Friday, January 2, 2009

Happy New Year!

This New Years Eve was spent with another volunteer at her much more rural site and with a Moroccan friend of ours. We made typical New Years appetizers from scratch, with varying degrees of success, but the process was a lot of fun. The power went out as it got close to midnight, and we sat with flashlights listening to music on a computer with a dying battery. Right at midnight the computer finally blacked out. It was our own little ball-drop countdown to the new year!

Lessons of 2008:

- I am able to pick myself up from devastation and take on a new life
- It is better to carpool with a friend than to drive alone
- Public transportation will show you a new side to the city you grew up in
- A good boss is priceless
- Friends that will listen to you go on an on until you can't talk about it any more are invaluable
- Horses, donkeys, cars, bicycles, trucks, carts and people can all manage to share the same road
- Traditions become more precious, and more ridiculous when trying to recreate them in another culture
- Drinking whole milk and sugary tea everyday actually can lead to weight gain
- Living in another culture teaches you as much about yourself as it does the world
- Generosity is being patient with someone who cannot communicate like everyone else
- Humbleness is speaking like a child with the mind of an adult
- Joy is finding a common language, like baking
- A sunny day means laundry will dry
- Volunteering yourself to help others sometimes means not being there for friends and family back home
- There is always more lamb meat
- We are adaptable creatures, even to situations that seemed absurd mere months ago
- The internet is invaluable in keeping in touch to far-away people
- There are plenty of edible parts to an animal that we mostly ignore in the US
- You absolutely must be able to laugh at yourself and let things go

9 comments:

barbie said...

Lisa:

Another entry that brought tears to my eyes. I wish I could have been so wise at your age. Blessings to you in 2009! Love, M

Marcella said...

That is a fantastic list...especially the part about there always being more lamb. ::snicker::

You are a very wise woman Lisa, very wise indeed.

Happy New Year!

Emily and Jon said...

A sunny day means that laundry will dry but a few consecutive rainy days means that mold will fester relentlessly upon your bamboo shelving! Now where's that wandering bleach salesman?

Lisa said...

Mom- Love you!

Marcella- Happy New Year! I think when I get home I will either completely avoid all lamb meat or have acquired a taste for it. Time will tell...

E & J - Okay, so it isn't just me! The other day I looked at my bamboo shelves and thought, "hmmm...I don't remember them being so...linty...wait a minute that is a full beard of mold! Wonderful!" I hope this isn't an all-year round thing. Or maybe it just means extra-vigilance in cleaning?

PanTostada said...

I learned the carpooling lesson in the 2000-2001 school year. :) Happy New Year!

Lisa said...

Raichel- Aw, yes :) Of course, it was one of those lessons I had learned and forgotten and had to re-learn. P.S.H.!

Jr. said...

Laughing at yourself... too true. I'm telling my third graders that I've swallowed a watermelon whole because they think my enlarged abdomen is hilarious!

Less than 5 weeks and my little "watermelon" will be here...

So glad to see you're doing well, Lis. Keep learning, everyday!

Love,
Jennie

So@24 said...

Now that's a list I can respect.

Happy New Year!

Janis said...

That's a wonderful list. :)