The Adventures of Nic

The scent of Africa

Now that I've unpacked my boxes from the UK, I have access to my perfumes again. :D This morning I pulled out Jasmine essence, which I purchased in Tunis. It's amazing how scents can take you back to a time and place. I remember that bustling market, where B and I pushed through crowded, smelly streets and tunnels, where I was groped, where we had the most interesting food, where stray cats roamed and we bargained for silver bracelets that I later gave to my sisters.

Tunisia, land of sun, desert and majestic beauty. The memories I have from that place are some of the most incredible of my life. Whenever I watch STAR WARS, I find it both amazing and hard to believe that I have actually been to those places!

I truly am blessed, to have been given the opportunities that I have.

For so many, remote areas of Africa are the 'impossible dream', and yet we did it, armed with dodgy instructions printed off from the internet, a hire car that looked like it was going to fall apart, and a whole lot of grim determination.

Even when we managed to get bogged on the sand flats of Luke Skywalker's house, as the sun was setting (if only it had been twin suns), it was amazing! Oh, the memories.... And poor B, I don't think he quite realised what a crazy/obsessive fangirl I was until that trip. I dragged him from one end of the country to the other and he didn't complain even one bit.

I remember the first night in Africa, where I leaned out of my hotel room window and just BREATHED. I was so excited. The air held a hint of the exotic, it was warm, it was delicious, it was foreign yet familiar (the books I'd read came flooding back to me) and I stood there and stared at the stars and grinned.

And of course, I'm missing B again. So many exciting things are happening lately. I'm meeting new people, planning new things, and it makes me quite sad that he's not part of that. You can't forget someone so easily and I still think, "I can't wait to tell him this!" I can only hope and pray that one day I will again. But how far can your lives diverge and you still have that 'understanding' that only years of friendship brings?

posted by Nic @ 11:43 AM