small worlds

The funniest thing about traveling is I get extremely geared up for unfamiliar sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and faces. However the most stunning thing about traveling is realizing how familiar everything really is. In my case, I was flabbergasted when I saw a person I had known to be in a different part of world to call my name from the sidewalk. As I looked at him, the name and face registered and then my eyes immediately refocused so I could look at the background (the ruby colored sky turning violet during twilight over the desert). I honestly had to do a mental check to make sure that a) I wasn't dreaming b) I wasn't hallucinating c) I really was in Qatar. I can't even begin to describe how ecstatic I was to see someone from home, who had been away from home and in a place neither of us expected to be together. The evening became a surrealistic familiarness ... we went to a 'Western mall' which we immediately exited to see how pedestrian friendly Doha was. Yesterday night I saw him off as he returned home. Its interesting how our out-of-context meeting helped us see different sides of each other. Soon enough we'll see each other in the familiar surroundings of our beginnings.