speaking of truth

For the cynics out there, this was sent to me just as I pressed "publish". Truth? No comment - it's subjective!

I escaped

On a recent trip to Zanzibar, we found ourselves in conversation with the taxi driver taking us to the beach.  Over the course of the hour, he regaled us with information on topics ranging from the celebration of Ramadan, his favourite childhood foods to how he ended up driving a taxi and his dreams for his children. 

At one point he told us that he had not finished grade school.  When asked why he answered 'because I escaped!'  Granted, part of what he meant to convey might have gotten lost in translation, but we all still had a good laugh about his response.  

Technically, escape means to break free from confinement or control.  In North America, we probably would have described his behaviour as 'dropping out'. But when you think about it, maybe what he said gets to the heart of what he really meant -- having left school, he felt free.

While I'm not advocating leaving school at grade seven, I think his description is on to something.  By saying that he escaped, he didn't dilute his reality.  Instead, we clearly got the picture of his resulting freedom. 

 

It is certainly not a revelation that words can be powerful.  But to strive to use them as Abdul did, (intentionally or otherwise), in a way that emphasizes truth, is a worthy challenge.

choices

People sometimes ask me: how did you end up in Tanzania?  The extended version usually includes ‘I’m not really sure why’ and ‘I just had a feeling’.  But by any definition, I chose it.  This reality often moves to the forefront of my mind when I am feeling overwhelmed or frustrated, which ebbs and flows in a manner similar to the tides here (i.e. dramatically).  

A recent encounter brought home to me something more significant: despite my untidy explanations, every single day I choose to be here.  Last week, planning on a weekend at the beach with some of my girlfriends, I spent the second day of Eid running errands.  In one of the shops, I ended up in a long conversation with an employee.  She explained to me that she had come to Dar in order to avoid an arranged marriage.  Why Tanzania? Because it was one of the first places to grant her a visa.  Why Dar? Because she was able to secure work and a corresponding airfare from her home country.  The catch? A long-term contract doing work that she is over-qualified for.  

The next time I was about to utter a complaint, it caught in my throat.  I choose to be here. Granted, clearly she also made an active choice to be here.  But it underscores the layers of privilege that inform volition.  She chose between an unacceptable position and tolerable one.  I have been lucky enough that most of my life I have been able to choose between a good position and an even better one.  

So today, I’ll choose to be thankful for that.  

you can be blaze about some things, but not about a giraffe

Last week my parents came to visit Tanzania.  First on our itinerary was a visit to Mikumi National Park, in central Tanzania.  Initially they were reluctant – no one in my family is particularly into animals, as pets, in zoos, or otherwise.  Plus, the costs of doing any kind of safari in Tanzania are generally speaking prohibitive. Nevertheless, at my insistence, you cant come to Tanzania and not see some sort of wild animal! – there we were.

In our circa 1970’s Land Rover, equipped with a good driver but without seatbelts, we moved at a slow clip.  It wasn’t long before we were rewarded with impalas languidly grazing the tawny grass (it’s the dry season) and giraffes ambling amid the trees.  Each time we spotted an animal or group of animals, the driver dutifully halted the car to allow us to take about a million pictures alternating between our point and shoot cameras and the video camera.

Standing with my upper body poking through the elevated roof of the vehicle, I became increasingly bored with the spot – slow – photograph pattern of the afternoon.  Another giraffe? Big deal.  A couple of weeks ago I was walking among giraffes – alone!  And then it struck me – did I really just think that?  For those of you who have listened to me quote Titanic for the last fifteen years, it won’t surprise you that the first thing that came to my mind was “you can be blaze about some things, chomey, but not about giraffes!”

And it’s so true.  The animals of the savannah: giraffes, elephants, lions, impalas, wildebeests, buffalo, elands, hippopotamuses, crocodiles and warthogs, to name a few are hardly animals that I see every day, here in Tanzania or at home in North America.  On top of that, lets not forget what a privilege it is to observe them interact with each other on endless golden planes, and not in the confines of the local zoo.

I revamped my attitude just in time for one of the highlights of our trip.  Our guides stopped to assist another vehicle that had busted its tire.  Afterwards, as that car moved down the road ahead of us, its driver pointed out the window to a number of trees at the side of the road.  Arriving at the trees, a bloodied carcass was visible in the clearing.  Knowing that whatever killed that animal was likely to be in the vicinity a hushed silence fell upon us.  Our driver murmured, “I’m not supposed to do this” and proceeded to drive off the road towards the trees.  Lying prone in the scrub were three lionesses, panting heavily under the stress of the giant meal they had just consumed.  They didn’t even turn to look at us frantically recording them and then afterwards, staring at them in awe. 

In the gloaming as we traveled back to our hotel along the main road that cuts through the park our driver stopped one last time.  In the bushes set back from the road, a family of elephants was dining on the surrounding trees.  Too dark to photograph, I sat quietly, respectful of their majesty and eagerly anticipating the promise of another day in the park.

cheat post

My parents are two hours from Dar and it is finally clear that this week I wont be writing about my recent trip to this nation's capital.  Instead, here's my latest column - which draws on things I've written about here and manages to feature a picture of where I went, far better than any that I took!  So any way you look at it, this is a cheat post, pole (sorry)!

http://twssmag.com/2011/08/16/column-d-the-joys-of-travelling-solo/