Reffaless

I miss Reffa SOOOO much. Man seriously, we went like 14 months of not being apart EVER hahahaha. Loving my holiday with Richard though, it's been a blast so far.

He arrived on November 4th, as expected and X, Ref and I were there to greet him at the airport. It was so exciting and so strange to see a best friend wander out after SO long of not seeing him! :) really great. Together the four of us had a nice time exploring bangkok a bit more, markets, food, cheap hostels, Koh Sanh rd. etc. Lots of great stuff.

Now it's me and Richard. We have spent MOST of our Thailand holiday trying to recover Richard's lost property... HAHAHAHA doohhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! on our way to Patong we think his pouch was stolen from his bag. It had inside his: passport, credit cards, 500$ american... basically his identity. woops! So we had to go to all the embassies, get a new passport, order a card from canada to our hotel, get a new chinese visa, all in time for our flight this tuesday. YIKES it's been a bit stressful, but mostly we're trying to laugh it off and get it done so that we can get on with our trip.

We spent the past few days , very eventful days, in Chiang Mai, the north of Thailand. We've done some pretty amazing stuff so far! yesterday we went bareback elephant riding (woo!!), posing in pictures with tigers, a muay Thai boxing match, and a cabaret show. Today we went cable line zipping through the forest......... it was like flying!!! Amazing!! soon I will try to put pictures of these things on facebook. (and videos!)

Tonight we're taking a 10 hr bus back to Bangkok to pick up the Chinese Visa, and Tuesday morning we fly to Hong Kong.

That's where I'll touch base with you next I suspect! :)

xoxoxoxoxox

Next Chapter

We've had a lot of different experiences over the past 14 months. It's been a really amazing year filled with rich cultural experiences, crazy evenings with random events, beautiful as well as insane scenery, unbelievable traditions, educational lessons, and an extended understanding of internationalism and language. We've met hundreds of people, from our co workers, to our neighbors, to our little students, to our employers, to prestegious leaders, to religious symbols, to fellow backpackers. We've seen lots of south east Asian countries including Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia and of course, Thailand. We grew closer, and we grew up. We got smarter and we got sillier. We managed to find "home" not only in NS with our families, but also within our hearts and each other in any location. We found comfort in strangeness. We smiled until our cheeks hurt. In a simple sentence, we fell in love with the world and the people in it, if we hadn't already been in love.

I will be going to China soon with my BFF Rishard, and Reffa will be making her way home here shortly. I will be there soon too. This chapter is coming to a close, as the two of us make our way home, the real Nova Scotian home, for a rest. To be with our families, to tell as many stories as the ears will listen to. To hug and kiss and give things that we've collected for you all. To meet the newest members of our family. To try on the perfect bridesmaid dress. To see the new homes of my best friends. To regenerate and decide what in the world will come next. To spend Christmas in the only place my heart wants to go for Christmas.

I'll let you know how China goes, and I'll see you soon.

xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
ps. My prayers are with you Killens and Tuppers, and she will be in our hearts forever. <3