Rainbow nation

The first impression you gather about anything is telling. It takes a fraction of a second to form that impression. It is almost always right and often you can't explain why that is your impression until you can gather more information.

I got off the plane in cape town and took a bus to the central business district (downtown.) On my bus ride, and being able to see the city for the first time, I had a great first impression of this city. I knew that Cape Town is referred to as the mother city and I learned that South Africa is known as the Rainbow Nation. What a perfect name for this place. I found myself thinking about what the Rainbow can represent and how that lends itself to this beautiful city. When I thought about it, it all comes down to one word. Diversity.

The most glaring use of rainbow and speaking of diversity is that of race. The more I have travelled the more it is reiterated that separating/judging/classifying/segregating etcetera on skin color is completely moronic. I won't go into the reasons it is moronic but seeing people who have pigment in all different shades going about their business and living peacefully with one another is so refreshing to see. Especially, when so much media (at least in north America) have so few examples of black people thriving and far too many examples of the effects of marginalization masked as a negative stereotype.

The 'rainbow' also represented itself to me by way of art. The visual art was colorful, the music was enchanting, the food was diverse (and the standard of food quality in cape town is amazing). There's a certain vibrancy that is threaded in all forms of art in Cape Town that injects itself into you. I found myself walking with an extra bounce in my step and smiling more often.

Speaking of smiling, the people. The rainbow is a band of color that lights up the sky. The energy of south Africans was the same. I won't turn this into another rendition of my last post detailing the South African smile the way I did about Sri Lanka but what I loved most about was how animated it was. All positive emotions were displayed over the top making it a joy to be around such positive energy. I saw business  women dancing on their way to catch a train while listening to their mp3, children singing and dancing with enthusiasm, and people curl over in laughter on a simple joke. How animated south Africans were was one of the more subtle elements I will remember most about this great city.

My first impression of the city was amazingly accurate and I knew I would like the city before hardly experiencing it. The rainbow nation had opened its arms to me as it has for so many others, making it a world class city. 

Aren't you excited!?

The internet has thousands of useful applications. Not least of which, instant communication to anybody anywhere in the world. On my trip I've been fortunate enough to keep contact with many people both via instant messaging and posting on social media.

'That's amazing' 'so cool' 'I'm so jealous' 'aren't you excited!?!' These are some of the phrases I hear most often. I could take this post several different directions (how not everything is awesome, how there are some really tough days, how I hope that the trip inspires others to accomplish big dreams, how it is difficult to constantly show excitement to people back home while trying to temper that and not sound like I'm hosting a brag-a-thon. I thought I'd use this post to instead talk about what over powers the excitement.

Today I climbed 2 mountains in Cape Town, South Africa. Yes, I was excited to be in Africa and yes, I was thrilled at being at the top of table mountain overlooking the city and vast ocean. The conversation in my mind when experiencing these sorts of moments isn't 'this is so awesome!!!!!' It's actually more like 'I can't believe I'm here.' I've found that I'm more subdued in the best of moments and when I reflect on why, it's because I'm totally humbled by it.

I'm so fortunate to have the opportunities I have. Again, yes I've set out to realize this dream of travelling and yes I've worked hard at attaining it but there is so much that I can't control that makes it possible.

Time: for my grandparents to do this trip at my age would have been completely different. Lack of flights, more expensive, fewer resources, etc. I happen to live in an era when traveling is easier than ever.

Money: I can afford to travel. Not because I'm making some sort of ridiculous salary but more becaue I happen to be living in Canada (and a white male). By that alone I have more money than someone living in a developing nation. I'm not working any harder. In fact, there's a good chance I'm not putting in the hours and strain as someone else. I'm not any more intelligent. I just happen to be in a position to have more opportunities by simple virtue of where I was born.

Able: I am able bodied, of a sound mind, and in good health. There is nothing holding me back from physically accomplishing the act of travelling.

Time, again: I very purposely set out on my mega trip at this time in my life. I dont have a mortgage and I don't have kids. I am done school and work full time. I am fortunate that my employer allowed me the time off work so I wasn't faced with the choice of quitting. Many people have more obstacles to overcome. Not to say that they can't be overcome, but my situation involved less obstacles.

It is not lost on me that the trip I am currently on is absolutely amazing. I actually hope to inspire people to take on their big life goals in doing this trip. That said, it isn't all roses and many elements that are out of my control enable me to achieve this goal. It's not that I'm not thrilled and excited to be doing it. I'm humbled by the fact that I am lucky enough to do it, to have the opporrtunuty to do it, to be able to achieve the dream that nestled itself in my mind so many years ago. I am humbled. 

The worst teeth. The best smiles

The English are known for their bad teeth. Many jokes are made about the distinct visual that is a bad British mouth. In my travels I've seen some bad teeth and some trends of bad teeth but nothing compares to Sri Lanka. As a nation, and speaking in generalizations, no country has worse teeth than Sri Lanka.

The epitome of the bad Sri Lankan mouth has a horrendous overbite, multiple teeth missing, the remaining teeth crooked, and grotesquely discolored. It can be a bit distacring to look at and slightly uncomfortable, until the smile.

A smile is much more than corners of the mouth doing a small curve. The energy and love behind that curve of lip, the emotion that fills a person's eyes, and body language that defines the smile all go into the experience of receiving the smile. Nobody gives better smiles than Sri lankans.

Most places in the world that give a traveller a smile is simply a courtesy, a basic acknowledgement of existence. In India, the smile went one step further and was more good natured. But, the Indian smile had a slight twinge of humor to it. As though the Indian smiling is laughing that you're there in that moment and in their country. The Sri Lankan smile is totally open and filled with love. The smile says 'you are welcome here' and 'I'm happy to see you.' Think about that. When was the last time you saw a smile that said 'I am happy to see you.' Not often does a smile come off so welcoming, especially when you don't know the person.

An example.

We got on one of several local busses we have taken in Sri Lanka to see that all the seats were taken and only 2 people were left with no choice but to stand. Well on me and my friend walk, the only white (western) tourists on the bus. I said to my friend "the main attraction to the zoo just showed up." I was leading us down the cramped aisle with my beard in full lusciousness and sporting a sarong like that worn of many local men. I was a sight to be seen and the eyes of the bus patrons reflected accordingly. All eyes on this guy! I knew there was no malice in the stares I was receiving so I took it as an opportunity to connect with the people I was sharing the space with, albeit nonverbally. I slowly made eye contact with many of the people on the bus looking upon me and once I had eye contact, using a technique I learned in India and have been working on since, wagged my head.

*The head waggle is used as a form of non verbal communication that typically means casually 'yes' but can also be used as a friendly greeting*

As I worked my way through the people waggling my head and receiving waggles in return I received many great smiles. All the smiles filled with welcoming and warmth. In fact, a number of Sri Lankans offered to get out of their seats for us so that we may sit. We politely declined the offers until seats naturally became available. We felt so welcomed, and this is onto a public bus.

There is no lingering or concealed emotions hiding behind the Sri Lankan smile. It's only ingredients are warmth and welcoming. Is there a better formula for a more endearingly received smile?

Of course, not every single person I've interacted with has been welcoming. Sri Lanka, like anywhere else, has had its travel obstacles and interactions that are in not duh to be replicated. Yet, if we are talking in generalizations about the atrocious condition of Sri lankans oral care then I speak even more strongly about the generalizations of Sri lankans having the absolute best smiles of any nation I've come across.