When you live in a developing nation for any extended period of time, there are inevitably things you will miss. Water is not always readily available. You may want to wash your dishes and your underwear all on the very same night, but alas, the water in the bucket is low. Your favourite Hint of Lime Tostitos snack is missing from the supermarket shelf. In fact, the supermarket itself is absent. Turning on electricity at night to watch Television, or simply to find that runaway sock, is a wish never granted. Broccoli, asparagus, margaritas…these are a few of my favourite things. But, the thing I miss the most?
When I sit around with a group of friends and we:
Can’t remember the name of that movie…What was the name of that actress? Who is the current President of Iran? How do you spell his name? What’s the definition of mellifluous? How many stars are in the sky? What’s the population of China?
Inevitably one know-it-all will pronounce a fact I know is wrong, but how can I prove it? All the answers lie far, far away in a land with constant electricity and high-speed Internet.
“Google It.” I used to say with my nose held up high in the hair. “Google will know.” I realize now I am nothing without this search engine. Nothing. Oh, “Google it” wherefore art thou “Google it”?
Karen Shaw is known to be a hyper-active, hyper-critical creative wanderer. Working as a writer, director and producer, she dropped it all for a year of volunteer work and documentary filmmaking in Nigeria. Her blog captures her tales from around the globe and back again and focuses on that curious, interesting, unexplainable, questionable, magical, remarkable, fantastical, disturbing, enticing, or dubious thing that happens when you travel and you ask yourself… WHY MONKEY?
