Montreal said it’s unique goodbye to me. In between lunch an dinner dates with friends, I bumped in to every other acquaintance that I hadn’t yet seen, and some that I already had! A day of releasing positive energy into the world and literally seeing it bounce right back at me. Even strangers struck up engaging, non-threatening random conversation. Just magic…
As I am now very used to doing, my life has been squished into to a large (extremely heavy) pack and a small backpack, and with it I jumped on another long-distance redeye greyhound (never a sensible idea). I have landed in Baltimore to a massive culture shock. Once I emerged from my house from the first time, I was privy to a drug bust two doors down. Abandoned buildings everywhere, kids generally hanging in the streets all day long. Just a tiny snapshot, but enough to surface many questions about Life in America.
In the way that life throws you opposing things in the same handful, amongst this sea of twisted logic, a bonding and intriguing human connection landed in my lap (or in the seat next to me on the bus). I didn’t sleep a wink in the 3-7am stint of the trip as I was drawn in to an intense and spiritual conversation with a complete stranger – an old man with whom I established an instant connection, and who filled me ideas and seeds for my time in America and beyond. The hope for our species definitely lies within the human connection. I will certainly keep in contact with him, though through hand-written mail, as he doesn’t even deal with computers!