The stately essence of being
The lightning played tag with the palm trees in the distance before ripping apart the sky and letting loose the rains...
Tropical thunderstorms are gorgeous, especially after a day scorched by the spinning sun. It hit me as I watched the rain from the Temerloh bus station, waiting to connect to Jeremut, that I've got my travel mojo back. I lost it for a little while, settling in Vietnam, but after a couple of days on the road, it came back. And it seems like...
I have all the time in the world. The sights and sounds... they don't come to me suddenly -- they wrap around slowly until the brain pops with ideas and thoughts are strung along like tracks curving round the bend. It reminds me of when I was growing up, when Dad used to conserve energy bills in the winter by layering us with blankets instead of turning on the heat.. and the creeping warmth that comes over the body, the slow tingle, the gradual awareness of our own bodies against something unseen but singularly felt as the blanket is wrapped around... that's how sights and sounds appear on the road.
Vietnam is losing its luster the more I interact with Malaysia. The people here are extremely kind-hearted. Where in Vietnam, I feel like each person is playing a joke on me, internally mocking me with each conversation (it shows in their smirk) – here, smiles are genuine. Help is freely given without an expectation of reciprocal payment. And where Vietnam bustles with the wheelings and dealings of a newly opened economy, where its people hustle to make a buck after decades under Communism, in Malaysia, the people move at a more stately pace.
Women wrapped in shawls smile with their eyes, and men in flowing robes and skullcaps nod and strike up leisurely conversation with the outsider. They are genuinely pleased to hear me butcher their language. And I've encountered more times here where people undercharge me than I've experienced 5 months in Vietnam. Yeah, the country has growing fundamentalism in the north, but if this is representative of a country with a dominant Muslim population, then the Western media is doing a great disservice to a religion by brandishing to their viewers only fanatics.
The rain came and went quickly. The breeze picked up, and the moon slid out with the night's translucence. Hopefully the leeches won't come out after the rains, but for now, I really wanna hug the world.
you are.
Posted by: kdawg | May 15, 2006 at 09:55 PM