On lice and happiness.

When traveling to a foreign country, one can expect, at some point, to get sick... and that the sickness will then be over shortly after popping some Immodium or whatnot.  Well, I have been sick.  It's been nothing extraordinarily dangerous or severe, but I have underwent an onslaught of minor afflictions, one after another.  First, the expected, um, digestion issues- 5 days in length, oh yes, followed promptly by a throat infection with a fever to top.  Just as the throat infection was beginning to clear up, I got the worst sunburn of my life. (I am completely to blame and have learned, aha!, that the sun is more intense when closer to the equator).  Seeing it is evidently gasp-worthy.  Now I have gone from a deep scarlet to looking like I have a rare skin disease as the tanned skin gives way to new pink blotches.  And, just as the blisters and effects of solar overload were wearing off, it turned out that the persistent itching at the nape of neck was... LICE!  I don't want to whine, or overly whine because I think I already am, but imagine all of this combined with two months of intense longing for familiar friends, a loving dog, and a healthy diet with only temperate amounts of carbs and fried foods.  At hour 23 tossing on my children's mattress that may or may not be infested with lice, I found myself wondering, "Why am I doing this again?"


Cut to Colombia: the coastal region where I'm serving has a poverty rate of 47%, and poverty here isn't quite the same as what we may think of as poverty in the US.  Further, Colombia ranks among the top 10 countries in the world with the greatest inequality of wealth distribution.  Yet, according to BusinessWeek, Colombia is the world's third happiest country!!


http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/08/0819_happiest_countries/9.htm


I don't credit this achievement to the rise of tourism or the literacy rate as the article does, but to the Colombians' very unique joie de vivre.  They never need a reason to have a fiesta, though they do have many with 19 national holidays, and they are always surrounded with a real sense of community.  Plus, they absolutely love to dance; I mean, they really, really like to dance here.  It is not unusual to see Naifir, my host mom, dancing the vallenato or salsa with her mop.  Dancing begins early, as many schools devote the first two months of school- not to scheduling or classwork- but to dance rehearsals for Barranquilla's carnaval.  


Cut back to me on the flimsy foam mattress.  Why am I doing this?  I recall a group of British blokes I met at a salsa club last week traveling through Colombia who asked me the same question.  My answer is usually pretty standard, but this time I answered, while trying to concentrate on my salsa steps, white-like, while they, even more white-like, sat on their barstools sipping whisky, "Because back home, you can go through the wealthiest parts of town, and people aren't happy.  You don't see smiles, and if you do, they're probably forced.  But here I've seen people living with no running water or who are living in the most basic of conditions-- and they're all smiling."  I knew coming into this that likely I would receive much more from Colombians than I could ever hope to offer them, and already this has been my experience.  I may teach them how to teach and speak English, but they are teaching me how to be happy.  So after I combed those eggs out, I welcomed the salsa music blaring in from the street and... smiled.


By the way, I am going to Cartagena!  This is a dream of mine about which I'll write more later.  


Here I am learning my site assignment on Thanksgiving day-

  My first arrival at the school I'll be working at for the next two years-

In Cartagena, pre-sunburn-

And my novio Santiago.  Sometimes we play Spiderman, crash the toy motorcycle into the other carefully aligned toys, and put the bucket on your head.  We have a special understanding of each other, and he always leaves me with a sweet kiss.

Thank you, friends, for remembering and supporting me during these next two years.  Receiving emails of encouragement go a long way during these sometimes troubling times.


Leaving you in happiness nonetheless,
Amanda