since arriving in kosice, i've felt like a new person. i've been working through a book called "the artist's way: a course in discovering and recovering your creative self." sounds emotional, psychoanalytic and for the complete narcissist, right? it should come as no surprise then that it was a gift from my dear sister, katie. ok ok, maybe that was a bit too harsh. the fact is, the book is truly wonderful (which is a more accurate way to describe my sister). but the "new anna" isn't because of the book, it's because i've been waking up early and deciding to take a few hours of meaningful reflection and soul-searching. in general, i've been reading more and taking more time to find my course, rather than being guided by what my friends are doing. last week, right around the time i cut my finger, i was feeling pretty darn zen. i mean, i felt really "in-touch" with my "inner-artist" and i wanted to spend more time unraveling the deep mysteries of anna wilson. even thursday evening i met my friend valerie and she read my fortune (very seriously, of course) and said "ahhhh, you're turning a new leaf!" and then we read our horoscopes and mine said that i was turning a corner and taking a new path, that it was a "time for great beginnings!"
thursday evening i walked home from valerie's flat feeling like the epitome of peace. i was content with my life, with myself, with the economic crisis, with war, with starvation, with genocide... i felt un-phaseable. i went to bed and i swear i heard heavenly choirs singing me to sleep. friday morning i walked to school on sunlit paths, accompanied by birds and flower and rainbows. but as soon as i walked through the school doors, i knew there'd be trouble... i saw nelli, and she told me that i must go to the job center. for what? i'm still not quite sure. but the slovak bureaucracy is at work again. this fact alone was confusing, what was even more confusing is that they needed my diploma from bethel. and they needed it asap, of course. i told nelli that i had my official transcripts, but they needed the (meaningless, useless, merely decorative) diploma. bah. whatever.
after school, i went to tesco and decided that i needed to buy a few things to make me feel better. i needed to "re-center." what better way to "re-center" than with a nice, relaxing pedicure? so i bought supplies to file away my hideous callouses, polish, and some nice bath salts. i went home and turned on some music, filled my tub and proceeded with my re-centering pedicure. as soon as my feet were pruney enough, i filed away. i was disgusted (and mildly fascinated) by how much skin was coming off, but i paid no attention. and then when i was at the top of my foot, i got just a little bit too aggressive. just below my pinky toe, i went too far and deeply cut thin skin near the topside of my foot. it started bleeding, but i thought it was just a small cut. i was wrong. soon the water below my foot was not just pink, but dark red. i took my foot out of the water and went to grab some toilet paper to stop the bleeding. each step left a puddle of blood, and the toilet paper was soaked in seconds. just when i thought i was done with bloody messes, it happened again! so i hobbled over to my closet and take out an old towel, leaving incriminating, bloody footprints all over my flat. the towel soaked up most of the blood, but my foot was bleeding for several hours. what's worse, is that this injury makes wearing shoes nearly impossible. and it's not healing anytime soon.
fair enough: i'm a clutz. it's ok, i can handle this fact. but what i can't handle is that it has totally pushed me off of my course. rather than getting up early and reading and cleaning, i get up early and hobble to make my coffee, hobble to my chair to finally sit down, hobble to get dressed... hobble everywhere. i am a hobbling mess. you would think that this hobbling would limit me to my small flat. well, you forget that where there's a wilson, there's a way. saturday night, i wrapped up my foot and i went out with some friends. surprisingly, i could bear it. i could walk semi-normally, and i even forgot about the pain. it was ok! so, wisely, i agreed to take three friends with me on a small hike near kosice on sunday. the hike was great, and walking really wasn't SO difficult. it was painful and my back, hip and ankle ached from all of the hobble-walking, but it was so good to be outside and with friends that i didn't mind. however, we walked through one part of the forest and i suddenly heard a small voice in my head reminding me to be careful of poison ivy. and guess what? the next thing i knew we had come across a batch of poison ivy. but, of course, i realized this only after passing through it. and, since my foot has been so painful, i was wearing hiking sandals... so my gimp foot suffered even more with the beautiful red burn of poison ivy.
having given up my "peaceful" self, i woke up this morning and got dressed for the first "real" day of school. we are supposed to look nice because there are a few ceremonies etc., but since i can't really wear nice shoes my "nice" clothes were a bit hodge-podge. i put on my nicest summer sandals over my red (and partially bleeding) feet, pants to cover my red legs, and the loosest shirt i could find (it was HOT today). i looked weird. really weird. and once i got to school, i discovered that my purse had ruined my shirt by rubbing against it while i walked. great! and, nelli told me that i had to get my diploma translated... and that i still needed the hard copy of my diploma... which would also need to be translated. each translation will cost 30 euro. and yes, i do need each separately translated.
praise jesus in heaven that we do not live in such a ridiculously bureaucratic place. ok, certainly there are times that we have to fill out a lot of papers, jump through a lot of hoops, etc. but honestly, it's nothing like it is in these post-socialist societies. it makes life unnecessarily difficult.
on wednesday i actually start teaching, which i'm thrilled about. i'm hoping that i'm getting rid of all of my bad luck now, so that when it really counts i'll be on target. that everything will go smoothly, that my students will be speaking fluent english and reveling in my glory everyday. i'm sure-- totally sure-- that my self-actualized, calm, content and peaceful mind will return soon. well, at least i hope.
... until disaster strikes again,
anna
Why only staying until January? And, I'm sure things are better. It has to be, right?
ReplyDelete