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I’m back from Africa — physically, at least.
Mentally, I’m still floating somewhere over Dakar. The potent combination of jetlag and unprocessed emotion is making it very difficult to commit to that last leap over the Atlantic. I was only gone two weeks, but it felt like months. Like an alternate timeline, with extra days slipped between seconds.
Like Narnia, but with smoke, orphans, and red dirt.
It’s not that time dragged. Every minute was full, from the dark blue hour before sunrise when the overachieving rooster would start his business, to the hour after dinner, when a casual conversation with the program founder would reveal an unexpected, mind-blowing twist. For the first time in 15 years, I wore a watch, only to look at it in amazement as I went to bed at 7:30, exhausted.
At least twice each day, as Ryan and I were painting a mud brick wall Bermuda blue, we would look to each other and say, “Hey, do you remember when…”
Inevitably, we were referring to something that had happened just the day before.
Like all great trips, so much had happened so fast that it became difficult to keep events straight. More than that, the Now was so overwhelming, so emotionally dangerous, that there wasn’t an opportunity to process. I’ve never kept a journal, but for the first time I found myself making bullet points of the day’s events, just to clear them off my mental blotter. Like a to-do list in reverse.
I’m working to get photos up on Flickr, but in the meantime, I’ll offer one short video clip. No single example is going to sum up the whole experience, but this gives some sense of why I’m still somewhat stuck in Malawi.
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July 14th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Wow. 30 seconds and I’m already overwhelmed. I can’t imagine the power of two weeks.
July 14th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
You’ve piqued my interest. Can’t wait to hear more. And welcome back.
July 14th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
My first time in Africa was in 2000, a leap of faith to go live with my parents in Nairobi, Kenya for 6 months. I’ve never stopped being changed by that experience.
I’ve only made it back once since, to Tanzania for 6 weeks in 2005 as part of a consortium of educator types wanting to build online university bridges between us. It was equally challenging, memorable, moving, no-words-to-describable.
I once heard that us westerners, upon trekking to Africa, join a secret club, especially when one goes for more than just a vacation and safari. Welcome to the secret club. There’s no words used in the secret club. It’s just the spirit of Africa that is with you and stays with you from here on. When secret club members see each other, they don’t even have to talk. They can just nod, knowing that each other has known Africa and carry it in their hearts ever since.
nod
July 14th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
i’ve been reading your blog for awhile now, kind of in the shadows…and honestly i’ve been thinking of you more as a scriptwriting guru than a human being.
that said, this post kicked me in the face. i’ve been to africa twice now (ethiopia and kenya), and i’ve experienced the nearly unintelligible emotions that your video clip alludes to. the singing is so beautiful. and haunting. they make so much of so little. i absolutely love africa.
thanks for reminding me that we’re all human. and thanks for putting into words (at least a little bit) what i cannot.
July 14th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Hey John. This is not pertinent to innards of the post per se, but it struck me precisely because of the situation you are jotting these words in: you are undoubtedly a gifted writer.
I wish I was anywhere as eloquent on my best writing days as you are when jet-lagged and emotionally raw. I look forward to hearing more about your trip once you’ve had a chance to decompress.
July 14th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
What a nice clip. I thought the music was a track laid over the footage until the pan revealed all the little singing passengers.
Welcome home.
July 14th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Thats right! So fantastic. Welcome back to LA; Im prepping for my own month long trip to Turkey and India… Can’t wait. I still have to find the culture of LA… its probably, entirely my fault that I haven’t but thats the honest truth. Other than “work-hard, earn-lots”, Im a little lost in this city.
July 14th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Welcome back, John! We’ve missed you.
July 15th, 2007 at 2:53 am
Welcome back…
I look forward to reading more about your trip - I spent 3 years in the mid-80s as a child living in Malawi (my Dad’s company sent him out there), and, while I haven’t been back since, some of my earliest memories were from out there (we left England when I was, I believe, about 4…)
July 15th, 2007 at 5:32 am
Welcome home! I myself am a photo enthusiast and would love to spend time photographing africa. I imagine though, the pictures could not fully express the personal feeling you come away with. I hope one day to go there! I also have a flickr account! I will add you. Look forward to your new posts! -Calvin
July 15th, 2007 at 7:25 am
John,
Did you ever learn what is was that the children were singing? That sounded like one of the happiest songs I’ve ever heard, and yet I have no idea what their words actually meant…
Fantastic video.
