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| bus ride to Halong Bay |
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| feet became the theme of this bus ride |
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| floating village in Halong Bay |
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| evening meeting on the roof deck of our boat |
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| our boat |
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| I bought 10 kilos of mangosteens for our boat ride (they lasted for only 2 meals). I have many new members of my club "Mangosteens are the best fruit in the world club." |
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| kayaking in Halong Bay |
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| delicious sea food on the boat |
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| "robe lunch" after swimming |
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| sunset |
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| sunrise on our last morning on Halong Bay |
May 21st: End of the trip meditation
on choosing to bless, and introduction to the most important lesson assignment
Look around you.
What a blessing – being here
What a blessing – having
friends to share this with
What a blessing – the air I
breath, the lungs to breath it, the mouth to talk, the mind to think – so many
blessings in my life.
Think how far you have come.
Try to remember that first
time you crossed a street in Saigon.
We were different people.
Travel can be hard.
Being in a group can be challenging.
Being together 24/7 can be
difficult.
It pushes each of us in
different ways.
It is such a blessing being
here with you.
And I want to acknowledge you
all.
Sometimes I forget how
stretched we are, and for that I want to apologize.
The first morning after
sleeping at our homestay, I woke up early and sat outside, and was thinking,
“There are only seven days left. This is coming to an end.” And then the wind
picked up. The wind does something special to me. It is as if it blows right
through me, and cleanses me. It was as if the wind spoke to me that morning,
and woke me up. The wind said to me, “Nothing ends, for something new starts.”
The wind reminded me that nothing ends, for it just creates new beginnings.
How will you use these last
few days?
What will you take with you?
What will you leave behind?
What grows out of wind and dust?
I want to share with you a
story from the Torah.
Moses
was wandering in the desert for 40 years.
He
came upon a Moabite tribe
Balak,
king of the Moabites, was afraid of this huge hoard that entered his lands. So
he hired Balaam, a professional curser, to go to the Israelites’ camp to curse
them.
Balaam
prayed to get a really good curse, but when he saw the Israelites, he could not
curse them. He said, “Ma tovu ohalekha Ya'akov, mishk'notekha
Yisra'el.”
(How
fair are your tents, o Jacob, your dwellings O Israel.)
Balaam chose to bless. He was
commanded to curse, confronted by a potential enemy, but he chose to bless.
At every moment, we each have
this same choice: to bless or to curse. Cursing separates. It divides. Blessing
connects. These are our last days here. It is natural to think about the end of
the trip, to think about hamburgers and frappochinos. Or, we can choose to be
present. We can choose to take in each moment, and appreciate the blessings
that are right in front of us. We can choose to connect to Vietnam and to each
other.
What are the blessings in
your life? It can be as simple as a morning breeze.
Think now on the blessing
that you are
What are the gifts you bring
to others?
What are the blessings you
have to offer?
There is something about
travel that is transformative:
New insights
New ways of looking at the
world
New ways of looking at
yourself
Some lessons we learn right
away.
Sometimes we have to return
before we become aware of what has changed
Sometimes it is just a small
seed planted, and we only become aware of it years later
The lessons we learn are our
blessings. What has been your most important lesson on this trip?
Students then had the next
few days in Halong Bay to reflect on their most important lesson. Below are
their lessons they learned, which they shared at the farewell dinner. What
amazing, insightful young adults!
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