Las Reglas, القواعد, กฎ, The Rules.
You're posts have been lovely! Lots of people here including the tripees have been asking about how you're doing and it's been great to have lots to tell them. On that note I think it might just be about time we take this gig on the road and put the link up on the fbo; or at least email it to some of the most interested friendsies, especially since my departure date is only 4 days away and I won't be here to update them on the status of your bowel movements. Also, I'm thinking now is the time to solidify "The Rules." Although I'm just as anti-conformism as the next Liberal Arts-going no-show-wearing hippie weirdo, I have to admit, a little structure does me good sometimes. So it is in that vain that I've crafted my thoughts on a starting point for "The Rules." Give em a look over and let me know if you have any blaring oppositions or something to add. We'll make some changes and then settle on the final official document and start rackin' up some points and, you know, eventually get discovered and paid to travel the world and write about it by/for the masses.
1. You must post once a week, if not more, barring natural disaster or political uprising (for which the offending party must not be responsible... if you start a revolution you better damn well post about it)
a. Failure to do so without a well documented and valid excuse will result in a punishment of the non offending parties choosing to be completed and reflected upon in a post the following week.
2. You must make every effort to photo document all experiences with the level of effort directly correspondent to the absurdity of sed experience as to provide sufficient evidence and future lols. for example: riding the bus, snap a pic. Being chased by camel/elephant riding bandits: go pro that shit! (and don't forget to kindly ask the pursuers if the red light is on)
a. as such, each post should from now on be accompanied by at least on related picture. if not more. and girl i know you're instagramming a storm over there.
3. In the spirit of the universal relativity of all of existence and non-existence I propose a perfectly arbitrary point system to be enacted as such: end at least one post a week with a concise list of first. First time I stole a little Thai girls oreos, first time I high-fived an elephant, first time I pooped in a non western toilet… Firsts, cool shit, sweet pics, attractive people… whatever seems worthy of being mentioned. Then the other person will assign points to these tivites as they see fit. We can get a little more regulated as time goes on but I’m more for anarchy these days anyway and I know your into that libertarian thing so I think this seems perfectly appropriate.
4. And, most importantly, learn a lot. Grow as a human (which I can already tell you are. There's an old saying that goes, you can't know yourself until you have cried in a Thai bowling alley bathroom and navigated your way through diabetes abroad... or something like that. But really, I'm proud of you.) Tread lightly and be grateful for everyone you encounter that lets you into their life even a little bit. Show kindness and gratitude by respecting culture and engaging in new experiences. Feel awkward, cook new food, stumble through a foreign language, dance like a local, pick up some crazy clothes, be willing and eager and goofy and fun and represent yourself, the west, and humanity beautifully. And above all remember that a smile is universal; don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself and just go for it.
Let me know what you think! I think rules that
1) increase motivation to do crazy (non life threatening) shit
2) increase motivation to write about the aforementioned crazy shit and
3) increase interaction between the two of us
are what we should be going for. I'm thinking we hammer this out and make them official and, if you're not opposed, spread the link to this page starting next Monday? Because, uh, shits about to get real. I miss you! Jazzed that we'll be a solid 2,000 miles* closer to your face in a few days. But in the mean time, as you're probably just about to wake up in Thailand and teach some babies english, I'm off to go study Arabic, email Turkish farmers and go to my last DG meeting as a sophomore. Pretty cool.
*In case anyone wants to geek out with me on geography for a second: okay so! that was more complicated than I thought. Turns out you in thailand are approximately, according to http://www.distancefromto.net/, a 8314.19 mile bird flight away from CSpring. This is going west, so flying over California. Rabat, Morocco, on the other hand is about 5,000 miles from the Spring, going East over NY. So, even though I'm traveling 5,000 miles that doesn't make us 5000 miles closer. because, turns out the world is round, and once you're in Morocco the shortest way to Thailand is East. So! that means that I'm about 2,000 miles past the point where the distance East from CO would be equal to the distance West, which is somewhere around NY.
Obviously, this excited me. So, I went to this website, http://www.zefrank.com/sandwich/tool.html and found out that if you were to neglect the kiddos to dig a hole through the planet you would end up just off the coast of Lima Peru. Which! Da Duh Da Duh! Is at almost the exact same longitude as Buffalo. Ahhh! the Earth is cool. I mean, not that I'm really that into boarders as a concept but it sure does make googlin' a lot easier and quite potentially possible as a whole.
