The best part of being on vacation for two months is that I don't have to act like I'm on vacation. Now, to some, this might sound like a wasted opportunity, but for me, the real luxury of living in Vieques this summer is being able to sit on my ass and not seize the moment, guilt-free, for two entire months. Take today for example: woke up around 10am when the sun became too intense for sleep, fixed eggs and bacon on toast, promptly returned to bed with Malcolm Gladwell's latest collection of stories, read for 3 hours, started feeling light-headed, made grilled cheese, got back in bed...you get the idea. Before you condemn me as a total slob, please remember that this has never been the norm for me.
Rewind 8 days and you'll find me rushing around in a tizzy preparing for my best friend's wedding, working full time, and graduating from college. Certainly I do not "deserve" this relaxation anymore than every other frantic person does. And, probably similar to other over-scheduled individuals, I found myself initially revolted by this abundance of free time. I spent the first few days of our "vacation," proposing various extracurricular activities to pass the time, including preferably all of the following: dog walking at the Humane Society, becoming yoga masters, learning to speak fluent Spanish, getting dive certified, reading extensively to get a head start on graduate school, and volunteering with troubled teenagers. As I write this list, I picture my dad nodding his head with approval at my ambitious and "virtuous" goals for the summer. However, when I proposed the aforementioned activities to Devin, I was met with a smirk and a "whatever you say, babe" as he reached for another Medalla Light, the barely palatable local beer.
So, four days later, it seems I've regressed to the opposite extreme, throwing ambition to the Caribbean breeze, and letting it all go. That's not to say that everyday, or even most days will be spent succumbing to the lowest common denominator (excessive consumption of cheese in a horizontal position). But, the fact that I can pass a day in this way, with only minor twinges of guilt, gives me a strange sense of accomplishment.
I promise that my next entry will be full of adventurous anecdotes and descriptions of all the exciting people we've met. I just need to finish this last chapter....
