Advertisement
Published: December 17th 2006
One month. It has been one month since our embarkation from the US of A. What a crazy month. It's weird to reflect on it. This last week has been tough for me... and consequently probably tough for Dallas as well. Let's just say I probably wasn't the best traveling companion. And let's be honest, it will probably (guaranteed) happen again...in approximately 26 days...if you catch what I'm throwing. Yeah, I was an emotional, girly, grumpy mess. I cried three times yesterday! Once in the morning because I was sad about an email. Once later that day because I watched Forest Gump and Jenny died. Once again that night when I was checking email again from Jen Turner and Mom and Dad. In the same 10 minutes in a tiny little internet room I cried and then laughed out loud at something my bro sent me. The guy next to me must have thought I was absolutely crazy. But no, I'm just your typical emotional girl.
I have gotten mad/frustrated/annoyed with Dallas a handful of times in this last month for some pretty dumb stuff (see Hamamatsu blog regarding my Christmas idea) and it seemed that Dallas would not get mad at me no matter what I did. But yesterday it happened. And I can't blame him. We just got done kayaking in this bay on Rai Lay beach...an amazing bay with breathtaking AND awe inspiring limestone cliffs...when we ran into this french girl named Myriam. She mentioned a hike to a lagoon that involved daring trails and treacherous cliffs. Dallas and I decided that would be a fantastic way to spend the afternoon. We set out around 2:30pm and it was a bit daring. We had to scramble up this cliff, hanging onto roots and rock. We got nearer the lagoon and there were three ledges that involved scaling a steep cliff using ropes that had been tied and knotted along the way. The main problem is that it is really slippery, muddy and wet and I psyched myself out that I was going to fall and crack my head open, so there came a point on the second descension that I couldn't figure out how to do without falling to my death. Because of all the horrorifying images that flashed through my head, I even mentioned that I might give up. This is the sort of thing that guys can't stand. Dallas was trying to be nice and talk me into it, but I basically told him just to stop talking...rude thing I did #1. Then when I finally took the step over the edge, he put his hand under my foot and I told him not to touch me...rude thing #2. We get to the third cliff and it is no rock scramble at all, but a shabby little rope ladder and although it was only four to five steps down, one wrong move and your brains and guts would be on the rocks below. So I found a new way to go and with Dallas' help I made it down. But rather than thanking him for his help, I said, "Man, it's a good thing I have these firefighter muscles." Rude thing I did #3. Anyway, he was obviously mad and I was obviously a jerk.
So just now I was laying on the bed in the room and I was like, "Wow, one month we've been traveling together. And we're still friends." Silence. "You still like me. You still like me, right?" And then Dallas told me that he got frustrated at me yesterday and then I felt like a jerk. But, it's good. It's good because 1.) Dallas doesn't like to talk things through and here was a good opportunity for him to tell me he was upset and me to ask his forgiveness; and 2.) I honestly need to work on being rude to people. It sucks and I'm writing this in a blog for no good reason really, but I guess just to remind myself. When you're traveling with someone and you spend every day with them, they see you for who you really are. In return, you see how you really are. When I spend every day with someone am I quicker to serve them first and be concerned with their well being above my own or do I get so comfortable that I forget to love them and practice the one anothers with them? Well, I failed this test, but I pray that God would grow me in this area. "Look not only to your own interest, but also to the interest of others." I pray that I will remember this and be more diligent to be patient, kind, humble and to consider others as better than myself.
On a totally different note, my cousin Ryanne just asked how the food has been. Well, I must say that all the food I've eaten had been delicious. I honestly thought I would have a hard time with the food here, but I have enjoyed all of it. I think I've adjusted to it even easier than Dallas. In Japan the food was good, but I can't say it was great. We had some good sushi and some great brazilian barbeque (thanks Daryll), but other than that it was a lot of ramen and other cheap things. Lots of things are fishy in Japan when they really shouldn't be. Like pizza. Pizza really should never be fishy, but in Japan it's quite fishy. Or desert. Deserts should not taste like fish, but in Japan they taste like fish and beans. Mmmm. Then there was Singapore where we enjoyed an array of food courtesy of Fanny (as in Fanny Pac) at the Singapore food court-type area. We ate whole baby squid, sting ray, this stuff called carrot cake that is kind of like hash and a bunch of other great things. In Malaysia we had some fantastic Indian food. I love Indian food. We ate naan and curry sauce, these pancake like things called roti that are my absolute favorite and some amazing curry and rice. The king of fruit in Malaysia is called durian and it is something else. Some people say you either love it or you hate it. It smells so bad that they don't let you eat it on the bus or inside of hotels. There are signs that say No Durian. It looks like a pineapple almost; it's big and green and prickly. You can smell a mile away. It smells like onions, but the more you smell it it starts to smell like garbage. Inside there are seeds covered in flesh (the part you eat). The flesh looks and feels like raw bread dough. It's not sweet like fruit either. It tastes like a whole meal...roast beef, garlic, mashed potatoes. So strange. But, if roast beef sounds good, think again. Because roast beef fruit is not good. Now we are in Thailand and I don't think you can go wrong with Thai food. It is all so delicious. Lots of noodles and rice. Today I at a bamboo worm. A whole worm. It looks like a skinny grub. Not very good I must say.
After our time in the bungalow covered beach of Rai Lay (we got there from Krabi where we said our goodbyes to Lionel, Gary and Ben. We'll miss those guys.) we headed out to Surat Thani where we had planned to go to Koh Tao. But before I get into that, I forgot to mention that when we were in Rai Lay we met this girl Liz whose parents were in Rai Lay when the tsunami hit and they actually watched the wave roll into Thailand. The area where we stayed is all under construction because of the damage from the wave. There is garbage everywhere and you can really see the devastation from the whole thing. But apparently because of Thailand's effective infrustructure they have really responded well to the damage and they are getting on their feet quicker than other countries who were effected. Back to what I was saying, we get to Surat Thani and they told us that no boats can go to Koh Tao because of some big waves. So instead we go to Koh Phangan tomorrow morning at 5am. Another beautiful island, but it should be really crowded right now because of the holidays. We will spend a few days there and then head to Bangkok and then straight to Chiang Mai where we will meet up with Heidi Wilkinson (my good friend from school) and my professor Dr. Halstead. I can't wait! I really cannot wait for the fellowship with them and I'm so thankful that the Lord has provided the time and opportunity for us to meet up for a few days.
The problem now is that I walked a bit out of the way to find the cheapest internet in town and it's 11:30pm so I have to walk back to my hotel. A little scary. A funny thing that just happened is that I went to the liquor store earlier and tried to buy conditioner but everything is in Thai so I didn't know which was which. Then I got back to the room and realized that I bought something that turns those pesky greys a naturally Asian colored black. That's great for some, but not for me. I went back to exchange it and then wandered over here and got ambitious enough to write this blog. So, I'm off to make the treck back to the room and then bright and early to catch my boat to the island. Cheers and thanks for your prayers and comments!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.124s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0734s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Dana Larsen
non-member comment
Hey
Hi, I was just reading your latest blog. I enjoyed the section on the food, because I was curious about it. I also liked the ancedote about your cliff climbing experience. Hey we all let our emotions get the best of us. Especially when we are in a strange environment, tired and our adrenalin is rushing. We all say things we regret. You didn't fail any test. Life is an experience and we learn something about ourselves everyday. Recognizing our mistakes and then learning from them, then saying you're sorry when you feel your wrong; that's what I call passing any test god can hand you with an A+. Enjoying your blogs, Dana