There I am "A". I am almost exactly a week from going back to the other side of the world - literally the almost exact opposite. 29 hours en route back to California.
I have been here in Mauritius for over 7 months. I haven't been someplace other that the U.S. for that long since I was a kid. This adventure has had its ups and downs, but lately, I have been finding a nice rhythm with it and have enjoyed being away from the politics and extremism of the U.S..
It's funny how when you step outside of a place and look at it from a different angle that the political messaging becomes stark. Mauritius is a tiny little speck in the Indian Ocean. To be honest, I had never heard of the place- aside from the sad tale of the dodo bird before coming. It is a place where no one can lay claim- it was uninhabited until the 1500's. Every human is an import- every human is an immigrant. The only native creatures were either driven into extinction, or hang on on a tiny little shred of the island. A small national forest - a mere 5% of what once was exists. Somehow the inhabitants of this place manage to live in relative peace- Hindu. Muslim, Christian etc...Mauritius is a microcosm of the earth.
Anyhow- I am wrapping up projects, packing luggage and seeing friends and getting ready for the journey back to California. Then I will journey back to Mauritius again in a month or 2 or so after...then back again in December- a bi-antipodal existence on this tiny planet. Home- the pale blue dot.
2 comments:
This morning I sit outside with our bird friends and eat my breakfast with them as you are traveling half a world away. Its interesting just how much perspective I get here. Life is simple; sun coming up over the trees, bird hoping around and eating their insect/bread and seed breakfast; a gentle breeze and blue skies dotted with white clouds.
As I sit here, I'm not really sure what physical place in this world is really home to me; maybe its a few places or more likely, its just with you. It just dawned on me that maybe this process of uprooting distracts the complexity of life and highlights the simple and basic things; what foods do I like; smells that make me feel comfortable; what our bird Billy is thinking...
I look forward to this antipodal life with you. As I sit on this little dot of an island on a little dot of a planet I find myself thinking of the wonderful simple things in our life.
This morning I sit outside with our bird friends and eat my breakfast with them as you are traveling half a world away. Its interesting just how much perspective I get here. Life is simple; sun coming up over the trees, bird hoping around and eating their insect/bread and seed breakfast; a gentle breeze and blue skies dotted with white clouds.
As I sit here, I'm not really sure what physical place in this world is really home to me; maybe its a few places or more likely, its just with you. It just dawned on me that maybe this process of uprooting distracts the complexity of life and highlights the simple and basic things; what foods do I like; smells that make me feel comfortable; what our bird Billy is thinking...
I look forward to this antipodal life with you. As I sit on this little dot of an island on a little dot of a planet I find myself thinking of the wonderful simple things in our life.
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