t that exciting then. They consist
largely of, “Today I went outside and played, it was fun!” Seriously though,
encourage kids to keep diaries, they are eye opening years later.
Over the
past few years, however, I talked a lot about my hopes and dreams and what I
hope to get out of life. I would like to share some of those hopes and dreams
as I’m proud to say a lot have come true. I feel like it’s necessary right now
to share some of these because my day to day lately has been less than ideal
and writing about that would just bore everyone to tears! Hopefully you enjoy
reading a little more about who I am and what I hope to achieve in this life
(at least some of what I hope to achieve).
- I hope to get into the Peace Corps (yup this was a goal for quite some time people)
- I hope to fall in love (yes…that happened J)
- I hope to make my parents proud
- I hope to set a good example for others
- I hope to make others happy
- I hope to own my own car/home
- I hope to see Germany with my dad (he’s German…I want to see my roots)
- I hope to have children
- I hope to help others, to make a difference
- I hope to see the world
- I hope to speak more languages
- I hope to get married (at Bear Lake, one of my favorite places in the world)
- I hope to have my dad walk me down the aisle
- I hope that I always continue to learn and to better myself
- I hope to let the little things slide
- I hope to ride an elephant
- I hope to climb one of the world’s tallest mountains (did it, Kilimanjaro, woo!)
- I hope to work for Disney (what Disney freak hasn't hoped for that at least once?)
- I hope to work for myself
- I hope to be happy
All in all, I have been incredibly fortunate thus far in my life to achieve many of my hopes. Each day I just need to keep pushing through the hard stuff to get to my ultimate goals. To do that here in Senegal I've realized setting small (I mean, minuscule) goals for myself will get me through the days. Today my plan is to visit the post office and greet some villagers. Maybe I’ll even stop by my office, don’t want to overwhelm myself though. There’s always tomorrow and the next day and the next day….
Until the
next day then,
xx
hahah I loved your list of things that are probably not going to kill you.... they are all so true!!!
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