Person, place, thing

This morning, now that the Kolbs have gone, I could take time to write about Genève and around, about places and things. I could focus my attention on facts and figures. On hyperlinks.

But that would miss the point, wouldn't it? Really, it's about people and relationships. About learning from one another and sharing. About conversing and lending a helping hand. That's where I'll try to focus my attention today.

By now the Kolbs, grandparents and all, are well on their way to Italy. Tomorrow, with any luck I'll be spending the night in Meknès. But for now it is simply quiet. A bright sunshiny day.

I can think back on this last week spent with the Kolbs. The beautiful singing Ruthie, the kids and I heard in John Calvin's cathedral.

The picnic lunch we all shared in a vineyard outside of Russin.

Of course, there was alone time, too. Appreciating how international of a place Geneva is. Home of the WHO, UNHCR, IFRC, etc. (The people from all over the world, speaking languages from Swahili to Vietnamese, dressed in their suites and professional-looking dresses, riding the buses into town to go to work at these places were such a stark contrast to the suped-up UN trucks I saw all over Nepal, in Kathmandu and on half-built roads in the countryside alike.)

Appreciating the Swiss sense of order on roads and hiking trails in the Jura Mountains. (Note: This is not technically an Alpine meadow.)

Simply appreciating being in a European city like Geneva, lions and all...

I've been traveling for nearly two months now. That's a while! It has given me an opportunity to think about my priorities, my values. I can get caught up in details, in information, in trivia. But really, so much of this journey has been about spending time with people: friends, new and old.

I'll fly to Morocco tomorrow afternoon, and take a train into the interior. I'll have a little over a week to eat tajines, practice my Moroccan Arabic, take in the call to prayer. (Incidentally, you can listen to the call to prayer, for example, here. And please don't misunderstand my sharing of this. I'm not Muslim or really even particularly religious. But something about hearing the call to prayer just gets me.)

And in a way I feel like this trip is coming to an end. Before I know it I'll be back home, with good people, yes. But it has been so wonderful to spend this time with my friends who are living for a time in Asia and Europe. That is something I'm truly grateful for.