Reality Check

While I was sitting here (stressing myself out unnecessarily as usual) trying to decide whether to get my teaching credential in Albuquerque or San Jose, a reality check made its way into my inbox.

Two of my cousins have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq and while one has made it home safely, we're still waiting for my cousin Taylor to come home. His mom periodically sends emails to family and friends with updates about his life there, which are quite contrary to the majority of the accounts we read in the media.

Admittedly, I have been trying to ignore politics because I am extremely disillusioned that what we're seeing in this election cycle is more of the same on both sides of the aisle. I guess I expected things to be  marginally different than usual. However, now that I'm working in an American public school, I'm beginning to understand why our leaders consistently come from the same sources. Nonetheless, it was good to see my aunt's email because it is so important to remember that we are still at war and all of our soldiers are someone's brother, sister, son, daughter, cousin, parent, etc. One life lost changes the lives of others forever.

I am not sure who to vote for in November because I generally support the views of the New York Times Op-Eds and Jon Stewart, but I will vote because I want to elect leaders (does this word apply to our politicians? I'm not sure it does) who will accept the reality of the state of our 'war' in Afghanistan and bring our troops home sooner rather than later. And, of course, take care of them when they get back.

If nothing else, our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan deserve to know why they're there, what they're fighting for and what the end goal is. Can the average American get past the cable news sound bites we hear every day and astutely answer that question? I'm open to suggestions from people who know what they're talking about.

Rediscovering the Art of Doing Nothing

While living in Madrid, I had the luxury of ample free time. Now that I am back in the Bay Area, a place where most people can't resist looking at their cell phones at least once while eating dinner...at a restaurant...with their families, adjusting to the American way of ALWAYS DOING SOMETHING has been neither easy or fun.

However, from time to time I feel the need to spend an entire day in my house doing nothing, which I like to call 'having a Spain Day.' When I have a 'Spain Day,' I enjoy myself, but not without battling a good size portion of American guilt.

Today for example, I was supposed to go to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival (a really fun free music festival in Golden Gate Park). I've had it on my calendar since June because I was so excited about it, but when I woke up today, I just didn't have the energy to put myself together and drive up to San Francisco. So I didn't. I have spent the whole day in my house, with the exception of a run. And I had a great relaxing day in which I accomplished a whole lot of nothing.

In the States, more often than not, we derive a sense of pleasure from the things we've done or the things we will do instead of the overall process of doing them. For example, in Madrid, people gather at Retiro and spend hours just sitting in the sun doing nothing. We Americans are more likely to spend 30 minutes in the sun and then run off to check our Blackberries. Anyone who has a corporate job knows we are lucky if we have enough vacation time (and money) to take one vacation a year.

I have found it hard to follow my whims here because most every minute of my day belongs not to me, but to something else. I have time constraints and if I don't leave my house at a certain time, I will inevitably be stuck in traffic. And I can't afford to sit in traffic because I just don't have time for it. I'm all for working hard and reaping the benefits of said hard work, but where is the happy medium? And where do we draw the line? I feel like I'm paying for that ample free time I enjoyed in Madrid and it was so worth it.