It's Been a While!

Hello! I'm not quite sure if anyone will ever actually read this post because I have let so much time elapse since last writing. I did promise to keep this blog going and have been very slack in keeping that promise! At any rate, it is what it is and I have been home now for 30 days + 1. It has been quite an adjustment coming home. For starters, I was contained by customs for several nerve-wracking minutes as I was questioned by two officers as to how I managed to travel for 16 months without a job. My answer, though truthful, was surely less than believable to them because they must have been able to see my chest visibly pounding through my shirt! Also, nothing in the 16 months and countless flights that I took was ever taken out of my bag...that is until I landed in Atlanta, Georgia. What a welcome home...a stolen medicine bag and an interrogation as to why on earth someone could possibly not work for 16 months and actually go out and see the world and live life! ;)

Mom, Callie, Stephanie, James and Ashlee were all at the airport to greet me with neon posters, hugs and smiles. It was great to see so many familiar, loved faces all at once! We high-tailed it to the nearest cheap, hole in the wall Mexican restaurant where we ordered queso blanco and margaritas (at 11 AM!). That welcome, followed shortly by Mexican food, more than made up for the slight unnerving the customs guys put me through in ATL!

The last few weeks have been a blur of activity. First, I unpacked. Much to my pleasant surprise, all of the boxes that I shipped home over the 16 months made it to Mom's house. It was fun opening them to see what all I had decided to discard along the way or that I had picked up en route. In total, I think I bought no less than 30 scarves and an entire chest worth of jewelry....my favorite things to buy when traveling, clearly! I spent several days getting settled back into living in the bedroom of my childhood. It was like Christmas going through all of my clothes and shoes...so many things that I had forgotten I even had!! Looking at all that stuff, though, also made me realize how much I have that I truly don't need. After spending 16 months living out of a backpack with limited clothing and shoe options, it became very easy to decide what to wear...limited options = simple and easy. I feel a big purge coming on of everything that was waiting for me at home.

I caught up with old friends, spent time with family, etc. I tried my hand at surfing again in Cocoa Beach, FL. I drove to NC to visit friends and former co-workers and to celebrate my brother's 30th birthday. Friends from college and I met to watch a Florida game together. Friends from NC hosted a 'welcome back to the States' party for me. Thanksgiving. Grandma taught me how to make her delicious fudge! Needless to say, I have been occupied completely since returning.

Am I going through culture shock? Yes. It first struck me during my layover in Atlanta before landing in Orlando. Have you ever actually paid attention to how unhealthy and unnatural food is in airports in this country?! I was shocked by not only that but by the 30+ people in line for their Starbucks fix. (keep in mind that for the cost of one of those magnum size caffeine drinks, I could eat well in Asia for an entire day!). Also, everyone at home seems so preoccupied with their phones. I stood in the middle of the terminal as the sun was rising, watching and appreciating how wonderful a day it was starting out to be while everyone around me chatted or banged away on their phones, completely ignoring the beautiful sunrise. Finally, I am amazed by how much I have changed as compared to everyone else around me. Life went on here, same thing, different day. It makes me ever so grateful that I did take the time out of my life to go watch those sunrises, to meet those people, to just wake up and see what each day would bring. I miss those moments very much.

As for what's next....that's still a mystery to me as well. Quite honestly, I don't feel that I am in the right frame of mind to make any long-term decisions about what to do, where to go just yet. It's amazing how 16 months away from 'normal life' can alter your perspective on what is important! I really want to be sure that whatever comes next for me, it feels right from all angles. Time will tell. In the mean time, I hope that you and your family are excited for the holiday season! I am looking forward to all those traditional things which make being at home with friends and family so special.

The End of the Beginning...

...I board a plane in 2.5 hours bound for the USA. It is bitter sweet to see the end of this magnificent journey come to an end. I had hoped to write something very sentimental, very poetic to summarize what this trip has meant to me, but I find that it is hard to put into words. Let me just say that I regret not a single second of walking away from my previous life and setting out to the unknown. I am returning a changed person. I am excited about what the future holds and of course to see friends and family again. I also am excited to use a hair dryer (have not since February) and not using a bag which I carry on my back to hold everything that I possess.

Next, I'll be posting pictures from Ecuador. As for the blog, I have really enjoyed writing it, so I am considering continuing it and challenging myself to approach "everyday life" like I have been this trip...seizing each moment, going with the flow and finding opportunities to make an ass of myself and laugh a bit along the way. Thanks to all of you who have continued reading it...your support has meant the world to me. With that, I will finish my last swig of chocolate caliente, throw my bag on my back one last time and board yet another airplane this time destined for Titusville, Florida. Zai jian! Ciao! Namaste! Love, Jamie

Galapagos!

The last five days cruising around the southern islands of the Galapagos rank among the most incredible days I have spent on this trip. I have never been so close to animals in the wild, never been able to observe them for so long in their natural habitat. The landscapes on each island are so diverse, alongside the amazing variety of birds, mammals and plants. The Ecuadorian government and the Charles Darwin Research Station are doing a fantastic job of preserving and protecting such a precious area of our little planet.

There were 10 of us on the boat, all under 35 – 5 Germans, 2 Canadians, 1 Irish, 1 Dutch and me. We all got along fabulously which always makes a trip even more fun. The second afternoon between hiking and snorkeling, as we were making our way to the next stop, I was laying out on the rooftop soaking up some vitamin D when I got pooped on by a frigate bird. Forty two minutes later, I got pooped on by another one. Did you know that frigate bird poop can stain bathing suits? I won the award on the boat for “Most Times Pooped on by a Bird”. Lucky me.

