Life is an Adventure: Pride Rock

I woke up in the morning feeling like P Diddy, minus the millions of dollars and Nike Air Force Ones. MY alarm was blaring some Spanish music at 6:00am as loud as it's poor little speakers would allow. I had no idea what nonsense this underrated invention was screaming, maybe because I had just woken up from an intense flying dream, but probably because I don't speak Spanish. A couple of months ago I started learning Spanish on Rosetta Stone to keep my mind sharp while also attempting to learn a language spoken by a large percentage of the world. I made it as far as "El niño come" & "la niña bebe. I don't think the song on my radio was waking me up with "the boy eats, the girl drinks", but who knows, maybe that is a hot song in Mexico these days. After I stumbled out of bed and traversed the valley that lays between my bed and desk to turn off the alarm, I did what any normal 18-65 year old human being does. I set a new alarm on my phone for 7:00am. Time to drift back into the world of my imagination--not like the Willy Wonka song though, because that movie scares the shit out of me--instead, I had hopes of sacrificing a morning workout for an extra hour of flying around in dreamland surrounded by beautiful women. But it never works out like that, does it? You rarely wake up in the middle of an incredible dream only to fall back asleep into the same scenario. Neigh, you usually end up in some foreign land with that annoying friend you don't like but don't have the heart to tell them to bug off. This morning was no exception to the rule. I did not return to Narnia when I dozed off again. Rather, I enjoyed another hour of black bliss. No stimulation, yet satisfyingly relaxing. A nice trade from a morning sweat.

After a pep-talk from my coffee, I set off on my journey to my school attachment. There was something light in the air that morning, something happy, something contagious, and dare I say magical. Everybody was out and about, walking and talking, liming, gossiping, going through their morning rituals. With each morning I feel more and more a part of their rituals, more a part of this community. We greet each other with smiles on our faces and more than the typical small talk. Family, jogging, food, religion, these are the topics of conversation in passing. Far from the original chats about weather, tourists and dog shit (there's a lot of it on the road). I felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, minus the boobs and awful case of Stockholm Syndrome. Minus the signing too, oh geeed. Don't ask me to sing, you won't like me when I sing. My school was just over the next hill. The echo of the morning bell ringing bounced over the ridge, through the morning sun light, and hit me in the face. Balls, I was late again, a product of my morning coffee and news search routine. The kids greeted me outside as I tried to slip unnoticed into assembly. I hope they are starting to realize why I'm here. Starting to realize that I could be anywhere in the world, but I would rather be at their school because I care about them. The song the children sang this particular morning was not the usual church song, they sang "I am special". You couldn't wipe a smile off my face if you told me Muppets were dumb, that's how happy I was.

This was just one morning, 3 hours, out of the past two and a half weeks that have rocked my world. Peace Corps service is full of ups & downs, highs & lows, periods of constant stress & frustration and moments where everything seems to go right. We know this all too well. Typically, when we all get together it seems to be a time when everyone is in the gutter. Thankfully, we have each other to bitch to. You would hate to be around us during these periods, talk about debbie downers. I am hoping to ride this current wave as long as I can. The past two weeks have been filled with different moments that have either made me proud or reminded me about pride. Sometimes it was my kids at school, my brothers, my parents, friends here and there, and of course the Disney Lion King children's book I read intently at Jacq's place (hence the title of this post). Sure there have been bad moments, times when I've been pissed or stressed, but they have been heavily outweighed by the good things.

The purpose of this post wasn't to go into specific detail about each event that made the past couple of weeks great. That would take entirely too long, even by my standards. So, just know that things are good here, and I am truly happy. If you do want the juicy details, give me a call/skype/letter and I will chew your ear off. Rather, this post will focus on the things that have made me proud recently. Consequently, 25 October is when we celebrate Thanksgiving here. I'll save the proverbial "things I'm thankful for..." post for the US Thanksgiving. These are the things that I have been really proud of the past couple of weeks, helping to encourage my emotional high and motivate me:

I'm proud of my brothers. Every one of them. It would be nice to tell them that to their face, but we're brothers which by nature just don't do that. I'm proud of Cody for his own adventure he is on, for finding his first fulfilling niche, for the tremendous amount of help he is providing to farmers outside Seattle, for finally realizing he doesn't need to follow others to be a man because that is a path you find and follow on your own. I'm proud of Jordan for his endless support of my parents, brothers, and his girlfriend, for his commitment to be a better person physically, mentally and professionally, for realizing he is funny and unique in his own way and does not ever need to imitate someone else. I'm proud of my big brother Porter Case (and his wife Rebecca) for how far he has come since his wedding, it seems like just yesterday I was toasting at the rehearsal (remember my toast? yea, it was the best), for his commitment to God and family, for his commitment to the most heinous team in football, for his inspiring words and encouragement, for his passion to show others how to light up their life, for their decision to bring a baby into this world!

I'm proud of my friends at home, especially the 15 best that anyone could have. I look at pictures of all of us freshman year and we look like idiots. We were idiots. But we came out on top, with each other, determined not to forget the ties of friendship and determined to overcome the ugly job market. Look at us now: marriage, big boy/girl jobs, homes with nice things, and still time for each other. They say college is the best 4 (or 7) years of your life. Sure, we had fun then, but I wouldn't trade anything or anyone for where we are now. I'm proud of how far we've come and how far we've yet to go, together. Without y'all I would be nowhere. I wouldn't be here, that's for sure. I don't know if I told her this, but one of the people that helped me realize my dream for the Peace Corps is Mrs. Boland. Without Erin or Taylor I would be stuck in some dead end job. I miss you all terribly. I expect a better skype session at Laurie Jossey's wedding.

I'm proud of my parents for all the work they've put into raising their 4 children. And now that my brother and I are capable of taking care of ourselves, my parents still putting in the hours. At work, at home, in the community, where do you find the energy? Your story has been one of trial and tribulation, but always ending in triumph. As a famous commentator once said "take a bow son". Honestly, I could write for days about how my parents make me proud, but I'm sure my dad is crying on his keyboard right now so I'll stop. For those of you that didn't check it out, he had a cameo on last week's Extreme Makeover Home Edition. He's basically famous.

I'm proud of all the PCV's in Grenada. We deal with a lot of shit day in and day out, and yet we keep plugging in because we care too much for the people of the world. That says something about who we are, who raised us, and a world we want to live in. We are all doing tremendous work here and we couldn't do it without each other as support.

I'm proud of my students and kids here in Grenada. And they are proud too! I'm proud of their being proud. I can see how much work they have put in since last semester, since I was just a stranger. Some days it may seem like we are taking one step forward and two steps back, but other days these kids surprise me. They love to come up to me and show off their good grades, or the art work they did during class, they might hit a kid one second and the next they exhibit a true understanding of friendship and love. Kids that used to be complacent and disrespectful are now enthusiastic and excited when they understand a math problem or learn a new word. I'm proud that they continue to strive to learn even though some days they struggle to understand a concept. "Do or do not, there is no try," that's what one of the teachers preached to the students during assembly recently. Okay, she didn't quote Master Yoda, but she told them there is no such thing as "I can't" and I see it being acted out daily now. I was especially proud the other day when, after losing a football match, the boys and girls did not fight amongst each other, instead they argued with the ref (me). I'm proud that they want to beat the odds and change the current state of Grenada to a better future.

There is a difference between being prideful and being proud of someone. When you are prideful you cannot see the world for what it truly is, but when you are proud of someone you being to grasp the beauty and complexity of the world around you. So take a minute and reflect on what you are proud of today.

Boom. Pictures.