September 28, 2012
Having just finished putting together the compendium of
random reflections and thoughts from this past year in Somaliland, which I did
partly for me, and partly because Sam wouldn't get off my back about it, I’m
now sitting in a hotel room near the Cairo Airport, about to embark upon my
next great journey. Before I can adequately prepare for that, which I would
like to do so as to enter with as clear a mind as possible, I need to put aside
these past few weeks (or months really) of travel and personal interaction,
storing it in a safe place for the gem that it was, and then making room in the
NOW of me for the serious task that lies ahead.
My story after leaving Somaliland has been one of
superlatives in a sense, with by far the most countries I’ve visited in a short
amount of time, most food I’ve eaten (ever?), most people I’ve visited who
weren’t a short drive away, most distance traveled, etc. The facts of the
matter, in as plain a narrative as I can muster, were that a mere day after arriving
back in Somaliland from my interview for OAF in Kenya, I was on the road again,
crossing the Wachale border into Ethiopia, this time with no immediate plan of
coming back. From one last Hip Hip Harar! With Erimayas, to some delicious
dinners and a nice afternoon on the Taitu terrace from Ellen, Nicholas, and
Stephen, to the final, tastiest, chicken burger of our lives, John and I
savored Ethiopia as only true connoisseurs could. Even as we flew out of the
Addis airport, we didn’t shed too many tears, for we knew we would be back.
The next stop was Egypt, where we had made plans to stay
with Thibault in the same apartment Dylan and I had crashed at the previous
break. There, owing to the presence of Ramadan and the extreme heat, we didn’t
do a ton, but rather walked around a bit, ate some delicious meals, saw the
Pyramids (again) and got inexplicably lost rather too many times. After a few
days we were ready to journey further for me, to unexplored territory, so we
bused down to Dahab, the golden camp on the edge of the red sea. There we
became acquainted with a local guru of sorts, a young man named Roddy whose
American passport and Egyptian-Samoan background didn’t keep him from declaring
Dahab his favorite place on earth. Roddy and a few more of his crew made Dahab
a splashing success, with highlights of tipsy truck riding, Y’ella bar DJing,
Kofta cookouts, discount beers in the surf at sunset, and
early morning skinny dips after scoping the limited club scene. By the time we
had to leave, we didn’t want to, and it was with a certain trepidation that we
made our way to Nuweiba for the ferry across the Red Sea to Aqaba in Jordan.
A fairly pleasant
ferry ride (all things considered) gave way to a noxious late night bus ride up
to Amman, until we finally arrived at Sam’s apartment in Jebel Webdeih sometime
in the wee hours of the morn. The next 5 days were mainly characterized by
sloth and recovery from the previous shenanigans, and Ramadan managed to caste
a thick blanket of nothing to do over the city and over us especially. We
managed, at last, to rally in our final hour and made a trip down to the Dead
Sea for a brutal hike into Wadi Menshallah followed by a stony night of
sleeplessness and a morning dip in the putrid waters of the Dead Sea. More than
worth it. The next day it was onward and out with John and I flying on to
Qatar, where we planned to meet up with former AT teacher Teresa.
Despite the refusal of Qatar airways to sponsor us a visa
and the absurdity of paying $40 for 1 night in the city, we decided getting to
hang out with Teresa was worth it, which proved to be correct intuition, as
between her crazy driving of her open top jeep through the humid streets, the
sights of so many buildings, born in their flashy, twisted shapes, almost
yesterday, and the fact that she bought us dinner and gave us a nice place to
sleep in her living room, more than compensated for Qatar’s antiquated
immigration policies.
The next day saw us on a morning flight bound for Sri Lanka,
which John and I were both looking forward to in no small amount, in part as it
symbolized our break with the Middle East and the introduction to a new culture
entirely. Our introduction was less than stellar however, with the almost 2
hour crawl through traffic to our hostel exposing us to enough smog to send a
mission to mars. Things immediately improved once we arrived at our beautiful
little hostel and realized it was 100 meters from the sandy beach, where we
proceeded directly to mix as many local liquors with the popular ginger beer as
possible. The next few days were a mix of beach fun and serious consumption of
the local Arak (not at all the same as the aniseed liquor of the some name
found in Syria). A short trip up to Kandy turned up beautiful countryside in the
hills, but no discernible nightlife, making me yearn a bit for Ethiopia and its
constant buzz of activity. I returned on my own for one last night on the beach
in Colombo before flying out the next day for Malaysia.
