joy, joy, joy, JOY - sweet resounding joy

 Over spring break, I got a little bonus trip to Portugal! For a few days, I was on my own exploring Cascais, Sintra, and Lisbon... at first, I was a little apprehensive but by the end of my time "alone" - nothing could adequately express the immense JOY within me :)

Beyond the castles and palaces of Sintra, my favorite was the day of bike riding... all along the coast of the Atlantic. Gorgeous and breathtaking views, up and down, and left and right unceasingly before me. JOY.

And somehow, when you're traveling on your own, you get to meet the most random but nice people:

•  Ronaldo helped me figure out the bus I needed one afternoon. He was so eager to practice his English and kept commenting on my nice teeth... "ummm. thanks?" ;) Turns out he is in a grunge band, hoping to be famous one day. We chatted away on the bus, him showing me his sunburns from the morning on the beach, telling me the 'must-sees' of his country, and describing cigarette burns from a nervous habit. Every once in a while, he would make me listen to a song on his iPod, sharing about his various inspirations... and in listening to these American-based bands, I couldn't help but think how powerful music is in making our world ever smaller :) As his stop was before mine, he got up, did the whole European cheek kiss/kiss departure, then turned around and gave me the peace sign... love it :)
•  Anita was a waitress at this cute little cafe I stopped in at for lunch. As the cafe wasn't too busy, she sat down at one point to chat. She also had an input about 'must-sees' of the country and shared with me bits of her past as well as future dreams. We both admitted to wanting to travel to Australia someday. Who doesn't want to visit the lands of kangaroos, koalas, wombats, kiwis, emus, and kookaburras? Just the name itself "kookaburra" is fun to say... so imagine being able to say "I saw a kookaburra today!" AND don't forget the song too! "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree..." But I digress... ha ;) Getting back to Portugal... Anita and I especially bonded over some hilarious stories of her little boy - Something I love about being a teacher: how people you meet for the first time automatically go into funny stories about their own kids! Good times, good times :)

So you may ask, why these cherished tales of people, gail? I guess recently, I've been all philosophical and thinking a lot about LIFE - as in human people and our shared joys, trials, dreams, hardships, hopes, stories and death. Yes, I'm going the morbid tangent right now and talking about death. For in this past month, a few close friends of mine have lost dearly loved ones (grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, moms) and in all the scenarios, (fortunately) these people have lived full lives, leaving behind beautiful memories and legacies. Nonetheless, there is still a sense of mourning and grief. In a different way, there have lately been current events that bellow out our humanity of life and death. It's in these moments we are faced with truth: Dust to dust. "For the Lord God [alone] knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." (Psalm 103:14) It's in these moments, we treasure the moments we have with one another. LIFE.

I'm not going to bore you with all my recent thoughts, ramblings and reflections, but here lies my motivations and hopes: EASTER.

RISEN. from Collin Simula on Vimeo.

take it or leave it, but I'm hoping you'll take it :)

And so I now end with a bit more Spring JOY... here's some fun and more lighthearted mental pictures: Bieber Fever has definitely hit my Moroccan classroom. (I have absolutely nothing to do with this...) Yes, my lil second grade girls are bopping and fawning over him and my lil second grade boys are replicating his dance moves.

• One morning, as we're walking up the stairs to the classroom, ever so faintly, I hear "Baby, Baby... Baby, ohhhhh" and turning my head, I spy one of my little girls singing to herself. Her lips moving, feeting stepping up the stairs to a beat, curly ponytail head bopping side to side, she is totally in her own little Bieber world. I catch her eye and smile. She blushes red :)
• And... just a few minutes later, as the students are unpacking backpacks in the hallway, one of my little boys is dancing "Ima tell you one time..." Totally rocking it with his buddies, eyes closed, microphone hand at his mouth, I stand there watching for a few seconds until he looks up at me, freezes, grins, and then skitters into the classroom. JOY :D