There is a guy who stands outside of the college most days and, no matter what time it is, when he sees me, he says, “Good morning!” (I think those are the only two English words he knows, but he uses them well.)
To illustrate at a very basic level the way that moods fluctuate in the Peace Corps, I want to share a variety of my morning emotions with you. The following is a taste of said mental states, along with some of my morning activities, over the course of three months, copied straight from my journal entries.
Sept. 1: Helped Ludie clean little red berries this morning. Currants.
Bowls of Currants (and one of cherries)
Sept. 2: Went for a run w/ Laura this morning
Sept. 8: Slept well. Sun is shining in my window. Beautiful!
Sept. 9: Ran a different route this morning.
Sept. 11: Slept great.
Sept. 15: Mini-breakdown this morning, talking to Tony, because I was talking about reasons it’s difficult to be here, and his computer froze up, which meant I was talking to nobody, and it was like he had either wandered away and stopped listening, or just hung up on me. Couldn’t help but take it personal for a moment…
Sept. 17: Slept weirdly last night. Had really boring dreams, where I was bored for hours! Not very comforting. Also dreamed that I went back home and my two years were over and I had not accomplished one thing, and I was no better off for my time here.
Am I making the most of my time here?
Sept. 19: Skipped the run this morning. I woke up with a sore throat.
Sept. 21: I woke up feeling pretty good… Listened to NPR and massaged my feet.
Sept. 22: Bleh. Didn’t sleep super well. Was cold then too hot.
Sept. 28: Good morning so far! Went for a run w/ Laura, made French toast for breakfast, and got emails from home, including one saying I might be getting the best care package ever!!!!!! Wow. How awesome is that?
Oct. 7: Good morning.
Good morning! Today I embrace the day!
Oct. 13: Had a horrible dream last night.
Oct. 14: Called Tony at 1:30 in the morning, b/c that’s when he said he would be free.
Oct. 15: Spent a good few hours in bed this morning, on my computer, surfing the web. Good stuff.
Oct. 16: I woke up angry this morning.
Oct 17: Went for a run with Laura this morning.
Oct. 22: Ak.fjeo;ifhealfkjldkfjalhvclj!!! Don’t feel like getting up today. Just laying in bed.
Oct. 24: Good (?) morning.
Oct. 30: Everyone except me and Brian went home this morning. We stayed at John Hart’s house.
Ev and Brian in Berd, after Halloween
Nov. 8: I feel weird today.
Nov. 9: It’s morning, I just woke up and showered. Feels like America at this hotel.
Hotel where we stayed for our Early Service Training and All-Volunteer Conference. (Thanks, Kelsey, for the picture.)
Nov. 16: Cried most of the morning.
Nov. 18: Left a comment on a blog this morning.
Nov. 19: Instead of Ibuprofen, I accidentally took 4 doses of my daily multivitamin.
Nov. 20: It’s only 11 in the morning. I did some stuff already today!
Nov. 21: Woke feeling weird. Anxious. Uncomfortable in my head.
Nov. 24: Happy Thanksgiving! I forgot about that when I woke up today, but remembered eventually after I stumbled out of bed…
My view, Skyping with my family back in America on Thanksgiving.
Nov. 25: Trying to remember what it is to wake up to a “normal” day, where the coming events don’t freak me out, or the cold doesn’t trap me under my warm covers, or I don’t get anxious about what’s going on in my life, or I just get up and go instead of thinking, thinking, thinking, and convincing myself there’s no reason to get up just yet.
Nov. 29: Woke up in a bad mood.
Dec. 6: Woke up feeling really positive this morning. I like that!
I don’t know about you, but it was a little concerning to me to read back on all the negative morning messages. In my defense, I tend to write more when I’m feeling down and out. And also, during the course of the day, the moods always fluctuate, so even if the day started out bad, it didn’t necessarily stay that way.
Nevertheless, let’s be like the guy who is always outside the college, and hope for a majority of good mornings from here on out!
Have a good morning!
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Andy & Nicole
Brent
Emily
Katie
Sooo…maybe you’re not a morning person…I love reading about your adventures and check your blog almost every day! I hope everything is going as good as they can in Armenia.