Monday, November 26, 2012

greece: out of toilet paper.


MYKONOS-- okay, story time.

after hopping off a very crowded flight to mykonos, greece--i had to take a quick detour to the ladies room. which--as all ladies restrooms worldwide usually do--had a lengthy line going out the door. and obviously, only two stalls.

not a problem.

the line worked its way up and finally the stall in front of me opened--out came a cute little japanese lady.

she stopped in front of the stall pointing at me--then the stall--saying toilet and then something in japanese. she proceeded to hold out a little stack of tissue paper and smile.

at this point, i finally had caught on that the stall was out of toilet paper and she was offering me tissue.

i was completely entertained by this situation. we both shared a laugh and smiling back, i accepted the tissue and nodded. thank you.

followed by more japanese words, which i am assuming meant you're welcome.

i then took my turn in the stall, and when coming out--took the stack of tissue paper and with a smile, offered it to the next woman standing in line--who happened to be french.

using my hand motions to relay to her, no toilet paper--i pointed back to the stall and held up the tissue.

though she also seemed confused at first, she then laughed and graciously accepted the offering.

merci. 

not sure why this situation stood out to me, but upon leaving the restroom i immediately relayed the experiences to my husband. explaining that it was not only comical but 'special' in a very odd-circumstanced kind of way.

not one of us spoke the same language.

and we all came from different countries, backgrounds, cultures, and experiences.

yet, it was a comically humbling moment. a lesson of human nature really. that no matter the barriers, we can all share out of the goodness of hearts--and can all laugh about such a light-hearted situation.

we're all just people. travelling has opened my eyes to the fact that even though certain cultures, traditions, and ways of life may be foreign to me--it is home to someone else. home--where they find their warmth, happiness, and protection.

just like the beautiful west coast beaches lined with strip malls and majestic utah mountains towering over a chick-fil-a are home for me. :)

"a nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people." -gandhi

*picture from our first day on the island of mykonos (greek isles)

1 comment:

  1. So glad you are keeping up with a blog! Love the Greece photo. So beautiful!!

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