Smokers' Breath

My nostrils are filled. My head is pounding. My eyes can’t blink away the haze. The Addis Ababa Airport is filled with smokers, and I am not one of them. I want them to go away. I looked for a out of the way place for myself and I still couldn’t get a way from them all. Literally placed my self in the outermost corner, and they seem to be magnetized to me. I was doing my yoga stretches. Trying to feel sane, healthy, and calm. It started to work…calmness. Body getting more flexible with each stretch. Breathe in..YUCK!

I moved to find a new spot and…...

Through the glass separating those at the gate for their departure, from where I was wandering up and down the shopping area, I saw my biker dude. He could even have been a former member of ZZ Top. He had a bald head and a long white beard. He was thick and muscular, wearing a Harley Davidson T-shirt. I looked at him through the glass, probably a bit too long, and he got up and moved towards me. He was probably trying to figure out if he knew me, since I was staring so openly. Now THAT would be cool, eh? To see someone you know unexpectedly on the other side of the world. He looked at me for a while, from a distance and then headed back to his seat.

I wanted to run over and put my hand on the glass, and have him do the same. To make a connection with..with…a biker dude? With someone, that I knew. But just seeing him, made me feel good. I don’t know why, maybe he just looked so American. He was the epitome of my home. Not the geographically correct answer to , “Where are you from? ‘United States.’”, but America! The land that I know people.

Get your motors running….Head out on the highway…..Looking for adventure…

The stinging and tearing of my eyes brings me out of my reverie. I am in the computer lounge and no one in this 30 x 30 room is smoking, and still my eyes are stinging. I keep coughing now and again too. Just to try to give you an idea how bad it I…For the past three weeks, I’ve been in countries where it seems the majority of people smoke…and did so all the time! I’ve slept in a pub for the last two nights. Ya think I’d be okay with the smoke by now. NOPE.

I must say, the amount of natural light in the airport is gorgeous! Although, perhaps that is why it seems so hazy…the light reflects off the smoke.

Poop…just a splinter of positive thinking arose.

Maybe I’ll go check out the biker again for a breath of fresh air.