etnobofin

Paul Simon – How Can You Live in the Northeast?
From Surprise: Warner [Buy]

Te aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata he tangata he tangata.
What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.
- Maori proverb

Sometimes a journey takes you completely beyond your regular sphere and put the rest of your life in perspective.

When I booked my flights, a dash across the Atlantic just for the weekend seemed pretty crazy, not to mention ecologically unsound. But a few days in New Hampshire more than compensated for the cost and discomfort of coach class on American Airlines.

It’s really hard to put the journey into words, so laziness dictates some bullet point highlights instead:

• the first time the evil triplets have all been in the same room together
• Rushan becoming a Reverend
• Arushini, Constance, Byron and Will becoming Facebook Friends
• gratuitously large icecream sundaes
• gratuitously large burgers with the archbishop
• gratuitous amounts of Sri Lankan takeaways smuggled overland from Toronto
• gratuitous amounts of energy
• squelching snow, scaring seagulls
• playing jazz with Nick, Charlie and Nate
• sitting in the same pew as Abraham Lincoln
• cowering speechless in the kitchen for half an hour while Sri Lankans enthusiastically greet each other

Now back in England, normal life hits again with a violent bump. I’m confident I don’t need to eat for a week. But, maybe a little like Tash, I’m left longing and yet satisfied.