We stopped at one or two islands each day for a hike with our naturalist guide where in broken English with silly sexual colloquialisms about animal mating rituals, he explained the different animals, plants, etc. We saw sea lion cubs nursing, blue-footed boobies doing their mating dance, albatross babies. We watched sea lions surfing and killing its lunch (this consists of whopping fish from side to side on the surface) and iguanas nearly inhale cactus fruit as it fell to the ground. I saw so many different birds that I stopped trying to remember their names…except the boobie one, that one’s easy. Ha ha…


I honestly have fallen in love with sea lions. I could watch them sneeze, roll in the sand, waddle around and make noise all day long and never tire of it. On a beach one afternoon, I was lying on my sarong about 8’ from a colony of sea lions. After about 10 minutes, one scooted over to smell and nudge my beach bag. Ten minutes after that, one came right up and smelled/ kissed my calf. It was incredible!! They just looked at me with their huge brown eyes to make sure I wasn’t going to eat them or to confirm that I wouldn’t be a tasty snack and then went about their business. It is honestly surreal to think about how close I came to them and how the sea lions and I actually made a connection. Of course, I was talking to them like I talk to our dog, Chance…very baby-meets-puppy-kind of squealing girl voice, so maybe that helped the bonding process!

Snorkeling was also incredible. Again we were playing with the sea lions. I saw two white tip reef sharks, one over 5’ which is quite big for reef sharks! I lost count of how many turtles and eagle rays. A school of about 20 eagle rays and a few turtles swam right under me and I had to pinch myself to make sure I was really seeing what I was seeing! Unbelievable!

On the boat back to Santa Cruz Island yesterday, a few dolphins started following us, jumping, twirling. Of course, I got super excited and basically sprinted to the front of the boat, tripping on a part of the boat that was sticking straight up in plain sight, breaking a toe. I can’t believe I almost made it this entire trip without seriously hurting myself after all these falls and trips, but watching the dolphins in the perfect blue water was well worth the pain I now feel ever step!

On a completely unrelated note: I ran into an Aussie couple that I sailed with when we went to see the Komodo dragons in Indonesia back in April! What a wonderful coincidence that we should meet again on the other side of the planet and how incredibly small the world really is!

Hung out at Tortuga Bay this afternoon with iguanas, trying to be sure that my tan is dark enough so that it actually looks like I have been away when I get home! Tonight those of us from the boat got together for some delicious street seafood. The grill master allowed me to flip and blow dry some of the marlin and prawns (in Asia and S. America they use hair dryers when grilling to speed up the process...pretty genius and entertaining!) I decided against doing any more laundry since I am so close to going home now. I’m sure that my neighbors on my flights won’t appreciate it…everything I own definitely has acquired a ‘traveling scent’ after 16 months. Back to Quito tomorrow where I am meeting up with Eva, my dive buddy from last week, for one last night on the town before packing up and heading back to the USA! Ciao from the Galapagos!

Down Where It´s Wetter

Diving in the Galapagos is INCREDIBLE! During our buoyancy check the first morning out, sea lions were less than 10’ away sunning on nearby rocks. On the way to our first dive site at Gordon Rocks, I frightened all the passengers by screaming when I saw a 4’ manta ray shoot straight out of the water chasing something. Luckily, he surfaced again so that all the other divers didn’t think I was hallucinating.

Eva, my dive buddy from England, and I became fast friends. My favorite thing she said, “women need men like fish need a bicycle.” (She was joking!) She is a very experienced diver and so I felt really comfortable with her, as I had to tell a few little white lies to convince the dive shop to permit me to dive Gordon Rock. The conditions at Gordon Rock are extreme – 15 degrees Celsius, very rough waters, back entry, strong currents. It was well worth the tiny fib about how many dives I have under my belt because within the first four minutes under, we saw a 4-5’ manta ray. I was also the only one who actually saw a hammerhead shark, 6-7’, feet swimming above us because I refuse to just look down when I dive, I like to spin around like a carousel. ;) We saw two green turtles and another manta, in addition to loads of amazing fish. It was a really tough dive, though, and I was spent after it!

We did our surface interval near some rocks where sea lions were chilling out. I snorkeled up to them and they put on a show…twirling, swimming less than 2’ away from me, smiling at me, waving at me…it was amazing…truly, something I will never forget. I watched 7 sea lions perform until I could stand the cold no longer. Our second dive was the worst of my life…very challenging, horrible visibility and freezing water. The dive instructor felt bad, so he gave us a free tank for the following day which was awesome!

Today was great…three dives total. I saw tons of reef sharks, much larger than any in Thailand or Malaysia. We saw two turtles, sea lions came down and performed again, dancing and twirling in our bubbles. We saw several manta rays, eels and loads of schools of fish. The Galapagos is by far the best diving I have ever done!

Tomorrow, I jump on a budget cruise ship bound for the south islands of the Galapagos. I will spend the next 5 days and 4 nights snorkeling and animal watching and I can’t wait! Coming here to wind up my trip has been one of the best decisions I have ever made! Countdown to home: 8 days!

