troopies, teleporting, death and sunsets

Do you ever wish that other people could see what you're seeing- feel what it's like to do what you're doing even for a few seconds? Sometimes, like this evening, I would love to teleport in my friends so they could share the moment. I reckon one day, instead of logging into someone's profile on Facebook, you'll click on their picture (mentally?!), wait a few moments for their permission to enter (longer if they're on the loo at that precise moment) then the next thing you'd see/hear/feel is whatever moment of their day they happened to be in. Obviously they would have to still be 100% in control- otherwise- Being John Malkovich. i knew I couldn't possibly be having an original idea. not at this stage of the universe. what was I saying? oh yeah- it wouldn't be allowed to compromise who a person is- their individual thougths, actions or decisions. no the idea isn't to tap that- just tap and share the senses. hmmm, imagine the possibilities...

So anyway, this evening I was standing on an open savannah grassland plain, watching a stunning pink and orange sunset smudged with smoke and the fingernail moon gleaming through the silouette of a thorn tree and I thought ' It really doesn't get more stereotypical African than this. Wouldn't it be cool to live in Africa?!' It had been a long day, so my thoughts had fully turned to who I would teleport if I could before I remembered that I DO live in Africa and it would probably be a lot easier to just invite one of my friends to come visit so we could share the regularly spectacular beauty in person.

It was a rough trip home. no street lights. plenty of black cows, black people and black bicycles on a bumpy road with frequent single lane bridges and the odd car not understanding the concept of turning hi-beams down.

It had been a great afternoon though. One of the communal farms that we're assisting is run by a HIV-AIDS Support Group- and what a fantastic bunch of people! Nowhere in my time here have I seen male and female, young and old, educated and un-educated with different tribal languages- all enjoying themselves and treating each other with respect as equals. There's nothing like impending death to level the playing field, get the trivialities of life into perspective. i think these guys have got it right. and when you think about it- we're all facing impending death- we just choose not to think about it. Having spent the afternoon with this bunch- Im thinking maybe we should all think about death more often!

Speaking of death, we all piled into/ on the troopy for the few km drive to the farm. 3 in the front, 3 on top, 14 in the back plus 2 babies and 2 watering cans. We had fun walking around the communal farm, me asking lots of questions, them showing me the different soils, the areas that flood, where it's hard to dig, where the maize was extra big and of course the dreaded termite mounds. The pinned me down for a date for my next visit. It's going to be a whole day and we'll all work together- making an A frame to mark out the contours, incorporating the crop residue and making compost with all the organic matter lying around (and growing 10 foot high!). I look forward to it. On the way home one of the guys insisted that I come and ask questions at his farm too :) hence the opportunity to enjoy the susnset in one of the little visited parts of the country.