After the temple whatever, I left the bike behind and joined Teresa on the bus. We waited for the others to make it back to the place we would have lunch and eventually made our way to the buffet, which I have found is usually on the second floor for tour groups. Because stairs are easy.
My stomach has been acting up. Probably a self inflicted internal panic, worry, knot, or perhaps something I ate or everything I ate on the plane rides, but not the best in the gastro area right now.
Lunch was a buffet, and I took time to examine the selection.
Fried. Not my best choice today.
Sushi. Love. Not today.
Seafood still moving we are not even going to discuss right now.
Goat. There were chunks of goat meat, or that is what it was labeled. Not fried. Not covered in goop. Not loaded down with corn or other starchy veggies I’m not fond of.
And that was the moment Teresa wandered by.
“Have you ever had goat?” Asked I.
“Yeah, many times.” She answered and explained several occasions.
I put some on my plate with my rice and returned to the table. Where a discussion of goat occurred as I tried to muster my courage on this off tummy day to try a new food.
It tastes like beef?
No.
Does it taste like veal?
No.
It would not taste like chicken. Maybe pork?
No.
The meal continued, until after a pause of speaking so consumption could happen, Teresea leaned over and said.
“That is not goat. Or if it is, it does not taste like any goat I’ve had.”
Given the extensive experience Teressa has demonstrated with goat, there is no way I am trying goat today, although I am not opposed to the right goat in the future. Perhaps a Scottish goat instead of Vietnamese.
Anyway, what I wanted out of this trip today was a ride to Ninh Binh. I achieved that goal. What I paid for in the tour thus far was lacking to be honest, but in everything there is a gem if you can find it.
Although I have had lovely conversations with others along they way, Teresa was there today when I needed her, not anyone else, to be there. Someone traveling alone with mobility problems, yet out there unapologetically seeing the world on her terms. And she knows goat.
She could not go on the bike ride; she still went on the tour. She was unsure of getting in and out of the boats in the afternoon. She still went on the tour. She could not climb the mountain at the end of the day, but she still was there doing what she could at that attraction, and there were several other things to do. And that hit me at a time I needed to be hit.
The lesson to me was simply because I am no longer 20 and my physical abilities limited, I can appease the child in my mind and go shenanigan hunting. True, I will always want to ride the bike and climb the mountain, but I cannot limit my world entirely based on a want. I need to reopen my door to alternative possibilities instead of flipping the deadbolt and calling it a day.
That is when I realized again, as I have so many times before, there are people on my path for a reason. On this trip, it is more apparent than when I am bound to the grind of everyday life, but here we are. Teresa appeared and a simple bus ride with pit stops turned into a pleasant day. Today she was my G.O.A.T.
I pondered that thought for a while. The collecting of people on my path who help me along the way, and I decided I am going to start a club I will call my Shenangsters. A gang of Shenanigan hunters who inspire, teach, uplift, support or otherwise travel a similar road. I acknowledge and appreciate the lessons they will teach me, and when I can, I will pay it forward.
I will probably in the next few days bestow the title on some of the others who have helped me before today, but today, Teresa, you are the first official Shenagster. Continue to travel, inspire and take us under your experience wing. You have no idea how much influence you have with simple kindness.
