The last leg of my trip in South East Asia consisted of a month in the country of my birth- my stomping grounds. After hitting Medan, Jakarta and Bandung, Andrew and I headed to central java to visit the largest Buddhist temple in the world: Borobudur. It was (like any other day in Indonesia) bloody hot and muggy, the temperatures raising above tolerable levels, coupled with blinding mid-day sun. The temple though, as always, left me with a sense of wonderment, or peace and responsibility. I often wonder what I will do with my life, what challenges I will face, what lives I will touch. There must have been thousands slaving away to build this temple, I wonder what their thoughts, their dreams and aspirations were.
These are the stupas, almost at the top of the temple. You start at the bottom, rotating around and around the temple, reading about the life of the Buddha, carved on the temple walls.
Andrew had said that Borobudur was one of his most favorite places we visited in our trip - and I can see why. The lighting was amazing when we went, and shadows fell ever so gently amoungst the seated or reclined Buddhas.
Just a bunch of american posers on the most densly populated island on the planet. (Java people, where do you think your coffee came from?)
Every year, I try to pick a photo that best descibes me: What I'm feeling, the direction I'm taking, and I think this one was it. I have spent a life time getting myself to a certain emotional space. I had accomplished what others have thought was impossible. I left for college in 2001 with $20 dollars in my pocket, and a heart full of hopes. And here I was, back home, graduated from a top-rated international program with the brightest future ahead of me. I try to remember these moments, I believe they are what life was meant for. For you to experiance, to cherish, to remember. I hate staying in one place too long, because it gives me enough time to get complacent. Too lazy to ask why, to ask why not, to push the boundaries and make the most of your life. I hope I still have the courage to learn and live, to make my 50th birth and think, what's next?
These are the stupas, almost at the top of the temple. You start at the bottom, rotating around and around the temple, reading about the life of the Buddha, carved on the temple walls.
Andrew had said that Borobudur was one of his most favorite places we visited in our trip - and I can see why. The lighting was amazing when we went, and shadows fell ever so gently amoungst the seated or reclined Buddhas.
Just a bunch of american posers on the most densly populated island on the planet. (Java people, where do you think your coffee came from?)
Every year, I try to pick a photo that best descibes me: What I'm feeling, the direction I'm taking, and I think this one was it. I have spent a life time getting myself to a certain emotional space. I had accomplished what others have thought was impossible. I left for college in 2001 with $20 dollars in my pocket, and a heart full of hopes. And here I was, back home, graduated from a top-rated international program with the brightest future ahead of me. I try to remember these moments, I believe they are what life was meant for. For you to experiance, to cherish, to remember. I hate staying in one place too long, because it gives me enough time to get complacent. Too lazy to ask why, to ask why not, to push the boundaries and make the most of your life. I hope I still have the courage to learn and live, to make my 50th birth and think, what's next?
