I woke up just as stressed out as I was when I went to bed, but lacking the ability to use sleep as a means of escapism from said stress So instead I curled up on the couch and stared forlornly at my computer screen, took a shower, and watched some TV, before catching my friend Katrina on Facebook chat, and discovered that she was having a similar experience. We decided that we both needed some moral support and to get out of our respective apartments, and formulated plans to go to White Rock Coffee (my I-need-to-study coffee shop of choice) and work on things together. This was possibly the best idea we could have had. I actually managed to finish my internship midpoint self-evaluation paper, which ultimately reached 16 mostly single-spaced pages for a grand total of 6,500 words (that's a lot, people). It took a good 5 hours of work today to finish it, and another hour to proofread it. It was a very draining essay to write because it involved a great deal of self-criticism and more reflection than any normal person likes to engage in. In fact, the hour of proofreading effectively killed the happiness and relief that I felt upon finishing the actual writing of the paper, and when we left the coffee shop around 5:15 I was completely exhausted despite the Peppermint Mocha that had been consumed some three hours earlier.
Although I would have liked to spend the night curled up under a blanket watching mindless television, I fought my way through the rain to my mentor pastor's house for the church staff Christmas party that he and his wife were hosting tonight. It was a stressful drive because the rain made the roads slick and the lanes nearly invisible, and there were massive puddles everywhere. But finally I got to the house, offered my gift of a Christmas poinsettia to my mentor pastor and his wife, and settled in for a party. Even though I was kind of out of it at first, this was actually very good medicine for my overwhelmed and stressed-out demeanor. It turns out that a good recipe for stress relief is a mixture of Christmas carols, Filipino food, cute children, and general Christian community. A couple of the women also taught me to speak some Tagalog, much to the delight of everyone who crossed my path throughout the night. I learned four words in total: "masarap" (good/delicious), "maganda" (beautiful), "opo" (yes), and "bapo" (takeout/leftovers). The spelling on that last one is questionable, but my knowledge of Tagalog quadrupled in this one evening. I got sent home with a great deal of "bapo" (spring rolls, ham, fried chicken, black rice, sticky rice, and fruit salad), a big box of peanut butter M&Ms, and a pretty glass angel ornament. It was a very re-energizing evening after a long day of studying.
So now I'm down to preparing for just two finals, one of which I'm not concerned about at all and one of which scares the bejeebers out of me. But it will all be over come Thursday, and that is my shining ray of hope.
Also, last night I made "Ratatouille"'s ratatouille (as in, ratatouille based on the version created by the rat in the Disney movie), but was too stressed out to write about it. Eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper atop a bed of tomato paste with chopped onions, garlic, and olive oil, cooked in an oven and topped with goat cheese. It was all delicious. Here's a picture of it. It's pretty masarap, and a bit maganda as well.
And, for fun, here's a song that I have been playing on repeat for most of the day. Even though it has nothing to do with anything else in this post...
No comments:
Post a Comment