Forgetting Everything Else

My biggest concern as I ate breakfast this morning was updating my apps on my iPad and making sure I had enough ketchup on my eggs. Tomorrow morning my worries will be slightly, if not completely different. If I get up at 4:30 I’ll have enough time to make breakfast, "take my kids to school", put my belongings in my new home, and walk to the gas station to catch the bus to go to the beach for rock picking all before 6. These are the tasks locals do every morning, and are the tasks I will be doing for the next week. 

Having spent this past weekend building my home for the week I had so many different thoughts. Our shack is tall enough to stand on your knees and completely made out of material we found on the side of the road or in the garbage dump, along with a handful of nails, a hammer, and a saw. We spent 6 1/2 hours one day working on our shack... it felt much longer than that. My body felt as if I had worked a lot longer than that. Which made me start to think about this upcoming week... we'll be working earlier and longer than I ever had. Most mornings will consist of getting up between 4-5. Some moments I dread the thought of waking up and being functional at the time I would normally consider still night time. But then I remember the families I just helped build homes for. This is reality for them. There's no  "Oh I only have to do this for one week, I can survive anything for one week." Thinking this fills me with some guilt and appreciation for my roots. I do get to come back to my big comfy house at the end of the week. There is no getting to move somewhere better for them. It makes me hate where I’m from sometimes, that I’m so fortunate. I get to be in a different country having this experience of how others live. They can't even dream of doing this, getting to go to a different country for a gap year/ leadership experience. Having all these emotions and feelings makes me remember that I must deal with them in a positive, effective way. I must use my guilt and change it into power to do something positive with that energy. 

The best advice I've received in reference to this upcoming week is from my friend Ursula who did "week in the life experience" last semester... she said, "Just forget everything you've been told about it and keep an open mind" 

Keep an open mind and open heart. Filling the other girls with encouragement, thinking things through, making a stronger connection with the other girls and to just go into every new job with an open, willing mind. I have no idea what to expect or how I’m going to be "forever changed" as everyone keeps saying. I know Mexico has already stolen a huge part of my heart and I have a feeling this experience is going to have me even more attached to the love I have for this place. At the end of this week I'm hoping to have more of an understanding of where these families and people come from, getting to experience a different array of jobs which include, Rock Picking, Field Work, Clamming, and General Labour. It may only be a week experience and may not be completely realistic as we're really only trying each job for one or two days. But I’m hoping this will help teach me some more empathy. This week is about just being open minded, and having this once in a lifetime unique experience. So i'm going to forget everything else, all my worries and concerns, and just go with it. But for now, I shall keep the rest of my thoughts for my blog to follow shack week. I'll see you all on the other side of the shack! Have a lovely week everyone! xo