Fair warning for blog fans -- this may be my last post for a bit. I brought a Netbook with me with which to blog, but do not have the right kind of cable, plug, or converter for Europe. If I have the opportunity, I will take it to the Samsung store in London to see if I can pick up a converter or adapter there. If it's prohibitively expensive, however, I won't buy a European adapter. We don't have free Internet at the hostel in London (although it is supposedly inexpensive).
We've been in Belgrade since Wednesday afternoon. Flew on the smallest plane I have ever been on between Prague and Belgrade. It was an ATR-42 -- a turbo-prop plane. And we sat right next to the engine. It felt fitting, flying between two formerly Communist countries on such a small plane.
There were another pair of Americans on the plane. I wanted to talk to them to ask them what they did, and I should have. As we got off the plane in Belgrade, we saw a man holding a sign for "Ambassador Stephen Rapp." Turns out the ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues was on our flight. It would have been really interesting for me to talk with him. Too bad. Next time.
Belgrade is as gritty as ever. It was amazing to me how familiar the city felt after three years. Our driver, Severim, picked us up at the airport. He explained that there has been a lot of renovation work over the past few years. They are doing much needed work on one of the bridges over the Sava. As a result, there was a lot of traffic coming into the city, with Serbian drivers making their own lanes on the shoulder. Some pretty crazy driving!
The big Partizan-Crvena Zvezda soccer match was on Wednesday night. We thought about getting tickets to the match, but then I remembered that anti-American violence can break out after these games. Smiley and I watched it on TV instead. When we were out walking, every cafe in Belgrade had it on. The whole city was watching.
Spent the first night wandering around a bit. I had decided I wanted to eat my way through Belgrade, so we found čevapi and burek. Yum! I had really missed real čevapi.
We spent most of our time in Belgrade just walking around. On the way to Trg Republike, I stopped at a trafika stand to purchase the mobile number I'd promised everyone I would get. While in line, a man asked me in English if I liked Tito and proceeded to explain that Tito was a fascist bastard who lost Kosovo for Serbia and that NATO is also full of fascists. Wow. I kept repeating "I'm sorry" in English, and eventually he gave up trying to get a rise out of me and moved on. The woman at the trafika stand and I exchanged a funny look, and I proceeded to get my mobile number.
Belgrade felt like a familiar old friend I had not seen for years. Some things have changed, but much of it is the same. There is definitely a lot of construction, particularly in the center and in the city parks. St. Mark's Church and the Federal Parliament building are both undergoing renovations. These are likely much-needed, as many of the buildings are covered in a layer of grime, likely from pollution. The facades of others are cracked and falling down. Restoration is needed.
After our encounter with the Tito-hater, we began walking around Belgrade in earnest. Our walk took us down Skadarska street. Somebody had put in a sign showing the distance between Belgrade and other destinations, including the moon. Ha!
Stopped at Trattoria Košava for lunch. The pizza was so tasty. But the waiter spoke Serbian so quickly that I had to keep asking him to repeat himself. I did okay when people spoke to me slowly, but had a tough time when people talked so fast. After the meal, I thanked him for speaking Serbian with me, as I am trying to learn the language. He told me he could tell that I speak some Serbian, and spoke it so I would learn. He said that many Japanese people can speak Serbian well after just 3 months here, but for Americans it is more difficult. Nice conversation.
We followed the walk listed in the guidebook to Kalmegdan. We walked out to the terrace and took pictures of the view. I ended up taking off my little cardigan because I was warm. Back inside the fortress, an older man asked me in Serbian where my jacket was because it was not super warm out. I showed him my sweater and asked him the word for it...and we got into a 30 minute conversation. He asked me how we were enjoying Belgrade, what we thought of Serbia, etc. We then started talking about the global economic crisis, the catastrophe in Japan, and how more American investment is needed in Serbia. He said that Serbia has so much opportunity for agriculture and I agreed. We kept switching between Serbian and English for Smiley's sake. He mentioned that he had had a conversation with Milošević about seeking help from the U.S. instead of from Israel. It sounded like he was in the know. He gave me his name and address and told me to write next time I come to Serbia. He said he'd show me some important cultural sites. I swear I'd read his name in one of my textbooks about Serbia. I think he may have been in the govt or something.
