It’s hard to believe I will be leaving Seattle in five days. One-way ticket to Saigon, with no return date in sight. My days are filled with mundane activities like buying travellers insurance, taking care of my bills, cashing in the change jar ($66 can pay for three hotel nights or ten massages!), determining my malaria medication options, etc.
There have also been a lot of goodbyes. Blinking back the tears and knowing I will miss the birthdays of my friends’ children, poker nights, and walks around Seward Park. Thank god for skype (anne.xuan.clark) so I can see my little sister’s belly growing in the seventh month of pregnancy!
I am so excited about the road ahead. Next week, I’ll be in Saigon scouting out vendors for my friend’s cookbook on Vietnamese street food and meeting with scholarship students in the Mekong Delta. Good times abound, but this week is also tinged with the sadness of leaving my wonderful community in Seattle behind.
Darrell Hillaire, former tribal Chairman of the Lummi Nation, and me at my fourth and final goodbye party to raise funds for my volunteer opportunities in Vietnam, Ghana and the Phillipines
Sucking the Marrow from Life 