South East Asia Missionary Life
Some of the trivial and strange things that have come to be normal life over the past few months.
That moment when:
- you can't remember the last meal you had without rice
- toilet paper is no longer a necessity
- traffic back home will never seem bad again
- you discover that it is possible to live without wifi
- you run out of water
- you've had more bucket showers than real showers in the past month
- electricity just decides to go out sometimes
- you prefer to go to the market than an actual store
- you can't remember the last time you sat in the front seat of a car
- it's been an even longer time since you actually drove a car
- two outfits are all you need to get through three weeks
- you only shower once a week (it's cold in Darjeeling!)
- or you want to shower once an hour (it's HOT everywhere else!)
- you can't go a day without a tea break (Morning tea - the best time of day!)
- cars zooming past you no longer make your life flash before your eyes
- you get really good at charades
- you master the squatty potty
- you can't quite remember what your face looks like because you haven't seen a mirror in a while
- you flush the toilet by dumping a bucket of water into the bowl
- paying more than $2 for a meal is painfully expensive
- you start to get in pretty good shape just because you walk so many places
Today (or yesterday I guess...it's 1am now) was my last day in Thailand, and I was feeling terribly nostalgic. I saw my last dehydrated frog flattened on the road. I took the BTS and the bus for the last time. I drank my last iced coffee from my favorite iced coffee guy and ate my last Pad Thai during my last time on Soi Ha Baht. I took my final trip to Central Mall.
I've been saying goodbye to all the things that have become normal life for me over the past five months. All those things that no longer feel new or foreign, but are merely a part of everyday life.
These past few days have been spent saying goodbye to the people who have become normal life to me, as well. Literally 24/7, learning, working, playing, eating, sleeping and breathing with these people for the past five months. And just like that, we leave for home, thousands of kilometers apart from the people that we haven't been able to get half a centimeter away from. We've driven each other absolutely crazy and become the best of friends.
I'm going home to "normal life" in a few hours...but really it's not going to be normal life at all. It's going to be freaky strange. It's all feeling really bittersweet right now, saying goodbye to the past five months of my life, and hello to...well at the least the next vaguely half-planned year of my life. It's sad to leave this wild adventure that I've been on, but exciting to see the adventures ahead. I'll be back in Canada very soon now, and the next phase of my life will begin. And I'll be able to make a whole new list of strange and normal things.
Some of the trivial and strange things that have come to be normal life over the past few months.
That moment when:
- you can't remember the last meal you had without rice
- toilet paper is no longer a necessity
- traffic back home will never seem bad again
- you discover that it is possible to live without wifi
- you run out of water
- you've had more bucket showers than real showers in the past month
- electricity just decides to go out sometimes
- you prefer to go to the market than an actual store
- you can't remember the last time you sat in the front seat of a car
- it's been an even longer time since you actually drove a car
- two outfits are all you need to get through three weeks
- you only shower once a week (it's cold in Darjeeling!)
- or you want to shower once an hour (it's HOT everywhere else!)
- you can't go a day without a tea break (Morning tea - the best time of day!)
- cars zooming past you no longer make your life flash before your eyes
- you get really good at charades
- you master the squatty potty
- you can't quite remember what your face looks like because you haven't seen a mirror in a while
- you flush the toilet by dumping a bucket of water into the bowl
- paying more than $2 for a meal is painfully expensive
- you start to get in pretty good shape just because you walk so many places
Today (or yesterday I guess...it's 1am now) was my last day in Thailand, and I was feeling terribly nostalgic. I saw my last dehydrated frog flattened on the road. I took the BTS and the bus for the last time. I drank my last iced coffee from my favorite iced coffee guy and ate my last Pad Thai during my last time on Soi Ha Baht. I took my final trip to Central Mall.
I've been saying goodbye to all the things that have become normal life for me over the past five months. All those things that no longer feel new or foreign, but are merely a part of everyday life.
These past few days have been spent saying goodbye to the people who have become normal life to me, as well. Literally 24/7, learning, working, playing, eating, sleeping and breathing with these people for the past five months. And just like that, we leave for home, thousands of kilometers apart from the people that we haven't been able to get half a centimeter away from. We've driven each other absolutely crazy and become the best of friends.
I'm going home to "normal life" in a few hours...but really it's not going to be normal life at all. It's going to be freaky strange. It's all feeling really bittersweet right now, saying goodbye to the past five months of my life, and hello to...well at the least the next vaguely half-planned year of my life. It's sad to leave this wild adventure that I've been on, but exciting to see the adventures ahead. I'll be back in Canada very soon now, and the next phase of my life will begin. And I'll be able to make a whole new list of strange and normal things.
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