Human Connections
Real moments between people living abroad: a stranger who helped, a friend you lost touch with, someone you wish you had spoken to.
We screamed at a frog on the ridge walk and were told we are the guests
A frog the size of a dinner plate was sitting in the middle of the Campuhan Ridge Walk at dawn. Four of us walked up to it in single file and screamed in four different languages at exactly the same time. The frog did not move. A woman in a running vest said, he lives here, we are the guests. We all bowed a little and...
Missed connectionYour fish was telling everyone its life story, Morning Market
You were walking through the Morning Market at 7.15 holding a plastic bag with a live fish in it, and the fish was clearly telling everyone its life story. I was two steps behind with a baguette. At the corner you turned and said, he is not happy. I said, no, he is not. You said, supper. We went in opposite directions....
A chance meetingThe lizard and the man with the broom reached an understanding in Lamai
A monitor lizard climbed out of a drain on the main road in Lamai at noon on Monday, crossed the road at its own speed and sat down in front of a shop. A man with a broom stood facing it. Neither of them moved for ten minutes. A line of scooters formed behind the lizard and nobody honked. When the lizard finally turned...
Missed connectionYou: soaked. Me: also soaked. Dragon Bridge
The dragon on the Dragon Bridge breathed water instead of fire and caught us both from the side, a perfect soaking, you and me at the rail with our mouths open. We looked at each other, dripping. You said, it is an honour. I said, it is an honour. We stood there another full minute because leaving seemed rude. Then we...
Missed connectionAre you still feeding the squirrels with that tiny spoon?
On a Sunday around 3pm you sat on a bench in Łazienki Park with a small paper bag and a very small spoon, feeding the squirrels one hazelnut at a time, like a restaurant. The squirrels were queueing. There was order. I was walking past with a cold coffee and I realised I had been in a worse queue that morning. You look...
Missed connectionLong story, you said about the toaster on the Pacific Beach boardwalk
You walked past me on the Pacific Beach boardwalk on Sunday morning carrying a surfboard under one arm and a toaster under the other, completely calm. I said, long story? You said, long story. I said, I have time. You said, no you do not. You were right. I have thought about the toaster for two weeks. I have not found...
Missed connectionWho walks down a Kensington street in shorts in this cold?
You walked down a Kensington street at minus eighteen in shorts and a cap with a very small coffee and the expression of a man who had made a decision. A woman on a bench saluted. A driver honked once, gently, in respect. I was in three layers and a scarf, hurt by my own weakness. You nodded at me like you understood....
Missed connectionDear howler monkeys, thank you for making me late to work
A troop of howler monkeys crossed the road in Tamarindo at eight in the morning and you got out of your car and stopped traffic with both arms, very official, like a crossing guard. A bus waited. A truck waited. I was in the truck. The last monkey took its time. You waved us on with a small bow. I was twelve minutes la...
Missed connectionWho bows last when you both want the last mango?
We both reached for the last mango at Hoi An Central Market at the same time, and our hands arrived together. You pulled back and bowed. I pulled back and bowed. We did this three more times, each bow a little deeper, until the seller took the mango and ate it herself. You were laughing so hard that you had to hold the...
Missed connectionHow long did it take you to walk on hot black sand barefoot?
You crossed the black sand at El Tunco at noon in bare feet and total calm, while the rest of us hopped from one patch of shade to another like startled birds. I was the one with sunscreen on my ears only. You nodded at me, kindly, and kept walking. I have been practising for three weeks. I can now stand on one spot fo...
Missed connectionWhere was that wooden door going on the Canggu road?
You went past me in Canggu on a Tuesday afternoon on a scooter carrying an entire wooden door, upright, at about forty. Every dog on the road turned its head. I was walking with a smoothie and I stopped drinking it. The door wobbled once at the roundabout and kept going. A man next to me said, it is fine, it is always...
Missed connectionYou: trombone case and oranges on the Blue Line. Me: across the aisle
You stood on the Blue Line at rush hour holding a trombone case and a bag of oranges, as if there were no other way to travel. When the train jerked, the trombone case leaned on a man in a suit, who held it steady the rest of the way without speaking. Nobody said a word. You got off at Logan Square. The man in the suit...