The chat with the guy in the park made Smiley's trip, I think. He got to experience some of that amazing Serbian friendliness I am always raving about. It was cool.
From there, we walked to the Tesla museum. They were about to close, but generously let us join the last tour to see the demonstrations. On the way, we mailed our postcards from the giant Pošta by the Parliament Building. The post office worker complimented my Serbian and was surprised when I said I was really enjoying Belgrade.
Ended our very full day with drinks at the Federal Association of World Travelers, a bar that kind of looks like a grandmother's basement. It's awesome. Between drinks there and eating my way through Belgrade (made sure to find palačinke and potato burek today), it's been a good, albeit short, trip. Looking forward to coming back sometime soon.
What has changed in Belgrade besides construction? Well, there are way more hostels now than there were in 2008. I knew of just a couple back then, and now they are everywhere. Also, many of the cafes have wifi now. That is new! And Tašmajdan Park is being restored with funds from the government of Azerbaijan. I never would have expected that!
Today, we figured out how to get from Luton airport to our hostel in London, and took the tram out to Tito's grave. There were some nice, new signs in English at the House of Flowers. The main museum was closed, but you could still see the room with all the batons and the grave itself. Neat stuff. I managed to pick up more buttons for my Commie shelf back home! Yay!
Ate more čevapi in town, and wandered back to our hostel. I would definitely stay here again. It's clean and reasonably quiet -- and small. I like small hostels better than large industrial ones. Unfortunately, I think we may be staying in a large hostel in London.
Hopefully I'll be back in Belgrade again within a couple of years. I miss this city when I'm not here!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Isn't there a rhyme about the rain in Spain?
Zdravo iz Beograda! Smiley and I made it here this afternoon and are chilling in the hostel tonight, trying to find the Chelsea champions league match against FC Copenhagen. We may have to stream this on my computer, so I'll likely only have enough time to write about our last day in Barcelona.
It poured yesterday morning. The rain was unlike anything I'd ever seen. We counted lightning every 5-10 seconds. Even Barca residents were taking shelter. We huddled under the big overhang of the Liceu to wait it out, along with about 50 other people. Residents were peering out from their balconies and taking pictures of the rain -- it was that wild. I thought for sure there was going to be a flash flood in the streets.
I'm from Seattle. I thought I knew rain. I'd never seen it rain that hard for so long. The streets were just covered in water. People kept walking by peddling black market umbrellas. We bought ours at a news stand for 6.50 euros. It was so worth it.
We stayed under the overhang for a good 45 minutes. The temp dropped at least 2-3 degrees while we were standing there. There was some crazy hail, too.
When it finally stopped raining, we got some amazing hot chocolate in the Barri Gothic and then walked around. The narrow, wet streets made for some neat pictures. We tried to go to La Seu, the big cathedral, but had just missed the free hours. So we wandered around a little more and tried to go to the Barca history museum. It was closing in an hour, so we decided to come back after the afternoon siesta. All the museums close between 2-5 during the winter months for siesta time.
The rain had stopped, so we went up to Parc Guell to see more Gaudi. It was really cool. The modernist architecture was just fantastic. We wandered inside a blue house that had beautiful lines of architecture. The houses were decorated with lovely ceramic tiles in imaginative colors and shapes. Thankfully the weather held long enough for us to wander around the park. I took a bunch of pictures of kids playing tag in the large entryway columns.
Back to the history museum once it reopened. The real draw here for us were the Roman ruins. They were incredibly well-preserved. There was a laundry room, wine pressing room, and fish sauce making room. There were sewage lines and drainage areas. Even some wheel ruts.
Afterwards, we walked through the Gothic cathedral at La Seu. It's got beautiful art inside. It's a pretty standard large Catholic cathedral, with many chapels and a rather large nave. Instead of candle votives, though, they had these little lights. I thought the lights were kinda lame.
