A very special brief encounter    by S.

It was in the summer of 1977 when I went on holiday to Afghanistan, together with a group of young people. We hired a bus for six weeks and as we were self sufficient, we often bought food at local markets and cooked in the open in front of the bus. At nights we unrolled a kind of tarp on which we laid out our air mattresses and sleeping bags and night by night we enjoyed falling asleep under a starlit sky. The local people were very kind and quite often we were offered to set up our camp for the night in a meadow next to a house.

One day we stopped in a town to stay there for some hours. It was a weekend and when we were strolling along the streets we were fascinated by a lot of local people having picnics on the small green areas between lanes and pavements, despite all the traffic. We slowed down a bit to watch a family unpack their stuff and sit down in two groups, divided by gender.

Suddenly some of the people waved at us, inviting us to sit down beside them. They pointed out to the young men of my group to join the group of men and to the young girls to join the women and children. A woman offered us some ‘chai’ and the young men were invited to smoke a water pipe. One of the local women was holding a sleeping baby in her arms. She must have noticed my emotions while I was watching her and when she “asked” me if I wanted to hold her baby, she didn’t say a word, we were just having eye contact and she was holding her baby out to me. I enjoyed rocking the sweet little baby in my arms for some time and one of my friends was allowed to take a photo. Being unable to speak a single word of each other’s language our communication was just non-verbal. Until then I had not known how much we can express using just body language.

1977 – 2012………. a long time has passed since then. Sometimes I think of the baby, an adult now, 35 years of age, much older than I was back in the 1970s and I wonder what he might have gone through, growing up in a former beautiful country, now destroyed by endless war and terrorism and I still remember the peaceful scenery at the roadside. Isn’t it what is meant for all of us, for all people around the globe, to live together in peace? Learning about other people’s countries and cultures and learning foreign languages is an important step towards more mutual understanding.

written by S., Austria

A Brief Encounter Of A Different Kind    by A.

When I was about 18 or 19 years old I went to watch a Live Stage of the RAC Rally. I was a very keen fan of Rallying (car racing over rough roads and terrain). The Stage I went to see was being held in a zoological park called "Flamingo Park Zoo" (I think it has now changed its name). I was so excited, I had never watched a Live Stage before.

When I arrived at the Park the snow was thick on the ground and everyone was chattering loudly, asking each other "who do you think will win today's Stage?" All the Stewards were out in force (there were a lot of them) and the starting point where the drivers would "clock in" and "clock out" (their arrival and departure times were accurately measured and noted) was organised and waiting for the first drivers to arrive.

The atmosphere was electric with excitement, we all knew the best and most famous drivers would arrive first and were watching avidly to see who would be in the lead. We stood there stamping our feet in the snow trying to keep them warm but despite the cold there was a party atmosphere.

As the drivers were not due to arrive for about 10 minutes one of the zoo keepers had decided to bring his baby animal down for a walk and to see the Rally himself. .....He was a lion keeper !!! The lion cub was on a long chain and although he was still very young he was the size of an Alsatian dog (German Shepherd dog). The lion was very sweet and cuddly looking and posed no risk to anyone, in fact he was very friendly and we were allowed to pat him on the head.

About 2 minutes before the cars were due the lion cub decided that walking on snow was too tiring, so, ....he sat down .....in the middle of the road !!  The lion keeper tried to move the cub but he was too strong for him and stayed were he was ....unmoved and unmoving!  Finally, some of the men in the crowd, plus some of the stewards and the lion keeper managed to move the cub out of the way .....justin time .....the first car reached us about 30 seconds later !!

After the lion cub, the Rally drivers and their cars were an anti climax but in the entertainment industry they do say "never work with children or animals!"

Although this happened so many years ago I have never forgotten my day at the Rally and the brief encounter with a lion cub.

written by A., England

Eine andere Art von kurzer Begegnung   von A.

Als ich ungefähr 18 oder 19 Jahre alt war, ging ich zu einer Live RAC Rallye. Ich war ein begeisterter Fan  von Auto Rallyes. Die Veranstaltung,  die ich sehen wollte, fand im Zoo, der "Flamingo Park Zoo" hieß, statt. (Ich denke er hat mittlerweile seinen Namen geändert.) Ich war sehr aufgeregt, da ich vorher noch nie eine Live Rallye gesehen hatte.

Als ich im Park ankam, war der Boden mit einer dicken Schneeschicht bedeckt, und  alle haben sich laut unterhalten, fragten sich: "Was glaubst du, wer wird wohl heute das Rennen gewinnen?" Alle Stewards waren vertreten (es gab viele von ihnen) und am Startpunkt, wo die Fahrer abfahren und wieder ankommen würden, (ihre An- und Abfahrtzeiten wurden sorgfältig gemessen und notiert) war alles bereit für den 1. ankommenden Fahrer.

Die Atmosphäre war elektrisch geladen. Wir wussten, dass die besten und bekanntesten Fahrer als 1. das Ziel erreichen würden und waren begierig zu erfahren, wer der Sieger sein wird. Wir standen herum, traten im Schnee  von einem auf den anderen Fuß, um sie warm zu halten. Trotz der Kälte war es eine Party-Atmosphäre.

Die Fahrer wurden erst in 10 Minuten erwartet. Einer der Zoowärter, der mit einem Tierbaby spazieren ging, wollte auch die Rallye sehen. Er war der Löwenwärter!! Das Löwenbaby war an einer langen Kette, und obwohl es noch sehr jung war, hatte es die Größe eines Deutschen Schäferhundes. Der Löwe sah sehr süß und knuddelig aus und stellte keine Gefahr für irgendjemanden dar. Eigentlich war er sehr freundlich und jeder durfte ihn am Kopf streicheln.

Ungefähr 2 Minuten bevor die Autos erwartet wurden, entschied sich das Löwenbaby, dass es zu langweilig war, durch den Schnee zu laufen, es setzte sich hin... in der Mitte der Straße!! Der Löwenwärter versuchte das Baby zu bewegen, aber es war zu stark für ihn und blieb, wo es war ....still und nicht fortzubewegen. Schließlich schafften es Leute aus der Menge, einige der Stewards und der Löwenwärter, das Löwenbaby wegzubewegen ....gerade noch zur rechten Zeit ....das 1. Auto erreichte uns 30 Sekunden später!!

Nach dem Löwenbaby, waren die Rallyefahrer und ihre Autos eine Enttäuschung. Der Kommentar der Unterhaltungsbranche: "Arbeite nie mit Kindern oder Tieren!"

Obwohl dies vor langer Zeit geschah, habe ich meinen Tag bei der Rallye und die kurze Begegnung mit dem Löwenbaby nie vergessen.

written by A., England / translated by V., Germany