Travels Throughout The Summer

Summer was fun and exhilarating, every month provided a new adventure lurking around the corner, just waiting to be experienced.

I spent all of May and most of June in Arkansas, where I rested, spent quality time with some of my favorite people, and started an online internship with Lusso Bags (an anti-human trafficking organization based in San Diego, CA). The internship granted me the opportunity to work with Nicole, the founder of the organization, and she was such a wonderful person. I also got to interview some really inspirational figures and write about them, including film producer Jenny Schweitzer on her upcoming film, Phu Nguyen on his story and inspiration behind his jewelry, Malia Everette on her passion for the human condition and her decision to work with Global Exchange, and finally, Holly Austin Smith, a survivor of child trafficking.

You can read the articles by clicking on the links above. :)

I turned 22 on June 13 and as a birthday treat, my cousin and her husband took me on a little weekend getaway to New Orleans, Louisiana.

There, I found myself indulged in a very different environment as I opened my heart and mind to Cajun demeanor and delicacies. I lived in the French Quarter (the heart of tourism in New Orleans), a very convenient location to all the hot spots. At night, I strolled down Bourbon Street for the first time, taking in the clash of jazz music against house music blasting from night clubs, the smell of grime and alcohol, the jangling of plastic beads around people's necks as they weaved their way through the slow-moving crowd.

Summer days in New Orleans were blistering hot, but I was lucky to be there on a weekend where it'd rained a few days prior to my visit, so the afternoon that I spent walking there was accompanied by a light breeze. I doubt there's ever a place quite like New Orleans, where the historical French influence enriches the lifestyle and mannerisms of its environment and people. You see it in the architecture, you taste it in the gumbo, and you hear it in the locals' conversations.

For more pictures of New Orleans, visit: www.carissagan.blogspot.com

A few weeks before my birthday, I couraged up and bought myself a return ticket to New York. I'd been toying over that thought for a long time, and the timing finally seemed perfect. I was looking forward to this trip, until two weeks before my flight. That was when everyone around me started throwing me warnings about New York. "New York is really dangerous. People get robbed in daylight. Don't take the subway by yourself after 9PM, don't acknowledge strangers who start random conversations with you, don't stay out at night, etc." And the worst was, "If someone attacks you, remember to aim for the soft spots."

All these negative images were running through my head. I mean, I know nowhere on earth is safe. Crime doesn't elude even the most tranquil place on earth. Small towns have their fair share of crime too. But New York, with its huge influx of people and history in escalating deaths and mishaps, suddenly ranked #1 on the danger list. In the meantime, I was doing research and writing articles on human trafficking for my internship, so hearing all these things just made me a lot more nervous about being in New York by myself. Although I would be staying with friends, I would be traveling by myself (mostly). And I'd never traveled alone in a foreign city. The thought of having to take the subway alone scared me, since I'd heard too many horror stories of the subway.

But well, New York was an eye-opening adventure. My perspectives changed after living there for a few days.

I gained a fresh sense of independence from taking the subway almost daily, and realized I actually enjoyed traveling alone. I did spend an entire day to myself, where I viewed exhibits in the MOMA, ate the infamous chicken rice at the side of the road, walked several blocks to Fifth Avenue and then Bryant Park, where I basked in the coolness of the evening. I spent 90% of my time in New York hanging out with people and meeting friends I hadn't seen in ages. The family that I lived with was generous enough to accommodate me the entire month, and I'm still entirely grateful for their hospitality. They took care of me and even introduced me to their friends.

New York was a fresh change from Arkansas. It was like entering a whole new world. I loved being surrounded by the skyscrapers, I didn't mind the terrible traffic (in fact, after leaving New York, I missed the incessant sound of sirens and honks), I liked the different cultural convergences, I liked almost everything about the big city. I grew up in a busy city myself, so the hurried frenzy that New Yorkers acknowledged as their lifestyle did not throw me off; in fact, it only fueled my love for the city.

I have so much to say about New York, but each time I sit down to write about it, the words get knotted up in my head. Too many strings of thoughts, all pushing their way to the front, until the mind can no longer comprehend what to say first.

So one day when I've worked through my awful writer's block, you'll see a post about New York here, detailing everything that I want to say about the city.

My last stop of the summer before school started was Texas. Texas was something I'd talked about with Jeremy way before summer even began. He'd suggested the idea of touring the major cities in Texas and I happily agreed. I'd always wanted to visit Texas, having heard so much of its diversity and population. Oh, and how could you ever say no to Southwest's amazing flight deals? Also, I saw it as a good chance to catch up with Jeremy Foo. I hadn't seen him since we both went back to Malaysia last summer. So about two weeks after returning from New York, I packed my bags again and embarked on a short flight to Dallas, where I was picked up at the airport by Jeremy and three of his friends from college.

Emily, Mai, Jessica and Jeremy 

The Texas trip was exactly how I'd envisioned it to be - and better. We were on the road every day, going to new places and trying new food. In Dallas, we visited the large aquarium. In Houston, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts, NASA Space Center and the Museum of Natural Science. In San Antonio, we went to Max Lucado's church, the Alamo and Sea World. Apart from all the traveling and sightseeing, I met so many amazing, passionate Christians on that trip who inspired me to pursue God wholeheartedly once again.

I'd fallen out of my walk with God a long time ago, way before summer started. It was hard to keep my faith up when the waves were rough. The people I met and the things we did in Texas really changed my perspectives and made me realize how much I'd missed having that close, intimate relationship with God. My life once revolved around Him, but when hard times came, I failed. But He reached out to me again and reminded me how loved I am, and that was all it took for me to leave the meaningless life I'd been living, and pursue one that was richly rooted in Christ.

On the road from Dallas to Houston

It was spiritually refreshing - that was what it was. So by the end of the trip, I had collected a large album of memories. I came back to Arkansas with a surge of excitement for the new semester, feeling more recharged than I'd ever been.


Looking back, I feel so blessed to have been able to visit so many different places all in one summer. God has been soooo good. :)

I would love to blog about Texas right now, but I have assignments to get to. It's Sunday, the last day of the weekend, and I hate how homework always piles up until the night before school. :P It's also my final semester because I'm graduating in December. Oh, how quickly time flies. Just two years ago, I'd arrived in USA, all jittery and excited about beginning my first semester in the States with two full years ahead of me. And now, I'm actually going through my last semester as an undergraduate student. I don't know if I'll pursue grad school, but even if I do, it's not going to be any time soon. I'm planning to get a job after graduation and maybe a couple years later when I've earned a decent living, I'll be able to afford grad school. :) But I'd hate to stop learning, because learning keeps me going. Being a student is such a beautiful experience. I don't think I'll ever be ready to give that up.

I used to envy my friends who were graduating at the end of the semester, and they'd tell me how nervous they were about graduating. "If I could stay in school one extra semester, I would," they'd told me. And I thought they were nuts for saying that. "If I could graduate at the end of this semester, I'd gladly do so!" I'd told them. The weight of those words hadn't sunk in yet at that point, until recently.

I don't have all the time in the world. In a few months, I'll be clad in a black graduation gown and cap and crossing the stage in a crowded hall to receive my certificate. When that moment arrives, I want to feel totally proud of my accomplishments, not just because I've completed my degree, but because I've made every second my college years count.

And that moment starts now.