the other day i was doing homework in a coffee place here (the really yuppie organic fair-trade one frequented by the supposedly "like-minded") and heard the woman next to me mention the gambia. i began eavesdropping shamelessly, only to overhear that she had volunteered there a number of years ago. i did what i never do, and totally interrupted her conversation, and we ended up talking for an hour about the country and the mutual people and places we knew.
the thing is, she hated her time there, and would never go back. she hated the people, the food, the land, everything. she found it incredibly boring (as she does the rest of africa) and has no desire to travel anywhere else on that continent. she moaned about the lack of water, the inability to get nice produce, and that the electricity is the most unreliable in the hottest months.
it was a good conversation, but a little awkward when i said that i miss it so badly and would love to be back there right now. she then made a comment to her coffee companion: "its like a brand new baby duckling that falls in love with everything it sees."
jerijeff(thanks) random coffeeshop lady. you made me remember why i want to get the hell outta canada.
2 comments:
I don't understand people who travel the world expecting it to be just like home (I mean, isn't it not being home the point?).
I have a friend who grew up near Disneyland, insisted on going to Eurodisney when in Paris, and reported back that she just couldn't believe that they didn't have churros--they had crepes. God forbid the French serve crepes!
i want you to stay the hellincanada
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