The Daily Show, Starring Mendy and Me

Mendy and John arrived just as I was dozing off on a park bench outside their quaint little French/Ecuadorian home away from home. It was so great to see familiar faces! After not seeing John for nearly 16 months and Mendy just over 12, it really doesn't seem real that so much time has passed us by! We shared a nice dinner and a few Ecuadorian pilsners talking about all that has changed back home, all that hasn't. All of us being exhausted by a day of traveling, we hit the proverbial hay relatively early compared with what we are all capable of!

We ventured out into Quito on Friday. John and Mendy particularly enjoyed the exhaust fumes and crazy driving. I guess there are some things I've gotten immune too since being in Asia for so long! We climbed a steep hike up Itchimbia, a great viewpoint overlooking the city. We walked through some parks and to La Basilica cathedral, a stunning place that reminded me of St. Andrews, where Diana & Charles wed a long time ago. After a set lunch at a very local cantina that cost us a whopping $6 total, we gave up on sightseeing and decided to prepare Mendy for her upcoming South American Wine class by sampling bottles of Chileans finest. We talked politics, insurance, global warming, religion and other topics which I have not discussed in depth with anyone in a very long time...how I have missed that!

Saturday, I gave Mendy and John a taste of a foreign bus system as we boarded a local bound for Otavalo. They were impressed with the food, drink and ice cream salesmen and ladies that boarded the bus periodically selling their goods. Also, I fed a baby pull and peel twizzlers (one of my favorite candies that Mendy brought me!). In Otavalo, we ate, drank and shopped at the absolutely massive market, half targeted for tourists, half for locals. We ate fantastic tres leche at a small coffee shop...that might be my favorite dessert, next to my Grandmother's key lime pie (hint, hint: Grandma, I'm coming to visit you on November 1st or 2nd!!) and June's chocolate cake (hint, hint: June, I'll be home whenever you and Bob get home!). We had dinner at the Hacienda Cusin, Mendy and John's amazing hotel in a small village called San Pablo. A great day outside of Quito!

Toured San Pablo, rode the bus, walked through Old Town in Quito on Sunday. Sunday night, we went to a fabulous restaurant up the hill overlooking the city of Quito - breathtaking views of the cityscape...the lights twinkled like golden stars all over the place. The hot wine, red wine, brandy, whiskey and amaretto was good too, we thought.

Monday we woke bright and early and rented a car to make the trek to Mindo. Mindo is a small village tucked away in the Andes Mountains with beautiful views of the cloud forest along the way. We toured a butterfly garden. It truly is fascinating how many sizes, shaped and colors of butterflies there are! After that, we went zip lining through the cloud forest. It was so fun! Mendy and John stretched their comfort zones and strapped up along with me, helmet and all. We did 10 lines total, very far, very high up. We went backwards, forwards, upside down. It was awesome!! On the way home, we ate ice cream at the equator and took some silly pictures at the Mitad del Mundo. In the one I uploaded, I was trying to get Mendy and John to pretend like they were lifting the world - like John Galt, sort of. It didn't work out so well! We had a lovely dinner in La Mariscal, the new town of Quito, to wrap up a great few days together! Mendy and John - thank you so much for making the trek south of the equator to hang out with me...I love you guys!

I made my way to the Galapagos Islands this morning as Mendy and John made the trek back to Winston-Salem. I rented a bike today and hung out with a sea lion on the beach while watching iguanas surf in the Pacific. This place is simply amazing. I'll be diving the next two days, then I board a boat for a 5 day cruise around the Galapagos. Keep your fingers crossed that I see a boat load of hammerheads tomorrow at Gordon's Rock! Ciao from the Galapagos!

Hola de Ecuador!

Hola mis amigos! After 31 hours in airports and airplanes, I finally made it back to the western hemisphere! My body was stuck in Asia time for several days...it is the first time I think I've really experienced jet lag, despite all of my previous travels! Spent Friday buying clothes for cold weather. I suppose it would have been helpful to look up the weather in Ecuador this time of year before shipping all my warm stuff home. Oh well. Got some stuff organized for the next couple of weeks, napped. While shopping, I got hit by a bus. I was standing on a very narrow sidewalk with my back to the street, looking in a shop window. The next thing I know, I have been jolted sideways. The bus was coming to a stop, so it wasn't that bad but when I turned around to see what had hit me, I was quite startled to see a massive bus to say the least! The shop owner came out screaming at the driver. My back has been a little tight, but all in all, my first bus hit went okay.

I met an English bloke, Johnny. He and I traveled from Quito to Banos on Saturday. We explored the night life that evening. Sunday and Monday were pretty relaxed...the weather was rainy and cold and I was frankly just exhausted. Tuesday, Johnny and I hiked to a statue of the Virgin Mary mid-way up a mountain overlooking Banos, then he talked me into going to near the top ridge with views of the Tungurahua volcano that erupted in 2006 destroying a part of the outer ring of Banos. It was really cool to see the way the lava flowed down into the valley, destroying everything in its path. Nature is awesome! My body was in complete shock after all that exercise. Back in the city, we went to the local market for lunch where we dined with the locals on tripe soup and congealed cow's blood. I learned, after eating it, that tripe was cow's stomach. (For those of you who don't know me well, I don't eat a lot of red meat, so this specific dining experience was quite a culture shock!). We went to the thermal springs with the locals...it was very hot and very relaxing after a day of hiking and eating cow parts.

