5,000 Meters of Accomplishment

Hey world,

My last post, Race to the Finish, talked about how my (very quick) decision about running a 5K. 

Today, of course, was the big day. 

When I woke up this morning, my first thought was a four letter word (that is best paired with dogs doing a #2). I shook off my initial feeling of dread and put on my running outfit, ate a delicious cup of yogurt, and drank half a liter of water.

I packed up a few things in a bag, and started walking to the subway earlier than I had planned -- I realized that my 'lucky' sweatband was still at my office downtown, and I needed to pick it up before I met up with my friend J at 9.

When I got to the building, the security guard came out and said that no one was allowed inside because of some strange construction project for the weekend. SERIOUSLY?! I could feel the self-doubt in my heart already start to bubble.

Before the 5K began

Then I met up with J and we got on the subway together to head down to FiDi -- but the R runs on a different path on weekends, and before we knew it we were in Brooklyn instead. My heart sank a little more -- THE UNIVERSE WAS CLEARLY SENDING ME MESSAGES.

Determined to not let that voice have space, we made it in the knick of time to the event space, signed in, and nervously half-stretched as the organizers told us more about the cause we were supporting (Komera, check them out!).

Then it was time to run.

The leaders brought us into Battery Park, and we ran North up the Esplanade to Chambers Street, and then U-turned and headed back to where we came from. For most of the first mile, the group stayed together, and we ran at a manageable pace.

Then, the group slowly split as everyone found their stride and stayed there, and I spent most of the time with people I recognized in sight, but not nearby (aka, I was eating their dust). Instead, I took the time to focus on my self, and my surroundings, and every time that little voice in my head said "take a breather, no one will know that you stopped", I reminded myself that I would know, and I kept going.

When I got to the turn-around place, I was pretty sure I was going to keel over.
I had to run all the way back now?!

But I kept going, and at a slow and steady pace, continued to move in a forward motion. I reminded myself that I hadn't heard my 'halfway song' on my ipod playlist -- the one that would signal that I had been running for 30 minutes. That re-motivated me: how close to the end could I get before that song came on?

The other great thing was that J would always stay in view somewhere, and every so often, he would jog in place and wait for me to catch up before we both continued running.

"I'm not going to finish without you!" he'd say.

It meant a lot. And at the very end of the run, I lost everyone in the group I could see. In fact, I started thinking I had missed the turn-off point, and I could just see the headlines "Runner Goes Rogue during 5K and Ends up in NJ Instead of FiDi".

After we ran 3.6 miles! (and why do we look better than before?)

Thank god for J, who came looking for me, and ran with the final 3 minutes to the finish line. As soon as the store came into view, I threw my hands in the air like the marathon runners do, and screamed "I DID ITTTTTTT!"

And I did...and even 5 minutes faster than the goal I had for set myself!

With just 9 days notice, I went from the girl who had never run 1.5 miles without stopping to the girl who finishes a 5K without stopping*.


"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao-tzu

Now I'm trying to decide what I need to tackle next; what plans do you have to change up your routine and push your limits?

xoxo,
M




* I would also like to note that I was one of 3 raffle ticket winners -- clearly my karma for continuing came back to reward me with a week of yoga classes!

Race to the Finish

Hey world,

On Saturday, I'm running a 5K.

If you know me in real life, you know that I would be more likely to climb a mountain (check), go white water rafting in grade 5 rapids (check), or live for a year without electricity (check) before I would run a 5K. In fact, my being and the word 'run' are complete antonyms. 

Therefore, if you told me even two weeks ago that I was going to run a 5K anytime in the next year of my life, I would have probably said "Ummmm...NO" or laughed at you. It seems just so anti-thetical to my being.

However last week I was chatting on the phone to a friend about how I am trying to challenge myself and push my boundaries, and she was telling me that she was training for some corporate fitness challenge and part of it was a 5K, and mentioned offhand that I would 'never run a 5K'. And on the call, I totally agreed with her. I wouldn't ever run a 5K, willingly or unwillingly. That's not me.

After I hung up and was walking home that night, I started thinking and asked myself: Of all the personal grandstands I could take, why is running one of them?

