High altitude
October 18, 2009
Just a quick one to get you up to date
I made it to Nepal. There was one other girl at the airport (different plane to me), a 22 year old from Australia. There is at least one more girl arriving later tonight with maybe one other person. The guy who picked us up is the airport representative and hotel & transport liaison for GVI. He is not the person running the project and didnt really give us many details. Maz (shes of Filipino origin and thats the short and easy version of her name) and I went out for a short walk but are now just resting in our rooms in the two hours we have before our guide shows up to have dinner with us. We are in a hotel in the tourist heart of the town for the night and, apparently, we get our proper meeting in the morning.
Maybe thats when we find out what is going on and what we’re going to be doing.
Oh well, theres a TV, free wifi and I have my own bathroom. Maybe I should just make the most of it while I have it.
As for Laos, leaving was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.
It was an amazing experience. To be able to interact with young novice Buddhist monks and know that you are actually making a positive impact on them seems almost a little surreal at first but then becomes so common place that it takes a moment when one graps you on the arm and says “You are a very good teacher” to bring home exactly what you are doing.
But that is only a small part of it. The people that I met are what really made the Laos project something that will have a special place in my heart forever. The locals are friendly, accomodating and always helpful. The other volunteers were special people who quickly became family and Tricia, the project coordinator, is an inspiration who may not be aware of the impact she had on me because I was simply unable to force words past the giant lump in my throat when i was leaving.
I don’t know what else this trip has in store for me but even if it’s nothing then Laos will be more than enough to make me say it was all worthwhile.