Sit Still?

A while ago, I spent an evening trying to convince one of my best friends to embark on a roadtrip with me next summer, even though, I explained, I realized my original “Summer 2014 plan” had consisted of spending my entire break close to home with family and friends.

“You just can’t sit still, can you?” she asked good naturedly. 

I’d never thought of it that way, but she’s right.  Not in the physical sense as in sitting in one place to complete a task.  I can do that.  But it’s true that I am happiest when I am busiest.  I like to live my life full.  A calendar with commitments written on each day gives me glee.  I don’t sit at home relaxing by myself often.  I can’t sit still.

Last weekend was a prime example of the way I try to do everything.

Friday after my work day was done, I entered the school library for my last class in the 2nd course of my masters program.  (Have I mentioned I’m working on my masters through a program my current school supports?  I will take 5 courses this year and 4 next year and leave with a masters degree in International Education.  More on that later.)  Friday’s class consisted of a brief review and then our final exam.  I finished the test quickly, then dashed home to grab a sweater and drop off my school things before my classmates and our professor and I went out to dinner to celebrate the end of the course. 


When we’d finished eating, about half of us continued on to what is probably one of the biggest parties of the year.  My principal and assistant principal share a birthday, and each year they throw a joint birthday party which the entire school community is invited to.  It was huge this year, as well.  After a few hours of good food, music, and an amazing view of the city skyline from the roof of my principal’s home, I fell into bed exhausted.

Saturday morning, though, I was up with the sun, grading and entering final grades for the end of the trimester.  Getting up at 6:20, by 11am I no longer needed to be productive.  I was done, and could “relax” for the rest of the weekend.  Kenra and I went grocery shopping that afternoon—an endeavor made more of an adventure by the fact that, unbeknownst to us, Wal-mart was holding something akin to a Black Friday sale and traffic was backed up for nearly a mile outside of the parking lot, both coming to and leaving the store.  Though we left around 12:30, we barely made it to meet more friends for a 3:00 movie at the VIP theater.  After the movie finished, we went immediately to the sushi party our friend Dennis was throwing.  Dennis worked in restaurants for a long time, and makes exceptional homemade sushi.  He spent the evening rolling delectable bites for over 40 people and we all relished in his efforts. 




Stuffed, I went home just after 9:00pm that evening and set my alarm clock for 5:30 in the morning.

On Sunday morning, I got my first chance to drive in Guatemala.  Borrowing a friend’s car, Amy, Chris and I drove to Pacaya for a race, leaving at 6:00am.  We got turned around a few times on the way, but we made it to the starting line in time for Chris to leave on time for the 21K—barely.  Amy and I started half an hour later, running the 10K.  Because of a mix-up with registration and packet pickup, she and I ran without chips or race numbers.  We didn’t care about finish times, and we joked that the only way it would matter that we didn’t have our registration displayed would be if we won.  Since neither of us had been training, we weren’t worried about that.
Whoops. 
Amy came in 2nd place and I finished 5th for women, making for an awkward departure as we were questioned about the absence of our race numbers.  We explained we hadn’t been able to pick up our packets, and though they wouldn’t give us our finisher medals (big deal), they coerced is to walk back for a photo before letting us leave.  Eventually, though, we hightailed it back to the city for an Ultimate Frisbee tournament with the Ultimate group from Antigua.  It was at school and had started at 11:00am.  (We’re still not sure whether there was a prize that Amy should have won for 2nd place in the race). 



We arrived at school around 11:30am, and playing hadn’t started yet, so we found our teams and jumped in.  4 games and 4 hours later, we migrated to La Joya for a BBQ with all of the Frisbee people.  As we ate—our first real meal since breakfast—exhaustion started to set in, and by 6:00pm, I felt ready for bed.

This weekend wasn’t much better.  Friday night was spent with friends, Saturday morning I worked at a school event until lunch time, and then I went home and baked in preparation for a Thanksgiving celebration that night which lasted until 11pm, complete with all the essential Thanksgiving food components and an epic game of Cards against Humanity (which is one of my favorites). 

I like to live my life full.  If that means I spend very little time sitting still, I own that. 






   

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