The next morning, despite our better judgment, Johnny and I rented bikes and cycled 17 km to Rio Verde. We were told that it was all downhill. Those people lied! I thought I was going to die, ended up walking a bit of the way. I had heartburn and already I could not feel my legs from the hike the previous day. We were pedaling into the wind, dodging pot holes and oncoming traffic. All in all, it was exhausting! The scenery, however, did make it worth the effort. Beautiful mountains, waterfalls and villages. The Ecuadorians plant their crops up the mountains which makes for a stunning patchwork of colors. After the biking, we went back to the market for lunch numero dos. This time we were in for a treat - an ocho piece band was in the market playing and people were salsa dancing! It was fantastic. A woman kept looking at me watching and smiling at all that was going on, so she waved me over to dance with her little group. I did a rueda with the woman, her husband and possibly their mother who was half my height, had two teeth and was dressed in traditional dress, bowler hat and all, not 25 feet away from dangling pig's feet, chickens, fruits and vegetables. You could not have wiped the smile off my face if you tried.

I am going through a bit of a culture shock after spending so much time in Asia. For one thing, there aren't any Asians around. Like Asia, the dogs still roam the streets. Unlike Asia, children juggle and twirl flaming batons at red lights to earn dinero. Like Asia, they don't speak much English. Unlike Asia, Ecuadorians are meat-eaters. In Asia, I saw a lot of gold temples, Buddha statues, Hindu Gods. I almost forgot what Jesus and Mary look like...but they are everywhere here! The wine here is excellent. People in Ecuador also like to make noise and dance anywhere, anytime! There is music playing constantly, whether from a truck with massive speakers driving around the city (the South American version of low riders, perhaps?!). While in Banos, I saw no less than 5 small parades where a band would march around the square and people would follow them carrying roses. There is such a live in the moment attitude here...I absolutely love it! Made my way back to Quito this afternoon where I am very excited to greet Mendy and John, two great friends from Winston-Salem, NC! They will be here in less than 2 hours and I cannot wait to see them! Ciao for now!

Pictures!

Click on the link below to view pictures from my time in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand! Ciao!

Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand!

Bottle Beach - Part Deux!

My little write-up on my stint at the silent meditation retreat was obviously a little daily dose of my random thoughts/experiences. In reality, the whole experience was incredible. I felt so at peace, so calm, the entire time I was there. I also have never felt more as if I am living in the present moment with a more focused or more concentrated mind. I think it is an experience that would be good for everyone to go through once, even if only for a day or two. There’s something beautiful in silence…

I spent the last week in Bottle Beach, Koh Phangan, Thailand. Seriously, this is my definition of paradise on earth – white sand, palm trees, mountains, greenish/blue water, amazing food, lovely people, simple bungalows on the beach with a hammock hanging on the front porch. I returned to the beach where Gerad and I had such a great time, and slept in a bungalow three huts down from where he and I stayed!

Here is a list of what I have done over the last few days:

- Read in hammock
- Slept in hammock
- Read on beach
- Slept on beach
- Ate
- Drank
- Wrote
- Slept in bed
- Ran
- Swam

I finished Northanger Abbey, The Zahir, and The Life of Pi (glad I wasn't stuck on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger!). I hung out a bit with a really chill Israeli couple and an Austrian guy. I survived two absolutely terrifying storms. The first had such fierce winds that the entire bungalow shook and I covered my head with my pillow, after quickly quieting my fears that I was on the side of Thailand that suffers from tsunamis...I, luckily, was not. The other storm had lightning striking so close that I could feel the ground shake, the room was brighter than during the day with the lights on and so incredibly loud. Nature is wild! From my hammock, I observed a man catch a bird with his bare hands. Also from my hammock, I saw a man walking a monkey on a leash. That about sums up my week.

I took a boat then a bus back to Bangkok yesterday. We arrived at 3 AM this morning. For the third straight time, I was crammed in the back of the bus against the window. Clearly, I am paying for sins in a previous life by this curse of public transportation I have experienced lately! I got ridiculously sunburned on the boat because I was too engrossed in my book to apply sun screen, so heat was radiating off of me and the bus was not cool. My feet couldn't touch the ground because the back of the bus is higher. I didn't drink anything because we all know where that leads, so needless to say, I was hot, swollen and crammed in the back. There were nice people, entertaining conversations...so that occupied an hour of the 9 I had to endure. I hope there are no buses in South America...ha ha!

I fly to Ecuador in less than 12 hours. For most of my readers, we will share a few hours together in the Eastern Standard Time Zone during my Atlanta layover en route to Quito. I looked at a calendar for the first time in a long time the other day…do you know that I landed in Beijing on September 14th last year?!! How crazy is that?! Over one year in Asia! And it just keeps getting better…

I Can Move Things With My Mind

Day 1: Made friends with the baby lizard and ants in my room, which consists of a 3 inch thick pad on the ground and 3 blankets. Nothing else. Broke the rules already by taking two naps. Feeling hungover and tired from getting in at 4 AM after more than one tequila shot off an ice luge. Not the best way to start 10 days meditating in silence and wondering what I am doing here.

Day 2: A cat jumped in my lap while sitting 'meditation style'. It completely broke my concentration and I busted out laughing. Spent the rest of the day sneezing with watery, itchy eyes. During our silent breakfast, in which I was supposed to be mindfully eating my noodles with tofu and veggies, watched dogs propagating their species in the garden. Sleepy and thinking it will be a long time until the 28th.

Day 3: A shih tzu puppy humped my leg throughout breakfast. How are you supposed to mindfully eat with that going on?! Not as sleepy, feeling very relaxed. Sitting meditation going better. Glad I'm here. It's good for me!

