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Rebecca in India

Thursday, June 30, 2005

reverberation

As I sit in the St. Mary's library, it seems unreal to me that I was in Thailand only a few days ago. However, waking up at 5 or 6am every morning reminds me that my body is still living in a different time zone. It is kind of nice to wake up early and feel the stillness of the sleeping world, to watch the sun shyly creep over the dew-covered lawn. Maybe I will make a habit out of this.

I am reading Villa Incognido now. I am in love. It is an amazing book and I highly reccomend it to everyone. Tom Robbins has a truly unique style of writing and I love the way he uses analogies and various literary devices to make poignant statements. awesome.

Oh St. Marys, what poopy weather you have selected for the day Erica and I have chosen to have our picnic and kayacking adventure. Yesterday the sunset was gorgeous. I appreciate the beauty of our school ever so much more after my recent time in the bustling, consumer-driven city of Bangkok. True, the beaches and Islands in Ao Nang had their own unique charm and splendour, but they were missing the ivy of academia. They had a natural way of invoking philosophical thoughts in my flighty mind. St. Mary's does it differently, making me think of next semester and SMP work, and finally the inevitable graduation. As I see former Alumni hanging around, working in St. Mary's county, living in the St. Mary's bubble, I wonder what is to become of me when I leave. I love it here, I am happy to be visiting here for the next few days, reuniting with friends before I go back to work. I think I'm starting to feel a little bit of India reverberating within me. India seems to bubble up in my daily life like a carbonated beverage. It feels like I have to burp. Something random will trigger a thought about India and what it was like, and from there my thoughts run rampant, dreaming of everything from the possibilties for happiness and social change to the taste of mango lassis and the ubiquitious smell of curry, inscense, and fecal matter. It makes me happy to think that this burping feeling will continue, prompting me to reflect on the trip in ways I never thought about while in India. I want to go back.

posted by the blondegiraffe | 11:27 AM | 0 comments

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Live from Cambodia

My first experience on a motorbike was great. We woke up at 430 this morning (after a crazy 14 hour trip into Siem Reap from Bangkok the day before) to get on the back of some motorbikes and drive to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. It was incredible. It was such a cool experience being there with other people who were simply there to watch the sunrise over a gorgeous backdrop of temple ruins and palm trees. Cambodia is gorgeous. I feel like I'm in national geographic or some travelers magazine. The temples are unlike anything I have seen before. Some of them are unfinished and in ruins. Others are in pretty good shape. I had fun today jumping on the rocks from the ruins and monkey climbing the steep stairs, it is like a big sandstone jungle gym. Later, I went with these Brittish girls to get a massage from people who were blind...that was a cool experience. I also met a guy from Mexico in the temple ruins and practiced my Spanish with him for a bit. It was nice to hear/speak Spanish again. I miss it alot. The people here are also extremely friendly (especially in the few rural areas we stopped in). Although in Angkor they really push you to buy things alot. I unwittingly bought a 6 dollar bottle of water today from a little girl. The kids are all really cute and it is hard to refuse their somber, yet happy faces, until they start to get angry because you won't buy things from them. I have found myself giving more here than I did in India. Which is strange for me because in India the poverty was alot worse. I think I hardened myself in India so I wouldn't be affected as much by the poverty. I went in knowing I couldn't give to everyone and thinking that by always giving, I would just be perpetuating the viscious cycle of the system, eventually leading to more begging.

posted by the blondegiraffe | 8:17 AM | 0 comments

Monday, June 06, 2005

the end of poo nation

So I'm pretty sad that the India segment of our trip is over. I miss the rest of the group already. Our last night we had this really good conversation about the trip and our thoughts and the group dynamic. It was pretty emotional for me, I realized some things I had been thinking and doing throughout the trip that were not necesarily what I had expected I would be doing. The talk was good and I wish we had more of those over the course of the trip, but I expect we will wehn we get back. I feel like there is so much I want to say and communicate to others about my experiences and feelings, but at the same time, I feel like they are indescribable and I can't recognize some of the feelings myself. Right now I am in Thailand writing on Tarn's computer from the hotel room. The airport experience in Delhi was total hell. And I think I'm going to write more later because there is good food here now.

posted by the blondegiraffe | 7:40 AM | 0 comments