Well, I've always been a terrible runner. I get asthma before I even loop around the gym once. My shoelaces are prone to come untied. I hate when people are faster than me (which is virtually anyone other than an actual snail). I ran my first mile without stopping when I was 20 years old -- it's been a long struggle. 

I mean, it's kind of a health thing, but if I didn't try to go from zero to gazelle, I could alleviate the chance of coughing.  Really, it's a pride thing. 

Wait, I was prepared to never run because of my pride?!?!?!

Nope. That wasn't going to fly. I went home, googled "5k runs NYC June 2014" and found one that was held Saturday June 14th, 2014 that benefited Komera, an NGO that works on empowering young women in Rwanda. 

And it was just $10 (!).

And the race started right on my subway line. 

It couldn't be more perfect if it tried. 

I signed up, and went to bed. I woke up the next morning, and without any practice, I ran 1.5 miles on a treadmill -- the furthest distance I had ever run without stopping in my entire life.

The game was on. 

For the past three days I have been just outside of Albany visiting family, and was able to go for beautiful 2 mile runs every day along a quiet country road. Surrounded by quaint houses and fields dotted with wildflowers, I listened to my favorite songs with the volume all the way up, and encouraged my feet to keep passing the pavement. 

An action shot during one of my runs (Altamont, NY)

Every day, I ran the 2 miles without an issue. In fact, I always ended it thinking, "Wait, I'm done already?! I could have kept going!" 

...This is coming from the girl who had never run 2 miles ever in her life before Saturday. And that girl is ME.

It was wonderful.

---

For me, the 5K is not at all about racing. I average a 13 minute mile...it's definitely a jog, and I could actually probably walk faster. But it isn't racing. 

It's about starting and not stopping. 

It's about making it to the finish line from the start line without dying. 

It's about doing what I never thought I could do, with my head held high. 

It's about pushing my limits, and altering my boundaries.

It's about approaching an intersection, and taking the path unpaved. 

I'll be spending the rest of the week kickboxing in the mornings, doing schoolwork all day, and running at the gym at night. 

Get excited for 5K pictures on Saturday! 

xoxo,

M

...And a Penny for Luck

Hey world,

On April 15th, I was having a terribly stressful day, and I stayed late at my office working on readings and papers. As I left, I was grousing because it was raining and I brought the tiniest umbrella I own, I was starving because I had eaten through all of my snacks hours before, and I still had an hour ahead of me of subway travel before I would be home and able to relax (and eat). 

So I left the building, and with my shoulders hunched, I put my head down and pushed forward. Not a minute into walking, I noticed a penny shining through a puddle. For some crazy reason, I decided to stop and pick it up.

As I was standing back up, I noticed the entire sidewalk was glittering. As dozens of people rushed past me with their umbrellas and their worries, I picked up dozens and dozens of coins, one by one, all the while beaming like a kid in a candy store. No one even noticed what I was doing, they just sidestepped me and my efforts, and moved on. No one even took a second to look down; no one even noticed that they were walking over a handful of dollars. Simply, no one took the time to care. 

Meanwhile, I scoured the space around me for coins. I walked into the street. I scuffed around muddy puddles. I interrogated the crevices of the sidewalk. And I put everything I found in a pocket in my bag without really taking note of how many/what I was picking up. 

When I got home, I put all of the coins I collected on my counter, and was shocked to see that most of the coins I picked up were quarters and dimes than pennies. In the rain and in the moment, I didn't even notice. I picked up over $6. 

My treasures from that night! 

But what was more striking, was that no one else before noticed. 99% of the time, we rush from place to place in our "busy" lives, and don't dare take a moment to soak in our surroundings...to see what we might be missing. 

When we see but don't actually 'see', we stand to miss out on the many blessings that surround us every day. We might be missing out on the big things and precious moments, or maybe it's just something small like a penny.

Pennies are the most discredited of all monies in the US; I had a friend as a child who actually used to throw hers away in the trash. Let me repeat that...SHE THREW AWAY HER PENNIES IN THE GARBAGE, because they weren't worth the effort. People walk by pennies all of the time - particularly if it's tails up. 

