These are the people in your neighborhood

So, I've really been contemplating this thought that half the journey is about the people we bump into by random chance. The people we meet, shape our perception of the world and potentially alter our future course through life. They literally affect us for the rest of our lives. Every dude I've ever debated politics with and every woman who I've had the pleasure of intimatly picking her brain. They all mold me and alter my preconceptions about Brits, Kiwis, Japs, Canadians and the world they were raised in. It's the same world I share. Their live is my life. Their life experiences have shaped their way of thinking and it takes many nights of inteligent debate to unravel my 28 years of North American thinking and engrained prejudices.

It's so hard to get these "feelings" on paper. The worst part is that Josh and I don't see people in the same light, so it's very hard to debate and get all my thoughts and frustrations "out." Here is one of the most distinct areas where you can see we are two TOTALLY different people. Josh is a man who will work damn hard to find even the slightest good in people. He works at it and works at it relentlesly...smiling the whole time and will finally find common ground w/ someone. I feel that I just don't have that amount of time to invest in jackasses. There are too many people great in this world to waste me time on flakes and creatins. Take tonight for instance. There was this guy John. Whatever, avearage guy. But by the end of the night Josh worked and worked to find some good in this guy. You know, his reason for traveling, why he was who he was. So many questions and insight. I had a totally different experience with this person. A full night of rude and brash comments ...I was in no way this guys friend and he made that clear to me early on. So when I refused to shake his hand at the end of the night, it AMAZED me that no one was more baffled than this guy John. I still haven't fully digested what it was in this man that propelled me to take the stance that I did. Trust that it was a strange scene that will play out again in my head for many days to come.

I admire Josh for his persistence and perhapse even insight. It's really quite astonishing to discuss our takeaways from all the people we've met on this journey. Truly wonderful people: Kristen the adorable, Richard the wanderer, Ellie, Yosh, Sarah, Ms. Kim, Squeeky. It's funny because even though Josh and I are on this adventure together...we're taking away such different pieces from the people we meet that will help shape who we are and how we see the world for the rest of our lives.