12 Days! The Countdown Has Officially Begun.
Very soon I'll be flying out from San Antonio for a month of adventure! With school on winter break this is the perfect time to get my blog up and running. Most of you who will be checking into my blog already know me pretty well, but my dear friends and family this blog is not just for you. This blog will be open to everyone! My students, my coworkers, curious strangers, and so on. So why in the world would I choose to share my private life with everyone much less my own students? That's the question I feel most of you will linger on and here is my response; I want everyone to learn. Yes I said it.
I've been struggling with my approach to this blog. The last blog I posted, in 2018, was about my very first experience with traveling to the Middle East to study Arabic. It was fun, informative, extremely blunt, but not exactly junior high friendly. This is who I am in my adult everyday life. Now there will be kids possibly even parents checking in. Sure most of my students won't read this blog and those who choose to will probably do it purely for ammo to make fun of me with at school. Yet, there are those rare few, I know who they are, who will read these because they are interested and curious. That is my target audience this time. I want everyone to see there is an AMAZING world outside their door to be discovered. New cultures to learn about and though we all seem quite different at the end of the days everyone in the world is remarkably the same.
Mostly, I want to encourage others and kids alike to step outside their comfort zone! While traveling alone is liberating and does wonders for my self confidence, it's not easy. I'm always a little scared when I leave home. Stuff always goes wrong and even though I'm a planner, I can't foresee everything. These usually result in the best and funniest stories from my trips.
First Things First.....Where Are You Going?
While last year I only traveled to India, this year I've added a few stops. My first stop, technically, will be the Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea. I could have popped for a more expensive flight to skip 8 hours of chilling in this airport on my way there AND back. Most people would have, but not me. I've never been to South Korea and I may never get back that way again so why not? I could leave the airport and explore for awhile, still I don't trust myself. When I travel stupid, random things ALWAYS happen to me. Trust me you'll see. Upon looking up this airport to familiarize myself I noted they have tons of cultural displays, music, dancing, etc. That could actually be a pretty cool thing to see. It also gives me the opportunity to try Korean food, which I have yet to try, or to eat American fast food. Hate to break anyone's heart, but fast food served in other countries tastes much better than ours
After my eight hour layover, I'll catch my flight to Kathmandu, Nepal. I'll only be here for 4 days. I'll go on some guided tours and with clear skies and luck be able to see Mt. Everest! If not then I'm sure I'll see many people on their way out to climb it. Typically the Dali Lama visits Nepal and I wish I could attend one of his spiritual blessings, however he will be touring Southern India during my visit. India is like Texas; it's huge, you can never seem to see all of it, and it's covered in cattle. They just don't eat it.
The major portion of my trip will be in India. I'll leave Nepal and fly into Delhi. Unlike last year where I was constantly hopping all over northern India, this year will be more...relaxed. Not as many tours and more me going native. I'll visit some cities I've been to before, such as Delhi and Jaipur, yet this time I'll go around with my friend from India. Indian cities offer so many places to visit that it's impossible to do them all. This time I want more of the local experience.
This time I'm hoping to ride an elephant, get henna, get a tattoo, and even get my nose pierced. Nose piercings are cultural here and often a sign of womanhood. Don't worry I'll take videos of everything so you can laugh or scream along with me. However, I do not anticipate fighting anyone with a banana, but anything is possible.
What's All This Talk About Learning?
On a serious note, growing up in a tiny Illinois town I wasn't really encouraged to see the world. Places I've been like Egypt, Europe, and India were nothing more than pictures in my history books. Before the internet it seemed only the elite rich or people in the military traveled. I certainly didn't know anyone who had visited Asia outside of wartime. I didn't have teachers encouraging me to get out there or even presenting future options on how to make my dreams come true. I want better for my own students. I want them to see with hard work there are several avenues to get them living their dreams besides joining the military. I don't want them to be afraid to strive for their dreams because they don't have enough money, they are the first one in their family, because they are a female, or maybe because they have to go on their own like I do. Years ago my mother-in-law told me something that has always stuck with me: "...if I waited till my husband had time to go places with me I'd never see anything." Well, at the time her husband, my father-in-law, was in his residency in Princeton, New Jersey. Therefore, she and her two kids spent lots of time exploring museums etc. on their own. Taking myself places is hard enough I cannot imagine taking two toddlers into New York City.
