I had heard all the rumbling of the engine as we were in the middle of class, but had no real idea what was going on. As it turned out there was a man who had driven into the camp we were at and ended up getting stuck in the wet grass out front.
It wasn’t until later that I found out that he was actually staying the night in his van on the property. Amanda and I love meeting new people so we decided we would go see if he was awake.
“Hey,” Andrew asked through the somewhat open van door.
“Oh hi there,” the man inside replied.
It was a relief to the fact that he spoke English. I love meeting new people, but have not yet come to the mastering of a foreign language, so mostly limiting my conversation to those of the like.
It turned out his name was Patrick and he was from Montreal, Canada. He was driving around a really sweet Volkswagen van, that Amanda was absolutely in love with. It was painted red with some really neat art designs drawn on the side. He had retrofitted the inside and enjoyed taking us on a tour of his little home on wheels. He had built in a mini kitchen complete with sink, stove and even a little refrigerator. He had a bed that turned into a couch and a couple of chairs. A friend of his had also done the amazingly beautiful art all over the inside.
He had just arrived in Palenque that evening and had driven up the road to try and find a place to stay for the night. He was planning on turning around and going to find somewhere else when he got stuck. All the guys had to go and help push him out and it ended up fine that he just stayed the night here.
We asked him what made him decide to do this crazy adventure. And it simply came down to him seeing an ad for a van on the interenet. He is a man of adventure and continually told us that life was worth the adventure. It is more than simply a 9 to 5 job or spending your life making money that will waste away. He told us about his friends and his job and things he liked to do. We talked of religion and Jesus and what that means to him and what that means to us. We didn’t force anything we just talked. We just related and it was real.
It is amazing how much of a connection I felt with this man. We have somewhere inside of us the same spirit of adventure and the desire to see new things and understand different cultures. There is a beauty that lies in this world if we would just take the time to see it. I loved how he had what he needed in a little cubby in a van. We don’t need much, just the basics to get by. He had a job back in Canada and worked hard when he was there, but also knew that there had to be more out there, and would set out on different adventures to see where they led.
It was a wonderful short time, and so many things about it that I will cherish. I loved how when Amanda and I were getting ready to leave he came running up behind Amanda and gave her a flower. It was a beautiful flower that he had picked the day before. It was a symbol. It was not something overly complex. It was three people all on different journeys getting the chance for one brief moment to connect. To take the time to share in each others lives. And as flowers wither and fade so does the time that we share together. But I know that within each of us there is something that we all leave behind. And I hope that the people we will all meet would leave a flower inside all of us.
Good luck on your journeys Patrick you will be missed..