After April 15th I asked myself, how much am I missing each and every day? What don't I see that I could be? How many pennies a day am I walking by?

So I made a pact: I will pick up every single penny I see. 

Since then, I have picked up anywhere between 1-20 pennies a day. A couple of times, I have hit the jackpot, finding piles of pennies that people dropped and left. Other times, I find a single penny on the sidewalks of the East Village, of the Upper West Side, on the subway, in Harlem, even outside of my apartment building. Sometimes, I find pennies throughout the day. And I always ask myself, how long has this penny been here? How many people walked by without noticing this penny? How many people noticed it, and left it on the sidewalk instead of taking a moment to bend down and pick it up? 

No day is complete without a penny-sighting, and every day becomes a great day with my new penny in my pocket.

But more importantly, it's a daily reminder to not only look down (on my continual search for coinage), but to look up, look forward, and look around. I've spotted a blimp, I've exchanged smiles with numerous people, I've watched clouds float by, watched the sun set behind the Empire State building, and witness heart-melting moments between couples, parents and children, and random acts of kindness between strangers. 

My penny fanaticism is more than just a penny. It's about a way of moving through the world where every little thing counts.

Will you start looking for pennies? 

xoxo,

M

The Big Move: Departure Date

Hey World,

It took a couple of weeks to sort it all out, and while I'm still processing paperwork, I went ahead and purchased my one-way ticket to Tanzania today -- and I leave in just FIFTY DAYS!

I will literally be getting on a plane seven Wednesdays from today. 

Cue hyperventilating. {starts breathing in a paper bag}

I'm just kidding, I'm not really that nervous. Or upset. I'm really just excited to begin this new chapter in my life, and the 'bad parts' about leaving will be outweighed by the opportunities I'm chasing for my own growth and development. As I told my mom yesterday on the phone, We all have to live with the choices we make, and the repercussions of those choices. 

I chose to begin a career in Africa.

That means a lot of uprooting has to happen, but it also means a lot of new roots will be able to grow.
It means that while I have a lot of goodbyes to say, I have just as many hellos waiting for me.
It means that while I miss out on special moments here, I'll be part of special moments somewhere else.

So, let the fifty day countdown begin...

and here's to making every one of my last days here worth it!

xoxo,
M

Packing for Permanent: Feet First

Hey world, 

For anyone who knows me, you probably know that I own a lot of shoes. Like, a lot. And that’s after donating over 50 pairs of heels, boots and flip flops over the course of the past couple of years. So, there’s nothing more depressing than realizing that my lovely high heel collection (which rarely sees the light of day) will continue to lose light, as well as a number of other shoes which really have no place making the one way trip to Tanzania.

As I start to pack mentally and literally for my move, I decided the best way to approach the situation is from the bottom up. So, this week, I’ve decided to tackle the shoe and sock question before moving on to the numerous other packing dilemmas I’ll face.

For shoes, it’s best to keep it as simple as possible. Flip flops are so easy to come by in Tanzania, I’ll probably only bring one pair to get me started.

 I’ve just ordered three pair of Toms, which are my favorite close-toed multi-purpose shoe. When I was living in NW Tanzania, I wore through 2 pairs over the course of ten months. I’m hoping with a tad less harsh conditions, three pairs will last me at least one year.

On the close-toed shoe train, I’ll also be bringing my sneakers and my trustworthy Converse from the 8^th grade.

To round it out, a pair of rain boots (This girl’s going into the mud!) and my hiking boots (because….hiking), two pairs of wedge heels (I’ve got to be stylish sometimes!) and one pair of ballet flats for formal work occasions. 

Alright, so I just tallied those and that’s 11 pairs of shoes – is that acceptable or too many? I might be able to get away with just 9 pairs…we’ll see how it goes when the whole pile of to-go stuff is together.

And for the rest of my beautiful shoes -- at least half of them will be reaching the end of their time spent in my possession and moving on to new loving owners, and the rest will be stored for now.

As for socks...I think I have enough pairs already, which is great, because that means I don't need to buy anything else this week!

