Siddhartha Comes to America

Siddhartha Comes To America

As I sit at the airport all by myself, I watch hundreds of people walk by me. I am waiting for the plane from India to release its passengers. On board is my good friend Siddhartha that I met while studying in India. Siddhartha asked if he could come visit me in America because he had never left Asia. I thought that this would be a great experience for Siddhartha. Moments later, Siddhartha comes off the plane and is walking towards me. He is wearing a loin cloth so it was very easy to pick him out from the crowd.

“Greetings my kind sir!” I said as Siddhartha walked up to me.

“Hello friend,” Said Siddhartha.

“How have you been?”

“I’ve been very peaceful.”

“Well that’s good. Are you ready to go back to my house? We have a big day planned for tomorrow.”

“Are we walking there?”

“Here in America, we use cars.”

“Oh!”

“You have a lot to learn”

Siddhartha and I leave the airport in my car to soon arrive at my house. It is getting late because Siddhartha’s plane was delayed by the Samanas lying in the runway for hours before they were removed. I decided I would give Siddhartha the couch to sleep on since I did not have a guest bed. As soon as Siddhartha sits on the couch he crossed his legs and rests his wrists on his knees. He begins to meditate on my couch and I didn’t really want to interrupt him while he was connecting with Atman.

“Make yourself at home, the remote is right here. You also have full access to the fridge too so take advantage of it” I said before I went up to my room.

“Thank you, sir.” Siddhartha responded

The morning comes and I walk down the stair while rubbing my eyes. Once I stop rubbing them and I get my sense of sight back I look at the surrounding area of the first floor of my house. There is food everywhere. Siddhartha ate everything in my house. I knew it was a bad idea to give him full access to the fridge. I then walk into the living room to confront Siddhartha. When I look at the couch, Siddhartha is missing. My heart jumps. The first thing that comes to my mind is that someone has kid napped Siddhartha. I feel terrible. Siddhartha is in America for one day and he already got abducted. I quickly run out the door and down the street screaming his name. The neighbors walking out to the street to receive their newspaper look at me like I’m crazy. I finally realize that I am taking the wrong approach to finding Siddhartha. I then walk back to my house to call the police. When I enter my house, I find Siddhartha sitting on my couch eating as breakfast sandwich from dunkin’ doughnuts.

“Siddhartha, where have you been?!” I said when I saw him.

“I took a cab to dunkin’ homie.” He responded

“Didn’t you eat enough last night, you ate all my food.”

“No way, José I’m still hungry.”

“Alright, you seem to be fitting in pretty good. Let me go get dressed so we can get out of here alright?”

“Sounds good”

After I get dressed, I grab Siddhartha from the living room and we hop into my car so I can show Siddhartha some of the fun things America has to offer.

“Are you excited?” I ask Siddhartha.

“For what, I don’t even know where we are going.” He quickly responds.

“Good” I said, “It’s a surprise!”

“Whatever you say mannn” Siddhartha responds

Twenty minutes passes when we go under a giant sign that says Six Flags. Siddhartha looks around with a puzzled look on his face. I could tell that he did not know what to make of the place. I knew Siddhartha had never seen an amusement park before so it seemed like the perfect place to bring him. Once we paid for our admission tickets, I asked Siddhartha what he wanted to ride on first. He pointed his finger at the superman. Knowing that the superman is the craziest rollercoaster at the park, I told him that we should start smaller. He insisted that we start with the superman. Finally I agreed with him and we headed over to the back of the line. While I stopped and waited at the end of the line, Siddhartha started pushing people out of his way to get to the front of the line. I had to get Siddhartha’s attention and tell him that we had to wait at the end of the line. After an hour, it is finally time for us a board the rollercoaster.

“Maybe we should have started with a smaller one!” Siddhartha exclaims as we climb the first big incline of the rollercoaster.

“It’s too late to turn back now.” I said as we reached the peak of the big drop.

Siddhartha put his hands up and screamed like a little girl the entire ride. Even when the ride stopped, Siddhartha was still screaming. After we got off the ride, the park became an obsession to Siddhartha. He sprinted from ride to ride until the place closed at the end of the day. By then I was exhausted. I was ready to go home and sleep, but not Siddhartha. All he wanted to do was learn more about America and what it has to offer. “I don’t have much time in America.” Siddhartha said. “I want to learn as much as I can.”

“One thing that people in America love is sleep” I said. “Lets go learn some more about that”

While driving back to my house my friend Bob called. He wanted to go downtown and go clubbing. I knew I was way too tired to go out. But instead I offered a suggestion.

“Hey Bob, why don’t you bring my friend Siddhartha” I said. “I’m sure he would love to go”

He accepted the offer and Siddhartha went out with Bob that night. Finally, I had silence and I didn’t have to sprint around the amusement park anymore. I could not wait to go to sleep. As soon as I could I was out like a light.

The next morning I found out that Siddhartha and Bob had a really good time and wanted to continue hanging out while Siddhartha was visiting America. At the end of the week Siddhartha decides he wants to stay in America and Bob becomes his roommate. Siddhartha is now one of our good friends and has never even thought of going back to Asia. Siddhartha had found his enlightment in America.