Wednesday, June 11, 2008

It's All Love...

Now I want to start off by apologizing for not having written anything for the last couple of months. As always it has been interesting and I find it hard to sit down in front of a computer for any extended amount of time while the world is happening outside, waiting for me. But here I am finally, and I´d like to start off by telling everybody about a realization that I´ve recently had. Now its one thing to know and understand something intellectually, yet its entirely different to come to a realization and to allow that realization to seep into your everyday consciousness and have an effect on every facet of your every day life. This is something that is not easy, and Im not sure how long it is going to last but Ill ride it out as long as I can. So the realization ‘It´s all love…’ and yes I know its cliché, but like I said its only cliché in the intellectually understood way. Everybody knows ‘all we need is love’, courtesy of John Lennon, and all those other sayings that go along with it. Yet this is not just a saying or an understanding of it. I have literally learned and allowed myself to love everybody, myself included, and this has allowed me to set the tone and the direction of every day. Stay with me now I know its getting mushy, but there is practical application. This has affected the way in which I interact with people and the way that people respond to me. If you´re sending out positive vibes, people will respond positively. People feel more comfortable around you and are more likely to be receptive to what you´re saying. This is important for a volunteer, we are always networking and trying to convince and motivate NGO´s, school directors, community boards, community members, Mayors and a bunch of other people to act and progress and think in terms of development. If they are instantly picking up on your good vibes, they will be more likely to respond to what you have to say, in a positive way. This is something that every one of you also does in your everyday lives, at least in terms of interactions. Here´s the practical application, every single interaction you have, every single conversation has a dynamic. Now this dynamic varies based on your relationship with the person that you are talking to. Yet we can safely say that at any given moment in any conversation there is someone who is guiding or leading the conversation while the other is following or responding, now if you are close friends there is more trade off. Yet with acquaintances there is always a leader and a follower, and if you inject every interaction with ‘love’ you are instantly taking the lead and setting the tone. And if you set the tone, you set the direction. There is the practical application of ‘Its all Love’, other than that you feel so much better every day. You become so much more patient with people, its so much easier to understand other peoples perspectives and you enjoy life so much more. That’s all I have to say about that…

Now back to the business of letting you guys/girls know what´s going on down here. So my garden project is doing great right now, we just started the rainy season and the plants are growing like weeds. The only problem is that the weeds are also growing like weeds. Stuff grows so fast here its ridiculous. So as of right now we have radishes, cucumbers, squash, beans, corn, green beans and I think that’s about it. So everything is growing great and the cows are staying out of the garden. We are also about ready to start an organic composting pit pretty soon, so that should be interesting… My softball team, the women are fresh off a big win on Saturday. They played great, they played fundamentally sound, smart, and with heart, I was proud of them. They also had a great time in the process, which is what its all about. One of the best parts is that the team we played was really good, and really cocky, and they had worked us in our previous four games so, revenge. Now the thing I like about coaching this team, is the passion some of these women have for playing and learning new things about the game. I´ve got a 50 years young short stop and a 52 year young 2nd basewoman. Both of whom have children and no husband, one of whom´s husband recently informed her that he had met somebody else and would stop sending money down from the states for her and her kids, oh and that he was never coming back. So to see her out there enjoying herself and getting better is great. We are also getting ready to enter a tournament this month, this will really test our improvement. Ill let you know how it goes… Here´s an interesting story, so Im laying in bed one night after a long day. Slowly Im starting to fall asleep despite the roosters sounding off, the semis driving by, the cows mooing endlessly, the bull frogs, the dogs barking at the cows, the pigs squealing because of the dogs, the crickets in my house, and the orchestra of insects just outside. My head is gently pressed on the pillow and my eyes gently close and I start to drift off. When suddenly I hear a sound in my pillow, now you know how sometimes when your head is pushed against the pillow it sounds like somebody is walking in the snow. So Im laying there listening, because we all know this sound, no big deal right. Then the footsteps start getting louder and louder, what the heck´s going on? I listen closer, and just then I feel something crawling on my head and I raise just in time to see a mouse climbing over the top of my head and up my mosquito net. I flip out and start cussing at the thing (so much for love right) and I start swinging at it. Now I wanted to kill it, there is nothing more disrespectful then climbing on somebodys head. So it is scared out of its mind, it scurries up the net to the beams holding up my roof and runs out of my house, and I havnt seen it since… Alright now there is a lot more I´d like to tell you guys but I don’t like making these things too long. So here is my patented summation list, if you have a question about anything in the list ask me and Ill elaborate for you. Here goes: bolo fountain, I love Latina women, starting plans to build computer lab, solicited to fix school roof, trying to establish county wide recycling program, intermediate level English class, I score goals every game, basketball tournament, I love everybody but especially Latina women, trip home too fun, it is hot all the time, dead dog, intestinal infection, I hate mosquitoes, and I think I may have a ‘girlfriend’(and ofcourse she’s hot). LOVE! PEACE! PUPUSA GREASE!