Snapshots

Yet again, it's been too long since I've spent some quality time with Mr. Bloglet. So sorry to inconvenience you, esteemed readers. After all, upon reading my whopping half-dozen posts or so, you must be absolutely in love with my writing, captivated by my rambling thoughts, and gripping the edges of your ergonomic office chair seats in anticipation of my next post, right?

*crickets*

...Or maybe not... Moving on!

I've actually attempted to blog a handful of times during the last couple of weeks, but the ability to decide on a particular subject has evaded me. Thoughts end up bouncing around in my brain like a few dozen rogue pinballs, ricocheting off of each other (and, I'm convinced, making small dents in my frontal lobes) until my mentation has successfully woven itself into a grade-A Celtic knot.

Houston, we've lost the ability to type coherent sentences. 


In order to preserve my sanity (and yours, too), I've decided that limiting myself to one subject simply won't do for this blog post. Instead, I introduce to you the mini-blog: a blog within a blog, if you will!


Introduction: In Which We Discover that Lizzie May Still Have Sanity to Preserve (or, "I Get to Tell You What I'm Actually Going to Write About.")


Indeed. As I've suggested, I haven't had a hard time writing over the past two and a half weeks due to lack of writing material; on the contrary, there's a lot that's been going through this little brain of mine. I simply don't always know how to put it into words...

The things I've wanted to (and am going to) write about, however briefly:

• Africa
• ESL
• A lot of other stuff

There's always "a lot of other stuff," of course, so the first two subjects will suffice for the moment.


Mini-Blog #1: In Which I Quote Myself


I can't tell you how strange it is to know that I left Cameroon almost a year ago. I also can't describe how much I miss it, "it" being not just the country, but the simplicity of living, the people (both the natives and my team members), and the joy of just existing in such a beautiful place. And the stars...

Imagine stepping off of a grey concrete ledge onto packed red dirt, the colors hiding behind the night's warm, velvety robe of darkness. The sounds of footsteps on the road and children laughing waft through the stillness which no electric illumination can pierce. And then, as your gaze moves up beyond the impenetrable darkness, past the shadows of faintly illumined jungle, the beams of light begin to reflect off of your wide, smiling eyes. The universe expands as you stare, captivated by infinity, until you're too dizzy with wonder and light and beauty to look at the heavens any longer. It's indescribable, really.

The stars: definitely one of my favorite, most treasured memories from the trip. Another excellent memory (and a more humorous one, at that) I will borrow in part from my journal.

This day last year, my team arrived back in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, where we stayed in a hotel to debrief for a few days. We got to the hotel in the early afternoon, which left us some time to explore before dinner. Thus, the following adventure ensued:

"Cathy and I decided to wander around the hotel for a while to pass the time, so we walked to the end of our hallway in search of something interesting. We were in luck, too. Through a clear glass door, we saw an old, slightly rusty spiral staircase snaking its way from our floor to the ground and to the highest floor level.

Now, I ask you, have you ever seen a spiral staircase leading to who knows where and NOT wanted to investigate? I think not. The only thing that we did, naturally, was open the door and climb the staircase to its peak. There were doors that led into every floor of the building, but we weren't interested in any door but the one at the top of the stairs. (After all, you don't just climb a spiral staircase PARTIALLY and then abandon the thing. You have to keep following it until it reaches its final destination. Anyone who has ever climbed a spiral staircase knows these things.)

Only when we reached the top level did we realize that the doors at every floor could be opened only from the INSIDE, not from the spiral stairs. That wasn't much of an issue, though, since stairs DO go both upward AND downward. We went all the way back down to the ground floor, opened the one-way-openable door at the bottom, and circled back to the hotel entrance."

Little did we realize (until we'd taken our classic tourist photos in front of the hotel) that our going out that door had set off the hotel's obnoxiously obvious, flashing alarm system (sirens included).

Whoops. 

But hey, have you ever set off a security alarm in 4-star African hotel?

Mini-Blog #2: In Which I Don't Have an Appropriate Picture Yet

TESL.
Extended: Teaching English as a Second Language.
AKA: My life for the past six months.

I finished the TESL certification programs through FRCC this past semester, and I am now officially certified in ESL for both K-12 and Adult/Abroad environments. That doesn't mean much yet as far as finding a job goes, but my certificates will help to open up a lot of doors once I have my bachelor's!

As part of my practicum, I volunteered to teach a High Beginning/Low Intermediate English class through Intercambio, a local non-profit organization, from mid-April to June 15th. I started teaching to get my certificates; I finished teaching because I had a commitment to fulfill, yes, but more importantly: I fell in love with it. I've had six students: Juana, Patricia, Judith, and Susana (the women in the class) are all from different parts of Mexico; Rufino is from Guatemala, and Htun is a refugee from Burma.

