My way of travelling has always been that I don’t just want to look at a country, I want to be IN it… and part of that is mixing with the locals… and although, on this trip that wasn’t the focus with our long days getting places, I made sure that every opportunity I had I connected in any way I could…
And sometimes that simply meant having my nose glued to the window watching all the amazing village scenes as we drove by, waving endlessly to all the kids that chased the truck yelling, “Muzungu”, “Muzungu” (white person!)… or making eye contact with the ‘shop keepers’ selling their wares…
Or perhaps it was in empathising and understanding that everytime they came up to ‘sell’ you a ‘coka cola’, a ‘samosa’ or a ‘lock’ or a ‘suit coat’ or a ‘hat’ or how about a ‘hat stand’…. they were not trying to annoy you… they were simply showing great entrepreneurial skills in doing what ever they could to make some money today to feed their children…. and yes, they will handle your ‘NO’ and your rejection over and over again, because poverty breeds … well is it resilience… perhaps yes, and in some cases desperation… so that does not mean I have to buy everything, but it does mean I will treat them with respect and see the big picture of what they are about…
And then you hear about the Genocide in Rwanda and you meet a people that are perhaps wary… and they have every right to be… but when you hear their stories you are brought to your knees with lessons in forgiveness and ‘moving on’… and you wondered how you could have got so caught up in that one negative ‘comment’ that somebody said in passing… and you silently thank them for reminding you to stop living so ‘shallow’!
And then the river scenes and the farm scenes and the scenes where people are simply focused on survival… and so happy in doing so…
And then the cities… begging on the streets… oh we have it too but not quiet like this… not anything like this… your head and your heart start to challenge each other, your heart says we need to do this and your head says, but what will this fix… and you go with your heart because your head can’t work it out… and you realise you have not been thankful enough for all that you have …
And then there is my fellow travellers too… off you go into a truck with 11 other people …all different ages from all different countries with all different backgrounds and what a great group it was… I had the best time with them all and I am so grateful for their fun, their patience and their sense of humour for sure!
The people are what makes a place and an experience come alive, and based on the people I met it was a lively, heart felt experience for sure!
And anytime you are with people, well you are bound to learn some things about them and also a whole lot about yourself and how you move through the world and how you can better move through the world… I look forward to sharing some of those lessons and reflections with you in my upcoming SHOWS…
