the old-school guestbook archives
my amazon wish list... my favorite astrologer... my favorite artist... yerba mate revolution! erowid: a travel guide for interior journeys... no more war: MoveOn.org United for Peace and Justice True Majority seek the truth: Common Dreams Unamerican Activities The Nation people I adore, diaries I read: rev.raikes ariana cubiclegirl epiphany glitter333 laurakay wammo the music: the asylum street spankers backyard tire fire blue highway bill camplin wendy colonna freedom tribe joules graves guy forsyth band hamsa lila hanuman libby kirkpatrick leftover salmon pamela means medeski martin & wood the motet the nice outfit nickel creek open road rose polenzani railroad earth south austin jug band string cheese incident taarka tha musemeant the devil makes three tim o'brien band trolley wild sage keller williams yonder mountain string band |
the good life ~ February 4, 2003 - 4:30 p.m. everything just seems to keep getting better... I feel like I should knock wood when I say that. I feel like this whole charmed existence of mine is something of a knock-wood enterprise. because, after all, everything falls apart eventually, yes? of course, then I remember how long and strange and dark last winter was, and allow myself to think that maybe, just maybe, I am owed a winter filled with light. noemi, who is the administrator of the school and so far my closest friend in lao, helped me put together my teaching schedule. and as we were talking she had a realization that it makes more sense for me to work with the older students (we go up to grade four), since I bring all of these experiences with me, and that is after all why I was hired. they do need help in the kindergarten, but maybe I could do some of both? so we put together a schedule for me which is something of a dream schedule. "circle time" with the little ones in the morning (singing songs, dancing dances), and then "library time" with the older grades-- reading books! and then creative writing classes, too! not only that, but working out my schedule was the first time I realized that as a "volunteer teacher", they only expect me to take on about 10 hours a week... oh my, yes. I can live with this. I'm also going to be tutoring the director's daughter three nights a week. I'm mildly nervous, but gratified that he thinks that highly of my abilities. he could have asked anyone, after all. and it's a little extra money on the side... I have a goal of returning to the states with a couple thousand dollars, if I can manage it. enough to buy a car, which makes my road-style existence much easier to cope with. especially since I have people to see in that couple of months I'll spend in the US, and they're spread all across that freakishly large empire. we'll see if I can manage it. I don't save well. but it's true that the money I'm making goes a looooong way in a country where a nice restaurant meal costs a dollar or two. I did just spend way too much at the morning market (which is open all day) for a gorgeous traditional lao bedspread. I knew I was paying too much, even after I bargained it down, but it was purple and I was in love and it made me weak. and I needed a new blanket, since discovering that the cheap, soft gray one I bought disintegrates all over, and leaves little gray fuzzies in my hair and everywhere. my room is coming together deliciously. I got a lamp yesterday, a little wicker one that sprays a pattern of light like a sunburst on my ceiling and down the walls. I breathed a sigh of relief when I plugged it in, because the only other light fixture is a fluorescent tube overhead that makes me feel crazy. my life is coming together deliciously, too. I am astounded at how easy it feels to live the good life here, when I've been struggling for so long. I have a home, a base, a structure to build my life around. I am out of bed by 6:30 so that I can practice yoga before I leave for school at eight. can you believe that? I sit in meditation before I go to sleep. which I do, for the most part, early. early enough to get up at dawn feeling good. feeling good. oh, it's just so good, to feel good. halleluia. *** with deepest gratitude, always, for blessings received.
(((rings))) |