Somewhere between The Lion King and Hotel Rwanda


Recently I was out doing a day hike with some friends, and while many of them know about current day to day things in my life, few of them really know the layers beyond what’s present so when one of the individuals brought up what they imagined in their brain when they perceived what my life was while in Africa, I was somewhere between curious and ready for what would be said. I have heard a variety of things in my life and am now rarely shocked by people’s comments or perceptions.

The person mentioned the Lion King and in the moment I neither agreed or disagreed. I just waited for the conversation to continue, die out, or shift (probably as I have many times). The conversation continued as another person mentioned “or Hotel Rwanda” and while this was not profound in the moment, days later it lingered.

When I become curious as to why the conversation lingered, I think perhaps it was because it spoke to the two extremes and gave consideration to the other side or another way it could have been. Maybe even creating a “maybe not……..maybe it was more like this moment”.

Two extremes. Two different perceptions of what Africa could be like. Neither one of them completely true to my experience and neither one of them completely untrue. While I won’t list out all the things that resonate from each movie, what I will share today is just one tiny part of what was something familiar to me while living abroad. 

We called it harmattan and it is when a dry wind blows from the Sahara desert south and over West Africa. This typically occurred between December to February and could be measured by whether we could see the mountains behind our house or not. It also brought cooler temps (by that I mean maybe 65 F. in the early AM hours), and a layer of dust to cover everything. 

While not the glamorous animal kingdom of the lion king or the traumatic reality of hotel Rwanda, it was just one aspect of life. Perhaps such a reminder of the complexity of life. 

 


Location: Togo

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