Marching Into The Peace Corps, pt 6: An Affair (with my sneakers) To Remember
by I always heard the advice that when you start exercising, you should team up with a buddy so they will pull you into working out. Now they say don’t rely on a buddy because if they don’t work out, you don’t work out. I have two buddies I share my workouts with, but they are far from being traditional friends.
Anyone who’s ever tried to tackle a lot of adversity in one sitting often fails – it’s like attempting to climb Mt. Everest on your lunch break. My grandmother had a cute little proverb that I still carry in my mind: “How do eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” So wise was her advice I find four years after she’s gone I still think back with fondness and regret I didn’t listen more.
The picture of the beat up sneakers that is the trademark logo for this extended series actually has a lot of meaning – and they’re mine. Those sneakers are probably eight years old and sat in a box for about four years. When I find sneakers I like, I often buy two pair so I’ll have a replacement when the first pair wears out. I started wearing this pair back in 2002 and subjected them to minimal use on weekends, so they remained almost new. That changed in the winter of 2003 when I went to Greece , and then made a jump to the country I hope to get stationed in, after the beginning of 2004.
I made those trips on the cheap – my flight from Texas to Athens cost me all of $75.00 (and all of my airline miles), and then a side trip to the other country only $300.00. In both places, I enjoyed the hospitality of good friends. I couldn’t have stayed home for a month for that price with utilities, so it was a no-brainer to shut down the house. Mentally, I was also in a bad place and a good friend forced me to get out of the area for a little while and find peace. Sometimes, the best thing about your friends is they can see what you’re going through even when you’re blind to it.
What does that trip have to do with sneakers? A lot. These sneakers looked brand new before my trip. The right toe got ripped open in Greece as I was climbing up a hill and punctured it with a tree root. The left toe got ripped open in the second country as I was climbing over a pile of rocks at a site with ancient Roman ruins. Of course two good tears into the shoes also pulled the rubber from the toes as well as stressed the sneaker’s ability to remain attached to the soles. They have rips on the sides from the many miles I walked.
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