Time is Going By Really, Really Slowly

There are some days that just seem to go so slow around here.  And it’s not just days… it’s weeks and months too.  June 10th marked 8 months since we moved here.  It feels like we’ve been here more like 18.  It seems like we will never make it to that one-year mark.   Time goes so slow, that much of the time, we feel like the video below (one of my faves on youtube).

Okay, so I’m not saying we feel like the guy in the video for the same reasons.  We are not baking pot brownies.

But time does drag on.  And on.  I’ve been trying to figure out why.

Maybe it’s because we wake up between 5:30 and 6:30 on most days.  The sun rises around 5.  Kate wakes up anywhere between the crack of dawn, and if we’re lucky, 7 a.m.  “It’s daytime mama…”

Maybe it’s because every day seems the same.  Like Groundhog’s Day.  Wake up, exercise, eat, Spanish class, lunch, rest, try-to-study or do-something-productive in the afternoon, make dinner, sun down at 5:30, talk again about our insane decision to move to Costa Rica, bedtime.  Repeat.  Repeat again.

Maybe it’s because we live in a 3-mile radius from our house, almost literally.  Unless we get out of town for the weekend, we frequent the same places again, and again.  Walmart.  Automercado.  McDonalds.  Aquanauticas (Kate’s swimming lessons).  The Project.  Back to House.  Maybe to Pricesmart (the Costa Rican Costco), maybe to EPA (Costa Rican Home Depot).  And holy moley, maybe every once and while we trek across town to get some variety and – watch out – we go to Wendy’s. 

Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because time really does go slower here.  Or at least it feels like it.  We are out of our comfort zone.  Out of our culture.  We don’t speak the language.  We don’t have a ton of Costa Rican friends (working on that…).  We don’t have the energy to go out and ‘get in touch with the culture’.  We can’t anyway because we have a 3 year-old who goes to bed at 7.  We don’t have parks, or hikes, or birthday parties or playdates to go to. 

Our life is pretty simple.

Which, yes, is a total gift.  And we are trying, oh so hard, to embrace this gift and this time, but it’s not always easy.  In fact most of the time it’s quite hard.

It’s hard just to get through a day sometimes.  I feel like throwing myself a party when 6 o’clock comes around.  “I did it!!!”  Sometimes, I feel like giving up and saying "Please send rescue."

But we are doing it.  One day at a time.  We are learning to slow down.  To listen.  To rest.  To persevere.  To count our blessings.  And that’s what counts.  Even if the time does go by too slowly.

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Have you had seasons/days of your life go too slowly?  When, where, why?  What do you think the challenges and blessings are of these seasons?