Done with finals and the weight off my shoulders feels quite liberating.
What do I have to do this morning? Eat.
Read.
Bike.
The clarity and serenity that accompanies having a break from the pressure of school allows my mind to wander, create and relax for an extended period. The last couple of days have been all about figuring out logistics for the bike tour and Ecuador coupled with spending time with friends.
Going out to Bombs with some of my best friends, someone commented on the beard, flannel and beer in my hand; I looked like a model for a Made in Oregon shoot. I’m pretty cool with that, though, it reflects my interests, upbringing and culture that has cultivated me, which is critical to keep in mind as I assimilate to the Ecuadorian culture and examine the socio-cultural components of what makes a person uniquely themselves along with how that influences health.
The next couple of weeks will fortify that uniquely Oregon component of myself through a barrage of Northwest activites: kayaking, fishing and mountain biking in Bend this weekend followed by a bike tour from Corvallis to Crater Lake.
Really, a bike tour from Corvallis to Crater Lake could only be made more holistically “Oregonian” if we were drinking drip coffee and microbrews, eating fresh harvested mushroom and working toward a final destination that is the natural landmark of the Pacific Northwest.
Wait, we’re doing all of those things. So the trip couldn’t be much more Oregonian… That thought makes my beard tingle.
All jokes aside, pulling together what epitomizes myself and my culture before Ecuador is beneficial, and I hope to assimilate a bit of my own self culturally and share it with what the Ecuadorian people are composed of socially and culturally.
LET’S BIKE!
Grit. Empathy. Focus. 