Finished the day in a tea house, drinking choco chai, writing, and talking about where to get food. Our flight this morning was at 8 AM, so it was a rather early night for us. Woke up and wandered into a conversation that we thought sounded like a couple breaking up...whoops.
OK -- I gotta go stream the Chelsea game now. Low-key night tonight. More about coming "back home" to Belgrade later.
It poured yesterday morning. The rain was unlike anything I'd ever seen. We counted lightning every 5-10 seconds. Even Barca residents were taking shelter. We huddled under the big overhang of the Liceu to wait it out, along with about 50 other people. Residents were peering out from their balconies and taking pictures of the rain -- it was that wild. I thought for sure there was going to be a flash flood in the streets.
I'm from Seattle. I thought I knew rain. I'd never seen it rain that hard for so long. The streets were just covered in water. People kept walking by peddling black market umbrellas. We bought ours at a news stand for 6.50 euros. It was so worth it.
We stayed under the overhang for a good 45 minutes. The temp dropped at least 2-3 degrees while we were standing there. There was some crazy hail, too.
When it finally stopped raining, we got some amazing hot chocolate in the Barri Gothic and then walked around. The narrow, wet streets made for some neat pictures. We tried to go to La Seu, the big cathedral, but had just missed the free hours. So we wandered around a little more and tried to go to the Barca history museum. It was closing in an hour, so we decided to come back after the afternoon siesta. All the museums close between 2-5 during the winter months for siesta time.
The rain had stopped, so we went up to Parc Guell to see more Gaudi. It was really cool. The modernist architecture was just fantastic. We wandered inside a blue house that had beautiful lines of architecture. The houses were decorated with lovely ceramic tiles in imaginative colors and shapes. Thankfully the weather held long enough for us to wander around the park. I took a bunch of pictures of kids playing tag in the large entryway columns.
Back to the history museum once it reopened. The real draw here for us were the Roman ruins. They were incredibly well-preserved. There was a laundry room, wine pressing room, and fish sauce making room. There were sewage lines and drainage areas. Even some wheel ruts.
Afterwards, we walked through the Gothic cathedral at La Seu. It's got beautiful art inside. It's a pretty standard large Catholic cathedral, with many chapels and a rather large nave. Instead of candle votives, though, they had these little lights. I thought the lights were kinda lame.
Finished the day in a tea house, drinking choco chai, writing, and talking about where to get food. Our flight this morning was at 8 AM, so it was a rather early night for us. Woke up and wandered into a conversation that we thought sounded like a couple breaking up...whoops.
OK -- I gotta go stream the Chelsea game now. Low-key night tonight. More about coming "back home" to Belgrade later.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Las Ramblas, La Boqueria, Camp Nou, and other Barcelona Wanders
We began today's wanders with a walk down Las Ramblas. We stopped at La Boqueria market -- an awesome market that puts Pike Place to shame. Such color! Such variety! There were stalls everywhere just full of new and interesting fruit, sweets, and other wares. We picked up bread, cheese, and chorizo for lunch for about 5 euros. That's right -- 5 euros. One of my top travel tips for y'all is to find the local market and make use of it every time you travel. You can save yourself a load of money and sample great regional breads and cheeses, too. It was so cheap and tasty!
We then made our way out to Camp Nou, the home stadium of FC Barcelona. I covered that visit pretty well on my sports blog, Sportsology. You can find more information about our Camp Nou tour here (http://sportsology.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/camp-nou/). Needless to say, it's hard for me not to root for Barca after that. Not only are they the best team in the world (winning 6 European cups in one season definitely qualifies this statement), but they also safeguard Catalan identity in a big way. I will wear my FC Barcelona scarf with pride, and scoff at all of you who call them the "Yankees" of soccer.
While at Camp Nou, it started raining pretty hard. The nice thing about Barcelona rain is that it's warm -- unlike rain in my Seattle hometown this time of year. Or any time of year. So we took the Metro over to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished church. Wow. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. Really. I'll post pictures once I get back to the states to show you. It's almost modernist in its style. The interior is just awe-inspiring -- large vaulted ceilings with built-in lights. There are stained glass windows everywhere.
