Finding ourselves.

There are these three statues in the St. Leu area of Amiens. I live in the quartier de Saint Leu and see them frequently, but they become one of those things that you don't take much notice after a while. As I was standing on the bridge over the canal waiting for a friend; I began to read the little information plaque about these statues. I knew the story beforehand, my french boat tour guide had told me a few months back but never understood what they really meant. I knew the artist had carved these three wooden statues out of the same tree trunk, which is already impressive itself, but as I read the plaque I understood why he had carved them.




He carved two men, and a woman. One man and the woman are on the side building of a little plaza that we all know and locate by saying it's where Don Quichotte [more] is. The other man, is the wooden man in the water. As I read the plaque, I looked out towards the canal and saw the man in the water. The artist had made these statues of no one of great importance so that everybody could somehow relate to these statues.

Now, I am not saying that I relate to, or don't relate to a wooden statue in the middle of the canal. But I think we all some how can relate to one another. No matter how different, no matter how far apart our countries be, no matter how completely physically different we are, no matter how different our mother tongues are, etc. We have something to relate to; we all had the guts to leave everything behind and go out into the world by ourselves to another country and see what we are made of. We can relate to speaking french, some betters than others, but still. We can relate to the fun nights we've spent at My Goodness. We can relate to the problems we've had adjusting to a different culture. We can relate to our love to travel.

We help each other find each other. We change each other. We inspire each other. We learn from each other. We relate to each other. Just like I can relate to those three statues carved out of the same trunk. My friends here & I are not carved out of the same trunk, but we are carved out of the same impulse to move abroad and find ourselves.

naoma*


P.S. I'm off to Bordeaux tomorrow... so I shall be away for a few days. Lots of beautiful pictures will be up. Afterwards the blog challenge shall continue/finish!