Countdown

I thought I was being rather chilled out about the whole ‘off to Bolivia’ adventure, until I awoke this morning and realised, with mild panic, that I can no longer say, “I’m going the week after next”. That has now become, “I am going next week.”

Having that all-important spare week in the middle somehow allowed me to feel a safe distance from the impending event. That spare week in the middle was like a lovely feathered-pillow buffer and, without it, the reality has kicked in very hard.

I will survive. I will make it onto that flight. I will make it to the orphanage. I will have that first meeting in Spanish with the Director of the orphanage, when the truth of how limited my Spanish is becomes embarrassingly apparent to all. I will just keep smiling and try to sense what I can do to help.

We’ve been reading Louis Sachar’s “Holes” at school. I highly recommend it. And there is a wonderful lesson in Chapter 7 when an Egyptian wise woman with one foot gives a challenge to a young man who has turned to her for help. She tells him to take one of the piglets in her yard and carry it to the very top of the mountain before them. He must let the piglet drink from the stream, and every day it will grow a little bigger. The young man dismissed her challenge, explaining that it would be impossible for him to carry the pig once it was fully grown.

The wise woman paused and asked him if he thought he would be strong enough to carry the pig tomorrow. “Yes!” came the obvious reply. And did he think he’d still be able to carry it the following day? A resounding “Yes” still came in response. Indeed, even in a week, he’d still be able to carry the pig. And then she explained that every day the pig grows heavier, so too the young man will grow stronger. In fact, the very weight of the load will make him strong enough to bear it.