Day 4: Played with the puppies before breakfast. They are adorable. Dogs were at it again during lunch...this girl gets around because it's with a new man. A cat rubbed on me during my walking meditation this afternoon and tried to get in my lap when sitting. Didn't want to sneeze, so didn't let her. Broke the rules by talking to two of the others...a Swiss woman and a Bulgarian lady. Feeling at peace, struggled midday with focusing. Feeling like my mind and heart are more connected.

Day 5: Puppies licked my face today...not sure if they have their shots or not. Oh well...too cute to resist. Had some good thoughts/insights come my way today. After the evening chanting session with the monks, a man came up to me and wished me good luck in finding goodness and the light. Touching. Very content right now. Heart/mind connection growing stronger and happy to be here. Also, all the monks seemed to have shaved their heads today. Hair cuts all around!

Day 6: Changed rooms last night because Buddha Day is today at the temple...lots of activity here! Woke up in this new room with bug bites all over my back. Not so clean, these temple floor mats. Also, broke the freezing cold shower...and all this before 6 AM! Carried a lotus flower around the stupa 3 times with all the monks chanting...what a beautiful experience. It is so meditative and soothing to listen to them chanting. Joined in on a few that I could find in my chant book...very cool that I've learned some Pali! It hurts my knees/legs to sit in the lotus style to meditate. Distracted today, some good practice but not much. 4 more days to go!

Day 7: New puppy joined the other 4...a beautiful Siberian husky. Cat jumped in my lap while meditating again. Armed with antihistamines, I let her sit in my hands and tuck her head under my arm and purr away. I still sneezed. There are going to be a lot of new puppies around here as the girl was at it again...another new partner. She's been with almost every male dog in the temple I think. Not feeling well. Stomach hurts. Skipping evening chanting. Bored. Home sick. Going to bed early.

Day 8: Skipped breakfast and slept in. A man slept in the women's dorm building last night. I have never heard such incredibly loud and irregular snoring before. Remarkable. Hard to focus today. At lunch, the Bulgarian lady broke the silence by saying, "I am so sick of this f*ing chanting". I busted out laughing. Absolutely hilarious. The Swiss woman whispered to me after lunch that she admired how slowly I ate. That's one I haven't heard before, and I guess it's better than she admired how much I could eat. This afternoon, walking meditation finally clicked. Feels good to be getting in control of my mind and aware of my body. I feel at peace and like I am glowing inside. I also feel like I might be able to move things with my mind.

Day 9: Finally went to the bathroom. All of this non-activity, non-stress, no food after noon stuff has wreaked havoc on my digestive system. Another husky joined the mix. 5 puppies now. The Swiss lady gave me candles and incense to use in my room because the stench from the temple's garbage pile is terrible on my side of the building. Best meditation yet was tonight during the evening chanting. Had to literally walk through the clouds to get to the temple. Meditations are going deeper than I've gone yet...wow. Had the thought that I should stay longer, but not prepared to stay longer. Will definitely continue this when I leave. Wow.

Day 10: Meditated during the morning changing session with the monks for the first time...finally got up early enough. Powerful stuff. Played with the puppies. The poodle/shih tzu mutt is my favorite. Read on the balcony this afternoon. Watched a beautiful, cloudy day float by over Chiang Mai below. A beautiful rainbow appeared. Evening chanting with monks, writing by candlelight, burning candles and incense, listening to the rain, drinking hot chocolate...the perfect ending to a wonderful and peaceful journey into myself.

Good Afternoon Vietnam!!

I bet you were thinking that I was going to title my blog from Vietnam "Good Morning Vietnam" but I didn't want to be that predictable. ;) Getting to Vietnam was a bit long; what I thought would be a 6 hour boat and bus journey down the Mekong, into Vietnam at Chau Doc and onto Ho Chi Minh (formerly known as Saigon, although everyone in Vietnam still calls it Saigon!) ended up taking 14 hours. I missed the bus for tourists, so they literally squeezed me onto the local bus. My knees were basically in my chest for 6 hours in the back row of the bus, shared with four others. It was fantastic (read: a whole bunch of sarcasm) and I wish I could say that it was the last bus trip that I will ever take in my entire life, but alas, that is not likely.

Seeing Trent and Keira again and meeting their friends was so great. They have a two bedroom flat with air conditioning, hot water, a couch, a microwave and really comfortable beds. It was heavenly! I was so excited to do the dishes and was ecstatic to wash my clothes in a proper washing machine...Keira and Trent laughed at me! We slept in, went to brunch and dinner at fabulous places, did some shopping, swam in a rooftop pool overlooking the Saigon River and that was Saturday! On Sunday, we went to brunch again and then Keira and I spent the afternoon at a spa...for $12 each, we got one hour hot stone massages, facials, manicures and pedicures. I love Vietnam! We ordered pizza and sat on their couch and watched movies on Sunday night...again, heavenly!

I took a quick flight up to Hoi An from Monday to late Wednesday afternoon, after refusing to take one more bus ride in Vietnam. I left my big pack with Trent and Keira, so it was nice to travel light for a few days. I hoped on the back of a motorbike and was dropped in the old city center with no map and not a clue where to stay, what to do, etc. I met a lovely Vietnamese girl who took me on her bike to a guest house she knew of and quickly got settled in and rented a bike. I biked around the city, then went to a tailor to finally get something made...a process that everyone should go through once in their life! I spent two hours visiting fabric shops, looking at styles and getting measured. I ended up ordering a total of 5 dresses and a pair of pants...one of the dresses alone would easily go for $150+ at home, so I did not feel bad at all dropping $70 total on my purchases. However, after three fittings on Tuesday and two more on Wednesday, I realized that having clothes that fit perfectly (and are super cute if I might add!) is a lot of work! If getting a wedding dress fitted is going to require so much effort someday, I'm just going to wrap a sheet around my body and call it a day!