Arriving in Kuala Lumpur I was ambushed by Mark who had set
up a video chat with Sam and snuck into the baggage claim area. Shutting his
shenanigans down STAT, we made our way to visit Kyle and Ayu at Ayu’s sister’s
place, where a delicious meal and baby Dash were awaiting. Taking their leave
the next day, we traveled on to Melaka, where the Jonker Walk night market
overwhelmed me completely and lead to serious overconsumption of strange
Chinese snacks and sweets. The next morning we set out for Tioman Island, a
fantastic paradise, reachable by annoying and stressful ferry, but worth it for
as many days of blissful near-solitude you can spare. There I discovered the
joys of snorkeling amongst coral reefs, while dodging sea urchins
(successfully) and jellyfish (less than successfully). Tioman offered some of
the rawest tropical beauty of my trip so far and stands out as a singularly
peaceful place amongst the pandemonium of earlier and later destinations. On
from Tioman we made our way to Mark’s town in Southern Malaysia, where we drank
more bubble tea, ate more delicious Chinese food, and, when I found out I got a
job offer form One Acre fund, drank lots of overpriced beer in a completely
empty Indian dance club. Well, I did at least, Mark kindly watched me celebrate
and then, when the time was right, participated in a spirited rendition of our
fusion dance from the senior year SAS show we performed in.
The next morning it was on the road again, with a short but
tiring border crossing into Singapore, leading to lunch with Trixie at the
Google office there. Post-lunch Mark and I finagled our way into an Andy Warhol
exhibition at the Art Museum, and part of a Harry Potter exhibit before we were
kicked out. By that time it was time to head for the airport, and we boarded
our Airphil express for the short journey to Manila.
Arriving in Manila by night, we, and by that I mean I,
immediately ate some pork, and then we cabbed into Magallenas village, the home
of the Angela Poe. The next morning I met Angela’s darling mother, who would be
the most consistently awesome host I’d ever had (along with Angela’s Dad and
Brother) over the next 4 days, making us feel more at home than our actual
homes (almost), and treating us to a rare view of Manila through the
perspective of some of its most successful inhabitants, who nonetheless were
committed to working for the betterment of their country, down to its most
destitute inhabitants (that would be including us :)) Highlights include the
awesome volcano on an island with an island, the volcano called Lake Taal at
Tagaytay, the ridiculously crowded Manila train service, and the rooftop bar
Sky with its strict shoe policy and wonderful view of the city’s most modern
buildings. Oh, and the food tour through Chinatown, that was incredible. It was
with a heavy heart that I made my way to Clark Airport outside Manila, and an
even heavier heart that I learned I would have to spend the night on the
benches outside the airport, even though there was no other option for me I
could think of.
So it was yet again off a sleepless night that I boarded my
flight for Hong Kong early the next morning, but with a few winks en route and
the excitement of being amongst so many incredible buildings, I rallied with
the energy to test out Hong Kong’s lack of open container laws and eat the most
incredible dim sum of my life, before passing out in Jared’s apartment for the
rest of the day. The next few days saw me win quizzo for the first time! (not
really my doing), bike all over Cheng Chao with Matt, and dance on top of a bar
at Carnegie’s, before rising much too early for my long haul flight through
Japan (spent 3 hours on trains, saw some of the countryside from these trains)
to my final destination of San Francisco.
Emerging from the BART at Civic Center in San Fran, the 1st
thing I noticed was the cool rush of air, the 2nd the smell of
gange. Successfully navigating the bus system (after some false starts) brought
me to Catherine and Yuqing’s apartment, where over the next 4 days or so I
would meet a great number of Penn people I hadn't known before, listen in on
some fascinating conversations on start-ups in tech and growth strategies, and
walk, a lot, up and down some serious hills. Add a quick lunch with Aditi, a
sojourn into the Sonoma valley for a wine tasting of sorts, and it was a nice
time spent in one of America’s most interesting cities.
But then it was time to return home, and so I arrived in
Greensboro (cheaper than Raleigh!) to be met by 2 parents, and a serious
helping of BBQ, coleslaw and hush puppies. Arriving home was comforting, though
lessened somewhat by the lack of Sonny Boy, who had passed away a few weeks
previous. My plan of sitting at home and reading all day quickly gave way to a
slew of doctor and dentist appointments my mom has so generously arranged for
me, and between various errands, seeing family and friends, it was all I could do to get everything essential taken care of before
I departed, yet again, 2 weeks later, for NYC and the last leg of my
“Hello-Goodbye Tour”.
Spending a night at Arvind’s place on the upper west side,
the next day I bused to Boston, where I met up with "the gang", Mike Chen, Maria, Brittney,
and Gillian (over the next 4 days), running into several other Penn kids randomly and getting an interesting view of Boston via the North
End, Brighton, and Cambridge.
Upon returning to NYC, I was ushered to Brooklyn with Lily
where I observed her cozy apartment, shared with Grace the Dula. Taking leave
on the early train the next day, I bummed around Bryant Park until I was to
meet up with Seghen and Therlow for drinks. Randomly encountering Mary at the
same intersection, the 4 of us enjoyed some tasty beers and finally I rushed
back to the upper west to catch Arvind before he fell asleep. The next day
found me at Bryant Park yet again, where after a dear lunch with Arvind, I
caught up with Michelle before being forced into the subway on my way to JFK,
which would land me, some 10 hours later, at this hotel in Cairo, where
EgyptAir is putting me up for the day while I wait for my onward journey to
Nairobi in a few hours.
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