bring on the vibes

safe? who said anything about safe? 'course he isn't safe. but he is good. 

blogging. it seems odd to me to write a blog. i'm not used to it. a mix of personal feelings and thoughts with opinions and news and plans and updates. maybe i'll get better at it as time goes on? here's to hoping. after all, it's only been a long week since i left the homeland. 

and so here is where things get personal. perhaps i write this to sort through thoughts and feelings, but mostly i write it to get the news out there, to get other people's minds spinning, to get good vibrations out in the world. from one part of the world to the other. my brother cj is serving in the peacecorps in mongolia right now-- doing incredible work as an english teacher trainer in the town of darkhan. this past weekend was the national holiday/festival called nadam: a weekend of wrestling and wrangling and raucusing and a ravaging good time. cj is as adventurous as they come; a beacon of taking risks; a true genius in the avenue of trying things. but sometimes there is a price to pay for such genius. 

a few days ago, during the nadam festival, cj and a few buddies decided to take a horse ride; hop on, take part, tap into their inner mongol. unfortunately, cj was thrown off his wild horse. he fractured his skull (a hair-line fracture), broke seven ribs, and broke his shoulder blade into fragments. ah. one of his broken ribs has slightly punctured one of his lungs. ah. ah. ah. right now he is safely in a hospital in ulaanbaatar, mongolia. there is talk of being flown elsewhere for shoulder surgery; there is other talk of domestic rehabilitation; there is lots of other talk of slow  bureaucratic decision-making. he is not in critical condition. he is a tough cookie, the toughest. "ya, but at least i got thrown off a horse. at least it was a real mongolian way to go down. at least i have that experience." haha, cj, you're incredible. but of course he is in pain. of course he is frustrated that no decisions are being made. of course caught in the limbo of decisions made in washington, across the world, is not the place to be in. of course. of course i am scared.

and so i write this. to get it out in the universe. to ask your dearest thoughts to be sent his way. to be thinking of this man, this brother of mine. please think of him, pray for him, keep him in your thoughts--do what you will. the more it is out there the more peace of mind and body i hope he will feel.  i hope that is true.

 

we're thinking of you, bud. <3