On Wednesday, after fitting #1, I took a cooking class with a street food vendor. The lady didn't speak much English, so her 16 year old Vietnamese friend named Cuong translated for me. The 'class' was very impromptu but the food we made was delicious, and that is the most important. After fitting #2, Cuong joined me for a bicycle ride to the beach closest to Hoi An. Her English was really good, so we talked about things that 16 year old girls like to talk about - boys. It was so adorable and opened my eyes to the many cultural differences between Vietnamese and the West. Also, I was the only person on the beach in a bathing suit after two other foreigners left. At this beach, all of the Vietnamese swam fully clothed. A group of female monks (do we call them nuns?!) all went swimming together...I got some great pictures of them splashing about in their modest brown attire. I took Cuong out for dessert and dinner, in that order...her choice! I let her pick the places and she was giddy walking into the touristy, much more expensive places than she is used to eating as the fourth child of a fisherman in the village. As we talked over dessert then dinner, I mentioned that I was going to rent a motorbike and head to My Son, a very old Hindu temple at the base of the mountains, the next morning. She said something to the effect of wow, that's cool...I've never been more than 15 km away from home. So, I invited her to come with me and I will never forget how her face lit up when she realized I was serious.

Cuong and I jumped on the motorbike and headed out to My Son, a 60+ km drive from Hoi An first thing Wednesday morning. It was so neat to hear her comments as I drove...she had never seen mountains up close before, not seen water lilies and she was smiling constantly when I repeatedly checked to make sure she was still on the back of the motorbike. She saw a lot of corn and rice drying on the side of the road and in front of people's very modest homes and said, 'wow, those people must be rich...look at all their corn and rice'. That statement instantly grounded me - hit me at my core - and again made me feel so thankful and blessed for the opportunities that I have had in my life. Very humbling. We stopped at a very local place on the ride home and Cuong told me that they never see foreigners and that I was in fact the first to eat at this particular restaurant, which explains why everyone in the neighborhood kept stopping in front to watch me eat. Meeting Cuong made my time in Hoi An, most definitely, and I look forward to staying pen pals with her via email!

Keira picked me up at the airport and I got my first taste of rush hour traffic in Saigon...it was insane. Motorbikes everywhere, a suggestion of which side of the road to drive on which is generally ignored, several roundabouts where it is an absolute miracle anyone actually gets remotely close to the direction they actually want to go...incredible! Thankfully, Keira is an excellent driver. She, Trent and I had some excellent wine at a rooftop bar overlooking the city - what a contrast Vietnam is! Trent made his way to football practice as it began to downpour. Keira and I had another glass of wine hoping the rain would pass, but it did not. We had one poncho that I insisted Keira wear because she was in work clothes but it honestly didn't matter. We were both 100% soaked to the core...I could wring buckets out of my clothes when we finally arrived at the restaurant. Keira's friend Mel joined us for dinner and we had amazing Lebanese food for my last night in Vietnam...go figure.

One more thing on Vietnam - it is now the only country in the world where I will drink the coffee, which is a miracle because I never drink coffee! I had one iced Vietnamese coffee every day and loved it (I also had trouble sleeping because of all the caffeine!) They make it with sweetened condensed milk and it tastes very similar to hot/iced chocolate..fantastic!

This will be my last post for at least the next 11 days...I am sure that all of you could use a break! On Saturday, the 18th, I start an adventure of a very different nature...a vipassana. For 10 days, I will be in silent meditation at the Phradhatu Doi Suthep temple in the woods north of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Here are some of the rules I must adhere to during my meditation retreat: no talking, no reading, no writing, no music, I must wear white clothes, no food after 12 noon, sleep only 6 hours a night, up at 4 AM, do not steal, do not kill (even mosquitoes), etc. It is going to be like boot camp for meditating. Just so we're all on the same page, I'm not into this stuff. I can count on one hand how many times I've done yoga and fewer times I have tried to meditate. I first learned of vipassanas from a guy I met in Africa and was instantly intrigued and knew I wanted it to be a part of this trip. It is not religious-based, although it will be held at a Buddhist temple. It is really a 10 day retreat to silence the noise and distractions of life, to listen to nature, to listen to yourself and be mindful of the present. I am very nervous about it but also looking forward to the journey itself and what things I might discover along the way. So, I'll be back in touch on or after the 28th...until then!

The Orphanage

Oh my goodness, children have A LOT of energy! After spending four days at the New Futures Orphanage, I think I need to schedule a vacation from my traveling! I spent six to seven hours a day with the children and went to bed most nights by 9 PM without the energy to even shower, almost. Despite my severe energy drain, I had such an incredible and rewarding time with the children.

