Support from Neighbors

As much as I sometimes miss living in a big city with lots of choices for groceries, restaurants, entertainment, etc., there’s something really nice about living in a small place and meeting my neighbors. I get support from my neighbors in all sorts of ways…

·         They tell me if I’ve missed someone stopping by my house when I wasn’t home.

·         They offer to help me get my coconuts out of my tree.

·         They bring me fruit from their trees. Mmmmhhhh guavas.

·         They look after Hugo when he gets out of the yard.

·         They offer words of encouragement when I’m struggling to get myself and my bike up the hill. Shouting things like, “Lookin’ good!” and “Stayin’ fit!”

·         They offer lifts to the bus stop or to work on days that I’m not riding my bike.

·         They offer friendly smiles and kind words. I especially love it when I’m getting off the bus from town and one of my students yells from a quarter of a mile down the road “HI MISS HALL!!!!!!!!!!!!” or “HI TEACHER!!!!!!!!!”

·         When I’m running with Hugo they give me nods of encouragement, extra friendly good mornings, and similarly to when I’m on my bike… “Stayin’ fit!” and “Lookin’ good”

·         They tell me when local cricket games are and how the village’s team is doing… we’re winning by the way, Seatons just won a championship game last week, GO SEATONS!!!!

My neighbors in Seattle have always been courteous but they’re just not as willing to break out of their comfort zones as people are in my village here. If one of my neighbors at home told me, “Where’s your bike? You gotta keep riding to stay fit” I would have thought they had lost their minds. But meanwhile, the 70 year old gentleman who lives down the street will always tell me to “keep it moving on that bike”.

When I finished my run this morning, as I do after all my runs, I opened up my front door (and left it open), rolled out my yoga mat, turned on the fan and sat down in front of it, and started doing crunches and stretches while singing along to my iPod. One of my neighbors rolled by on his bike, stopped in front of my house to make sure he got my attention (it’s hard to do when I’m jamming to the Submarines) and then shouted, “lookin’ good, keep it up!” Is there anything that can make a person feel better when they’re all hot and sweaty and pushing through crunches then to have someone tell them that they’re doing a good job? I’d argue that there’s not.

So long story short, I love my neighbors and love the encouragement that they give me. I hope when I go home I can develop a similar relationship with my neighbors there… bring a little bit of the Caribbean back to the States. 

Speaking of fresh coconuts, check out this beautiful coconut from the GARD Center. =) It filled up that entire glass and was delicious!