Girls Visit: Photos with Strangers
It’s been a while since I’ve written; our daughters were here for a three-week visit, and our days together were packed with fun, adventures, long talks, and hugs. Our time together as a family provided lots of material for blog posts, but little time or concentration to write. Now I’ll catch up on some of the highlights.
Our girls’ visit had, for them, some interesting dimensions: Traveling to a new, unfamiliar place and finding it “home” for their parents. Being plopped down in a different culture and then greeted by neighbors as though they were long-lost relatives. Meeting strangers who speak an incomprehensible language and learning those strangers are “family” to their parents. Not many of their peers experience this kind of travel!
With an Indian family in Jaipur
As we took our daughters to the local tourist sites, it didn’t take long for Anna to become a minor celebrity. Despite her efforts at keeping a headscarf on, her golden hair drew attention and her friendly smile invited interaction. At almost every stop, she was asked by locals to pose for photos with them, as though she were a movie star! Meanwhile, our younger daughter Mary managed to stay on the sidelines, as her dark hair and eyes enabled her to almost blend in with the crowd.
With a Gujjar woman in the mountains
At first, all this photo-snapping was amusing, but soon we realized that we would need an extra hour at every stop if it kept up… not to mention the possibility of a photo of our daughter ending up on the internet where it shouldn’t be. So we started turning down the photo requests. But looking back, I feel happy to think of our daughter’s warm smile showing up in family photos all over the world. After all, part of our family story is making a home for ourselves on any continent, and including people from any culture in the circle of our love.
Posted in Uncategorized by Lisa