Rabbits & Rats

So it’s been awhile since my last blog.  Due to the fact that I’ve had no internet in my apartment since my arrival here in Ankara.  Shoot me.

Work was rough my first few days and I’ve no shame admitting that I felt rather behind in the so called “Rat Race” of life after immersing myself around the other bright minds of our day. 

Yet somehow, I find myself listening to my mother’s voice inside my head from 5,000 miles away to keep my sanity.  She always told me, “You’ll never feel behind in the rat race of life if you never give them the satisfaction of joining.”

Yet somehow my competitive nature intuitively kicks in and I can’t seem to help it and somehow I feel driven by societal pressures once again, until my very sane mother has to ground me again.    

Nonetheless, I don’t mind acknowledging my weaknesses publicly-or semi-publicly on this little invention called the internet. 

So here goes…

I was never good at the game Rabbit in elementary school.  You know, the game where the teacher held up a flash card next to you and another student and who ever answered the flashcard correct faster got to move a seat ahead, where they would be asked another question?

Well, I sucked at Rabbit.  I dreaded Friday’s when teacher’s would “play” this alleged game.  I think I moved a total of one seat my whole elementary career.  See, my brain is just not wired to shout out answers, even if I know them.  Or maybe it goes back to my weak genetic pool.  But my palms are getting sweaty just thinking about it. 

And yet I admit all this, unabashedly, to preface the story of why my first week was so typically horrendous and yet true to self.

When asked at a rapid fire on my first day, er, second day (I can’t remember, or is that I’ve already intentionally begun to block out this shameful moment of my first hours) I was asked to name the countries correlated with obscure US Embassy’s and I utterly failed.  It was like a flashback to elementary school…  And saying I moved “one seat” like in elementary school, would be gracious.  I utterly failed. 

Side note to anyone reading this—you never want me on your team for any trivia game, wrong Milford.  FYI. 

Now you may have a mind like my sister, or similarly an encyclopedia, and if this happens to be you, then feel free to laugh and judge at my expense.  I would anyways.  But tell me, Minsk is the capital of what country?  And Praia?  And Dili?

Which has brought me to my most recent undertaking… to try to learn the international capitals and countries… (emphasizing the TRYING part & most definitely NOT on rapid fire command, but within reason)

I do feel that it is always important to follow one’s own personal stupidity with someone else’s stupidity so as to lessen the pain.  Therefore, I will share with you this “sage bit of wisdom” that I overheard at the watering hole after my death by firing squad… 

Smart Guy that I was just recently comparing myself with in the so-called “Rat Race” called life: “Do you know what I realized last night?  I had a gray hair on my leg.  So I had to pull it out.  But I was thinking, what if my whole leg turns gray?  That would be so weird.  What would I do then? I’d have a whole leg that was gray!”

My mom’s so right, why get caught up about joining a bunch of one-legged, gray-haired rats? Damn, I suck at any game that involves small furry mammals.