There are 52 children currently at the orphanage, ages 8-17. Some of them are orphans in the true definition of the word; others are there because their parents could not afford to keep them. They live on a couple of acres with the following: swing set/playground, two outdoor yet covered classrooms, an arts/crafts room, a farm with pigs and chickens, a lake with fish, a workshop and a beauty parlor practice room. They all sleep on mats on the floor of a two-story place. After meeting and talking with each of them, I can tell that several of them would benefit from some kind of therapy which simply doesn’t exist over here. They have little to no structure, aside from the few hours a day they spend in school. They are all pretty good in English; they take lessons everyday. The children have hearts of gold and smiles that will melt your heart. I have given and received more hugs in the last four days than in the last four years of my life, so that was wonderful. Walking into the orphanage and having 10-15 little people run up to me, say ‘hello, how are you’ and be so excited to talk to me and hold my hand and have me join in their little adventures….what a feeling!

I was busy non-stop while there. I learned how to play chess (kind of), I taught some girls how to do a few line dances, I had my hair braided twice, and I went to English class at the local school…and that was day one! On Tuesday, I was joined at the orphanage by two other volunteers, a great couple from France named Stef and Thomas. Stef and I spent the morning cleaning out the arts and crafts room which previously had looked like a tornado had blown through it! That afternoon, we put on a fashion show. I helped dress up about 20 kids in all kinds of fabric and garland, set up a stage complete with a backdrop and the kids paraded around on the stage. We had three kids playing bongos and guitar to set the mood. It was hysterical and, wow was I tired by the end of that day!

Wednesday was filled with games of simon says and hangman, teaching an English class and a Chinese class. I taught about 15 of the kids basic phrases in Chinese and the rest of my time there, they kept running up to me and practicing…so cute and impressive how quickly they pick languages up! We were begged to put on another fashion show, so we had day two of prancing and parading around in pseudo dresses, capes, togas, etc. Today, my job was to push girls on the swing set, next came singing/teaching every nursery rhyme my poor memory could recollect, then I sat and had girl talk with some of the older ones….who likes who, teaching them the correct pronunciation to the song ‘All the Single Ladies’ by Beyonce…the important stuff! ;) I taught Chinese again and then braved day three of fashion week without Stef…we gave cookies to everyone beforehand to celebrate one of the little girl’s birthdays and they were absolutely wired on sugar! Fashion week was crazy!

I learned one very important thing about orphanages in Cambodia: string is to orphans as cigarettes are to prisoners. Colored string is traded whenever you lose at volleyball, chess, soccer. Girls and boys lobby and push for anyway they can get their hands on more string in order to make bracelets and other little things like it. I quickly recognized this, went to the local market and bought them out of string (a whopping $6 out of pocket). You would have thought I was the King of Cambodia with how these kids thanked me and went crazy as I was handing out the string. As a result, I was blessed with all kinds of homemade things. I now am proudly sporting 5 string bracelets, two string rings, one anklet and four things to dangle from the zipper on my purse. So cute!

My days at the orphanage were fantastic. It is incredible how attached you can become to children, and they to you in such a short amount of time. It was hard to say goodbye to them all. One of the many things I learned through this experience is that there is no way I could ever be a teacher and for those of you who are or were, God bless you! I am spent!

Today, I will jump on a boat and float down the Mekong River into Vietnam. I’ll be in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) by Friday night and will be spending the weekend with Keira and Trent, an Australian couple that I traveled with in Africa last year who are now living there. I haven’t been in an actual home since September 2009, so I am excited for some of the comforts of home and to see some old friends! Until next time...!

Angkor Wat!

The Angkor Archaeological Park is by far one of the most impressive places I've ever been. I have always heard of Angkor Wat and wanted to visit - it's the largest, best preserved of all the Angkorian temples. What I didn't realize is that there are tons of other temples from other kings and other times in the area. I spent the last three days, at least 5 hours a day, touring a total of 18 temples...there are way more but honestly I didn't have the endurance to visit them...I am templed out!! I hit all the contemporary favorites though. My personal favorite, second to Angkor Wat of course, is Ta Prohm, aka the jungle temple. They have intentionally left quite a bit of it in ruins. Nature is taking it back...massive trees growing in, around and on the temple. I felt like I was in one of the Indiana Jones movies, or at least some Playstation game where there are guys jumping over sandstone rubble and swinging on trees. Very, very cool. The bas-relief carvings on most all of the temples are so detailed. It is incredible to think of the craftsmanship and labor put into the making of these massive structures. Formerly Hindu, then converted to Buddhism like all of the temples, Angkor Wat is believed to hold the ashes of King Suryavarman II, making it the largest ever building to hold a corpse. Five million tons of sandstone, incredible carvings and detail and all completed in 40 years...unreal! The sunrise this morning overlooking the reflecting pond was yet another moment on this trip causing me reason to pause and be eternally grateful for what I am seeing and experiencing.

Cambodia is a very poor country and people here learn the art of selling (hustling!) at a young age. Outside of every temple, there are children selling all kinds of things - books, bracelets, stuff. It is difficult to look into their beautiful brown eyes and not give every one of them all the money you have. Unfortunately, giving to children just promotes the cycle and so I do not support it. It can be trying to be constantly followed, begged, tugged on to buy something. So, I came up with what I consider cute little responses. Actually, I've been doing this since Bali, where the people are incessantly asking you to buy stuff too. It's the only way I've been able to keep my sanity when walking the streets in Asia! Here are my responses to various questions. 1) Where are you from? I reply, "My Mom and Dad". They always giggle. 2) Do you need a taxi/tuk-tuk/motorcycle/ride? I say, "No thanks, I can fly. Or, no thanks, I want a helicopter." This is really funny only when their English is good enough! 3) Do you want a book? "No thanks, I can't read." It's a lot of fun to actually laugh with the people instead of just constantly saying no!

