It begins

I'm having my first taste of the rapid-fire hellos and goodbyes of the coming year. It's five weeks into my travels but until now visits have been to people I already knew or people whom I didn't know long enough to miss. The one exception could be the couchsurfing costume maker from Lyon. She was dear and interesting and I wish we could be friends who go out to the cafe every Sunday morning.

But from my 11 days at A Rocha, it's been long enough to make - for lack of a more exotic comparison - camp friends. They are a unique group of people who will never come again. If I maintain contact with one or two, I'll be doing quite well. I bring this up though I'm still here another week or so because they've all begun to leave.

So on for a year of that and life beyond. Someone has asked, What has globalization given us? - a lot of fragmented relationships and too much distance to retain them. It makes me feel kind of bad.

Tiffen & friends at the cafe in Lyon
A Rocha types hanging out by the river Rhone
Picnic