Two Cents Tuesday: Valentine's Day Edition
So I had a completely different post already drafted, but it's February 14th (dreaded for all us singles) and I felt it necessary to share what I was lucky to be a part of today. One of our group members, Carol Schulte, is, for all intents and purposes, a motivational speaker & life coach inspiring women to 'live big.' From what she has explained, she came from a similar social background as a lot of us- living fast and trying to keep up with the cool crowd. She shared some stories, which aren't mine to tell, but I understand her past on a personal level. Eventually she relinquished that life and found that which empowered her most: theatre. Her mom was her biggest fan and supported her through every opening and closing night. When her mom passed away, she was left with a deep void, but also the passion to spread real awareness that life is too short not to live big. Today, Carol is a yoga instructor, has traveled through 25 different countries, speaks four languages, has lived in an Ashram, shaved her head, bungee jumped naked (my second favorite story, won't tell the first), and lots more. She is a free spirit, lives for herself, and is not afraid to show it.
Being Valentine's Day, Carol decided to organize a women's brunch with the theme of 'self-love.' We discussed self-care versus self-love, wrote what we loved about ourselves and scribbled positive affirmations on foam hearts to keep as reminders. Then this last exercise happened. We took another paper heart and jotted our names in the corner. Then we passed it to the person to our left. Each one of us wrote what we loved and admired about the person's heart we held. By the end of the exercise everyone had about 15 anonymous love notes to them.
The one thing I will say about Remote Year, is that the groups are large (particularly Meraki). They are as large as a few people's graduating high school classes, and with that comes some degree of segregation. I have spoken with and been around every single member of our group, yet sometimes I wish I could have a more meaningful, 1:1 conversation with everyone individually. That was one of my goals for this year, but it can be difficult to carry out. I should probably be easier on myself since it's only week 7, but I know I haven't been able to share my true self with a number of people on this trip, and I worry that generalizations will be made (here's one of my insecurities showing up). I've been unfairly judged plenty in my life: My looks to mean I was a bitch (anyone heard of resting-bitch-face?), my shyness taken as snobbery, etc. I thought my heart would be full of empty compliments since I had not had those deep conversations with everyone at the table. Well, I was proven completely wrong. Many of the comments I read were similar to what I've been told by some of my closest friends and those who know be best. How is it that this group of girls I've known for a month and a half were able to highlight some of my best personal qualities? This was an exercise in self-love and it reminded me to quit worrying about what others may or may not think, let go of my self-judgement, and see that maybe we understand each other more than we realize.
This trip is continually surprising me at every turn. I felt the love today, and like I've said before, I am so incredibly grateful to be surrounded by these amazing, amazing people.
Now, after that little V-Day spiel, here are my two cents this week:
1. I was definitely right about Bogota and the nightlife. Birthday bar crawls, Gringo Tuesdays, Masquerade balls, Fabuloso, a steakhouse-turned-club. All of the above are must-try experiences, but mostly 'one and dones.'
1b. You need to learn to like Aguardiente. It's the most popular alcoholic beverage in Colombia and it's also the norm to buy a bottle at the bar and take mini shots of it with your friends all night. It tastes like black liquorice and will take some getting used to (I used to have to plug my nose to get it down).
2. Regardless of the increase in going out, month two feels more like real life. I do my grocery shopping on Mondays, prepare most of my meals, *try* to exercise (or like last week, paid for 7 days of yoga and went once), I'm more focused on work, and although I still have plenty to distract me, I am better at picking and choosing my activities.
3. Saturday we took a tour of a local coffee manufacturing plant where we learned which countries produce the best coffee (hint: not Brazil, but Guatamala), how it's harvested, made, and also how to judge coffee based on smell and taste. To open up the flavors of coffee, you must slurp it. Yes, slurp that s***. Our tour leader was basically snorting her coffee (I wish I had videos to share). For me, the most expensive and "exquisite" coffee blend tasted the worst, and the over roasted one tasted the best. At least now I know what I like! Fun fact: Starbucks over roasts all their coffee to maintain consistency (I guess we Americans like muted coffee blends).
4. Colombia has tons of unique produce. Last week we went to an organic food store where we picked up about 4-5 different types of fruits and tried them all. Some have really awesome nutritional properties: Maracuya (my favorite is the wrinkley one because it's almost unbearably tart and reminds me of Sour Patch Kids) has lots of Vitamin C and aids in digestion, Pitaya helps control blood sugar and prevent memory loss, Lulo boosts the immune system and promotes white blood cell production, and Guanabana is said to be a natural cancer killer, 10,000 times stronger than chemo. This is right up my nutrition science alley!
5. I think I'm doing a pretty good job of 'living big'. Just by being on Remote Year I feel like I've accomplished that; I'm living my dream life. But beyond doing awesome things like riding in hot air balloons, hiking to the tops of mountains and daringly tasting insect larvae, I want to live big in my relationships with others. This year holds the potential for incredible personal connections, and I can't wait to continue exploring them. With that, thank you Carol for inspiring this post today!
Happy Valentine's Day everybody.
