Thursday, March 12, 2009

The other side of GSE

Maggie and I are born exactly three days apart. I can count on Jazz at the drop of a hat to kill creepy crawlers for me. And Brett knows, deep down, it’s better when you sing it (those close to me know what I am talking about). While I planned on making connections and forming friendships as I toured Thailand, somehow I failed to think about the relationships forming with my travel mates. Group Study Exchange is not just about exchanging ideas with those living in the country you’re visiting.
Take the five us, including our team leader, as an example. We all have different backgrounds: Jazz , an engineer, is originally from Puerto Rico; Brett is from Agawam and works in finance; Maggie was born in Poland and works in marketing; Ex Connecticut probate judge Aileen is our team leader; and I, last but not least, live in Springfield and write for a living. We got to know one another a bit while preparing for this experience. But let me tell you, vomiting, caves, killing bugs and burnt corn can really bring people together. While on this trip the others have seen me fall, scream at bugs, get carsick, sing terrible karaoke, freeze up during public speaking, sweat uncontrollably and more. The next GSE team should know up front that GSE also stands for Getting Stripped of your Ego. 