I'm astounded that time flies so quickly. I'm also a bit taken aback by how much I miss teaching already... In some ways, I'm glad that the semester is over: I need to give myself a break from doing too much. At the same time, though, I'll miss seeing, teaching, and laughing with my students every Monday and Wednesday night. I have so much respect for them, especially for the two men, who showed up without fail. Would you be willing to come to a 90 minute language class twice a week after working a full-time, labor intensive job all day, sacrificing time with your family to do so? I don't know if I would, honestly. They're committed, though, and they're actually forming an awesome friendship along the way. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, honestly: "So, there's this guy from Guatemala and this guy from Burma..."   But it's not a joke. They're two of the best friends I've ever seen, and I've gotten to be a part of helping them communicate with each other and the rest of the world.

And I'm only 19. How does this happen? How am I so privileged?

Thank you, Jesus...


Mini-Blog #3: In Which I Finally Wrap Up This Eternally Long Blog Post

Well... I guess that's about it for today. I could keep writing for hours about other various topics, but that would be pointless for two reasons:

1. I'd end up with carpal tunnel.
2. You would simply stop reading, bored with the deluge of my never-ending blah-blah-blah.

Mini-Blog #4: In Which You Get Annoyed That I'm Still Typing

I lied. Sort of.

My only excuse for writing this fourth and final mini-blog is to ask for suggestions. I can write about anything and/or everything that pops into the labyrinth of my mental regions, but I'd like it to be enjoyable for people other than yours truly.

So... what would you like to read about? Simply post a little comment below with a few ideas!Type out random words for me to ponder and expound upon! Start a lively discussion about penguins on my facebook wall! Really... anything will do. Nothing's off-limits: spiritual, humorous, wacky, thought-provoking, or entirely random... I'm just in the mood to be spontaneous and creative and hone my writing skills in the process!


Thanks for sticking with me through this novel of a post! Hopefully it was interesting enough to keep you from chewing on your socks out of boredom... =)

 

It's all about the context...

Laughter is such a beautiful, quirky thing.

It's strange, really, the way we react to humorous situations. Think about it: something funny, odd, or unexpected happens, and all we can do is emit a series of body-shaking grunts, snorts, and other (shall we say "unique"?) sounds.  It doesn't help matters any that we don't even have to know what we're laughing about to join in. One person's laughter is typically enough to get me started - or to at least bring a huge smile to my face!

The times that we do understand what we're laughing about, though, are absolutely priceless. Inside jokes, misspoken (or misheard) statements, strange (and often somewhat unfortunate) events: they help make up the hilarity of this life. Trying to convey that hilarity to someone who wasn't present for the perfect moment, though... well, let's just say that it's often somewhat less than successful. How many times have you tried to relay a day's laughter-inducing events to somebody, expecting to coax a few giggles out of them, only to be returned with a blank, glassy-eyed stare?


Awkward...


"You just had to be there," right?
It's all about the context.

Today happens to be the one-year anniversary of the day that I boarded a plane in Dallas with my GET Global Cameroon team. A little over 24 hours later, we'd arrive in Yaounde, our (first) destination. So many excellent memories...

As we know, though, memories fade. It was for this reason, among others, that I dutifully kept a journal for the duration of my trip. Almost every day, I'd write down the day's events, my thoughts about what I was seeing and feeling, and any other random bits of information I found journal-worthy.

Including trip quotes.
(Oh, you know this is going to be good!)

One of my favorites happens to be the first one I recorded:

 "Just put your face in the scanner!"

I know, it seems like a letdown at first, so let me explain a bit:

My team had congregated at the DFW airport to check in our luggage before boarding our first Africa-bound flight. (Well, technically it was Chicago-bound, but we were still headed in the general direction...) Part of check-in was scanning our passports, per usual. Justin, one of our team leaders, was the first of us to go through the process, and he couldn't quite figure out how the scanner worked.

The airline lady was trying to be very helpful, I'm sure. I'm also sure that most people would interpret her saying, "Just put your face in the scanner!" to mean, "Put the picture of your face that's in your passport over the scanner." Justin, however... well, he thought she meant to literally put his face in the scanner.

So he did.

That moment was utterly priceless. The other eight of us were standing to the side, laughing as hard as we ever had. And as much as Justin will probably kill me for writing this out... I honestly think that that moment helped bring our entire team together in a way that nothing else could have. I doubt that I could have kept track of the number of times we quoted that phrase to each other during the trip! Laughter is not only the best medicine, it's also one of the best ways to create - and maintain - friendships.


A few other quotes from the trip that should be a bit more self-explanatory, even if it is all about the context:

Justin: "I had a hat. Has anyone seen my hat?"
Katie: "...I think it's on your neck..."

Silas (our local guide) turning on his headlights at night: "Look! Black people in da dark!"

Me: "I don't know if anyone expects anything here."

Wimbum man, greeting Cathy:  "When I first saw you, I saw the face of China!"
Cathy: "...I'm Korean..."

Nikki, referring to Val's dislike of dairy products: "There's udder juice in your bread."


I hope you can enjoy these even a fraction as much as I do. And if you don't, and you're simply staring at the computer screen with glazed-over eyes and a bored, dull expression on your face...

You just had to be there.