Work worth doing

Before we left, I was anxious to say the least. Some might even say restless, twitchy, or spastic. Part was due to boredom and the desire to help, knowing my help was needed. That anxious boredom has been resolved.

I had been in the orphange no more tham 15 seconds when I had a toddler in each arm and onther one clinging to each leg. The kids had been starved for attention, neglected and kept indoors all day, not held, touched or played with. No medical attention until they werea bout to die and shipped to the hospital. Then came help. now 3 weeks later, it is still rough, but the improvemnt is amazing; I don't know, is a thousand times better to generous? I am not exagerating.

It is hard sometimes to go around town and see the destruction. The walld of the old dutch fort saved part of the town, but elsewhere the wave swept inland some ways, destroying homes and buisnesses. People and livelyhoods. And it is the scale that is mind boggling. All over the island. And from the few repots that trickel in fromo the east coast, nothing is reaching that part of the country. It is Tamil country. Tiger country. The civil war "ended" in 2001, but shots are still fired on occasion and the government is slow to help the vicitms of that area. And by slow I mean they are lettinig them sit in the rubble of their houses and villages and starve. And by association, the NGOs must do the same. Some are trying to make inroads, to help, but it is difficult when the police may arrest you for helping and the rebels may shoot you.

Not that there is any shortage of work to be done here. An army of volunteers could be busy in this area for a year and not be done. And that is only about 40 kilometers of coast I am talking about. There are hundreds of miles of affected area.

Small steps. I did not come here to save the world at one go round. It may take more time. It will take more time.

Meat on a stick

Street food. The essence of foreign travel. Meat that comes on a stick. Noodles and rice that come rapped in newspaper. Things that you not only don't know the name of, but can't identify in any languge and can only be ordered by pointing and smiling. I love it here in Thailand; I am definatly coming back, 30 hours is not nearly enough. And 10 hours in Taiwan was hardly enough to even claim visiting it, despite the requisite meat-on-stick sampler.

Tonight we are of to Sri Lanka and the devastated area tommorrow. I am a bit apprehensive, up to now it has been like a vacation but soon we will be reminded of the original purpose of this expedition.

Disreputable Character Leaves Town

If any of the neighbors had been awake at two oclock this morning, this is what they would have seen: a shadowy figure in a hood smoking a cigar, first pacing and then gradually wandering the neighborhood, puffing furiously on that cuban and meandering around the glacier than sits at the end of the cul-de-sac from where the snow plow heaped up the products of last week's storm upon those of storms prior. The shadowy figure would have pee'ed on the glacierito and stumbled into the backyard of a house to harass the geese residing therein.

Good thing he's leaving town, having characters roaming the streets at night like that could drive property values down. And think of the children.

Next time I post, it will be from somewhere other than here.

T minus 36 hours and counting

This is proving to be more difficult than I anticipated. Leaving I mean. Not that I haven't left before; sometimes it seems I do more leaving than staying. But this time there is something differant. I don't know when I'll be back. That I will be back is a sure thing, I still own a house here, but whether it will be anytime soon, no one knows, and despite my optomistic front when I explain myself to friends here, it may be a very long time.

It is the more difficult because more so than at any other time in my life, I have (or had) something of a structure, support network, friends, plans, work, and history in one place. Not that I regret my decision to go at all, I would leave this instant were it up to me and I am excited for what the future holds. But these last days have seemed the more precious, and wonderful, as though things were coming together like at no other time prior. I am sure alot of this feeling is more my perception framed by the fact that I am savoring these remaining hours. Is this week really that much differant than two weeks ago? Not likley. But I am.

Do. Or do not. There is no try. - Yoda

We are going, with the following itinerary: Friday, leave Flagstaff bound for Phoenix. Saturday, leave Phoenix for Los Angeles and then Taiwan. Depart Taiwan for Bangkok, arriving monday. Lay over a day and a half in Bangkok before flying on to Colombo, Sri Lanka and our destiny. Oops, sorry I didn't mean to frighten anyone with the destiny comment, sometimes I get on a roll and don't know when to quit...

The party was a large sucess. Many small animals succumbed to thier fate that night, and copious amounts of home made moonshine were consumed. Many good friends came over, and a few I didn't expect suprised me. Between my roomates and I, we made hassenfefer stewed rabbit, grilled Bahamian jerk rabbit, baked rabbit in white wine sauce, roast goose with apple stuffing, chinese spring rolls, Greek fritters with honey sauce, and cranberry cocktails. And of course the home made beer, moonshine, and apple brandy. For another's account, check out Gurg's take on the whole shebang.

And visit the trip journal website, new and improved and looking for support.