A Birth Day

if (todays_date==date_of_birth){age++;}

Well, yesterday was my birthday and that means a couple of things. First, I'm now 24 years old... still "jovencito" but now in my mid-20's. Is that not slightly terrifying? But it's not only my age that has incremented by one. Today, the 16th of February, marks exactly one year from when I, along with a group of 31 other volunteers, boarded an airplane in Miami headed to Santo Domingo. We've all now been in country for a year. That's far more terrifying. A new group of IT volunteers entered the country today all wide-eyed and ready to take over the spots of the now departing. I'm a veteran! How can that be possible...

I suppose at this junction, it's common for many volunteers to experience a falling feeling. While we're all still pedaling uphill in our respective projects, it's hard not to experience a feeling of downhill momentum. I know I have over a year left to go, but a kind of earnestness is tugging at me. Now that I have a feeling for how much (or perhaps little) can be accomplished in a year, I feel far more motivated to get moving on starting up more and more. One year just isn't much time! What about the weekly gaming sessions? Advanced computer classes? Veragua's website project? The lab in Sabaneta? I feel like there's still much to be done, and while that's great motivation, it also leads to a certain disappointment in that, while some things may move forward, others probably won't. I now have to decide where to put my energy and that means abandoning some of my goals. That also means wondering whether more energy earlier would have prevented such a necessity. We'll never know.

In any case, I do feel a little bit older. Not 24 yet, but certainly not 21... thank Lemmy not 21! I've got a ways to go yet, but who's rushing? We can always sit out front tonight and enjoy a beer bien fria. I think I'll do that.

Peace

P.S. I've made some minor cosmetic changes to the page. It should be slightly larger and more comfortable to manage now. Let me know if you have problems, suggestions, or other comments.