Thursday, March 8, 2012
Connecting And Crocodile Tears
Anyone who knows me or travels with me knows I don't do well leaving a vacation spot. I tear up big time and sometimes, I even cry. I ALWAYS GIVE BIG HUGS. Silly, right? Not to me. I'm not sure what it is about me or the places I visit, but they always touch me. I'm not the type who searches out or bonds with other guest at a resort. I I kind of mind my own business (this time was an exception because we did connect with two other couples who were similar to us and the explanation follows)
I connect with the people who live where Im visiting. I know that Randy, darling 28 year old, has been working at restaurants since he was 15 and opened his own called Lime Cafe, two years ago at 28. I know Randy's bro, Smooth, named him and they worked together for years. Smooth is the beautiful, shy, man we met down the way. Tasha, waitress at Lime, and Tyree (13) are moving to the big apple next month to give tyree a better education. I know Jerome at Sunshine has three children he loves, by different mommies, and he wishes he could be with them more, he's proud of them, but he really wishes he had a 23 year old marriage. He's 47. I know Sunshine's son, Mandela, is nervous to move to Connecticut with his mom but she's visiting tomorrow and he's excited for her to spend time with him in Nevis. I know Laverne, manager at Sunshine's, has a 17 year old daughter she tries to protect by focusing on education.
I know the prisoners on Nevis work manual labor everyday and they wear blue and carry machetes. The guards only have whistles. I'm telling you all of this because knowing so much about these people, and many more, makes it hard for me to leave. I love immersing myself and there is such history, pride, and longevity on Nevis. I am proud to have met such upstanding people. They touched me. I hope my listening ears and interest in their lives touched them as well. I always promise to return, while hugging, and sometimes I actually get to and I truly hope, this time, I do.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I've heard the expression immersing ones self in the culture of a place you are visiting as " going native."
But what you're saying in this post is so much more Gina, it really expresses a caring person who makes real connections with people.
If nobody has said it to you lately you're a really nice person Gina!
I think it is cool that you take the time to get know people. So many others just pass through without noticing what and who is going on around them.
Love that term..."going native". I might even look that way now.
Nothing means more to me than making a "connection" with someone. I am blessed to be an annoying question asker and listener. I'd rather talk about others than myself so it works for me. Thanks for your compliment. Means a lot!
It's very important to me to take the time to make these connections. If you don't have your eyes and your heart open, you'll miss a whole bunch. It's the beauty of this life!
sounds like an amazing trip and you connected with special people. leaving when there was love is never easy.
It has been awesome. On a different island, doing different things and the people are nice but not quite the same as Nevis. You got it right, Ed...leaving when there was love is super hard but worth it.
Post a Comment