Three things I learned in 2011

2011 was a big year for our family and for me in particular (you can read about it here).   I learned many things last year, but three things really stand out and I wanted to share them with you.  

Here they are in no particular order:


1)  I can get by with a little help from my friends.   I know it's a cliche, but sometimes you can really see the truth in those cliches.  It was a busy and sometimes challenging year and there were a couple of key points when friends helped me through.   


My friend Jennifer helped me with the flowers for the wedding and I really couldn't have done them without her. I not only needed the extra set of hands, but I needed her calmness and encouragement to not panic at crucial moments.

And, of course, I couldn't have gone to Bangladesh without my friend Kim.  We were a good team and helped each other through the trials of the heat, teaching, a foreign culture, crazy rickshaw rides, and food challenges.

2)  Sit-ups really do help.  I had always read that you can't do spot exercises to trim the excess from specific areas of your body, so I had always used that as an excuse for not doing sit-ups or any abs exercises.  However for lent of last year I decided that a certain someone's mid-sections needed a little trimming and so I decided to give it a shot.  I began with ten sit-ups and then added one every other day until I was doing forty.   The amazing thing is I have kept it up.  I had to stop doing sit-ups around the time of the wedding because I literally didn't have enough time in the day and I didn't do them in Bangladesh because it was too darn hot.  When I got home, though, I started up again and have added some other exercises to my routine like doing the plank.  And you know what - they really do work!  I don't mind the five minutes I spend doing them every morning and there is a noticeable difference to my abdominal muscles as a result.  Who knew?  Apparently not me.   If you are going to try it, my advice it to start with just a few sit-ups so you can feel successful and gradually build up.


3)  My face is messy/Messi!  I wanted to share this story as it makes me laugh every time I think of it.  One day when I was in the middle of teaching a class in Bangladesh, one of my students called me over and said "Grace, your face looks messy".  Now it was 35C and a bazillion percent humidity and I was sweating like crazy -  so I wasn't looking my best, but I didn't think I looked so bad that someone would tell me my face looks messy.  I was taken aback and asked him if he knew what 'messy' meant.  He said to me - no not messy - Messi - football.  I don't know the first thing about soccer/football so the students had to tell me that Lionel Messi is a famous soccer player.  I was laughing and blushing and dumbfounded that a student had just told me I look like a male football player.   In fact I was laughing so hard it took a few minutes for me to regain my composure and continue the lecture.  


Later that day I Googled Lionel Messi and you know what - he does kind of look like me.   What do you think?

It's not exactly a compliment to be told I look like a male athlete, but there are worse people you could look like?  And it does make a good story!