I'm up at 3:25, waiting to talk to the Boyfriend, who is nicely driving his brother, J, and his brother's girlfriend, K, to the airport. Afterwards, J and K will embark on their first ever international trip together, to Cancun. We are supposed to get an icy winter blast here this Tuesday night. J and K will, hopefully, be sipping margaritas and getting tanned while we Washingtonians deal with this impending snow and ice in the only way we know how: by writing long letters of complaint to Pepco, by flooding into the nearest supermarket and stocking up on food, on buying pounds and pounds of salt, and by updating our Facebook/Twitter statuses constantly so that they read something like "OH NO THIS SNOW IS RUINING MY LIFE! I AM FREEZING/DYING/NOT ABLE TO WATCH JERSEY SHORE." Obama himself essentially told the DC region to grow a pear last year, during our very own Snowpocalypse. He said that this is nothing compared to Chicago so, really, we need to buck up.
I've enjoyed being a refugee in Boyfriend's home all weekend. Our power went out Wednesday and returned Thursday night. For reasons unbeknownst to me, the power decided to go out AGAIN in the middle of a tranquil Friday afternoon. So, I packed a down blanket into the heatless wild beast that is my car, Old Faithful, and drove to Frederick, to the land of electricity and heat. My weekend consisted of homecooked meals, Forrest Gump, and a Boy Scouts roller derby with J's seven year old nephew. Boy Scouts are so jovial- all front teeth and gumption and nerve. His nephew's car did well in the first round (first of four), which was good. Before the race, he was biting his upper lip and looking quite worried, like he was about to fail a test. Good thing his camouflage Army tank seemed to triumph.
Good news from the Peace Corps front:
I've been invited to teach secondary English in ECUADOR in June 2011! I've known about this for about a month now and still have trouble believing it's true. The Parentals have reacted in an overly joyous manner, mainly telling me that it is going to be my duty to "take them to the Galapagos."
I joined the Peace Corps Ecuador Facebook page. The members post incredible pictures. I am amazed by the flowers and the plants they take pictures of. Some of the petals look like they were dreamed up by Dali or Picasso or John Lennon during his LSD days. They look supernatural- almost like they have a mind of their own. I've begun reading about the fruit in Ecuador. Apparently, being so close to the Amazon, they have fruit that is completely foreign to the American palette, such as passionfruit. I can't wait to get there and try it. I can't stop thinking about everything- about what it will be like to once again live with a host family...will my host mother be telepathic and ALWAYS KNOW WHAT I AM THINKING like Maria Teresa? Will I have privacy or not? Will I be in the mountains or on the sweltering coast or in the jungle, with monkeys as neighbors? The Peace Corps makes it clear that we will not know our site placement until we finish our three months of Pre-Service Training in the capital, Quito. This means I have little clue of what my living environment will be like, or if I've packed for the correct environment. But, neither will the other PCVs in my group, so it should be a grand, ole adventure.
It's hard to think about Ecuador too much because of how far away it is. The ice and snow on the ground here and the constant business of life keep my mind from thinking about it too much. I've been nannying for three girls since November, two 9 year old twins G and T, and their 13 year old sister M. M has recently friended me on FB and texted me this weekend, thus capping off my strange friendship with her. I want to protect her from all the harms of adolesence, to tell her to think about homework more and boys a little less; I want to tell her that the "weird" kids in her grade may actually be worth talking to and that she doesn't need to wear thongs yet. Nannying has been a good experience- tiring, but in a strange way, it makes me feel more competent. There's nothing like having to get two girls in full hockey gear in 10 minutes and then navigate them to practice to boost your sense of efficiency.
I'm looked up Maya Angelou today. I've got to read "I know why a caged bird sings." I did a project on her in sixth grade, but I didn't realize until now all of the people she married, all the countries she lived in, all of the jobs- from prostitute to dancer to writer to actress- she has had. Truly, a magnificent woman.
That's all for now. I'm going to call J now to wake him up on his long car ride back from BWI.
Until next time,
A
