Then you get to your site, and you are still in YES mode. This YES mode happens for multiple reasons. First, you want people to like you, and for whatever reason, people will like you more when you say YES versus when you say NO. Secondly, you don’t want to let anyone down or disappoint anyone. You came here to help, and by damn you will help! Thirdly, you realize that by saying YES, you have a lot more things to do. And finally, fourthly, you’ve been saying YES for so long, you’ve actually forgotten that there is any other response to a question.
So, why am I deciding now to write about this “YES, MAN” phenomenon? Well, I realized the other day as I was walking down the road by candle light with 50 people, singing songs and praying in Guarani for 2 hours, after biking home from teaching a zumba class in the pueblo that afternoon, after I had taught 4 PE classes in my elementary school that morning, that I have caught myself still in this “YES, MAN” phase. But since I am not a man, I prefer to call it a “YES, WOMAN!” phase.
Anyway, for the past 10 months in my site, I have literally said YES to everything I have been asked to do.
“Katy, can you teach an English class?”
“Katy, can you teach zumba classes?”
“Katy, can you help decorate the church?”
“Katy, can you watch my kids?”
“Katy, can you work at this school?”
“Katy, can you work at that school?”
“Katy, can I borrow your fan?”
“Katy, can you start a pregnancy club?”
“Katy, do you have any ice?”
“Katy, do you want to come do the rosary 18 times?”
“Katy, can you come to this meeting that’s all in Guarani and you won’t understand any of it?”
“Katy, can you teach pre-school?”
“Katy, can you teach yoga?”
“Katy, can you prepare this charla?”
“Katy, can I have all of your salt?”
“Katy, can you teach P.E.?”
….I think you get the picture. But guess what I answered to every single one of those questions?
YES! (and with a smile on my face)
So what’s wrong with being in this “YES WOMAN!” phase? Absolutely nothing, but now that the next school year has started, I’ve found myself with a million and one things to do…..
I teach P.E. twice a week at my elementary school, I teach nutrition classes with my middle school along with the nurses from my health post, I teach environmental classes at two different elementary schools, I teach yoga in the pueblo, I teach two different zumba classes twice a week with different groups, and I teach a “Mommy & Me” class every single week.
Remember my post about doing nothing all summer? (seen here) Well I sure miss that now.
Anyway, the point of writing about this crazy YES, WOMAN! phase is not to just list all of the many things that I have said yes to since I’ve started my service, but to explain the effect that saying YES has on your life (and especially on my service in the Peace Corps).
So, to illustrate this point, one final example: When someone originally asked me to teach a class to two-year-olds and their mothers, my initial reaction was HELL NO, babies are scary (you never really know what they’re thinking) and what am I going to teach mothers when I can barely raise my own dog??? Well, thankfully, I was in YES, WOMAN! mode, and now Tuesday afternoons are one of my favorite days of the week because I get to come up with all these fun and crazy activities for these tiny humans to do and try to engage their mothers in something health/science related. I even have my own mini-me who repeats all of my dance moves and they now call her Katy’i (which means mini Katy!). Actually so cute.
Okay, so I think I’ve covered my YES, WOMAN! phase and explained how not only has it given me plenty to keep my busy, but it’s also pushed me out of my comfort zone and gotten me into some pretty dope situations. So now I’m talking to you, reader, why don’t you try saying yes to more things and see where it gets you?