The Journey to North Dakota
I am very observant of Rinpoche’s character and over time as they say a friend’s behavior influences the mindset of a colleague. Rinpoche wakes up from sleep and notices of the surroundings, and I laugh at his vigor to sleep in such a place. Otto is staring at the roof, lost in thoughts despite all the noise in the background. Numerous individuals are cheering with enthusiasm at the points earned and jeer at the loss. We left the baseball court at Wrigley Field and went on with their journey to North Dakota. We drove off to Elgin sharing stories of the baseball experience. I drove at a very high speed with the excitement of the day’s achievement. Approximately 30 minutes later, I slowed down only to see a pedestrian flagging the car down.
I glanced at him and noticed he could not recognize the man. He was a middle-aged haggard-looking man desperate for a stopping car. I accelerated while Rinpoche stared at me viciously.‘ But why? Did you have to ignore him? Do you have a heart, really?’ Rinpoche said, staring at my face with a stern look. Otto said answered it was not necessary to stop when anyone flags you down. A string of thoughts ran through my mind, which made me feel the man was a bad omen on our journey. ‘You cannot trust anyone; he may not have had good intentions of stopping us. Rinpoche, not everyone has a positive thought as you do. So stop ranting at me,’ I answered calmly after a long silence. Rinpoche was agitated; however, with the spiritual personality, he controlled his emotions. He thought he had a lot to do to transform the two of us, Otto and me. He had a significant role to play as a spiritual manager of souls (Etherington 11). Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The two of us had varied emotions, and we took an estimate of 10 minutes without talking to each other. Otto is a lover of music, and anytime he had the chance, he played it loud. However, this time he had no choice but to tolerate silence because Rinpoche demanded a quiet environment At midday, we arrived at Iowa State, Ames city under the scorching sun, thirsty and hungry at the same time. I headed straight to the Café Beaudelaire and parked the car at the edge of the gate. The café is famous for American food at tasty levels and affordable. We courageously walked in and sat along with the front seats at the counter. Rinpoche ordered for drop biscuits and sausage while Otto and I opted for Texas barbecue beef with fried potatoes. Rinpoche took the first handful of his meal and became nervous. His heart began racing first and felt like throwing up. He rushed to the sink, and just before he could get on it, he let out all the stomach content at an alarming rate.
Everyone in the room stopped eating while some of the customers walked away in disgust. The floor was smelly food remains of the snacks he took before they began the journey. The café manager rushed to the scene, annoyed because customers were leaving the premises without even settling their bills. I stopped taking my meal and rushed to see what is happening to my friend. Thanks to Otto’s personality, he is quick in responding to issues when others are undecided. He got into the car and drove it to the door of the café and rushed Rinpoche to the nearest medical center for medical attention. We arrived at the McFarland, International Travel Clinic, where the nurse suspected him of food poisoning (Streib 190).
He got treated and was instructed not to leave the hospital till his conditions have stabilized. Otto and I were bored, and he suggested we find something to keep us busy. We took a walk to a nearby shop only to come across some youthful boys playing pool games. I stood beside them for some time, and their match ended. I picked up with one of them as my partner, and the game commenced. I was inexperienced in pool games but I had to try my best and learn where possible. After all, I was here to have fun and push time. Approximately 3 minutes into the game, I lost. The feeling was humiliating, and I gave up; fortunately, Otto was a wizard, and he picked up. I took the chance to observe and learn tactics to improve my skills. Otto was a good player, and seven minutes into the game, he had ten scores successful as compared to the counterpart with three counts. ‘Hey, brother! Can’t we go and rest now? I am tired already,’ I heard Otto speaking. I had dozed off at the bench; indeed, rest is all I needed now. We found a place for the night at the café’s adjacent building.
Early the next day, we returned to the café, apologized to the manager, and took breakfast. Despite the anger he portrayed during the incident, he accepted my apology and wanted to know the progress of the patient. We went for Rinpoche from the hospital and left for boat riding because Rinpoche felt he needed to have fun. The attendants by the waterfront showed us how to dress and navigate the boat around. Rinpoche boasted how he is a fast learner, and eventually, he got overwhelmed by the heavy winds, and he fell. We had a delicious meal at the cafeteria consisting of crabs and lobsters. The delicacy was rare from our home destination, and this was a chance for me to have a good time. We spent the night at a campfire enjoying watching the stars in the sky by the fireside while chewing roasted beef.
