3 excuses

so i realize that i have been total crap at keeping this blog updated, im sorry. im especially embarrassed since i always get annoyed with people that start up new activities with full enthusiasm, only to lose wind about a week later. i am that person, wonderful.

here’s my first excuse; that course was intense. this past month, i have had a pretty good amount of people ask me whether or not i recommend getting tefl certified. here’s the only thing I know to tell you; if you can check ‘yes’ to at least 3 of the 5 things below then yes, please do it. if not, save your money and just go on a really nice trip with some good friends.

-- you laugh more than you complain…i put this one first because this one is huge. if you can’t check ‘yes’ on this one then just skip the rest of the list entirely, seriously

-- you don’t mind giving up modern conveniences. and by ‘modern conveniences’ i don’t mean flat screens and air conditioning. those aren’t modern conveniences here, those are future conveniences. i mean warm water, screened windows, and well-paved roads.

-- you like to meet new people (in person) more than you like to facebook.

-- you’re okay with the fact that you will occasionally be put in situations (voluntarily or not) that you’re certain in which you will either 1. have something stolen, 2. get seriously injured, or 3. die. don’t worry, it’s usually none of the above but you won’t know that in the moment.

-- you want to actually work. also huge.

that being said, i in no way claim to be a tefl expert. but, in these first few weeks, i have found these few rules to be mostly accurate. i also believe that 9 out of the 9 other students i graduated with would probably agree with me on the content of this list, with maybe even a few additional requirements of their own.

this brings me to another list i’ve been meaning to make…let me preface this…there is no way in the world i could ever possibly cover how awesome this last month was. i think that’s partly the reason i stopped blogging, because it gave me anxiety to think of how many updates i would need to make and how many superlatives i would need to use in order to serve this whole experience justice. this is my second excuse.

so, instead of a recap, i have a list. a list of all the things that i, and my fellow students, can think about when we need a smile or a laugh…here goes…

-- no “boom”

-- can we eat this leaf?

-- tutti fruitti

-- bloop

-- well, i dont think i have my sea legs yet

-- constant happenings

-- bip bip

-- modcons/coms

-- it’s a hermet crab village, and i think there’s a fight

-- aunt sally and her haircutting skills

-- hennie

-- chance of chop; all time high

-- he SPEAKS

-- it is a notebooks

-- survival skills first, hangover second

-- purple inchworm wearing a top hat with music notes

-- your name is manzana?

-- hey! hey! i love you!

-- bring your stuff in/scented candles

-- shower in the trees

-- lizard towel

-- mmm sexy

-- julia, just anything julia.

-- hamburgers from arriba

-- anything from gusto

-- beef on a stick man

-- the hammock

-- black eye excuses

-- broken toilets

-- banana daiquiris

yes i realize that this is an immature, silly list that is relevant to absolutely no one other than my tefl school and me. yes, i realize that this does nothing to explain my experience in samara. yes, i realize that 7^th graders make similar lists to sum up their summer/bible camp vacations. i don’t really care, i love this list.

that last selfish sentence brings me to my third, and final, excuse. i got selfish… here comes a rant:

it felt kind of nice to be completely off of the map. those who know me well know that i am not a lover of constant contact. i rarely answer my phone, even if i’m doing nothing and i like you. it’s rude but it’s not personal. it’s just that i don’t always agree with how convenient cell phones and the internet have made it to delve into the intimate, peaceful, or even totally mundane moments of our lives. doesn’t anyone agree that sometimes it’s awesome to have absolutely no one know exactly where you are or exactly what you’re doing all of the time? it’s liberating to not have any mode of communication, at least that’s what i think.

rant over.

anyway, i was telling this all to my friend alex (who has an amazingly rare personality combination of both piss-your-pants-hilariousness and buddha-like-wiseness/kindness) about a week ago. his response went something like this, “well the blog’s not really for you, is it? it’s for everyone else that wants to know what you’re doing. for everyone that loves you. it’s not about being selfish because it’s not about you”. when he’s right, he’s right. however, i can’t promise that i won’t fall back into my love of the obscure lifestyle, but i’ll try not to.

blog about this amazing city of granada coming soon...promise

totes magoats the reason for this blog.

i'm gunna get all philosophical-ly for a sec so just bare with me...or just skip to the bottom, ya jerk...

i think that, for many of us, there is a predetermined path that is chosen waaay before we have the right to choose it for ourselves. it's not the blame of our parents, or the blame of anyone for that matter. it's a good path, a really good path. it's just probably not questioned enough on an individual basis. what is it? i think it's the path that tells us to go play nice at daycare, grade school, high school, then college.. our professional career, the dating scene, followed by playing suuuuper nice in marriage so that you can, finally (ahhh!) play nice with your children. the path says, "have a career and babies, nurture them, be selfish when you retire". quite frankly, the path freaks me out. a lot. it's freaked me out since i could remember. i wish i loved the path, and that's not to say that someday (maybe even a very soon day) i won't. all i know is that, for now, i'd like to take the path a little less traveled.

..by now you're probably sick of hearing about "the path". well, guess what? i'm sick of typing "the path" so i promise it will not be a reoccurring theme of this blog..i am rarely philosophical or insightful..

anyhoo, if i've learned anything at all in the past 23 years, it's that very few things are certain. well i do know one thing for certain; i love, LOVE, to travel. so now i finally start the trip/voyage/adventure i have looked forward to since the days of "where in the world is carmen san diego?" (if you don't know the show, google it. it's truly a classic). i'll begin with a 1 month class in the small beach town of samara, costa rica where i will be getting certified to teach english abroad. i'm not quite sure where it will lead me from there.. maybe a year long teaching contract in central or south america? maybe europe? maybe somewhere in asia? we'll see. do i know how to teach? umm no, not really. however, i'm not enough of a hippy to just backpack all over the world without ever actually earning any money so lets hope this teaching stuff works out..

i leave this friday, june 11th. if you'd like to travel with me, please do. i believe the internet's weight limit is much more lenient than most airline's checked baggage requirement so this blog with just have to suffice, for now.