Have a great weekend, see you next week!

xoxo,

M

What Deciding to Move Permanently to Another Continent Means

Hey world,

Are you on cloud nine, because I am! Alright, that could be either the world's corniest pick up line, or it is actually something that I would say...luckily for you, I am in fact on cloud nine still! 

There's been a lot going on in my mind in the last week or so, and no shortage of happiness mixed with being frazzled. So, I'm trying my best to document it all via blog posts, and share what I can with you all so if when you make the jump and pursue your dreams, you can state for the record that I was in fact, completely transparent (and how much I helped inspire you, yadda yadda yadda). 

Therefore, I decided to write down ten things (some general and could be applied to anyone, and others that are specific to me) deciding to move to another continent in approximately two months (or less) means, and got the following list:

1.You all of a sudden have a lot of people to spend time with, and say goodbye to

2. You have a lot of food that you need to eat as much of as humanly possible, before it becomes a rare delicacy

3. You start avoiding food that you know you can get there, for soon it will become an everyday occurrence (sorry bananas and rice)

4. You start to make lists like:

A) figure out how to break your lease

B) figure out how to sell all of your furniture

C) figure out how to cancel your phone, internet, and television

D) figure out how to then unlock your iphone

E) figure out what books you need to read before you leave so you don't have to carry them with you

5. You have a bunch of clothes you need to buy (at least in my case, where I’ll be splitting time between the field – literally – and the office, in a conservatively-dressed nation, that also happens to be on the equator, but which also happens to be located at a high altitude)

6. You have a bunch of clothes and other personal belongings that need to be given away

7.     You start stressing about how much liquid you can bring onto an aircraft in the form of your favorite blue nail polish and jars of buffalo sauce

8.     You realize that while everyone is happy for you, no one is happy about it.

9.     You lose multiple hours a day to daydreaming about your new home

10. You begin planning all of the new places you’ll go and the new trips you’ll plan, and you won’t feel an inch of regret.

It's hard to imagine this was taken three years ago, before I had even been to Tanzania for the first time. But I knew then, as I know now, that I had found one of my forever-homes. 

----

There you have it. 

This is what deciding to move permanently to another continent means. It means snuggling on your couch for one of the (soon to be last) times and thinking of bumpity bus rides to towns on a map you're not familiar with as it does searching through the Verizon.com website and wanting to pull your precious hairs out. 

But most of all, it means smiles. and happiness. and all-around content. 

xoxo,

M

The Big Move!

Hey world,

As I alluded to in a couple of earlier posts, I’ve been juggling a few different ‘moving parts’ in my life these past few weeks.

Because I was able to expedite my MA program and am now on-track to finish my coursework by the middle of the summer, I also started to keep one eye open for jobs that I was qualified for / would find interesting / would bring me back to East Africa.

In a not-so-secret secret fashion, I made it through multiple rounds with a particular organization, and a couple of weeks ago found myself slinking off the day before my birthday to the airport, where I proceeded to fly to Tanzania, attend a four day interview, toast myself into a burnt crisp poolside of the Indian Ocean, and slink back to the US by telling people that I was #offthegrid.

It was a bit daunting to try and rearrange my schedule, to leave the US before Mother’s Day and to miss my birthday, and not publicize my trip without worrying people, but I was so thrilled for the opportunity to make it this far in the interview process with this particular NGO, to spend my 3^rd birthday in East Africa (out of the last 4 years, I’ve now turned a new age in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania respectively!), and to have an all-expenses paid chance to breathe in the sweet air of the land that I love.



But then I came home...and then I waited. And hummed nervously. And worked slowly but surely on my last final for the spring semester. And I stress-cooked. And I swiffered. And I woke up every morning hourly starting at 6AM to check my email.

But on Friday, at 11:24am, the email came.

I GOT THE JOB!

...AND THEN I IMMEDIATELY ACCEPTED THE JOB!

There is no doubt in my mind that it is the right decision – I cannot imagine spending the time or talent of my mid-twenties anywhere else.

-----

As I write this, my breathing is calm, my heart is beating softly, and my mind is at ease.

As I write this, I am already packing my mental bags for my one-way move to Tanzania with a smile on my face. 

As I write this, I feel confident that I am marching confidently in the direction of my dreams.

Xoxo,

M