Gaudi took over the project in 1884. He used the church to explore his own spirituality. After his death in 1926, there was a debate over how to best finish the church. Some wanted to leave it unfinished, while others decided to keep going and try to stay true to Gaudi's spirit. The original plans were mostly destroyed during the Spanish Civil War -- a period of history I'd really like to find out more about. They've been working on the church for more than 100 years. Wow.
We spent the rest of the rainy day in the Maritime Museum. It was pretty cool. It had a neat exhibit about all the languages of the Mediterranean. A portion of it showcased the sounds of places such as markets and temples. The language geek in me found it awesome. There was also an exhibit about sharks and overfishing, and one about travel and seafaring. Cool stuff.
Dinner tonight consisted of tasty traditional Catalan food. Smiley and I split a tuna and potato pie. And I had chicken covered with emmentaler cheese. The chicken was perfectly grilled and wonderfully tasty. Yum!
A word about Barcelona residents -- they are some of the nicest people! I know that Spanish is not the main language here (as mentioned before, Catalan is a very different language), but most people speak a little Spanish. They are quite patient when I explain "hablo un pequito espanyol" (can't make a tilde with my keyboard...sorry Spanish speakers). I hit my head on a low-lying ceiling (Spaniards are also rather short), and the folks in the cafe were so nice about it. They asked me several times if I'm okay. I'm fine -- no concussion, just a rather large bump. Soy alta chica! What can I do?
Hopefully the weather will be nicer tomorrow for our planned wanders -- the Gothic quarter, Park Guell, and possibly a couple of museums! I may try to find a Spanish team World Cup scarf while I'm at it as well.
Adios for now!
We then made our way out to Camp Nou, the home stadium of FC Barcelona. I covered that visit pretty well on my sports blog, Sportsology. You can find more information about our Camp Nou tour here (http://sportsology.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/camp-nou/). Needless to say, it's hard for me not to root for Barca after that. Not only are they the best team in the world (winning 6 European cups in one season definitely qualifies this statement), but they also safeguard Catalan identity in a big way. I will wear my FC Barcelona scarf with pride, and scoff at all of you who call them the "Yankees" of soccer.
While at Camp Nou, it started raining pretty hard. The nice thing about Barcelona rain is that it's warm -- unlike rain in my Seattle hometown this time of year. Or any time of year. So we took the Metro over to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished church. Wow. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. Really. I'll post pictures once I get back to the states to show you. It's almost modernist in its style. The interior is just awe-inspiring -- large vaulted ceilings with built-in lights. There are stained glass windows everywhere.
Gaudi took over the project in 1884. He used the church to explore his own spirituality. After his death in 1926, there was a debate over how to best finish the church. Some wanted to leave it unfinished, while others decided to keep going and try to stay true to Gaudi's spirit. The original plans were mostly destroyed during the Spanish Civil War -- a period of history I'd really like to find out more about. They've been working on the church for more than 100 years. Wow.
We spent the rest of the rainy day in the Maritime Museum. It was pretty cool. It had a neat exhibit about all the languages of the Mediterranean. A portion of it showcased the sounds of places such as markets and temples. The language geek in me found it awesome. There was also an exhibit about sharks and overfishing, and one about travel and seafaring. Cool stuff.
Dinner tonight consisted of tasty traditional Catalan food. Smiley and I split a tuna and potato pie. And I had chicken covered with emmentaler cheese. The chicken was perfectly grilled and wonderfully tasty. Yum!
A word about Barcelona residents -- they are some of the nicest people! I know that Spanish is not the main language here (as mentioned before, Catalan is a very different language), but most people speak a little Spanish. They are quite patient when I explain "hablo un pequito espanyol" (can't make a tilde with my keyboard...sorry Spanish speakers). I hit my head on a low-lying ceiling (Spaniards are also rather short), and the folks in the cafe were so nice about it. They asked me several times if I'm okay. I'm fine -- no concussion, just a rather large bump. Soy alta chica! What can I do?
