I woke up with excitement on what to someone else would be just a regular November day. However, to me, this day was special. Today was the day my pen-pal Siddhartha would be flying in to come visit me in the United States. He had never made a trip to the states before and I was up to the challenge to make sure it was the best trip ever. I made my way to the airport to pick Siddhartha up. Once there I had my sign with his name written on it and wait for his arrival. Once I saw him I waved him down and finally introduced myself in person.
“Hey, Siddhartha, its nice to finally meet you!” I said.“It’s nice to meet you in person as well Casey.” Siddhartha replied.
We then drove back to my home town of South Hadley where I had a packed day planned. However, first after a long plane ride, Siddhartha wanted to take a quick nap, so we made our way to my house. As we arrive I introduce him to my family, and get him situated in the guest bedroom. After a long nap, I grabbed Siddhartha and drove him to one of my most favorite parts of South Hadley, the Connecticut River. As I drove down to the Marina, Siddhartha looked very intrigued.
“Are you the ferryman of this river,” (pg.101) Siddhartha asked.
“No, not at all, I do not even own a boat. Here at the Marina, many people own boats where they keep them docked here and take them into the river. I love the river and I think its the most peaceful place in town. I took him on my neighbors boat which I borrowed for the day. I took him out into the river and he quickly grew accustom to the river.
“This river reminds me a lot of a place in my home land that I once traveled on. (pg.53)
However, being on this huge motored powered boat isn’t the same as that Bamboo boat.”
I then had a thought and brought Siddhartha to the roof floor. Here we sat in comfy chairs and meditated. Time flew by, and before we knew it, the sun was setting. Sitting on the river looking as the sun falls behind the mountains is one of the best sights in the world. It took Siddhartha breath away. As we called it quits on the river, I drove the boat to land and headed back to my home were we both spent the night. We had to get a good nights sleep for our big day tomorrow. For tomorrow we would be flying to Las Vegas!We both woke up extra early to head out for our flight to the Sin City where I would show Siddhartha how Americans have a good time. After we caught our flight and landed, we jumped in our limo that I ordered to take us to Caesars Palace, where we would be staying in one of their pent houses. As we drove by all the bright buildings, Siddhartha’s eyes were popping out of his head. He could not believe what he was seeing. All of the giant buildings, all the people walking around, all the traffic, and all the entertainment. After stopping by our luxurious room, we decided to hit the tables and try out our luck at gambling. Being the nice guy I am, I gave Siddhartha $1000 to us as starting money. After losing half of it, he actually started getting the hang of the whole betting thing. After winning his money back, he was not done there. Siddhartha ended up tripling his money and decided to call it quits. With the extra money, we bought dinner and saw a show. Then we hit the night life. We entered a club which was crazy. There were people everywhere, there was a dance floor, a DJ, crazy lights, strippers, and bars. Siddhartha was totally out of his element. So instead of joining me on the dance floor, he decided to take a seat near a stripper, where unlike most men there struck up a conversation with the girl. After a while I became nervous and got him away from here as fast as I could. Siddhartha was upset with me.
“Casey, what is the meaning of this, I was in the middle of a conversation with a beautiful girl!”
“Sorry Siddhartha, but I’m afraid if that conversation got any longer you might have got billed.”
“But she seemed so nice, she reminded me of Kamala (pg.45).
“Yeah, and if any of the other girls saw the money that you won tonight, they would have loved to have a conversation with you too.”
Siddhartha Soon became annoyed with all the commotion so we headed back to our pent house. When we awoke in the morning, we had our full share of what Las Vegas had to offer. We both decided that even though that the Sin City is exciting and adventurous, that it just isn’t us. Siddhartha and I both agreed that our time spent relaxing on the river back in South Hadley was much more suiting to our personalities. So after we all were packed up, we made our way back to the airport, where we said our final goodbyes and headed back to our own homes. Spending my couple days with Siddhartha was something I would never forget.
