It's coming to an end

It's coming to an end. Some are counting down the days. Others refuse to hear anything of it. We all know that there is still much to do and see, a country that for the most part remains unexplored. But all are short on cash and energy. Some can still manage to muster up the stamina for a trek around town or a drink at such-and-such a bar. But most have realized that movies and drawn-out chats are the best way to help pass the time.

DeAne instructed us to come up with a list of smells, tastes, textures, and sounds that we have experienced these past five months. She wanted to help us remember all of our experiences in a more tangible way besides our picture, but also and perhaps more importantly, to help us begin to realize the enormous task ahead of us: sharing our stories with friends and families and giving them a chance to try and understand what we have done. Here's what we came up with...

smells:

-the pungent, sandalwood incenses. they all seemed to smell the same no matter where we were, India, Hong Kong, Thailand, or Egypt.
- the sheeja in the streets of Cairo and how you never really noticed the smoke, just the sweet fragrance
- the rancid smell of the infiltration tunnel at the DMZ in South Korea
- purrell hand sanitizer. the crisp, clean, germ-killing machine
- the collection of cooking scents that wafted through the halls in our apartments in HK
- and the complete opposite, the sewage and dirty streets

tastes:

- kosheri. beans, noodles, and rice with a little bit of bite, depending on your amount of "spice"
- Indian tea
- baguette and cheese in front of the convenient stores in Geneva
- the spicy, tangy, shrimp and coconut soup from our Thai cooking class

textures:

- biking along the gravel, muddy, and 100% uneven road in Whitefield, India
- feeling the hot sand dunes on your toes in Egypt
- the gusty, whipping wind on top of the cliff at the Temple of Poseidon in Greece
- eating rice with our hands for the first time in India
- stepping through the opaque water at the Hindu temple in India
- the thick, stifling heat in the crowded room at the Hindu temple when we received our Bhindis
- laying beneath the milky way at 4:00 in the morning during desert camping, feeling completely free and entirely exposed.

sounds:
- the loud and static-y call to prayer in Luxor

- the cat calls in Egypt, as well as the frequent "Yankee Doodle!" and "Howdy!"
- all of the languages and distinguishing between the various dialects
- the whirring ECC fans, sometimes they kept us awake and sometimes put us to sleep
- the piercing horns at the welcome ceremony at the ECC
- "But No...He was a great man" - our Egyptian guide
- the array of horns in Cairo: buses, bikes, cars...
- waking up to the commotion in the streets in Mumbai, the cricket players, the roosters, the taxis, the people
- the Feralese jingle at the Ma On Shan station in Hong Kong.

DeAne also mentioned we could make a list of our emotions. But that still seems too daunting.
Perhaps it will be a task for Hawaii.

Other questions and ideas she suggested we consider before reaching home.

-After seeing all the things I have, I'm convince the world would be better place if.....(And how am I going to work on achieving that it the next 5 months? in the next 5 years?)

- What did I learn about myself?

- What do I admire, envy about the places we've been or things we've seen?

- What am I apprehensive about?

- What will people at home expect from me

- What am I looking forward to?

- What are reasons I may feel marginalized? And how do I deal with "How was Global?"