Things I've learned

I am back in one piece, safe and sound.

My worries were unfounded.

The people we've met along the way are nothing but amazing.

We had 4 rides from UK to Morocco.

Yes, only 4.

We are a lucky bunch.

Thank you:

Tony Mercer, for bringing us from Coventry to Portsmouth,

Frank Stuart from Le Havre to Poitiers,

Jose from Poitiers to Granada,

Rai Ali from Granada to Tarifa.

These people are truly amazing and genuinely kind.

I am working on a long post about my hitch adventure and you shall see how they have went all the way to help us.

I am seriously tan now. I think I'm at least a shade darker, if not two.

Mama said it's ok, because it's a sign of the wonderful adventure I've had.

Mothers always know the right things to say, don't they?

From the trip...

1. I have become more tolerant of smokers. Cigarette smoke used to bother me a lot. I accepted smoking as a social norm but I felt disappointed when I see friends/people I respect smoke. Right now, it just doesn't seem like a big deal anymore.

I don't know what has changed. Perhaps it has got to do with the drivers who picked us up along the way. 3/4 of them smoked and it doesn't make them less of a good person. They were all wonderful.

2. I realised knowing 3 languages is not a thing to brag about. We met people who know 5 languages. English, French, Arabic, Spanish and Italian. That's amazing! And we realised 'English' is not so international after all. French is a much more useful language at the places we went. 

This trip has triggered my desire to brush up my very rusty French and pick up a new language. It could be anything.. Spanish, Korean, Japanese.. I will make it a point to take up a leisure language course in the next academic year.

In Morocco, I tried writing Jawi for the locals we met on our long train journeys. They seemed very impressed. It was just hard to explain when they asked why couldn't we speak Arabic, when we could write. When I see their nods of approval, it made me feel that learning Jawi was worth it. I am thankful of our education system in Brunei. Way to go!

To be continued..