Hopefully the weather will be nicer tomorrow for our planned wanders -- the Gothic quarter, Park Guell, and possibly a couple of museums! I may try to find a Spanish team World Cup scarf while I'm at it as well.
Adios for now!
Touchdown Barcelona!
First, it's really difficult to blog when Firefox automatically translates instructions on webpages into Catalan. I remember a little bit of my high school Spanish, but Catalan is completely different in some ways. I brought my little Netbook for blogging, and even though my language is set to English, Firefox still translates everything!
Anna and Smiley's Most Excellent European Adventure has officially begun! We are in Barcelona, Spain, after about 15 hours of traveling yesterday. My key to beating jet lag is to sleep as much as I can on the plane (thank you, Tylenol PM) and then to stay up as late as I can once I get to where I'm going. It worked pretty well, except I started fading around 5 PM local time.
We took a bus to our hostel, the Hostel Sant Jordi Arago. It's just a short walk from Las Ramblas, a major walking street in Barcelona. It's a nice place, and I would recommend it to others traveling here. The rooms are comfortable and quiet.
We grabbed a tapas lunch (yum), and started walking Las Ramblas. The buildings around here are pretty interesting -- they remind me quite a bit of Morocco. It's a neat mix between Spanish and Arabian architecture. On Las Ramblas, we saw a bunch of people dressed up as human statues -- butterflies, and even Gene Simmons from Kiss! Passing tourists give them coins to make them do things. I snapped a bunch of pictures.
After a nap, we went to a cafe down the street to watch the Barcelona-Sevilla match. Sports fans the world over make the same rooting noises. So I fit right in. One thing that I found really interesting happened when Barca scored a goal. Rather than preemptively celebrate, the fans in the cafe waited until the ref confirmed the goal before cheering. We all got really into it at the end of the game. Sevilla had some good looks, and at times Barca's defense really broke down. (Just like the Sounders!) Barca was pressing hard at the end, but the game ended in a 1-1 draw. It was fun.
Today, we plan on walking Las Ramblas, checking out La Boqueria market, and touring Camp Nou, the Barcelona soccer stadium. It's going to be an awesome day!
Anna and Smiley's Most Excellent European Adventure has officially begun! We are in Barcelona, Spain, after about 15 hours of traveling yesterday. My key to beating jet lag is to sleep as much as I can on the plane (thank you, Tylenol PM) and then to stay up as late as I can once I get to where I'm going. It worked pretty well, except I started fading around 5 PM local time.
We took a bus to our hostel, the Hostel Sant Jordi Arago. It's just a short walk from Las Ramblas, a major walking street in Barcelona. It's a nice place, and I would recommend it to others traveling here. The rooms are comfortable and quiet.
We grabbed a tapas lunch (yum), and started walking Las Ramblas. The buildings around here are pretty interesting -- they remind me quite a bit of Morocco. It's a neat mix between Spanish and Arabian architecture. On Las Ramblas, we saw a bunch of people dressed up as human statues -- butterflies, and even Gene Simmons from Kiss! Passing tourists give them coins to make them do things. I snapped a bunch of pictures.
After a nap, we went to a cafe down the street to watch the Barcelona-Sevilla match. Sports fans the world over make the same rooting noises. So I fit right in. One thing that I found really interesting happened when Barca scored a goal. Rather than preemptively celebrate, the fans in the cafe waited until the ref confirmed the goal before cheering. We all got really into it at the end of the game. Sevilla had some good looks, and at times Barca's defense really broke down. (Just like the Sounders!) Barca was pressing hard at the end, but the game ended in a 1-1 draw. It was fun.
Today, we plan on walking Las Ramblas, checking out La Boqueria market, and touring Camp Nou, the Barcelona soccer stadium. It's going to be an awesome day!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Gardening as an Act of Gratitude
A much-welcomed warm day provided me with a chance to get my hands in the ground. It has been rather chilly and wet in Seattle as of late. Two weeks ago, I was dodging snow squalls while on my way to class in Bothell. At this time last year, my first batch of peas was starting to sprout, and I'd planted a second batch in containers. Mother Nature is fickle, and my planting date will likely change from year to year.
