just the facts + my pix

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some people have asked me if and how i am different from this trip. its a valid question but i'd rather list some numbers and events that had the greatest impact on me as i don't think i can accurately quantify the changes. (if you can't be bothered to read all this just scroll down to the bottom there is a link to my posted pix)

0 people with me when i left the states

6 months

8 countries

1 german man who changed my life

1/2 way through vietnam - i made a pilgrimage to where my father served when he was in the war. thought i would share a beer with my dad on a beautiful deserted beach. turns out the only other person there decided to try to talk to me. (not dangerous, just annoying) i didn't bother to finish my beer or my cry because the man kept trying to speak to me in vietnamese. after leaving the beach prematurely due to my unwelcome visitor i came to realize that i didn't have to be somewhere "significant" to commune with my father. i could be in a cemetery or on the subway, its the same thing. in the days leading up to my journey to where he had been stationed i thought about how my father left Vietnam alive when so many did not. how war killed my father 25 years after the fact because he was exposed to agent orange. i thought about how history loves to repeat itself.

more numbers...

4 weeks volunteering at a shelter for girls who had been trafficked into the sex trade industry.
0- # of other volunteers at the shelter. also the # of people at the shelter other than myself who spoke english.
17 - maximum # of kids i helped into down dog. i became the official english/yoga/photograpahy teacher for the kids in the village.
1 incident of physical abuse involving the woman who ran the shelter, 1 of the kids and a bamboo rod.
2 very trying weeks that followed during which i dropped my ideas of grandeur and realized i can not save the world.
3 sides to the story. my own, that of the woman running the shelter and the very gray area of truth that comes from operating an organization with little support.
10,0000 - rough estimate of how many hugs i exchanged with the kids at the shelter.
6 of the most amazing, respectful & loving children i've ever met. one day they were singing happily out the window of the truck and it made me realize they would be fine, better than fine. they are and will continue to be amazing.

2 expats who i went cave exploring with in laos. they told me some great stories about Osho and made me aware of a life less ordinary.

3 different new years. on dec. 31st i flew to london to help Kelly who had just had her appendix out. my plane kept crossing time zones and i experienced going back in "time" and had 3 different new years. it makes my head hurt to think about it. thankfully Kelly was fine and we got to have some serious sister bonding.

5 dollars for the hash purchased from the owner of the cow that grazed on our lawn in india.

2 of the deepest and most profound, self-exploratory trip outs of my life.

6,345 pictures taken
1,132 deleted
379 posted for your viewing pleasure

single best thing i have ever done in my life. the sacrifices i made (and am still making) in order to take the adventure are a constant reminder of how worth it it was and still is.

enjoy the pix!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?UV=146660943207_212482891210&mode=fromsite&collid=840456391210.694956391210.1219184526779&conn_speed=1

k

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Comments

[mark]

Thanks!!
from all of us who remained stateside, thanks for writing and sharing!!! well done! much love, m