On my first day touring the temple, actually the first two days, it poured rain off and on. I was wearing flip-flops (aka thongs, as my dear Aussie friends would call them!) and ventured back to a temple that few tourists get to. On the way, a cute little boy started walking with me and kept telling me "lady, be careful, it's wet". I quietly applauded his observational skills and then completely wiped out. Cambodian mud is very thick...it covered me from my shoulder to my toes on the left side of my body. This marks the first official fall since arriving in Cambodia. If I think back on it, I am quite clumsy. I have fallen in basically every country since Indonesia. In Bali, it was off the motorbike into the rice field. In Malaysia, it was climbing up a mountain...I went in the wrong direction! In India, it was down a small flight of stairs in the rain. In Thailand, as Gerad and I were walking on the beach, I didn't see a volleyball net tied onto a tree and walked right into it and kind of fell backwards into the sand in slow motion. Now this. It is truly remarkable that I have not broken anything!

After spending the days playing on temples, I spent the evenings in the very pleasant city center of Siem Reap. Hung out with a couple of German guys I met for two nights. Last night, my tuk-tuk driver, Kuonn, whom I hired for my three days of templing, took me to a very local place. He ordered. This is what we got: sliced, raw carrots, beans, cucumber, some types of grass(!!) and parts of a cow that we dipped in some kind of clearish sauce. I have no idea what parts they were and so I asked Kuonn. He said the inside parts. Again, very observant. I think the only reason I did not get violently ill is because of the Angkor, Cambodia's finest and only beer.

Made it back to Phnom Penh tonight. On the bus ride, a woman played music aloud for the bus to hear from her cell phone, this is also common on local buses in Asia! She sang quite loudly to her music. She was also tone deaf. I could not withhold my laughter. Sing like no one's listening I suppose rings very true to her! Tomorrow, I will figure out a way to get to Ta Koe, a tiny village about 79 KM from here. I'll be volunteering at the New Futures Orphanage for the rest of the week...can't wait to meet the kids! Happy Labor Day!

The Smiling Country

I am in love with the people of Cambodia. They are incredibly friendly, always smiling (hence the country's nickname and title of this post!) and so helpful. I landed in Phnom Penh on Sunday afternoon. I shared a tuk-tuk to the city center with the guy sitting next to me on the plane. Gilbert (he goes by Gil) is from the NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana). His job since Katrina hit is playing online poker. Apparently he isn't so good at poker because he freely shared that he was $20K in debt. He also mentioned no less than three times how upset he was that his peanut butter had been confiscated from the Thai airport security. It takes all kinds to make this world go around. May you get a full house or at least a flush Gil!

Didn't do too much but walk around the city center after settling into my room. It is quite a strange feeling to actually have a bed all to myself again...I've kind of gotten used to having someone around over the last two and a half months! Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is a nice city. It's obvious that I'm inching closer to China though, as the markets here sell all sorts of bugs, dog, frogs, birds and such. On the other hand, due to the French colonization, the city was planned with wide boulevards, lots of parks and green space and a really nice boardwalk area next to the Mekong River. Makes for good people watching!

I ventured out on Monday to Wat Phnom, the temple of which the city is named for. It was a-okay as temples go, lots of cats, kittens and an elephant. With all due respect to my Buddhist brothers and sisters, I have seen enough Buddhist temples to last a lifetime, so this one didn't stand out in any particular way to me. The only real highlight was a man who forgot to say his prayers to himself and was literally shouting to the point that he drew a crowd around him. Of course I joined in to watch the spectacle unfold, although I had no idea what the poor guy was praying for because I don't speak Khmer! That evening, I was again reminded of how much closer I'm getting to China by the fact that at 5 PM sharp, the largest park turned into an outdoor aerobics and dance studio. It was awesome. One group that I watched for a really long time had about 100 people jazzercising in the park...hilarious! Mom, you would have fit in perfectly! There was another group of 5 guys dancing...Cambodia's up and coming version of N Sync. It made my day watching these guys try to dance all together. Smiles all around.

On Tuesday, I headed to the killing fields and to the now Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (aka S-21), the former high school where torture and interrogation was conducted during the Khmer Rouge regime. Pol Pot and his followers were brutal and merciless. It was very sobering to be walk among the fields where over 9,000 were buried in mass graves. The field I visited is only one of 380 killing fields in Cambodia...a total of over 19,400 mass graves in all. The estimated 2 million, or 25% of the Cambodian population, that perished during the genocide is unthinkable to imagine having happened less than 32 years ago. It was a very reflective, quiet day after that. What strikes me more than anything is how the Cambodian people have rebounded, how they are today...happy, peaceful and friendly...to go through something like their country did and to be so positive after is truly inspiring.

Wednesday I hung out in my room, having come down with a nasty little stomach virus. Shockingly, my room had a TV with HBO. Has anyone seen United States of Tara? It's hilarious and makes me wish that I had multiple personalities too. Today, Thursday, I'm feeling slightly better. I had enough energy to survive a 6 hour bus north to Siem Reap. The Cambodian girl next to me works at a bank, so we chatted about that and had a nice ride up. She fell asleep and rested her head on my shoulder for the last two hours of the ride...very cute. The next 3 days I'll be touring Angkor Wat. Very excited to see these temples...very likely the last on this trip, so at least I'm saving the best for last!