Well, dear readers (if I have any left, ha!), I'm about to go on the adventure I've worked towards my whole life. My boss and friend at The 100 Friends Project, Marc Gold, has given me the opportunity to spend a month with him, traveling around Southeast Asia helping dispense aid to the people we help. In 2 weeks from right now, I will be in Tokyo, on my way to Bangkok. From Bangkok, I will go to Vietnam for a week, then to Cambodia for at least week. After that, the details are a little sketchy, but I hope to also go to Indonesia while I'm in the neighborhood. Every step of the way, I'll be meeting people whose lives have been or will be touched by the 100 Friends Project. I am so thankful and excited! Already on the agenda is distributing wheelchairs in Hanoi, teaching orphans in Phnom Penh, visiting Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, doing yoga on a beach in Thailand, fulfilling a childhood dream of going to Angkor Wat and hopefully joining my friend Dwight at his program, In Search of Sanuk, helping street kids in Bangkok. I am stoked!
But I'm also pretty scared.
I've never left the United States before. I don't speak Thai, Vietnamese or Khmer. I have never been to a tropical climate. I have freaking malaria pills packed in carry-on. MALARIA PILLS! I never thought I'd ever go to place where I need would need malaria pills! And this is the point in my inner monologue where I begin to question my sanity. Who the hell am I to be doing this? I'm nobody. I'm just a little country girl from a tiny little Midwestern town nobody has ever heard of. I have health problems and no one else in my immediate family have ever traveled abroad. My dad died without ever having left the continental United States. People like me just don't get to do things like this.
And yet, here I am, with a ticket to Thailand, a Vietnamese visa and those malaria pills.
Somebody pinch me, ya'll, because this is just weird.
I just want that little country girl to know that her vision, perseverance and ideals have changed my life! I met you seven years ago, and though the first four years of our friendship were rocky and odd, you planted seeds in my heart that never went away. Three years ago, we shared an apartment and you shared your vision. Little by little, I started to "get it." The seed got a little water. It took a long time, but it is now finally sprouting, tentatively, withstanding setbacks and false starts, put-downs from others and all kinds of challenges. I often think of that brilliant, compassionate and humble 'country girl' who graduated from college despite all odds - health, lack of resources, and an very real sense of being misunderstood where you come from. Now I am doing what I can to learn and grow towards making the world a better place! I would not have gotten here without your light. I am so inspired by you and extremely proud of what you are doing. You stick to your beliefs, persevere even when everything sucks, and do courageous things in spite of fear. So here is my "pinch": you rock! I am glad you share your fears because it helps me realize that you pursue your dreams in spite of those doubts. That is what makes you so wonderful. I love you so much!
ReplyDeleteGrace! You are far from a country girl from the Midwest. You have a worldly soul and always have seemed that way. You'll be fine and I can't wait to hear about your adventures!
ReplyDeleteTwo words: jealous & proud. Stay classy, rue.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouragement! I have so much to share very soon. :D I love you!
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