A New Land and Exotic Faces - Travel Blog to South Africa - Day 1
Today I flew to Qatar, the flight was long but fine as I slept for most of it. I find I really enjoy the experience of flying as it’s so smooth yet at times can be quite bumpy, along with the constant movement you are in until you reach your final destination, so for me this is quite fun. Another interesting point that i found while flying alone is how accentuated my mind is. I have had to face quite strong patterns I have accepted and allowed for a long time, yet because of what I have walked thus far, I am able to move through them and regain my stability to a relatively satisfactory degree for myself using self forgiveness and living words that support me to be stable such as self acceptance, calm, and the word here as breath has been super supportive to become present with myself and the environment I am in. Everyone thus far has been very accommodating and generous that I have interacted with, although the custom agents seem to have been trained to be quite serious because they do not smile at all lol. When I arrived in Qatar, a place I have never been before, it reminded me very much of a foreign place as the garb and landscape is quite different, but everyone was relatively the same, enjoying food, coffee, friends, being glued to cell phones, one thing that i was surprised about is the heat here. It is something i can not describe, it almost felt suffocating, my whole body went into a sweat the moment I stepped outside and this was 6pm at night. Your body must take time to adjust to this type of sudden change if you are coming from anywhere where there is moderate weather patterns because It Is HOT here!
I received a ride from a gentlemen from the airport to a hotel I was staying in for a long layover, he was very kind and friendly, all of the service people since I have left the plane have been this way. I found them to be very honest as they ensured that I was compensated for all of my needs such as the taxi cab ride and my travel back to the airport. I expected to pay for my ways, so that was an interesting difference I have found from where I come from, where payment is expected and pushed. Many people told me to be careful while i am here because of the fear of muslims/arab nations that has been unfortunately spread across the media outlets, I decided to take the moment as it came without any expectation and experience what is here as I am here with it, experiencing it in the moment. When my thoughts did come up, I would take a breath and live the word here, reminding me to move back into my physical body as my physical presence and see things new/fresh and see who I am within it. I was pleasantly surprised with the whole experience here, it is very normal and in a way modernized from like the way the Game of Thrones ‘dorne’ kingdom is shared, it reminds me of that as what it look like years ago before the corporations took it over.
The dress code for the native people is the usual garb of long dresses and head scarfs, I did actually feel a bit underdressed as I am wearing stretch pants, but this again I found is due to a perception I have of me needing to please the people here for them to accept me, though when I let that go, I was treated no different and just like a human being as I equally treat the people I met with the same courtesy and kindness. So many of my mind bubbles that I easily can create because fear is such a strong energy is here, but as i learned for myself overtime to let go of the fear and work with what is here, the fear hold so to speak has diminished and I can move back to stability. I also observe and learn what I am going into to cross-reference myself and ensure I face any points that are here to be faced, and thus stop suppressing and once and for all face me and change to what is best. As this in turn creates the opportunity to get to know oneself more through getting to know and experience new places, faces, and communications fresh, where these new experiences are meant to be uncovered and discovered rather than following the preconceived ideas that can be created by the mind within fear for instances, and thus within this one misses what is actually here. You in a new place, where expansion of self is at the ready if one move within it and don’t let these ideas/beliefs limit one from actually living with the life that is all around us in all moments.
So what I have set for myself is to let go of these fears and ideas of change, embrace change, and move myself to go beyond my limitations and explore what is here within all the new opportunities I have been gifted with within this trip to South Africa. The usual procedures of course is necessary when traveling to new places, be aware of your surroundings, use common sense, and be kind and friendly as this I find supports with the opening up of others and the expression from there is again a new venture to explore. I am off to johannesburg for a small layover then to the farm in SA, where Gian will be fetching me as he called it from the airport. Speak tomorrow on more of my travel impressions and experiences as I explore and discover myself within it all.
Thanks for reading.
Garb