A Tale of Two Towns: Living Libraries

 Hello friends,

Some time has passed since I last wrote. My friend took me on a tour of his home town. To protect his identify, we'll call him Tim.

I've been introduced as Tim's friend from a far away land. We can't let the town folk know that I'm from across the river. It's our little secret 🤫

It feels like I've been here for many years even though it has been only one week. It's almost as if I've known the people for a long time.

The town is alive & busy. Tim seems to know everyone, and is known by everyone. The people are kind & have welcomed me into their community. They even gave me a name: Vitsher z oo . Tim tells me it means nervous twitch. It sounds better in his language. They gave me the name because they said my smile looks nervous when I greet. If this is a bit confusing, let me explain. Where I come from, our greetings are rarely longer than a minute and are often accompanied by a complimentary smile. We just say, "Hello, how are you?" and reply, "I'm well, thanks 😊"

But, that's not how they do it. A greeting is a conversation on its own. Their greetings are more personal. Tim explained a greeting was incomplete without an update on one's health & family life. Remember It Was Said—the people in this town seem to say a lot more! They say I'm strange because I don't say much, but smile a lot.

We spent some time with the elders of the town. They spend their afternoons telling stories about the town's history. I couldn't help but imagined how huge their library must be and the books with all the information. In my hometown, you would have to spend a lot of time in the library reading books before speaking to people with authority. The authors in your bibliography determined your authority on a subject.

Tim chuckled, with a smirk on his face, and told me they had committed all the info to memory. I interrupted and said, "but there needs to be a team which will write down their words for future generations. Or else it will be lost, forever!"

Puzzled, Tim explained that wasn't necessary because they were part of a long tradition. This was a tradition of preserving their history from one generation to the next.

My friend Tim, helped me see that they had living libraries. The people were walking & breathing encyclopaedias. Theirs was an oral tradition. They brought their stories to life. Their history was preserved in their stories & songs.

I'm preparing for my next visit. I'll get a chance to see how the children learn. That's all from me for now.

Until we read again,

Songz