July 15th, 2007 at 11:37 am
The video is beautiful. Thank you for sharing it.
Welcome back.
July 15th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
I love the passion with which the little girls sing.
Great shot. Hey John, are you a Director?
July 15th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
John,
Glad you made it back. I don’t want to sound like a kiss ass but what you did is so great. I wish more people in the world were as thoughtful and motivated as you.
July 15th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Beautiful video…And all along I thought “hollywood people” only cared about themselves. God bless you J.August.
July 15th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
This site is a small, small, small indication of how generous a person you are. The fact that you take time out of your life to write and read comments to those who offer nothing substantial in return…other than gratitude (which may be substantial in its own right)…but, it goes to follow that you would continue that trait and take the journey from which you’ve just returned.
I’ve said in the past that your generosity on this site is an inspiration to your fellow writers, and now I say that your trip (and the amazing video) is an inspiration to to your fellow human beings.
Thank you, RTA
July 16th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Beautiful! I would love to do a project like this, what part of Oxfam did you contact to get this trip up and running? I would be very grateful for any information.
July 16th, 2007 at 4:18 am
Great, now I feel lazy and selfish. Not how I was hoping to spend my Monday morning.
Oh, and you can admit it now John, you went to meet Madonna, didn’t you?
July 16th, 2007 at 4:59 am
Ingrid (#17):
We didn’t go with Oxfam, or any other group, really. It was all arranged through emails. We just bought tickets and showed up.
In doing our research, we found that there are several groups which specialize in “voluntourism,” but FOMO isn’t connected with them at this point. I’ll put up links in future articles.
July 16th, 2007 at 6:05 am
Glad to have you back. Great Video!
July 16th, 2007 at 8:17 am
It may be too early to ask but what’s your take on this Washington Post op-ed piece about the West’s attempts to “save” Africa?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301714.html?referrer=emailarticle
July 16th, 2007 at 9:00 am
We just had an email from our son, Tom, who is working with FOMO in Malawi, with his girlfriend Sally. He mentioned he’d met you and so we googled your name and found your blog. Watching the lovely video gave us a wonderful snapshot of what Tom and Sally are experiencing at the moment - just one question - Sal is in the minibus with the kids - is Tom on top of the laundry in the other truck?
July 16th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Penny and Eddie (#22):
Congrats on having a great son. I probably shouldn’t narc on Tom, but yeah, he’s riding in that pickup truck.
I’m putting up a huge batch of photos tomorrow, so you’ll see him and Sally.
July 16th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Thanks for sharing, John. Truly. You managed to capture much of the surreal time shift I experienced in India recently, especially the “days slipped between minutes” comment. So much to savor, so much to share … and only so much captured in still shots or in bullet point journal notes. I’m heading to Egypt in a few months; pen, camera, heart poised ….
Tina
July 17th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Love to read experiences like that. I now live in Armenia, Colombia and without a lot of excesses. 5 years ago, anything that didn’t fit into 2 check-ins and a carry-on was donated. The real adventure is now, you’re back. Go to a Walmart (or whatever you have on that coast) or some other place where all the fatties bitch and moan about how they have it so bad in life. It’ll be real shocking, I do it every year when I go back to visit my folks. I just stare and have trouble figuring out what’s going on. Not because of the movement nor amount of people, rather the amount of excess and exageration that is in the U.S.
Glad to hear it was positive.
July 18th, 2007 at 4:56 am
Fantastic shots of your time in Malawi. I am Tom’s Aunty Rachel and due to poor communication have not been able to get in touch with Tom and Sally since they went off on their trip. Your pictures have given a great insight into what they are a part of. Cheers for that. Rachel.
July 18th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Really very moving and engagingly made too. Hard to settle down to cranking out genre scripts after this. Think I’ll take the day off. You’ve earned it!
Sanjay
July 20th, 2007 at 12:58 am
Thanks for the photos, John.
Every time I look on this site I find something that either makes me feel excited or wish I was there myself, or both.
As for Tom, he does seem to have turned out to be a fairly decent chap, although quite how it happened remains a mystery to me to this day.
Is it OK to copy the photos or do I need permission?
ed
July 22nd, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Penny and Eddie (#28):
By all means grab the photos. That’s what they’re there for.