The experience was of a kind I loved it to my fulfillment. We slept deep in the night for only a few hours. We rose early the next day to continue with our journey to North Dakota. Rinpoche sat in the back seat, silent and collected. He stared outside the window for so long. I wondered what he was thinking. ‘Hey, buddy! What are you thinking about so deeply?’ I asked him, and he responded he appreciated his belief in religion was a soul saver. I tried to rush; time was not on our side. We had focused on arriving at home in North Dakota within the next two days. However, it now seems impossible; we were going to spend more days on the way than expected (Merullo 39). I opted to drive fast to catch up with time. The way was quite clear with fewer vehicles on the road.
I glanced at the back and noticed Rinpoche was deep asleep. Poor boy, he was in a lousy state yesterday. His spiritual personality is useful, I thought. He believed he could be well again, and indeed he is. Let him acquire some rest; he deserved it. In two hours, we entered South Dakota. I was hungry, remember I began the journey without taking any meal. I felt weak, shaky, and dizzy. Otto was bored, and he had bought headphones to have alone time with the music. He little bothered with the happenings around him, his concentration on his phone. I could not move any further; therefore, I stopped the car near some coffee shop and grabbed some drinks and snacks for myself and sleeping Rinpoche. Otto declined an offer for lunch, I took a few minutes gobbling on the meals. Two hours later, we arrived at Aberdeen city, and by this time, Rinpoche was awake (Merullo 59).
He seemed tired and dehydrated he took some of the beverages. Otto mocked him around, ‘You were almost leaving us yesterday, but I love the recuperated you now brother.’ I loved to see him in the present mood; he had changed my perspective about spirituality. I could not afford to see him getting away from me. Cecilia must have been wise to decide me to go home with Rinpoche. He is an object of change everywhere he is, Otto is calm all the way and kept on chipping words here and there, inquiring when we shall arrive at North Dakota so that he has fun. He loved the sweet parts of life. My sister Cecilia was a reserved person; however, she did not know how much she has impacted me with the presence of Rinpoche. I drove off, and Rinpoche was concerned and cautioned over the speed I pressed on. He began singing a religious hymn:
We are marching to Zion
Beautiful, beautiful Zion
We are marching upwards to Zion the beautiful city of God
‘Are we marching to Zion, really?’ I inquired. I wondered if this was realistic. He heard me and answered back, ‘At this rate you are driving? We sure are. You never know unless you regulate your speed, your head!’ I listened to him keenly paying attention to every detail of this conversation. Did spirituality mean individuals are unstable on the fate of life? The moment he was on the hospital bed, he was very optimistic about his recovery. However, he is here pessimistic about our journey. Did he mean we could be walking our last path to our death, or he had a vision in his sleep as we began the journey in South Dakota? Spirituality is very complicated stuff that has two sides, though I do not believe in instability in religion. ‘We cannot die any time soon! No one should argue with me,’ Otto disrupted my thoughts, shutting up Rinpoche. The duo seemed to fall out.
As I negotiated a corner on my way to North Dakota, I bumped into a warning sign of danger ahead. Something was not right, and Rinpoche looked at me worried, unsure of the happenings on the way. I could spot an ambulance due to the red light from the siren at the top of the vehicle. It was an accident, and the saving lives mission was still in progress. Chopped body parts could be seen being collected by individuals in gloves while those alive with injuries carried to the ambulance. All this long, Rinpoche was silent, observing things at an angle in a terrific mood. I drove past the accident slowly, and I noted it happened due to the head collision between a truck and a saloon car. Lives were lost, and the passenger vehicle was reduced to a mangled wreck.
Figure 1: Grisly Road Accident (Utah Officials)
I felt emotional when I saw the blood of the lost lives scattered by the road. I thought there is a sense of Rinpoche’s words about marching to Zion. He was possibly realistic, and spirituality is a matter of concern. Despite the accident, the trip was a memorable one because of the boat riding experience and association with Rinpoche because he changed my view on the spirituality aspect and good relation of helping others such as the middle-aged man. I would wish there were fewer bad experiences such as Rinpoche falling sick and no accident scenes. However, the journey experience helped me have a changed perspective on religion and spirituality. I long for the overwhelming moments we had during the trip because it transformed my personality at a wide range. Life is a significant aspect that requires a careful approach, such as keen driving to avoid accidents and care to humanity.