Monday, April 24, 2006
You had a vacation so you decided to come to Columbus, Ohio?!
Believe it or not, I had an excellent time vacationing in Columbus, Ohio. This is because many of my friends are there—there’s no way I couldn’t have had fun. I also got to relax because I didn’t have any work to do there, and, unlike the trip to Chiapas, I wasn’t traveling around like crazy. I just stayed put and did normal Columbus things, like playing with the cats, chatting away for hours with girlfriends, cooking new recipes for Luis and then watching movies or TV, going out to the salsa club, meeting friends for drinks in the Short North, shopping at the Chinese supermarket with former classmate Wang Wei, eating lots and lots of Chinese food, and just reading in the lovely Midwest spring sunshine.
Many people remarked that I look well, even that I am glowing. I answered that I am the happiest I have been for as long as I can remember. Who wouldn’t be happy with the last few months I’ve spent in Mexico? It helps to have a two-week vacation in the midst of spring, and it helps to have had a good friend to hang out with every weekend for the last three months. I was also happy to be in Columbus seeing my friends again, spending time with people (and cats) I love.
Another thing to make me happy—I was admitted to Columbia University Teachers College for their master’s program in bilingual education, and I found out while in Columbus that I have received a few credits’ worth of scholarship funding. Of course I still have to figure out a way to really fund my studies there, but I am optimistic. I am waiting to hear back from the only other program I applied to, at the University of New Mexico, but at the moment I’m pretty excited about Teachers College and New York City.
It could be dangerous, all this happiness. I might really resent having to go back to work. I might get tired of Arandas weekends without Julia around to liven things up. I might lose interest in living here, knowing that I will be going back to the States in about two months. Despite being tired from all my traveling, however, I do feel as if I have more energy to go back to work tomorrow. (Lucky for me, I didn’t have to teach today because I had to be in Guadalajara to do more visa stuff.) It’s definitely more energy than I had before the vacation. This newfound motivation should be good for both my students and for me.
I haven’t been keeping up with my yoga practice or meditation, so it is possible that I could find myself on a bit of a low after all this up, up, up. Now that I have more time to myself, though, with Julia back in North Carolina, I should have more opportunities to relax, do yoga, and meditate. The retreat-like part of my time here can finally pick up where it left off, and hopefully it will help with my project of finding contentment through enjoying the simple things in a largely solitary life. I don’t think it will be too difficult while there are so many things going well and so many things to look forward to—lots of long weekends in May, summer in Columbus with friends, and beginning bilingual education studies in the fall.
Many people remarked that I look well, even that I am glowing. I answered that I am the happiest I have been for as long as I can remember. Who wouldn’t be happy with the last few months I’ve spent in Mexico? It helps to have a two-week vacation in the midst of spring, and it helps to have had a good friend to hang out with every weekend for the last three months. I was also happy to be in Columbus seeing my friends again, spending time with people (and cats) I love.
Another thing to make me happy—I was admitted to Columbia University Teachers College for their master’s program in bilingual education, and I found out while in Columbus that I have received a few credits’ worth of scholarship funding. Of course I still have to figure out a way to really fund my studies there, but I am optimistic. I am waiting to hear back from the only other program I applied to, at the University of New Mexico, but at the moment I’m pretty excited about Teachers College and New York City.
It could be dangerous, all this happiness. I might really resent having to go back to work. I might get tired of Arandas weekends without Julia around to liven things up. I might lose interest in living here, knowing that I will be going back to the States in about two months. Despite being tired from all my traveling, however, I do feel as if I have more energy to go back to work tomorrow. (Lucky for me, I didn’t have to teach today because I had to be in Guadalajara to do more visa stuff.) It’s definitely more energy than I had before the vacation. This newfound motivation should be good for both my students and for me.
I haven’t been keeping up with my yoga practice or meditation, so it is possible that I could find myself on a bit of a low after all this up, up, up. Now that I have more time to myself, though, with Julia back in North Carolina, I should have more opportunities to relax, do yoga, and meditate. The retreat-like part of my time here can finally pick up where it left off, and hopefully it will help with my project of finding contentment through enjoying the simple things in a largely solitary life. I don’t think it will be too difficult while there are so many things going well and so many things to look forward to—lots of long weekends in May, summer in Columbus with friends, and beginning bilingual education studies in the fall.
