A Case of the Mondays

As you all [should] know, Super Bowl XLVII was this past Sunday and the 49ers were competing for the Lombardi Trophy for the first time since 1995. Being from San Francisco (more or less), my family was STOKED.

The fam being stoked

One of the main reasons I joined the Peace Corps was to learn to live without and, even though my living conditions are far more accommodating than I ever expected them to be, I'd like to think I'm making progress in that goal. But boy was I thankful that learning to live without did not mean learning to live without this Super Bowl! I had grown accustomed to "watching" the niners play by keeping track of the drive chart on nfl.com, following Matt Maiocco's (reporter for the team) twitter updates throughout the games and once I was lucky enough to skype with my friend, Stephanie, while she watched the game with her boyf and they gave me the play-by-plays. 

During the 49ers/Falcons game I was at a bus station to head back to site waiting anxiously for a friend and fellow PCV who was watching the game to call me with the final score. I couldn't wait any longer and called him myself in the last two minutes of the game. As he narrated the final play and told me the niners had won the game and were going to the Super Bowl, I literally started crying. Thinking it was a joke, I whipped out my calling card and called home to make sure. Nobody answered. I called my aunt's house. When she answered and I told her it was me, the first thing she said was, "Jamie! We WON!" Of course, I started crying again. I grabbed my grandma's old Super Bowl XXIII sweatshirt, which I hadn't been wearing because of the heat, and put it on feeling proud.

When Super Bowl Sunday came around, I packed my Justin Smith #94 jersey up and headed to the regional capital to watch the game with some friends. We were planning on watching the game at a local brewery but when we walked in it was packed with people intensely watching the Peru vs. Chile fútbol (aka soccer) game. It was half an hour until game time and there were still 40 minutes left on the clock. I went up to the who I assumed to be the owner and politely, but desperately asked, (in spanish, of course), "I know there's a big soccer game on right now but there is a GRAND American football game on at 6:30. Can we please watch it here?" The man was not interested. And why should he be? His brewery was full and he didn't need to please a small group of Americans to keep business going. 

We ended up at Chili's, of all places, and found ourselves sharing a table with two southern gentlemen also rooting for the 49ers. I hadn't been wearing my jersey at that point because it fits more like a large dress but once we were settled and my fear of not being able to watch the game passed, I pulled it out of my backpack and put it on, finally content. I won't go into all the details of the game but I will say it was super hard to watch the niners come so far and get so close and then fall short in the final minutes. 

I kept it together and didn't get weepy. Luckily, I was staying the night with some other volunteers and got calls/messages from friends and the fam checking up on my emotional status; however, the next morning when I said goodbye to my friends and found myself alone with a list of errands to complete before heading back to site, the loss sunk in. Post-Super Bowl depression began with a serious case of the Mondays. 

Here's how I cured it:

-I am a faithful listener of Alice's morning show with Sarah and Vinnie and always have a few of their podcasts ready on my phone. Surprisingly, the episode I happened to have was from a day where Sarah's morning had been ruined when she spilled coffee all over her yarn basket. I stopped at a cafe and ate my breakfast as the rest of the morning crew laughed slash tried to cheer her up with silly advice. Later, on my bus ride home, I found myself laughing out loud listening to the rest of the episodes and startling the man sitting next to me.

-I stopped by the post office to check my PO Box and found a giant package from two of my best friends from back home and a lovely acrostic poem of my name from one of my PCV friends. The package was filled with some of my favorite candies, beautiful smelling lip balms and hand sanitizers, different kinds of teas, face wipes, pens and glittery tape (49ers colors!!), hair ties and socks with mustaches on them!! 

THANK YOU Kels and Steph!!

From the lovely Taylor, my little poeta

-Because I find myself with handfuls of free time, I'm always in search of new hobbies. Most recently, I added card making to the list and decided to spread some Valentine's Day love. My room turned into a Hallmark store and I busted out some cards for all my friends from training. While at the post office, I shipped my cards off to several different provinces all over Peru. I'm crossing my fingers for a safe delivery to each province and hoping nothing gets lost on the way! Pen pals for the win!!

Welcome to: The Hallmark Store

-The bus ride home was pretty peaceful and almost relaxing (not the norm). I picked up some chocolate covered almonds to snack on and Tom Petty, Al Green, Beyoncé, Bon Iver and a handful of others serenaded me the whole way home.

-When I got home, both my host sisters and my host mom asked if my team had won and were sad to find out they didn't. Less than an hour later, my 14-year old host brother arrived after being in Lima with his grandma for over a month. We were all so happy to see him! Grandma came back with him and will be staying with us for a bit. Seeing him again and having a lovely grandma around also helped brighten my day.

-Later that night, I met up with my site mate, Amanda, and headed to the gym (yes, we have a gym) to work off the final remnants of my case of the Mondays. The owner of the gym had just returned from Trujillo with 3 NEW MACHINES! We got those endorphins going and were feeling pretty good by the end of the night.

Anyhow, I never thought I'd be writing a blog post that focussed so heavily on my favorite football team while I served in the Peace Corps but I'm just so thankful I got to keep up with such an amazing 49ers' season. I'd like to take this opportunity to let my parents know that the only thing on my Christmas wish list when I get back at the end of 2014 is for us to go to the last home game of the 2014-2015 season. Pleeease? ;D

Miss you much and love you lots!!

P.S. Photos and stories from mine and Amanda's summer school classes coming soon!