4G 2023 02 12

 In the sunshine it is warm, the shade makes it cool.

I think that is a metaphor, you say it;

'Meta' (nothing to do with Facebook), 'four'; metaphor.

You can check the meaning.

My first line is about 'life'.

It will be a long story to say how I mean it.

Do you remember

The people who were sad?

They are not as sad today.

Some voices have said things that were not right.

Those people were not understanding,

Not understanding what the others were saying?

It has caused some trouble

And it is close to being a big problem.

Now one of the people who was not understood

Has talked to them,

He made himself understood.

He showed them what their sadness meant.

That is background for the story today.

Yesterday I went to a place of great history.

Tiya is a World Heritage site which means

That not only do I think it is great history but experts

From around the world also think it is great history.

A millenium and more ago, that is a thousand years,

Ten centuries, around two hundred times as old as you!

People who made strong acts for their village, tribe, were remembered with carved headstones on their graves.

These were people between teenagers and under forty years

Who had defended their friends and family, or had helped in some way to make the family better.

All buried in a special place on a hilltop with beautiful views of the
area they helped.

I got to Tiya using a number of minibus taxis. These are small buses that carry passengers for money. The more passengers, the more money. Usually the minibus has around ten seats. A normal journey
with a minibus taxi has at least fifteen passengers.

Here we have good drivers and quiet roads. They usually take their trips on the same road, sometimes no more than a couple of kilometres inside the city and perhaps fifty kilometres once outside the main area.

It means they know their road, and the bumps, holes, and other hazards. So here, sober, bumpy, but arriving. Other places I have been it has not been safe to go with them.

On the way back was going to be a trip to a carved chapel, I had not worked out if it was in a cavern or a canyon! We passed the sign for it on our way to Tiya.

The day went wrong with that sign!

Now, I was also invited to a wedding in the same area.

More background:

Ferengi is a word in many languages,

It means a foreigner – not someone who is "waiting for a girl like you" – your mom can explain.

It is used as a term to describe people like us when we go to those countries.

I find it interesting that they believe it is okay for them to talk like that,

Yet when we use similar words in our country about them they decide it is not nice.

There is a word and your mom can expain if she thinks you are ready.

When you smile and joke with someone like that and 'own' their word it means we can all be people.

Not "them and us".

I went on a side track didn't I?

In some places people have seen ferengi on a screen,

Perhaps not in their village.

Now, we stopped at Muti

To take the side road to the wedding and chapel.

It became difficult when some people thought

It fun to tease and try to trick the ferengi.

When that happens it is best to walk away.

We did.

We drank coffee, very good coffee.

Fifteen or so young boys from five to teenage stood

All around us.

It is a shame when one or two bad people influence

Young people.

Try to be wise about that, you must listen

But sometimes you must decide for yourself what is good advice.

Later we found that the information about the chapel was wrong.

The family who we visited for the wedding told us.

We missed our chance to visit.

Sometimes people will mislead you so that they get something they want.

Yesterday, for me, was like that.

It is like that in the country with the sad people, I hope that they learn peace and truth from their lessons.

Return to the city was another adventure.

Very quickly (because I have used some words that needed explaining and you have read this far):

Horse drawn trap (small cart with two wheels and a bench seat), camels (we saw these, we did not ride them, ask your mom, she has ridden one), minibus, bus (yes a full size bus like you see, one of those with one floor, still carrying many more people than seats though!).

Up to the raised railway, watching the convoy of army trucks pass below, searched by the soldiers before boarding the train,a sort of metro train and we went on the one section that goes underground so I should claim it as another form of transport.

Up the stairs from the underground station, another, final minibus taxi, I think the tenth of the day, now close enough for me to walk to where I stay.

Today those army trucks have closed the roads,

If we had stayed overnight with the family,

We would not be allowed to our places in the city.

When people do bad things,

Somebody must act.

When those in charge do bad things

It gets complicated.

You know when somebody tells you off?

For something that you did not do?

You know how sad that makes you feel?

Today it is peaceful, I hope those in charge have done the right things for it to stay that way.