Pre-departure for my service in Niger was an amazing time, full of revelations and powerful anxieties which I failed to record. I won’t deprive myself or my friends and family of my next service’s pre-departure ruminations, and luckily for you all, they now coincide with brilliant adventures and explorations in Western Europe. This particular entry is a product of Madrid where today I absorbed the fullness of Picasso’s Guernica in person, 15’ by 30’, at the Reina Sofia Museum, as well as Dali’s The Great Masturbator, and many, many others. One other was deep in the dungeonesque basement of the Palace and there was nothing but large iron-looking boxes with metal straps, some 7’ tall and 10’ wide, but when I touched them, they were suede…how peculiar. Thank you, artiste excentrique. Later, I escorted my wonderful, brilliant, and gracious friend Phil to the train station where we ate overpriced baguette sandwiches with jamón Serrano and two insufficient slices of cheese. He departed saying “kala ton ton,” Zarma not for goodbye – but see you soon. Amen to that Phil. I proceeded with my camera and my wallet as my only possessions and took many pictures of passersby, the sunset, and the bustling metro until I was scolded by a security guard. “What’s the difference between looking and taking a picture?” I asked quickly but sincerely. “The difference is you’re not allowed to take pictures.” He responded frankly. I smiled at his honest answer, capped my camera lens and trotted off. I caught a metro with a man playing an accordion. When he held out his change purse for donations I deposited a large green apple (taken from the Starwood Preferred Guest floor of the Westin Palace) and he seemed grateful. In a similar vein, the front desk clerk of the aforementioned hotel, upon hearing my reason for being in Madrid (volunteering in Africa), went on a little rant. “You know, we have this program where we add 1€ to each hotel booking which goes to getting clean water for underdeveloped countries, and you would be so surprised to see how many people in THIS hotel get angry and make me take off the 1€ charge! Sure I work at this expensive hotel, but I have to feed my kids as well.” We sighed together and smiled. So, I bid you not ask where your money is going all the time, realize you can live on very little and be tremendously happy. All the great religions knowingly exhort giving to others, no matter where it’s going. Jesus didn’t ask where someone was going to walk before he washed their feet for free.
And to finish up with a fun fact: the Prophet Mohammed used to say that his three favorite things were: women, perfume (read incense), and prayer. What a guy.
