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sound experience adventure
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From the diary of Shahla Nygaard – 29/1/12 – Manase, Savaii, Samoa
I am sitting in a chair on the front porch of a beach fale made of wood and closed in by mats of woven coconut leaves. On the small table in front of me there is a bottle of Lima Lima – a spirited paoa blend of 55% that tastes intensely of pineapple and coconut, a handfan and the monocular. One of my shirts, that I use for snorkelling without sunscreen, and my snorkel are Read More
If you look down, way down and then you look under that, you get to the land down under and that’s where this story begins. And this isn’t just any story. It’s the story of a select group brought together to achieve the extraordinary. And it just so happens that in this instant they are brought very closely together.
“Hey Shahla, where are we?”
“I don’t know, I don’t recognize this place.”
“Hey look! There’s someone coming towards us."
“Let’s talk to him"
“Who are you?”
“I’m the storyteller.”
“Where are we?”
“You’re in Storyland and this is your story.
After so many miles on public transport, we are finally back to our favourite mode of transportation – bicycles! Instead of building them, this time we purchased them from a bike shop. Bright, shiny and new. It wasn't easy finding our new road companions. In the streets of Islamabad, we saw no bicycles that we were willing to adopt. All had some fatal flaw that we could not accept.
We were going into China with visions of a machine-like suppressed society that we would in no way enjoy mingling in. This picture came to us from a long onslaught of travellers’ stories depicting a land of uncouth, unfriendly and unhelpful people. We also had the idea of a single propaganda fuelled communist culture encompassing the whole of the country. However, our low expectations made for a pleasant surprise and proved that everyone’s experiences are paramount in forming their judgements…
Pakistan
I could see in Shahla that she was anxious to see if the Pakistan she knew from childhood was what was waiting for us across the border from Iran. I, however, was prepared to view Pakistan as objectively as possible. The moment we crossed into Pakistan Shahla breathed a sigh of relief and took off her headscarf. I couldn’t help but smile and think to myself that I just might like it here. The initial feeling I had as we made our way to the house of Shahla’s childhood was peaceful and relieving. Even though I had never been to the country before I felt somehow connected with its people.
It is amazing to think that such a vast deserty area as the middle east is where civilization chose to take hold. The environment is not always an easy one to live in. Although I must admit that the abundance of several different kinds of dates makes it much more tolerable. The truth is that where a desert may seem difficult and forbidding, the locals who have lived there since the beginning of time are, of course accustomed to its sands, its winds and its waters. Water seems to dictate life here though in some places you can find life where you would think that there shouldn’t be any. I sometimes thought of people wandering through the desert (for reasons I could only guess at) and stopping to make camp in what seems like the middle of nowhere, and then just staying there and making a village or a town. Somehow making life work.
We find that by this time it doesn’t take much to get us thinking of our homeland. The homesickness has definitely engraved a spot in our hearts. We daydream of the cool fresh Canadian air and of playing in the soft, white, fluffy snow. These thoughts tend to give us a little extra momentum when it seems as though we’re stuck in slow motion.
There is however another side effect to these thoughts. One that has only hit us hard once so far. The urge to stop the travel and fly back to a normal life. It does take some will power to get past this point. We think that’s a big reason why it’s so rare to find people traveling for more than a year or two at a time. So why are we doing it? We believe we are here to construct a life that we will be content with on our death bed. For us it includes an appreciation for all things and a worldly understanding that can only be achieved by an adventure of epic proportions.
We are not entirely selfish in this endeavor however it may seem. In order to ensure that we as humans have a future we must be able to understand each other. Without understanding there is space for resentment and fear. Both of which lead to hate. People cannot work together if fear is blinding them. Most people we discuss culture with have preconceptions about the ones they know very little about. It is in the hands of the knowledgeable and experienced to educate people and pass on a greater understanding to future generations.
As we watch the Spanish coastline disappear behind us we can’t help but think about what lies in store for us in Africa. Our minds are filled with images portrayed in the media but also questions as to the true nature of Africa. Will we encounter corruption, disease or violence? What about fairness, well-being and harmony? We know that in order to gain an understanding of the African people we’ll need to communicate with them. We have confidence in our ability to communicate with people but will we be able to share in their stories as well as ours? Will we make a horrible faux pas and be boiled in a cannibal’s cauldron of human soup? We realize that it’s impossible for us to have complete confidence going into a territory that is so unknown to us. This uncertainty creates anxiety and warms our skin with anticipation. Excitement is really the only word for it and adventure is what lies ahead.
Freshly showered and wearing my last clean scraps of clothing, I walk into the chill-out room at the home of our host in Addis Ababa. Several friendly faces turn, and after meeting everyone, I sit down amidst matresses and pillows. The one woman in the room besides myself puffs on her sheesha, decides it is time for fresh tobacco and sets about the process of cleaning and reloading the water pipe. I notice several bottles of coke and water as well as a few bundles of leaves which the company is slowly consuming. Our host passes me one such bundle, too big to fit both my hands around it and says, "start chewing." This is chat, an integral part of the Ethiopian way of life and an ideal way to see the social side of Addis. It is a mild narcotic and not only legal, but sold everywhere in Ethiopia.
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