Heads swinging around.
Heartfelt smiles.
Waves.
‘Nice to meet you,’ even though we had simply crossed paths.
Giggles. Lots of giggles.
Pointing. Children showing parents; parents showing children.
Universal signals for, ‘Can we take your picture?’
And for the very, very brave attempt at conversation: ‘How are you?’ ‘How old are you?’ ‘Where
are you from?’
The very young, The very old. Grade school children. Teens. Families. A walk through Tibet by a
foreigner gets plenty of attention – kind and generous, warm and inviting curiosity.
I wonder if the reason why has everything to do with the passport. While I know that not
everyone back home has or wants a passport, what if a passport (and therefore any sort of
world travel) were not even an option in your life? What if the only exposure you would ever
have to the world outside of your own slice of life were the tourists who you happened upon?
Suddenly blue eyes are wildly unique.
A round ‘happy Buddha belly’, a good luck charm, must be captured on the family phone.
And that tall, beautiful Indian woman, is the most beautiful model you have ever imagined.
That was us and our Tibetan experience. And while they will have no names, pictures of the five
us will certainly be floating around Tibet for a while.
In a world that struggles mightily with folks who are ‘different’ the people I met along the way,
saw, welcomed, and celebrated those very differences.
Another lesson from the top of the world…
Pastor Leah
PS. We flew out of Tibet this morning and I am now back in Nepal. Thank you for the prayers!
