Not so long ago I used to dread every moment spent in an airport. Flying never made me feel very good physically to start with.I always seemed so drained after traveling even short distances because the majority of travelers always seemed expel this rude energy at each other especially in airports; people were constantly competing against the "fact” that one person’s destination always seemed to be more important then anthers.
Now, I love being in mostly.
As I am writing this I am in Addis Ababa airport, which I now know is in Ethiopia. I am here on a long layover headed back to Bangkok to run a program I have been working on for a long time with such gifted international team. I am excited to get there, but being here now is just fine too.
It’s comical really how when I settled in on the plane here the Ebola check card required me to write which country my layover was in and I just didn’t know. So, I humbly asked my neighbor, Anna. She told me all about this town Addis Ababa where she was born. She flawlessly pulled out the highlights of the the people who made up the communities that helped to make her. She explained the profound meaning and appreciation of the foods, the struggles the culture has encountered over the years and how many times they felt such disconnection to the rest of the world.
As importantly to the past of Ethiopia, she discussed how these struggles of poverty and famine have continued to define this country of wonders for the rest of the world despite their recent growth.
She talked about the lions here with black manes that live in jungles, showed me pictures of some of the worlds most magnificent waterfalls and bragged about the jewelry that is undoubtably meticulously hand crafted with high levels of skill. Traditionally and even today Ethiopians wear these beautiful white linens- dresses lined with rainbow patterns. My time with her on a plane ride taught me more then I could ever hope for in days of reading. This is often true for me. The more I live the more I realize I don't know much of anything in the grand universal scheme of things, and I think that's pretty amazing in itself.
In Addis Ababa the air was crisp when I walked off the plane across the lined concrete to customs and memories of American autumns flooded my mind and made me smile. Interesting how far away I can be from there and so quickly return in my thoughts.
Instead, I find hallways where people only walk through and near to where they get off the plane and enter all the shops. Now, instead of being consumed by the waiting areas and impatiently waiting my flight too, I watch people walk in so many different ways. I watch how fast they are moving, or how slow. I guess if I can tell the emotions of people. I wonder where they are going and why. I think about all the pain that must exist in some travel, going to funerals from sudden deaths that came too early but, also the massive excitement that comes to some from knowing they are about to explore the unknown and that vacation is so close to your reach. I can see nervousness since most times traveling somewhere new it is expected you are not sure what will come next. I can see who trusts in the process, who is worried about the process, and who is re-planning the processes because of flight changes and visas that aren’t being approved. I talk to the the amazing locals who work at the bars and restaurants. They are always so kind. I look for dolls for my grandmother to add to her collection- I dream about how much she will love them and how much more I wish I could find for her if only I had enough time to leave the airport. I look at the beaded dresses for little ones and think about what mine will look like someday, and how I hope they aren’t so white since the sunburn is a strong memory of my childhood past.
These airports now are places where I can “be.”
They are incubators that push me to process where I am coming from. They are spaces that give me the time to think about what kinds of things I just experienced.
They give me time to sleep.
And right now at this Ethiopian restaurant while I am watching a futbol match with an old man laughing at the obviousness of the fake flowers on the table- I realize airports have become an new place for me. Airports have become a container I can stay in and observe the world in all of it’s many forms for awhile. In all the exploring I do, just as much happens here. As I have begun treat the space so differently, people seem kinder these days as well. I wonder if they are different, if the world is becoming more humane like that they say or if I am just being more humane and open. I wonder often if I am changing, or the world is. No matter what the truth is, I am glad I can reimagine my life in airports…… and reimagine my life everywhere else if something isn't working for me.
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