Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Curveball of a Day

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Everyone says that Peace Corps brings good days and bad days. No one warned me about the third kind of day: the curve ball kind of day. Turns out, this last one is my favorite kind of Peace Corps day. 

The Curve Ball Day is what I call those days where you think you are going to do something, then you find yourself in a completely bizarre situation light years away from what you expected it to be. Anyone who has been invited to a 'meeting' then ends up in a parade, a rice eating contest (that's you, Nicole Thomas) or a drinking circle knows what I am talking about.  

Tuesday the 18th was one of those days for me. Everything I thought I would do that day was not done, and that is awesome. 

Morning in my head- I will go to the private high school and join geography class to prepare for my world map project. 

Morning in reality- "Social science teacher had her baby yesterday. Come back on Thursday for English Class." Cool. Guess I'll go get ready for this afternoon's self esteem workshop and eat lunch with the fam. Wrong. Call from Matt. Would I like to have lunch in Ascope with him and his municipality friends who happen to be in Ascope today? Sure. Can't say no to local friends from a muni. And I got some free ceviche out of the deal. Alright. 

Afternoon in my head- Self esteem workshop with the school psychologist and a bunch of my teen friends. I pictured a lecture and my little friends texting, talking, and spacing out. 

Afternoon in reality- Awesome work by the psychologist and full participation in the activity I planned. The kids got into it and my activity worked really well for the focus of the chat. This was a ton of fun and a great way to get to know the students on a more personal level. This day is turning out to be really great. 

Evening in my head- Rest. Coming down with a cold. Maybe I'll blog or read. In any case, I'll lay low. Ha. No you won't. 

Evening in reality- Host fam asked me if I wanted to go to a procession. I had noticed balloons everywhere in town earlier and was curious, so I tagged along. Little did I know, I would actually be in the procession. First we sat in church for about 30 minutes of silence. Sidenote- Piere waited outside because he doesn't like churches. He's 6. Then we all convened between the statue of el SeƱor de los Milagros and the marching band and began our trek. A few blocks in, a lady with candles skipped over me when passing them out to everyone. When my host mom asked her to give me one, she took one look at me and said something to the extent of, "She will burn." Ahhh, ok. I thought at least I'd get a balloon like the kids, but no luck there either.  Candle or not, it was still enjoyable. Though walking next to a trumpet and right behind the incense lady probably wasn't the best thing for my head cold, I didn't mind so much. The fact that I was walking around town in a vigil light parade was enough to keep my mind off of being sick. 

I like surprises. I like random things. I love my life right now. 


In the moto taxi with the host bros on our way to the procession.

I look ridiculous in this picture... but it's still fun. 

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