jueves, 12 de enero de 2012

Everybody's Free - Baz Luhrmann



So I first heard this song at my best friends' house when I was probably 10 years old where I remember her mother loving the words to this song. Over the years I have listened to it again and again whenever it comes up on my iPod. But, over the past few months while idly hand-washing my clothes and allowing my thoughts to wander from one end of the world to the other, I just love to put this song on and listen to these beautifully written lyrics..

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99 
Wear Sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering experience
I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….You are not as fat as you
imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. 

Enjoy your body,
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you
should hold on. 

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

Holidays and such..


Since I got back in December I’ve experienced celebrating holidays in a different culture, looked back upon my experiences of 2011, had to find a new home and move out within 2 weeks, and completely stress out over changes in our PC Guatemala program.

Me and Venoni on New Year's

 I spent Christmas with my boyfriends’ family in Chimaltenango where we celebrated by blowing off fireworks at midnight along with the rest of Guatemala and then cooking meat on an outside fire until 3AM.   The next day, Christmas Day, I was woken up 4 ½ hours later to ‘do an errand’. I figured it was something to do with Christmas but instead we drove 2 hours away for his brother to do some secret errand while we ate breakfast in Pollo Campero consisting of French fries, 7 up, and chocolate that I bought from the Dispensa. Normal Christmas morning, right? The rest of the day was spent cooking more meat , playing soccer, making chuchitos, and drinking ponche. Although it was a different kind of Christmas, I was luckily to have a family and a boyfriend to spend it with.

The arch in Antigua. 2011-2012
To ring in the New Year I decided to spend it in Antigua with Venoni and some other Peace Corps volunteers. From 5pm until about 10pm there were many activities on one of the main streets consisting of fireworks, mimes, people on stilts, marimba, amongst others. At 10pm we watched an amazing firework show right above the arch.  We then met up with other volunteers and some El Salvador PC volunteers as well. At midnight we all went to the park to watch the massive array of fireworks which was incredible.  Overall, it was truly amazing to experience such a beautiful night with someone I have grown so close with.

Now, I am still in the process of finding housing.  I was supposed to be out by the 5th or 6th of January but due to vacations and busy schedules Peace Corps just came out 2 days ago to approve the house but I have yet to hear anything. So hopefully within the next few days I’ll get a call saying it is approved so that I’ll finally be able to start the move.  I’ll most likely be going from a 2 bedroom house with my own patio, own bathroom, and own pila to one room with a shared bathroom and shared pila. Peace Corps definitely tries to keep their volunteers safe.

As for the upcoming weeks, it’s all a waiting game. Right now we have the option to leave on ‘Interrupted Service’ if we feel we are unsafe serving here in country. This option was given to us due to security incidences in Guate and some surrounding Central America countries. However, currently we are waiting on details and possibly new PC rules to ensure our safety. So the past few weeks have all been about waiting but at least Peace Corps is teaching me how to be patient J