I turned over the cover crop in the containers, as well as in half of my raised bed. I'll be planting things in shifts this year, depending on the month (and on the date of the Seattle Tilth plant sale). Using a too-small bucket, I shuttled back and forth between the compost pile and my garden, humming to myself while I put a layer of compost over the upturned winter cover. Using my favorite tool, the one that looks like a bent fork, I worked the compost and the cover crop leavings into the soil. My soil looks good this year. The cover crop kept it light, loose, and airy. It didn't seem as compacted as last year.
After this work was done, I planted sugar snap peas, sugar daddy peas (hee hee), Champion radishes and rhubarb chard. My spring crops are officially in the ground!
It took me a couple of hours to do the work, and I gave thanks for the lazy Saturday. I'd managed to write two of my four papers during the week, and wrote the third for an independent study in just two days. I decided I deserved a break. This morning, I went to a yoga class. And this afternoon, I gardened.
Gardening can be an act of gratitude. I kept saying thanks for things today. Thank you for my brain. Thank you for a dry, sunny afternoon. Thank you for good dirt. Thank you for the food I will grow. Thank you for the difficult lessons I learned in the past year. Thank you for being forgiving.
I can't wait until my little sproutlings come up again! I wonder how big my peas will get this year?
I turned over the cover crop in the containers, as well as in half of my raised bed. I'll be planting things in shifts this year, depending on the month (and on the date of the Seattle Tilth plant sale). Using a too-small bucket, I shuttled back and forth between the compost pile and my garden, humming to myself while I put a layer of compost over the upturned winter cover. Using my favorite tool, the one that looks like a bent fork, I worked the compost and the cover crop leavings into the soil. My soil looks good this year. The cover crop kept it light, loose, and airy. It didn't seem as compacted as last year.
After this work was done, I planted sugar snap peas, sugar daddy peas (hee hee), Champion radishes and rhubarb chard. My spring crops are officially in the ground!
It took me a couple of hours to do the work, and I gave thanks for the lazy Saturday. I'd managed to write two of my four papers during the week, and wrote the third for an independent study in just two days. I decided I deserved a break. This morning, I went to a yoga class. And this afternoon, I gardened.
Gardening can be an act of gratitude. I kept saying thanks for things today. Thank you for my brain. Thank you for a dry, sunny afternoon. Thank you for good dirt. Thank you for the food I will grow. Thank you for the difficult lessons I learned in the past year. Thank you for being forgiving.
I can't wait until my little sproutlings come up again! I wonder how big my peas will get this year?
Saturday, February 26, 2011
All the Love in the World
My Kindle keeps resetting itself, making it difficult to work on my papers. If it keeps it up, I may have to reset to factory defaults. C'mon little Kindle! Stay on! This is the second time this has happened. Third time's the charm, and then Amazon gets a phone call.
Some wonderful friends are taking me out tonight to celebrate the anniversary of my unexpected singlehood. After sitting for (hopefully) my last set of WEST-Es this morning, I was reflecting about things I wish I'd known a year ago -- lessons that maybe only a really awful breakup can teach. My early morning Facebook status read something like this "Today I am thankful for friends who held me when I cried and brought me food and for the parents who let me come home a year ago. What a difference a whole year makes!"
Lesson #1 -- All the Love in the World is within reach.
Most of my friends know how much I love them because I tell them I do. Wow -- I just teared up thinking about this next sentence. One of the lessons I learned is how loved I am by my friends and family. I have a pretty amazing cheering section filled with people who will bring me food when I'm sad and will share my joy. All the love in the world is within my grasp -- it surrounds me daily. Words cannot express how blessed I am and how grateful I feel for all of my people. Thank you for laughing and crying with me. I love you all.
Lesson #2 -- Sometimes God puts blessings in unexpected places.
