THIS SPOT RESERVED.
Our special guest blogger is Lisa Joo. We've all been anxious to hear from her and now we can.
Joining us for this special event are Lance Armstrong, Sandra Day O'Connor, Celine Dion, Leslie Nielsen, David Suzuki, Valerie and Nerissa, Donovan Bailey and his namesake Donovan the Turtle, Bob Vila, Tom Servo, Imaginary Billy, Kate Hudson and Jesse Ventura.
Lisa, please come to the comment area to address us. Right this way. Thank you.
posted by d~ at
3:34 AM
6 Comments:
Thank you for taking the time to be with us here, Lisa. Welcome back.
To start with, could you tell us a little about your recent trip to Africa?
*clearing my throat nervously as I look at the impressive and eclectic collection of guests, particularly d~ *
ahem... Well. I am here to tell you that the people I worked with thought it was absolutely hilarious that I had this strange habit of "jogging" for exercise. I wondered at their lithe strong bodies and wondered what kept them that way. Quickly I learned.
They run or walk places rather than driving, they wash their laundry by hand, they carry wood and they row little boats to the market. From the market, they carry back to the boats their heavy sacks of flour and other necessities. Their bodies are strong from working.
I sheepishly confessed that my husband and I had recently taken a "Learn to Run" course and they laughed and laughed at the concept of paying money to be taught how to run, one of the most natural things in the world.
After I was there for four days I stopped jogging because I realised that it was unnecessary there. Instead, I did the things they were doing: rowing; carrying; washing; digging... and now I understand how luxurious our lives in N.A. really are. Having to exercise on purpose because we have machines to do all our manual labour must be the greatest and most ridiculous luxury we have achieved.
Hi Lisa, welcome back!
I've always thought exactly that. Especially power weight lifters whose muscles are not only grossly exaggerated, but totally unnatural. It seems incredibly silly to "work" ones body artificially and then ease into a luxury car to drive home. We have an absurd society in so many ways, not the least of which is that manual labor is looked down upon in most quarters, sadly.
I'd like to know where in Africa you were as I've always longed to go there.
Thank you, SanFran, it's nice to be home! I was in a small town called Narok, in Kenya, about halfway between Nairobi and Tanzania, doing volunteer work with teachers. It was a strange mix of some semi-modern tourist attractions and a lot of old Massai traditional culture... an amazing experience. Readjusting to my timezone and the horrifying reflection in my mirror after eight weeks mirrorless has also been amazing, but in a different way.
I've always kind of suspected that movies featuring plane crashes in the jungle, desert, etc. in which the actresses remain perfectly coiffed and made up throughout were somehow inauthentic.
People are a lot more real in such places than our culture encourages.
I admire and envy you the opportunity to go there and help people. The beautiful Massai have a very old and spiritual tradition. An amazing experience for sure.
Lisa, Donovan is interested in hearing about any wildlife you might have seen. Do you have anything to share on that topic?
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