The Hypochondriac

I have had the delight of getting to know the Hypochondriac this summer; we lived together as suite mates for about five short weeks.  This girl is the epitome of a do-gooder.  After a day of weeding, she would rant to the Spaz and I, "Who decides which plants are better than others?  Who are we to play God?!  I felt so bad for the plants as I was weeding them..." On another occasion, she reached an epiphany that most hygiene products contain sulfates, and had the other two suite mates and herself frantically reading labels on the bottles in our shower.  By the end of the whole ordeal, she had convinced all of us that if we didn't already have cancer, we would soon.

Her seemingly crippling sensitivity to others' needs and soft Guatemalan accent create a first impression of a gentle, somewhat sheltered, and shy girl.  She is quiet sometimes, but it is her sharp wit, unfailing kindness and generosity, street smarts, enduring idealism, and infectious laughter that her friends know her by.

I cannot remember the context, but she is the one who inspired the title of this blog.  She loved the saying "pee a little", and was the one who explained its meaning to me.

As far as I understand, "pee a little" can have a few different meanings.  It can be a reminder to loosen up, just relax, accept the unavoidable imperfection of ourselves and the world we live in, or, my personal favorite, to erupt in laughter so passionately that one has no choice but to, well, pee a little.  Peeing in and of itself is not a desirable outcome.  It's the rare circumstance when something strikes you as so damn hilarious that, for one fleeting moment, you completely forget to breathe compose yourself.  The feeling of warm moisture brings you crashing back to reality, with an undeniable wet spot on your underwear as a kind of souvenir that "yes, you blithering idiot, you laughed so hard you actually forgot to hold your piss in".

As I embark on my travels in Senegal, I think if I remember to pee a little, I will "learn things I never knew I never knew" to quote the famous Disney Princess Pocahontas. Thank you, Hypochondriac, for helping me set the tone for the next seven months of my life, making reminding me to pee a little, and for all of the great memories of this past summer.