Missed connectionEveryone on the F train made room for your cake
You sat on the F train at rush hour on Tuesday holding a full white cake in a box on your lap, with your whole body, like a person on a mission. Nobody bumped you. Every passenger made a small invisible circle around that cake. I held a pole and a very particular fear that someone would sneeze. At Delancey you got off...
Missed connectionHow did you climb Camelback at noon in July in jeans?
You climbed Camelback Mountain at noon in July wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt and a very calm face, passing people in neon shorts. A woman beside me whispered, he must know something. A ranger watched with her mouth open. I hope you knew something. I hope you carried water. I hope you are well. I did the same t...
Missed connectionYou in the chicken costume at Parque de las Palapas
You were dancing in a full chicken costume under the string lights at Parque de las Palapas, to a song that nobody could name, with a seriousness I found deeply moving. I was eating an elote and started to cry a little. When the song ended you bowed. A family clapped. I asked who the costume was for and you said, the c...
Question for localsDoes anyone actually get by with a car in Mexico City now?
I grew up here, left for years, and came back. I remember the noise, the traffic and the paperwork for everything, and I remember that the plate rule keeps your car off the road on some days. Now I live in Narvarte and I keep being told to buy a used car. The Metro is crowded but it works, and I am not sure the car is...
Missed connectionYou skated past with a guitar and a dog in a basket and nobody looked twice
You skated down the Venice Beach boardwalk in the late afternoon playing a small guitar, with a very small dog riding in a basket on the front of your belt, and nobody looked twice. I was eating an orange. I looked twice. Then three times. You nodded at me like a colleague and rolled on into the sun. That is how you ma...
Missed connectionWas the cactus in your bicycle basket consulted?
You pedalled through Tulum Pueblo one Wednesday morning with a full sized cactus in the front basket, wobbling, with a look that said I know what I am doing. I was outside a shop holding a coconut. I wanted to ask where the cactus was going. I also wanted to ask whether the cactus had been consulted. You went around th...
Missed connectionThe donkey ignored the tour group, and so did you
You were leading a donkey carrying firewood down a cobblestone street in Centro one morning, and a tour group stopped to take pictures. The donkey ignored them. You ignored them. A tourist asked how old the donkey was and you said, older than you, with total calm. I was across the street laughing so hard I had to lean...
Missed connectionYou said good morning to an iguana and waited for an answer
On a Tuesday around 7am on the Malecon you were jogging when an iguana the length of a skateboard stepped out in front of you. You stopped, took off your headphones and said, good morning, with real warmth. The iguana did not answer. You waited anyway, for what I counted as eleven seconds. I was on a bench with a coffe...
Overheard"It is the closest, the others are better"
At Playa Norte a visitor asked the man renting out chairs, "Is this the best beach on the island?" He thought about it properly. "It is the closest," he said. "The quiet beach on the other side is better, and the cliff at the south end is worth the ride, but you need a cart for both." The visitor wrote nothing down. I...
A chance meetingA man told the turtle at Playa Norte that it was rude
A sea turtle was resting in the shallows at Playa Norte and a crowd stood in a perfect semicircle, all holding their phones at the same angle, like a very serious ballet. Nobody spoke. The turtle blinked once, turned around and swam off without a nod. The semicircle exhaled together. A man behind me said, well, that wa...
Missed connectionTrumpet player on the Metro, what was in the sandwich?
You sat on the Metro early on Monday with a trumpet case across your knees and a sandwich the length of your forearm, and you ate it slowly, with total focus, like a person at a concert. I was standing beside you holding a plant. We looked at each other once. It was a look of deep mutual respect. You got off at Insurge...
Missed connectionDear person in the hammock, can I join next time?
You had tied a hammock between two parked golf carts near the plaza on a Sunday afternoon and were reading an actual paperback with your feet up, like it was a living room. Nobody said anything. A policeman walked past and nodded respectfully. I stood there with a bag of mangoes feeling like I had missed a memo. Other...
