I made it to Van airport ok and checked in with plenty of time. A theme of the trip emerged early standing in line for security checks realizing that I was the only white person in the room. My first reaction: relief. It was strange but it somehow felt very comforting to be away from throngs of white people and to feel like the odd fellow out. Sitting at the terminal I relished not being able to understand the conversations around me and any anxiety that I might have imagined feeling about travel were nowhere to be found.
Hong Kong. The first time I think I got really excited about this trip (in a childlike excited way) was flying into HK, looking out the window at the city, and talking with the young girl next to me about where to get BBQ in the city when I came back. The airport was quick and easy to find my transfer gate and settle in for a quick email to my nephew et al. I had a lovely breakfast of coconut pudding with red bean. I met a gentleman in line for boarding the connection to Vietnam - he was from NYC and wearing kick ass shoes (for which I complimented him). We chatted long enough for me to find out he works in finance and for him to find out that I'm in international health/development/social work/education and for him to comment that it sounds interesting but "there's no money in it" and for me to loose all interest in talking to him at all :) I said: "maybe you haven't noticed how much money goes into international development... and education, getting grants to think and share thought - that's kind of a sweet deal... besides, I am getting paid to be here" :) And then I signed a contract with Chase bank... I am their new head of Social Work :) I make friends easily... but some of them don't make the cut. D. Trump: "You're fired!"
Vietnam: well, what's there to say about 10 hour layovers... I read half of a book about the genocide and political history of Cambodia since the 1970's. It's SO fucked up. Like the part where the mass murdering Pol Pot was finally run out of the country only to have the UN resolve to continue recognizing him as the leader of the country despite knowing what he had done with the Khmer Rouge because it was politically convenient in building a relationship with China... anyway. The airport was quiet, I had a 2 hour delay, I got to rest and eat bad food and test out my self-filtering water bottle (genius!)
Phnom Penh: Tracy picked me up at the airport. I apologized for her having to wait and she assured me that it was ok because it gave her time to befriend a street cat to whom she fed hot dogs from a local vendor who was confused by her doing so. She's a hoot. We pretty much went straight to my guesthouse, woke up Shelby, I unpacked, went to bed. Finally...
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