Sunday, October 28, 2012

Hold on to your Holidays!


It was a Sunday evening in the spring of 2007 when Shannon Bridges (my college sweetheart of a best friend, and the person I’m most proud of) busted in my room to catch up from the weekend we’d been apart. That’s how it worked in our dorm life; one big house with its tenants flitting from room to room. Privacy? Overrated. Everything was everyone’s business. On that particular evening, if my memory serves me correctly (which it should because this is such a special one) I was drying my hair as she was telling me the latest news. All the sudden, she’d made me erupt with laughter, as was the norm (she’s got a real talent for that). As we got lost in it, the eruption turned to tears. All the sudden I was sobbing uncontrollably. For some reason, just like the laughter, she had fallen suit. We were both sitting in the middle of my half of the terribly cluttered dorm room as Shannon managed to choke out, “Why are we crying?!” I somehow responded, though how she was able to interpret my words, I’ll have no idea but to assume she already knew the answer: “Because it’ll all be over soon.” The best time of our lives, as every adult I’d encountered had told me college would be. The first year of it was coming to a close, and I was searching for the invisible breaks to stop it as ferociously as a mother in the passenger’s seat while teaching her teenager to drive. Sure, we were only freshman. We had all the time in the world. But it hit us both simultaneously. If the first year had gone this fast, the rest would only follow while picking up even more speed. In the words of Mr. Mayer, stop this train!

I’m reminded of this memory only because I find myself with the same feelings lately. We’ve been on our much-needed mid-year break this month, and it’s been the adventure of a lifetime. It hit me while a 4-month-old, 200 kilo elephant stepped on my foot, and again when I was surrounded by 4 full grown tigers (with the trainers telling me they were hungry, but not to worry): this isn’t going to last forever. In the middle of those deep rooted belly laughs when you find yourself at your happiest, reality sneaks in to remind you that sometime soon, maybe not at the exact moment but still inevitable, times will change. The happiness will not elude you if you make the effort to ensure its place in your life, but the settings, from a college dorm to the Jungle Book, will always be different. 



I’ve waited for this holiday from school pretty much since I arrived here. Routine and I have been very happy together. However, to keep a relationship exciting and new, you must not stifle each other. Space is key. Adventure came to sweep me off my feet, ya know, before Routine and I got tired of each other. After spending nearly a month with Adventure, I’m sure Routine will be waiting for me at the bus station with open arms to finish what we started. I’ll be happy to see my sweet kiddos again. I’ll be ready to wrap my hands for boxing again. I’ll be excited to get my daily helpings of fruit from my sweet Joy and Too again. But I’ll also have mixed emotions because going back to Uttaradit means that October is over. And if we’ve made it to and through October this fast, here to the end of my contract is going to fly. 

I have a nasty personality trait that I’ve long since accepted isn’t going to change. I always will days in my life to go faster. I want to know what’s next. Who’s next. Where’s next. How amazing can I make it? It keeps getting better, but it doesn’t change the fact that I desperately long for the days of laughter turned to tears with Shannon in my dorm room. I know I will never get those days back, but I am at least comforted by the fact that we were aware how wonderful they were when we were living them. We didn’t take them for granted as they passed, at least most of the time. I’m trying to live in the same way here. I can’t help wanting to know what’s coming next for me because I’ve chosen to live in such a way that it’s always uncertain, but I know whatever is in store will not keep me from looking back and missing the time I’ve spent with Adventure this month. 

I’ll no doubt long for spending a whole day among God’s most touching and personal creatures-the most surreal adventure of my life to date: being with the elephants. Meeting them, trusting them, feeding them, riding them bareback, swimming with them, bathing them, being picked up by their trunks, jumping into the water from their head, getting kisses from them. The day will be engrained in my memory forever!



My day spent with the tigers will no doubt have the same effect on me. I can tell you all day long how majestic and beautiful they are, but the only thing I could think of while being in their such near presence was how scared I was of my face being mauled off. 


Zip-lining, repelling, and hiking through the trees of Thailand’s jungles with Thailand’s gibbons will take your breath away. The guides were almost as great as the action itself because they gifted us with their senses of humor, throwing me to and from the trees while somehow making me feel safe. 


After our time in Chiang Mai that includes all these events (and several trips to Subway, I might add because yes, they had one, and yes, I spent enough money there to pay their bills for the month), we headed south to a quite rough part of the country. The surroundings of prostitution, slums, and threats of the mafia were all eye opening, but didn’t cloud the reason for which we came--the kiddos. I was fortunate enough to become the tiniest part of lives that are so hugely a part of my now greatest thoughts and memories. We worked with the babies of the local orphanage which Meredith sought out as a gift to me because she knows how to reach to my heart. We got to play, feed, wipe snotty noses, laugh, tickle, and lay with these babies until they fell asleep. Leaving....was rough. If I’d had a bag big enough, I’d have snuck each one out to take home with me. But maybe this will be a place I’ll be able to visit later on in life to do much more. 


Lastly, we parked it on Koh Samet, a beautiful tiny island situated in the gulf, for the rest of the break. Well, not so much “parked it” as “dropped off directly in the water by our boat taxi and walked to shore with our suitcase over our heads,” but I suppose that’s island life. It’s a nice quaint little place, ya know, if you’re into the whole white sand, blue water, quiet paradise with night time fire shows or beach side dancing type thing. We planned on the week being full of absolutely nothing but reading, writing, eating, and relaxing. Besides kayaking around the island during the day and spending hours on end dancing with who I’m convinced are the world’s most fun and brilliant travelers at night (I’ve learned it’s the quickest way to make friends with people who don’t speak the same language), we stuck fairly close to our plans. It was the perfect close to the break, and I feel like I’ve had enough time to charge up and get back to work. 



As this break has come full circle, I can’t help but be reminded of another circle that began in the summer of 2011 when the parting words of a person I love were spoken to me as I left for Europe: “Don’t rush.” I pass them on to you in hopes that they strike you as simply, yet remarkably, as they did me. Remember-these elusive, fleeting moments will slip through your fingers if you’re not careful. Grab ahold!