I'm not sure if I've written about God here before. I have a quite strong belief in God. Some things happened to me when I was younger that I took as proof of God's existence. My faith has been shaken and tested at times, but I always return to it. I'm not shy about being a very liberal, progressive Christian, but I don't really bring this up in everyday conversation. Sometimes being Christian in Seattle feels very lonely.
Anyway, with my very unexpected singlehood came many blessings. The biggest one was that I discovered a confidence and a fierceness I didn't know I had. Another was lesson #1 -- realizing how much I too am loved.
Lesson #3 -- Grieving is healing.
My pastor Catherine listened to me while I sobbed. She told me "God teaches us that this will get better. But you can't go around your grief. Nor can you go over and under it. You just have to get through it." She reminded me that joy awaited me on the other side. Grief sucks, but it gets better. And the joy awaiting me on the other side of all that grief was so joyful that it was worth it. I'm a person who lives her life joyfully. I've learned recently that this is an aspect of my character that new people pick up on rather quickly. Grieving is hard for me because I usually live a joyful life. But I think that, through the grief, I learned how to have empathy for others going through similar situations.
Lesson #4 -- When you're knocked down, you come back stronger.
A year ago, I was broken. And now I climb mountains. If that's not coming back stronger, than I don't know what is!
Those are the big ones. As I pause to reflect, I am reminding myself that this will be my year of living joyfully. My "new year of happy," so to speak. It's easy to live joyfully when you're surrounded by all the love in the world.
Thank you.
Some wonderful friends are taking me out tonight to celebrate the anniversary of my unexpected singlehood. After sitting for (hopefully) my last set of WEST-Es this morning, I was reflecting about things I wish I'd known a year ago -- lessons that maybe only a really awful breakup can teach. My early morning Facebook status read something like this "Today I am thankful for friends who held me when I cried and brought me food and for the parents who let me come home a year ago. What a difference a whole year makes!"
Lesson #1 -- All the Love in the World is within reach.
Most of my friends know how much I love them because I tell them I do. Wow -- I just teared up thinking about this next sentence. One of the lessons I learned is how loved I am by my friends and family. I have a pretty amazing cheering section filled with people who will bring me food when I'm sad and will share my joy. All the love in the world is within my grasp -- it surrounds me daily. Words cannot express how blessed I am and how grateful I feel for all of my people. Thank you for laughing and crying with me. I love you all.
Lesson #2 -- Sometimes God puts blessings in unexpected places.
I'm not sure if I've written about God here before. I have a quite strong belief in God. Some things happened to me when I was younger that I took as proof of God's existence. My faith has been shaken and tested at times, but I always return to it. I'm not shy about being a very liberal, progressive Christian, but I don't really bring this up in everyday conversation. Sometimes being Christian in Seattle feels very lonely.
Anyway, with my very unexpected singlehood came many blessings. The biggest one was that I discovered a confidence and a fierceness I didn't know I had. Another was lesson #1 -- realizing how much I too am loved.
Lesson #3 -- Grieving is healing.
My pastor Catherine listened to me while I sobbed. She told me "God teaches us that this will get better. But you can't go around your grief. Nor can you go over and under it. You just have to get through it." She reminded me that joy awaited me on the other side. Grief sucks, but it gets better. And the joy awaiting me on the other side of all that grief was so joyful that it was worth it. I'm a person who lives her life joyfully. I've learned recently that this is an aspect of my character that new people pick up on rather quickly. Grieving is hard for me because I usually live a joyful life. But I think that, through the grief, I learned how to have empathy for others going through similar situations.
Lesson #4 -- When you're knocked down, you come back stronger.
A year ago, I was broken. And now I climb mountains. If that's not coming back stronger, than I don't know what is!
Those are the big ones. As I pause to reflect, I am reminding myself that this will be my year of living joyfully. My "new year of happy," so to speak. It's easy to live joyfully when you're surrounded by all the love in the world.
Thank you.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Happy Birthday, Garden!
It's been a year since I started chronicling my gardening and life adventures. A whole year since I put my first little pea seeds in the ground. A year since my house looked like a grow house -- it glowed in the dark because of all the tomato grow lights, and I must have looked like the worst pot grower ever.
