chili Plunge

The phone call came at 6pm last night. I was cooking food enough for a dozen people, trying find the balance between enough chili to make the dish interesting without so much spice that these Aussies would be cursing me though tears. I answered the phone and heard one of the Plunge team say, "Hello. Pip?"

Pip: Oh hey...
Plunge Pair: We have a problem. We accidentally left Cambodia and now the guards at the border won't let us back. What should we do?
Pip: That's alright. [Huh?! You did what?!] Here's what you should do [explaining step-by-step as though this tiny error of judgement happens often...] Continue across the border into Thailand, cross the road and come back.. [Hilarious! So so so funny! These guys are going to have such a great story once they get over the shock of this one!]
Plunge Pair: OK, then. See you later...[sounding calmer already. yay!]

The Plunge Pair just wanted a fruit shake but they ended up crossing an international border. Their visa was cancelled. They had to renew it and pay another processing fee. Oops. They were worried they'd be late for dinner. They thought I might get mad at them. All of could think of is that these guys are awesome!!!

Yesterday I'd been considering of all the things these guys CAN'T do. (You know, just a little vent in the journal so that I'm reminded next time a short-term team comes and don't get surprised in another two months.) For example? They can't buy food at the market. They can't order out. They don't know what time of the day to get up and when to rest. They get lost. They can't necessarily get unlost. They don't understand Khmer. They have no hope of stringing a simple sentence together. They can't ride a moto. They can't be a good passenger. (They wiggle and giggle and take photos and I do my best to explain calmly that I'm trying so freakn hard to keep this moto upright on a muddy, slippery road so they gotta give me a hand and sit without moving about.)

But in all these things, this Plunge crew are curious and willing to try anything. They're wide-eyed and questioning. That's what makes them so awesome. That's why I'm happy they're with us. And sometimes they surprise me. The Plunge Pair did go to extraordinary lengths for a guava shake but they kept their head and they found their way home. Nice work!