travels

Last night I was at a friend's house. She and her husband have traveled a lot - they were missionaries for a brief period of time. (Something I have mixed feelings on in general, but that's not the point of this post at all...)

Each room in their house is decorated to subtely represent a different country or region of the world they've been in. Places include the Amazon, Africa, Mexico, China, and Italy. It's done very tastefully, using color schemes and patterns from various countries. They've got a few photos up from these travels in each respective room. And their office is "world headquarters". It's really very cool.

Have you noticed that once someone has visited another country, they need to keep part of that experience with them? I have been in love with Germany ever since I visited in high school. One of my friends spent a semester of college in Jamaica, and he's got a room in his house that features several mementos of his trip. A friend of my mom's visited Israel several years ago. She was Jewish and had always wanted to go. Once there, she said she wasn't coming back - she felt at home with the land. (Eventually her husband and kids got her back, kicking and screaming, I think). The list just goes on and on.

It doesn't seem to matter where we visit. Europe, Africa, South America, wherever. Something about experiencing that culture becomes a part of our character. If you talk to somoene long enough, you will know if they have visited another country, because somehow it will come up. They will have adopted a small mannerism or saying, they'll tell you about something that is better there. It sort of makes me wonder how humans have managed to fight with each other over land and differences for so many centuries when we so obviously can respect each other and learn to enjoy our differences.