Blessed

Today I feel particularly blessed, I woke up early and watched the sunrise, befriending a stray puppy and three little girls who were bathing/brushing their teeth in the Mekong River. I took photos of fishermen and locals. I walked to the beach and wrote in my journal and read poetry.

(From my journal) progress is a comfortable disease. -EE Cummings

“I watch this firsthand today. This place has stopped in time-it is frozen. Roosters wake you up in the morning and you sleep when the stars come out. People are up at the break of dawn. They are catching fish for the day, bathing in the river, taking the world slowly. I’m so blessed to watch their world wake up-slowly to the hum of broken motor boats. The old women seem older then they are. They are equally timeless. Their winkles show, but the sparkle in their eyes are not dim. I wonder what they have seen in this lifetime? I wonder where these boast go today? A local says good morning in broken English as he ties his boat to shore. I sit in the middle of the sand, the middle of silence, the middle of chaos….I suppose the distinction is up to one’s perspective. I sit in the middle of everything and nothing-but who needs perspective? I have all of the above.

 

After reading and writing, Tori and I ate a wonderful breakfast. Back at our private bungalow, I painted a picture of the sunset from the day before (I’m forever thankful I have my watercolors). Then, we decided since we were so sore from kayaking, we should get a massage. $7 later and wonderfully relaxed from our hour of back rubs (and other weird Thai back cracking and such), we pleasured ourselves in a hammock nap. Well-rested, we rented bikes and rode around the island. As we peddled down the bumpy rode, two little boys jumped out from behind some trees to our left, shouting “boo” and growling, trying to scare us. We pretended to be surprised, and stopped to say hi to them. Suddenly, the youngest one helped himself and climbed onto my bike, sitting on the seat, and peddling…with me still on it. It was hilarious and he was pretty determined to try out this foreigner’s bike. We laughed with the kiddos and biked back and forth with them, taking pictures of the mischievous-brother-duo.

Once back on our side of the Don Det island, the day was coming to an end, so we watched the sunset. Then, we went to the “Friends bar” which is basically a restaurant with the show friends playing, which is beyond awesome. Pineapple shakes, spring rolls, cashew chicken stir fry, and the ever-hilarious humor of Joey, Ross, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, and Chandler, we relaxed until our tummies were too full.
Finally, Tori and I utilized the few hours we had left of our bike rental. Off to a patch of deserted sand we had found that day, in the pitch dark we climbed down to the water. Making sure no one was around, we quietly and quickly threw off our clothes and jumped in the river.
First skinny dip: check.
I think we may just have to skinny dip in every country we visit from here on out.
I would say today might have been too perfect to be real, but then again, it always surprises me how great every day is…. and then the next day is somehow better than the one before….
No complaints from this side of the world, that’s for sure.