Hello, Goodbye

"The hurrier I go, the behinder I get." Remember that quote from Alice in Wonderland?

Considering that my interview for The Displaced Nation's "Wonderlanded" series went live this week on their website, I suppose I've got Alice on the brain.

I'm not certain that I've ever read the entire Alice in Wonderland book. I must have seen the Disney movie years ago. I vividly remember the White Rabbit running along, checking his pocket watch, and muttering, "Hello, goodbye. I'm late. I'm late for a very important date."

I often feel that way, as if I'm meeting myself coming and going. For example, I meant to write this post yesterday, but I was saying goodbye to a friend in the afternoon and having dinner with another in the evening. In between, there was a writing webinar, a sink full of dishes, an unmade bed, and a pile of laundry to fold.

Call me OCD, but in only 550 square feet, clutter can't happen.

How nice it would be to have someone to do all the cleaning and putting away, to pay all my bills, to cook for me and then just call me when it's ready, so that I could write and socialize all day, but I guess that's called a "nursing home."

For now, I'll stick to my mad, frantic juggling.

“Have I gone mad?
I'm afraid so, but let me tell you something, the best people usually are.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

~~Sally Rose
Author of Penny Possible & A Million Sticky Kisses
iamsallyrose.com

Flojera

I'm not getting any work done. All I want to do is sit and stare at the Cordillera.


We had just enough rain over the weekend that I can clearly see those majestic Andes Mountains for the first time in almost three months. I could be doing other things, but I only want to sit quietly and soak in this view.


Earlier, I went to an expat meeting. I didn't know anyone at the meeting and the inevitable getting-to-know-you questions were asked.

"So, what do you do here in Chile?"

I get asked this question a lot, usually by well-meaning people. It's a normal question.

Since I'm not here for a job, if I'm feeling cantankerous, sometimes I reply, "Nothing." That's usually a conversation stopper, so instead I often say, "I'm retired," which doesn't fare much better.

This frequently earns me a skeptical once-over. "Really?" as if they can't believe it. "What do you do all day?"

"Well, let's see..." I laugh because explaining my schedule is complicated. Should I tell them that I'm an excellent time-waster? Or that every day is different? I usually launch into a spiel about classes and workshops, which satisfies their curiosity.

"Oh, so you're a teacher?" Not really, not at the moment. I haven't quite learned how to admit the truth, that I'm a writer.

Except on days like today when it's far too tempting to sit and watch the sun light up the snow-capped Cordillera. Today, I'm definitely a flojera, a lazy mountain watcher. Can you blame me?

~~Sally Rose
Author of Penny Possible & A Million Sticky Kisses
iamsallyrose.com

Coming Soon

Ever since my first volunteer visits to Chile, I've been threatening to publish a book about my experiences.

That was back in 2009 and 2010. The story was written then and has sat, forlorn, in a computer file until now.

Last September, I returned to the US to publish this book. Little did I realize how long it would take to actually get it done. I was blissfully ignorant of the endless edits, the delays, the waiting. The revisions. I have read and reread the manuscript until I am cross-eyed.

Now, I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I've approved the cover and the final "big" revision is done. "A Million Sticky Kisses" is now being formatted.

It's a good thing, too, because I want to have this book in my suitcase when I board the plane to return to Chile. With less than three weeks to go, I feel like I am playing Beat the Clock.

Coming soon, very soon, "A Million Sticky Kisses," the story of a gringa teacher in Chile.

Checking in

It's been pretty quiet around here lately. I haven't blogged in a long time and I could blame it on laziness, but that's not strictly true. It's more from feeling a bit disillusioned and disappointed.

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know that the school in Santiago, Chile, where I volunteered last year was sold. Try as I might, I did not find a new school to volunteer in this year. Rather than sit idle and stew about it, I decided to do something that I'd been talking about doing for a long time.

I returned to the US and have been busy compiling the stories of my first visits to Chile to be a volunteer. My book will soon be published under the title, "A Million Sticky Kisses." It will be available as an ebook as well as a print version.

I will also be publishing a children's book based on the adventures of Penny, a Golden Retriever, who recently "graduated" as a service dog. It will be titled, "Penny Possible" and the proceeds from sales of it will be donated to Warrior Canine Connection. Details will be posted here once these books are ready for purchase.

Ironically, just after I'd bought my airline ticket to return to the US, I was introduced to a friend-of-a-friend who is director of a school in Chile. I visited there before I left and I think it might be a volunteer possibility for next year. Time, that pesky enemy of the impatient, will tell.