Faces

"I've learned that regardless of color or age, we all need about the same amount of love."                                                                         ~  H. Jackson Brown, Jr. 

This little girl at a fishing village on Mieu Island near Nha Trang, Vietnam
had a look of pure joy on her face and was so eager to show us her puppy

Whether you speak their language or not, often the expressions on the faces of people you meet convey far more than words possibly could.

Over the years as Mike and I have traveled, I have typically been the one to take most of the photos.  Mike occasionally takes pictures which are quite engaging - including the first one in this blog, taken in Vietnam, of the child holding the puppy.  I find it especially endearing.  I have asked Mike why he doesn't take more pictures and his response was that he remembers more if he is a participant rather than an onlooker.  So it seems that Mike is in the moment while I attempt to capture the moment.  When we get home I tend to recall the nuances - the scent, the mood - but not the facts.  Mike recalls the facts - which city or province we were in, the names of individuals - so we make a pretty good team.

"It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves."

                                                                                         ~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld

A woman and her granddaughter in the ancient
imperial capital of Hue, Vietnam

The pictures in this blog are photos that we believe highlight the innocence of youth, the experience of age, or a glimpse of a culture through the people we have encountered.  We have always been careful, if we are taking a child's picture, that the parent or guardian was asked for permission before the picture was taken.  With photos of adults, usually a conversation has taken place before a request for a picture was made.  On occasion personal, political or religious preferences are considerations, and we resolutely respect the wishes of anyone who declines our request.

A young couple on their wedding day, at the Temple of Literature and
the National University in Hanoi, Vietnam

Yvonne's parents, taken in the spring of 2016, a few months
before their 68th wedding anniversary

There have been times, including in China and in India, when we were asked for our picture.  In China, Mike was a big hit with kids and he had scores of pictures taken of him with delighted children who called him "the happy Buddha" as they rubbed his belly for luck.  In India, my request for permission to take a picture was met with  a request from an Indian family to take my picture, and eventually led to an invitation to a wedding that was taking place the following evening.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness"      ~ Mark Twain 

Manuel, our tour leader on our second trip to Africa

As you view these photos, consider that despite outward appearances, we are more like people around the world than we are different.  The Greek philosopher Socrates said "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

A man at a Rajasthan village market in India

Children at a school in a village in Peru.  When digital cameras
first came out, kids were amazed when they could instantly see
 their pictures on the camera.

A fisherman in his boat on the Thu Bon River at Hoi An, Vietnam.  Hoi An was
once the most important trading port on the East Vietnam Sea 

"In youth we learn; in age we understand."       ~  Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Girls at St. Mary's Primary School, Hwange District,
Zimbabwe.  A sign on the wall of their school reads: 

"Through the balance and the chaos, we alone are responsible for our own

happiness and success or failure.  It is up to us to design a life that works."

Our oldest granddaughter reacted with delight when
she caught her first fish at five years of age

"Travel makes one modest.  You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world."

                                                                                                   ~ Gustave Flaubert

Masai tribesmen performing the traditional Masai Warrior Dance in Kenya

Three Hindu sādhu or "holy men" in Varnasi, India.These 
religious ascetics cover their faces in ash and paint
and often wear saffron-colored clothing

A woman working in a rice paddy in Vietnam stands up to stretch from the
back-breaking work of bending over all day to tend the rice crop.

"A person's a person, no matter how small."    ~ Dr. Seuss

Our younger granddaughter, at about 10 months of age.  Here, she
is giving someone "the look" at Thanksgiving dinner at her
great-grandparents' house

A young Chinese dancer, performing at a dinner theater in Beijing, China

A child poses for the camera in Hanoi, Vietnam

"Age may wrinkle the face, but lack of enthusiasm wrinkles the soul."   

                                                                                                  ~ Danish Proverb 

This woman maintains her poise, her dignity, and her style, even while making
incense from cow dung at a women's self-help co-operative in rural India

"Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded."     ~ Jess Lair

Children pose for a picture at a Rajasthan village
market in India while shopping with their mother

Yvonne's mom, Dorothy

“The face is a picture of the mind with the eyes as its interpreter.” 

                                                                                                  ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

At Kafue National Park in Zambia, this woman, Grace, makes
and sells Aliffia grass baskets, woven of savanna grass.
The one she is holding now resides in our RV

Children hanging out in the doorway of a "Restroom
for Child Only" at a school in China

“For a moment at least, be a smile on someone else’s face.”  

                                                               ~ Dejan Stojanovic, The Sun Watches the Sun

On a visit to a village in the Amazon River basin in Peru

This Monk tends the gardens at a Buddhist temple
at Dalat, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.  

"Wisdom outweighs any wealth."     ~ Sophocles

A Sikh priest in Delhi, India.  Like many other
religions, they take vows of poverty and chastity

“Age should not have its face lifted, but it should rather teach the world to admire wrinkles as the etchings of experience and the firm line of character.” 
                                                                                                       ~ Clarence Day Jr.

Yvonne's dad, Tracy

A vendor at a Rajasthan village market in India

A little boy in obviously-too-big sandals squats by the side of
the road, watching the American tourists in Hanoi, Vietnam

This woman poses on the steps of one of India's "stepwells"...literally,
deep wells with steep hand-cut stone steps to descend to reach
the water level.  The wells began to be constructed around 200 A.D.

Children help their mother weave at a cooperative
that provides an outlet for their finished goods in Peru

Each of us has his or her own stories to tell.  Part of the  joy of travel is engaging the people that we encounter, helping to further our understanding of the world, and contributing immensely to our ROAD STORIES.

So, when they said "who wants to hold the Python?" in the
Mekong Delta in Vietnam, Yvonne thought it sounded like
a good experience...at first.

We wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2017.  Happy New Year from ROAD STORIES.

"May you live all the days of your life."    ~ Jonathan Swift