Distractions

 Sometimes children’s stories offer the most profound of thoughts.  Dr. Suess, Judy Bloom, Roald Dahl, and Maurice Sendak are among my favorites.  I recently read The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. Despereaux is a mouse who from birth was different from other mice.  He was born with his eyes open and he thrives on interaction with humans, particularly the Kings daughter.  The nemesis in the story is Roscuro, a rat who is a misfit among the rats because he loves light.  The story begins with the inscription, 

The world is dark and the light is precious.  

Come closer, dear reader. 

You must trust me. 

I am telling you a story.

As I write these words, Russia is marching toward Kyiv, the evidence of climate change is all around me as this region of Costa Rica is experiencing the hottest February-March in history, and people all over the world are suffering from needless hunger, war, and as a result of the greed of the few.  

The world is indeed dark, and light is so very precious. 

In these horrifying days, these words have brought me much hope, light, and faith.  

Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell … a story. Make some light.

I have read 8 books so far in 2022.  This one is of the “distraction” genre on my list to be read this year.  This is, of course, my own category; I have divided my list into three categories; political stories, and church renewal are the other two.  As I start my 6th week of sabbatical, I am still drawn to the first category because they offer light.  I can identify with the Roscuro the rat:

He was always, in the darkness of the dungeon, on the lookout for light, the smallest glimmer, the tiniest shimmer. His rat soul longed inexplicably for it; he began to think that light was the only thing that gave life meaning, and he despaired that there was so little of it to be had. 

The world feels do dark.  There seems to be so little light, so little hope.  The stories offer an alternative reality, a distraction from the news; from the horror of injustice and war; from angry, hateful people; from the consumer-driven economy and its resulting selfishness. 

I intentionally did not say “escape” from these things.  I don’t believe that we can escape, nor should we.  As a person of faith, I cannot ignore the realities of this world nor turn my back on the needs of others. I must listen and learn, seek understanding of what is happening and listen to discern means to counter the ill-effects of these evils.  That said, however, my own well being and mental health are necessary if I am to offer hope, work for justice.  These books allow me to be distracted, to be refueled for the journey ahead.  

The Tale of Despereaux 

(C) 2003 by Kate DiCamillo. 

Kindle version (c) 2009.

Published by Candlestick Press

99 Dover Street

Somerville, Massachusetts 02144 

Lecciones Privadas

One activity I have not signed up for in Samara is surfing class.  The sun, the numbers of people in the space, the embarrassment of being in a bathing suit….. no. Just no.  But I’ve been watching the classes being taught…. Often.  Over this past weekend, the tides were right to surf in the late afternoon before and immediately after high tide.  I watched one student in particular who was about my age (and much braver than me) as she waited for a wave, paddled hard and knelt on the board as the wave broke under the board.  And then she stood on the board.  The wave foamed under the board as she struggled to maintain her balance.  She held her stand for about 10 seconds before the current under the board moved and destabilized the board and her balance. As she went down, she turned and dove into the water.  She surfaced, grabbed the board and returned to the deeper water for the next opportunity.  That was one gutsy woman!

This week, I’ve changed my schedule from the original plan.  My first 4 weeks in Costa Rica, I participated in half day Spanish lessons in groups, plus 5 hours of private lessons each week with just an instructor and me.  My original thought when planning this in 2019 was that I would get technical learning in the classroom and conversational learning in the private lessons.  It was a fair assumption. But it did not turn out as I’d expected. 

My first week of group classes, there were 4 students in the class.  None of us had formally studied Spanish, but we had the grammatical knowledge to start at level 2 (of ??).  However, there was nothing offered in that class that I had not already learned.  I was grateful for the conversations. I learned to listen differently to the language. And I appreciated the laughter we shared.  Academically, however, it felt like a waste of time.  

My second week of group classes (6 students) was difficult.  And there was a lot of stress around my homestay location (see the previous blog post).  I arose, left the house, walked 5 - 10 kilometers on the beach each day and still arrived at the school by 7 a.m. And I stayed until after 9 p.m. at night to avoid the stress at the homestay.  I worked hard on new material, but the group class did not cover everything we needed to cover; all but one person in the class failed the exam and so I had to spend the third week with the same material. 

I moved to a new homestay that weekend. With that stressor removed, things were ridiculously easy again.  The third week of group class (5 students) was a complete review of the second and I easily passed that exam on Friday.  

Last week I was in a group class (of 7 students) to complete the 100 level term.  While there was a lot of review, I skipped ahead with YouTube (Butterfly Spanish) and Duolingo and picked up the simple future, future, and gerund tenses quickly.   However, the group class was so very slow.  The profesora was patient with all the students, I was ready to move much faster than the rest of the class.  And at the end of the week, I passed the final with flying colors.  

Mid week, I mentioned to my private class instructor that the group classes moved so very slowly and she responded, “Why don’t you ask the office if you can take the next week in private classes?”  Can I do that?  “Por supressa— of course, as long as there is an instructor available.”  She assisted me in making that happen. 

This week, and I hope next week, I will only have private lessons; they will be three hours on Monday and Wednesday, and two hours on Tuesday and Thursday.  I would really like to get as far as possible in Intermediate Spanish (the 200 level) before I leave Samara on March 19. And if I can’t get as far ahead as I “scheduled” for myself… oh well.  

On the Meyer Briggs, I am a very strong J (of course if you know me you knew that without me telling you!).  I planned the minute details of this sabbatical well before I bought tickets or registered for classes, and certainly before I had a grant to pay for it all.  Esto fue totalmente loco.  Planning is more than a time management tool for me.  It is a means of control.  When I arrived in Costa Rica, I was sure I had control of this experience.  But the experience is teaching me that I don’t need to have control, I don’t have control, and that I just need to ride the wave wherever it takes me.  It’s okay if I crash…. I just need to dive into it because there’s plenty of water under me and another wave is another opportunity.  Because I’m not gutsy enough to get on a surf board, but I am enjoying the surf anyway.