Just like those intrepid settlers from my favorite childhood video game, Oregon Trail (I’m talking the green and white version, not the upgrade to color) we began our trip west in St. Louis. We were visiting our good friends Za and Josh from our Pun Pun Internship in Thailand. After only a few minutes at their house a huge weight was lifted of us. We felt like we could be ourselves again. We sat around in our Thai fisherman pants, talking about real stories from the road, not just “what’s the craziest thing you ate”, and it felt great. It was so natural compared to the time we had just spent interacting with my college friends. I made clear how much we had really changed.
Over the next few days we essentially relived our Thai experience. Yoga in the morning with my two favorite instructors, delicious home cooked veggie meals, and even earthen building! Josh and Za modeled an earthbag retaining wall 1.5 years ago in Thailand, and here we were building it. Crazy. Not to be outdone by the Thai weather, St. Louis obliged with 110 degree days of 100% humidity. All that was missing were the beaches and Chang beer.
We got a healthy dose of St. Louis living as well. We met good people, ate good food, and had a great time in the murder capital of America. In fact one of the coolest and craziest places we visited on the whole trip was here. The City Museum of St. Louis, a place where it seems Dr. Seuss’s brain exploded into an old warehouse. Where you can slide, crawl, and climb through a continuously changing interactive artistic experience. You really need to see it for yourself, but needless to say it was an unexpected gem to find here.
We reluctantly left St. Louis, just like scores of settlers before us. Unlike them, weren’t afraid of the unknown, but the known – that this might be the last time we felt like travelers for a long time. One glimmer of hope filled my mind as we drive away, the knowledge that when we see our friends again, we can sit around in our Thai pants, eat some spicy food, and we’ll be transported right back at the farm in Thailand once again. Thanks guys!
I LOVED the city museum in St. Louis – where else can adults participate in something like this?? And when I was there, maybe 2004, there was a bar on-site too!
Sounds amazing reconnecting. I’ve got to figure out the trick to get those road stories out of you, but I’m very happy to know I have some of Za and Josh’s lettuce growing in my yard, sown by Kim and me a while back. I’ll call my next salad from it the THAI PANTS SALAD.