Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Young Rivers

So, I don't remember and wasn't much interested in the geology and ecology I took.  Don't get me wrong, some of it was interesting but it just seemed less important to me than the chemistry and biology I was learning.  But a few things stand out and they surprise me when they jump into my head at a timely moment.  Something I remember from one or both of those classes is how to classify the relative age of a river (if I get any of this wrong please correct me).  I'm not sure how this information is relevant to a geologist or ecologist or hydrologist or... (insert your favorite "-ist" here) but I do remember the basic idea.

I was just sending an email to a friend and I was explaining that this experience is so crazy because I find myself stressed about lesson plans for a discipline I've never taught, doing my other supervision duties (which I seem to miss from time to time, much to the frustration of my companeros), or even the simple act of communicating with students or setting up internet when I don't have a Spanish bank account or the ability to talk to either the bank teller to set one up or the person who answers the phones for the internet company to ask if a credit card will do.  Frustration and challenge rule in those moments.  Then an instant later, I find myself experiencing absolute wonder about either the students or teachers with whom I work or the chemistry or biology or Civil War History in the lessons I observe or maybe just the fact that a full sentence in Espanol came to mind at the exact time I needed it!  Amazement and a sense of childlike wonder rule those moments.

The rapid and drastic oscillation of my thoughts and emotions is exhausting and exhilarating.  Points of frustration that emerge are frequent and difficult to navigate and the occurrences of wonder are likewise frequent and welcomed, if somewhat fleeting.  I think I am getting used to the pattern enough to realize that when they come, the simple wonders must be mined and enjoyed thoroughly and when the challenges come I must remind myself to hold on tight and ride it out because soon enough something amazing will be sure to cross my path.  When is that not true though?

Given enough time, we carve out the world around us, we round off the difficult edges, we find efficient paths for ourselves, we learn to navigate our surroundings.  In a similar way, it is easy to spot an old river.  For example the Mississippi, it has few curves, or turns or rapids.  It runs straight, it navigates its surrounding efficiently and there are few high points or low points in its course.  Not that it cares how we call it, but it is an "old" river.

In my spare time, I like to fish and a mountain stream is my favorite place to throw a line.  Those are, relative to the mountains from where they get their waters, "young" rivers.  They have significant changes in both course and altitude, they cascade along their path and are at the mercy of their terrain.  They are unpredictable.

These are my days, significant changes in both altitude and course; they are unpredictable.  They are full of wonder and frustration, amazement and challenge.  They are both interesting and exhausting all at once.  My weeks are full of young rivers and they have reminded me to appreciate more fully the simple beauty of the people and events that surround me, whether in Spain or in the states.

There is a place for the Mississippi and the mountain stream, but right now I am grateful for the young rivers.

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