Hello, and Happy New Year everyone. Yes, I'm still alive down here. I took a hiatus over December and intended to blog when I got back from vacation, but I got busy and suddenly January is almost over. There are quite a few holidays coming up in February and March, so I'll try to be better about writing.
With every new experience comes a new opportunity to learn and grow as a person. Oftentimes, a new experience gives us a chance to learn things that we didn't expect. My roommates and I had a conversation about this one evening, and it led me to further reflect on the things that I've mastered here that I couldn't have learned had I stayed at home. So, without further ado, a list of the random life skills I've gained:
1. How to neatly wrap books in paper and sheets of plastic. Now when I go to medical school, I can keep my textbooks looking like new by wrapping them in gaudy paper.
2. How to eat and drink out of a plastic bag without utensils!
3. How to ride a bike with a flat tire in a billowy skirt around cars, potholes, children, cows, dogs, flying insects, wooden carts pulled by donkeys, large delivery trucks that shouldn't be on the road, etc. Next i'll have to learn how to talk on the phone and tow someone on the back of my bike at the same time.
4. The best way to kill rats (rat poison mixed with plain white rice)
5. How to outsmart ants (because quite frankly, trying to kill them all the time is futile)
6. How to catch a toad that meanders into the house
7. How to avoid the little frogs living in my shower and bathroom that like to jump around unpredictably
8. How to kill cockroaches and flying beetles without bug spray (I'm not sure I'll ever be able to kill spiders, but at least they're pretty rare)
9. The necessity to using a ruler to draw any line, write straight on a piece of paper, or tear a page out of a notebook so that the whole thing doesn't fall apart.
10. How to improvise an activity on the spot when the planned lesson turns out to be too short.
11. How to make pizza without an oven (Next step: making an oven on a propane stove)
12. How to strike a match successfully without breaking it or going through half the box
13. How to eat just about anything with a plastic spoon or spork (i'm still working on how to eat noodles)
14.How to survive without a refrigerator.
15. How to understand people mumbling in thick Guyanese accents (well, sort of)
16. How to enjoy a rousing 80's ballad, or any other type of music: at a volume that the whole village can hear, of course!
17. How to catch a car on the road, and also how not get ripped off by the car driver when I reach my destination
18. How to dry my clothes during the rainy season in less than three days
19. How to write legibly and draw elaborate diagrams on a not so good chalkboard
20. How to appreciate the simple joys in life, and how to not take a luxury for granted
