YA.LEUM 52 — From Hanoi to Buenos Aires: an end and a new beginning
I am sitting on the plane. Yet, I am not ready for departure. I am there and, yet, I am not there.
The plane was mainly filled with Asian faces who were flying to Turkey to continue traveling through Europe.
However, we were going to Argentina. We had a long trip by plane ahead of us, with many stops, before we got to the continent of color, samba, mountains, and football.
The feeling of departure is a mix of a knot in the stomach and an uncontrolled happiness.
Yet, this time, in contrast to what have been happening, I am not traveling alone. Nevertheless, I dived into myself to observe myself from far.
Although I am a person filled with energy, I like to live slowly. I like to eat slowly, observe slowly, listen slowly, and think slowly. I like to give life its own deserved time.
It is a way of honoring what I am living. It is a way of honoring life.
In less than 24 hours, we were going to start living a new life, speaking a new language, experiencing new traditions, and meeting other people.
Suddenly — at least, that was how I felt it — that wonderful Asia was left behind. I felt confused.
How can it be? How am I suddenly starting a new life?
It was as if an unforgettable love relationship was over and, on the next very day, I was finding myself in the arms of another person.
Yet, that is how things are. Sometimes, we need some distance to understand what we lived and how it transformed us.
Mathieu and I talked about the present. There was so much to tell, to analyze, and to process… Yet, my heart was not ready yet.
Nonetheless, I thought about the people I met and how, so far, this was the journey of my life.
The hours passed by, the air hostess kept passing by, I was watching one movie after the other, and sometimes I thought: “I used to dream about traveling to Latin America with someone and here I am, with this man who crossed my path in Thailand. And we are going! We keep traveling, we keep moving…”.
The first stop was in Turkey so that we could exchange planes. Our colleagues from the previous continent were left behind. That was the first bond we cut with Asia.
I was breathless. Everything was happening too fast. Yet, I also felt close to home. It was as if I could take any plane and I would be back in Amsterdam in a second. We were at Europe’s door and everything around us was familiar and, yet, somehow distant.
The next plane was different. People had darker skin, there was no Asian person, and I thought it felt quite unnatural to me. My mind could not yet process the change…
On the second flight, I was more used to it and we made a stop in Panama. I was looking outside and the vegetation was different from everything I was used to far. The flight attendants changed, and for the first time, I heard a “Hola”. The pilot pronounced Panama and my mind smiled. “This quick? Are we already on the other side of the world? So suddenly? What a world we are living today…”
Yet, it seemed like this entire journey has its own reasons and before we arrived in Argentina, we made another stop in Brazil. That was a true stop. Everyone left the plane, except for us.
And that little piece of Europe was left behind forever. In a few minutes, the same plane was filled with an overwhelming joy and noise. They spoke Portuguese, which I so perfectly know, and that always lovely Latin Spanish.
That was when I felt it: it is over. Asia is behind us and it is time to store those stories in our hearts.
Now, a new trip begins. A trip through the South American heat, through the incomparable nature, to hear a language that is so familiar and experience a culture that is as refreshing and vibrant as I hope I am.
We arrived in Buenos Aires at night. Luckily, I had a good friend waiting, who welcomed us in her house filled with music and art, surrounded by a garden where you could see birds singing.
That was how it all started, in a very Argentinian manner.
Sharing a mate, hearing a guitar, and experiencing the energy of those incredibly beautiful, warm and joyful people, the Argentinians.
At night, when I lied in the bed, I noticed how the body travels faster than the mind
Patricia Assis,
January 2018
