In about 16 hours I will be on a (long) bus-ride from Phnom Penh to Bangkok. In about 43 hours I will be on a (short) plane-ride from Bangkok to New Delhi. In about 46 hours I will be wandering the streets of Delhi looking for a phone card and a long scarf to wear while bumming around Northern India and hopefully not wandering the streets of Delhi looking for my hotel.
Today is my last day in Phnom Penh. I have spent the last two weeks walking everywhere to experience the city once again. Okay, that is a lie…I’ve been walking everywhere because I was too lazy to fix my bike tire and too cheap to pay a moto driver to take me. But the resulting taking-in of Phnom Penh is the same. Cambodia has been good to me. It has treated me very well and we shall remain good friends. I set out to teach for 3 months to 1 year and feel that I have accomplished that. I have been in Asia for 10 months and taught for nearly 7 months…not bad at all. =)
Before, when I would change the location of my life I would feel like it were an end and a new beginning. But this time I feel somewhere in the middle of a journey. It isn’t over, but I don’t know where it is going to take me and I’m not even sure what the journey is about. I have a few theories, but I’ll keep them to myself.
India, India. I have always wanted to go to India and now I am. For only 12 days! It isn’t a large enough bite, but at least it is a taste. And I get to share it with my mother! I am so excited to see her and to share this with her. She has that adventurous spirit that people keep mentioning about me. Where do you all think I got it from?! She is braver than me, stronger than me, and lets face it…I get my good looks from her because she is prettier than me! She would have to be all those things to allow me to drag her around India in cheep train cars and $5 guest houses. It has to be hard for her.
I try to imagine how a parent feels when their kid gets their driver’s permit. Sitting in the passenger seat only able to voice concern and direction (but not daring to lest their kid gets testy). Relinquishing control and allowing their kid to grow up. To take a step forward in life. And even though you are there in the passenger seat…you aren’t really a part of it. It is all them. Now, imagine how a parent might feel when their kid gets a backpack and a passport…and you don’t get to see them learn how to do it, instead you get to see the result. And you have no idea what they have learned running around the world on their own. But here you are again, putting your life in your kid’s hands. And doing it in one of the craziest places in the world: INDIA!!!
Thanks Mom, for meeting me in India. I have to see it before I die and it is going to be that much more incredible with you there. Now, where can I drag Dad off to and torture him someday?
Oh my Buddha! …and we’re off!!!…
Baobabs, Pagodas, & the Taj Mahal 