esta vida es para mi

so i guess stereotypes are born from some truth.

i'm sitting here, in starbucks, reading.

i'm also listening to macklemore

and wearing birks

with socks. 

ugh.

pnw much?

homesickness is not what this is.

i'm just proud of my culture.

my laid back

tree hugging

adventure seeking

deep conversation craving

good coffee drinking

dog walking

totally tubular 

culture. 

last night i went to a festival of sorts to celebrate mexican culture. 

i watched, along with 2,000 of my closest friends, the lighting of a 

30 foot tall

spinning

red

green

and white

pyrotechnic cactus.

oh yeah, then it shot frickin awesome fireworks into the sky.

it was just the kind of thing that would absolutely never fly state-side.

Viva Mexico!

i love my personal culture

the culture of the pnw,

the 253.

i also love how my culture is forming to be very cosmopolitan.

yesterday, a woman asked me if i wanted some agua de jamaica.

i responded "ee mma."

awks,

not in botswana anymore.

i also do not walk with my head down.

i greet, or at least smile at, every person that i pass.

very setswana of me.

patience has become more than a virtue in my life.

it has become a defining characteristic of my personal culture.

why hurry?

why rush to wait?

so, i sit.

some call it african time.

others latin american time.

i call it my time.

my time that can easily be shared.

though some would argue that this lifestyle is less efficient than the hustle and bustle of the states,

i would argue the opposite.

maybe it depends on your definition of efficiency. 

sure, you might not accomplish as much work.

but you sure as hell will have more meaningful interactions.

those extra two minutes waiting for your coffee can be spent in dialogue with the cashier

or the person behind you in line

or the other individual also waiting for their beverage of choice.

who knows, you might just make a new friend.

or

i guess

you could spend it on your iphone planning out the rest of your day to the 15 minute marker.

life is cool.

why speed through it?

why spend every moment planning the next?

i'd prefer to actually live it.

let's not go forward.

let's not go back.

let's just stay

right 

here.

guadalajara,

what do you have to teach me today?

estoy lista para ti.