December 3, 2010 - written from Anchorage, Alaska airport waiting for our plane to be refueled
I flew out of DC to NYC to catch my extremely long flight departing from NYC to Bangkok, Thailand. I had an extremely busy week preparing for my trip that consisted of the same old routine that everyone in most large working cities is used to: running around to last minute meetings, conference calls, working, finishing up documents with very tight deadlines, final exams for school, being on a crunch to pay off bills, calling phone company to fight with them about excess charges and fees that somehow "accidentally" made their way on my monthly statements, and lastly running errands and packing. I must say, I am extremely proud of myself for having completed EVERYTHING on my to-do list. To be honest, I did not expect to. Upon completing the list I vividly remember looking back down on it saying "I'll be lucky to get through part of this list". I'm happy to have proven myself wrong! I guess I proved to myself that I work really well under pressure.
I find myself in an extremely emotional state. Its a very mixed group of feelings ranging from nervousness and stress about leaving so much work behind in DC, to raw excitement about what lies ahead, to thinking about my family and amazingly cute little nephew Adam. I have not really had a chance until now to sit down and thoroughly reflect on my trip, where I will be traveling, what my work there will entail and what to make of it all. Between being too busy to actually look up South East Asia prior to my trip and having the desire to just come here and "learn as i go" verses having any preconceived notions, lead me to literally just come with no clue as to where I was going, staying or visiting. I want to challenge my own assumptions, notions and thoughts. But more importantly, I want a clean canvas on which to draw my thoughts of what I will encounter in weeks to come.
I am writing this as I look out the terminal window at blankets of snow that over the ground in Anchorage, Alaska (-4 degrees). I just bought some smoked salmon from a nearby vendor as I wait to re-board the plane. I am overtaken by nostalgia and cannot seem to stop thinking about my father and our family deep sea fishing trips in Portland Oregon (I lived there for several years as an early teen). An image of my father with an extremely large and prideful smile carrying two 5 foot long Salmon that he just caught is all I can picture right now. For some reason, this image brings tears to my eyes as I recall how blessed and lucky I am to have had so many great life experiences at such a young age, thanks to my parents and their seemingly never-ending joy for discovery, exploration and education.
Fellowship Schedule:
December 5-21 - Chiang Mai, Thailand
- women's prison to hand out books
- visiting orphanages and NGOs
- visit local vendors and markets
- visit Burmese refugees "Karen people" in the mountains
- Mother Theresa orphanage
- Give away supplies on Christmas eve
- Excursions, hiking on Mt. Everest.
- Visit Happy Home orphanage
Jan 7-11 - India
Jan 11-14 - Bangkok, Thailand
Ok-- boarding plane again! Destination: Bangkok!
No comments:
Post a Comment