And yes, it's almost one year to the day of the worst breakup I have ever experienced. On a study break on this cold cold Seattle night, I am thinking about what a difference an entire year has made. I wrote in an earlier post that I have become the woman who climbs mountains in this past year. I think I've regained my groove. I'm not as afraid to try new things, and to live life with the joyful abandon I thought I'd lost. I feel more alive now than ever before -- back to being 100% truly me. 29 has been a good year, and it's only going to get better.
I am currently having a text message conversation with a cute, neat guy about Mardi Gras, which reminds me that it's almost Lent. I wrote him "it's almost Lent, and I have to think about what to give up!" Maybe I shouldn't think about what to give up. Maybe, instead, I should commit to something. I should commit to doing something for myself -- to set an intention for the period of Lent for how I want my life to be. I'm writing this a bit on the fly, but I think I want to commit to living joyfully. I want my Lent to be a time of laughter, joy, singing, and new experiences. I know Lent is supposed to be a thoughtful, pensive period -- and a period of self-denial. But I had a lot of pensiveness and a lot of sorrow last year around Lent. And this year, I think God would be okay with a little more joy in the world. I may write more on this later.
Back from rambling to the title of the post.
Happy Birthday, Garden! Thank you for teaching me that strawberries are resilient (and so am I). Thank you for your bounty. Thank you for being forgiving of your often wayward gardener. Thank you for teaching me the sheer joy of putting my hands in the good dirt. Thank you for allowing me to taste a tomato that I grew from a seed that I put in the ground. Thank you for attracting those great fat little bumblebees. Thanks, most of all, for being my therapy. For Garden, you kept me grounded (literally) during this tough year. And even though snow is currently falling from the sky as I write this, the calendar is reminding me that spring is on the way, that little green pea shoots will emerge from your depths (once it is actually warm enough to plant some seeds), and that my year of renewal has come full circle.
Thank you, my Garden, for everything. Even for Peazilla, my giant snow pea plant monster.
I can't wait to see what this new year of growing will bring.
And yes, it's almost one year to the day of the worst breakup I have ever experienced. On a study break on this cold cold Seattle night, I am thinking about what a difference an entire year has made. I wrote in an earlier post that I have become the woman who climbs mountains in this past year. I think I've regained my groove. I'm not as afraid to try new things, and to live life with the joyful abandon I thought I'd lost. I feel more alive now than ever before -- back to being 100% truly me. 29 has been a good year, and it's only going to get better.
I am currently having a text message conversation with a cute, neat guy about Mardi Gras, which reminds me that it's almost Lent. I wrote him "it's almost Lent, and I have to think about what to give up!" Maybe I shouldn't think about what to give up. Maybe, instead, I should commit to something. I should commit to doing something for myself -- to set an intention for the period of Lent for how I want my life to be. I'm writing this a bit on the fly, but I think I want to commit to living joyfully. I want my Lent to be a time of laughter, joy, singing, and new experiences. I know Lent is supposed to be a thoughtful, pensive period -- and a period of self-denial. But I had a lot of pensiveness and a lot of sorrow last year around Lent. And this year, I think God would be okay with a little more joy in the world. I may write more on this later.
Back from rambling to the title of the post.
Happy Birthday, Garden! Thank you for teaching me that strawberries are resilient (and so am I). Thank you for your bounty. Thank you for being forgiving of your often wayward gardener. Thank you for teaching me the sheer joy of putting my hands in the good dirt. Thank you for allowing me to taste a tomato that I grew from a seed that I put in the ground. Thank you for attracting those great fat little bumblebees. Thanks, most of all, for being my therapy. For Garden, you kept me grounded (literally) during this tough year. And even though snow is currently falling from the sky as I write this, the calendar is reminding me that spring is on the way, that little green pea shoots will emerge from your depths (once it is actually warm enough to plant some seeds), and that my year of renewal has come full circle.
Thank you, my Garden, for everything. Even for Peazilla, my giant snow pea plant monster.
I can't wait to see what this new year of growing will bring.
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