Imagine going around the world in four months! It is like being at a truly gourmet buffet for five hours--everything is beautiful, delectable, and delicious. You feel obligated to eat it all in five hours, and, even if you try hard, you cannot...
So I left Malaysia this morning, surprisingly comforted by the rumbling of the ship's engines and the roll of the sea. The pre-dawn featured an almost full waning moon and mountains lit up by a lively lightning storm. I was aware of leaving Malaysia without having visited one of the best elephant sanctuaries in the world, without having seen the fireflies (you can go on a firefly safari here), without having snorkeled, much less got my diving certificate, in some of the best waters in the world, without a beautiful batik sarong, without the men's sarong I wanted to buy for Jeff. Not only that, I awakened feeling unwell, no doubt the ongoing infection in my jaw, compounded by the duration of it and several days of antibiotics.... Heck of a way to spend one's Birthday; I am 20,000 days old today! This was the news of my morning email from Elizabeth, whose father has created a program to calculate such things. As for Malaysia, I plan to return with my sister, Corinne, who needs to see the fireflies and I think I need to see them, too.
The sunrise was glorious, great cumulus clouds, lit up golden pink and orange; an auspicious sailing into the Strait of Malacoa. We will stop at Singapore tonight for provisions, but without the opportunity to go ashore. On now to Vietnam, Thich Nhat Hanh's (from whom I received my Buddhist precepts in 1993) home, and I think of him and feel my love and appreciation for him as I turn towards his home.
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