Cavalgada "the diary view, part 3"

And here we are in our third and final installment of the Cavalgada series which actually stopped being about the Cavalgada a long time ago,lol. In the next posts, I'll write "the journal view" which instead of being about how I feel about what's happened, I'll just tell you what's happened. Thus, pictures! But I digress...

Time-out. Can I just say that Luciana just spider-manned her way up the back of my wardrobe past my suitcases like 8 ft in the air. I wish my camera was working I'd definitely post the video. I'm kinda interested to see how she gets down. I was standing ready to catch her if she fell but she's a g so I'm guessin she won't need my help to get down either. So... the perspective again. I have cock-roaches. Day before yesterday was a great day in spite of the fact that I opened my same wardrobe and there was a cockroach just chillin on one of the shelves. I've tried for the life of me to figure out how it got in there but it doesn't matter. I've realized that no matter what I do/clean I'm going to have roaches. And that's ok (for now). I've accepted that I'm going to see the bike/computer repairman more than once again before I go. I started talkin all everything's grand and someone told me that's cuz I'm goin home in 6 months and to imagine if I were here for years. There's that perspective again.

One of the common questions I get is, "How long you gonna be here for?" When I say nine months, the typical response is, "Oh, like a baby." That conversation is usually summed up with me saying, "Um... yeah, I guess so." Other than the equivalent period of gestation I saw no similarities between the two but now, I do.  Instead of growing a baby I'm growing a lifestyle change. For example, the gym thing. You don't just up and be a runner. You have to work at it. Now I see myself running an hour three times a week for the rest of my functionable life. I'm always evaluating myself on some self-imposed standard of ok-ness. Like I've been here x amount of time I should have learned... or I should be able to... but the truth is the only acceptance I need to be seeking is God's and He's already granted me that through Jesus. If that weren't enough, and as much as I hate to admit it, my flesh is weak and more often than I'd like it tricks me into thinking it's not... I have done something.

I've fought a 12 year war with my hair and self-esteem and won. The media and therefore boys and girls have told me all my life that long straight hair is the epitome of  beauty. And I believed it. I started to think I was better than other girls because I had it and didn't think I was "as pretty as I could/should be" when I didn't. I was jealous of any one else I deemed having "better hair" than I did. But now I know that I jealously is simply counting someone else's blessings instead of your own and that I'm way too blessed to do something silly like that. So Thursday I went to the salon and... (pauses to take webcam pics,lol)

And I bought these gloves cuz ridin my bike and doin pull ups were givin me callouses so I look like a beast at the gym. G.I.Jane status,lol. 

So yeah, at the end of my "1st trimester" I cut all my hair off. I'm really interested to see how life continues to surprise me over the next six months.  Anyways, thanks for readin. And I'll be back soon. <3