she was in the johannesburg (joburg) airport and i was in awe of her! unfortunately, i did not capture her through film, because i became mute and apparently i stopped thinking. hummm, i wonder why????? i would love to have her picture to remember her by.
let's start with a physical description. she stood about 5'2" tall and was an average sized woman. she wore a black, wide brimmed hat, dark red lipstick, a black top/sweater, rings on every finger (no joke), army green pants, black combat boots, and she had a cross hanging from her left wrist. that's just the physical, but yall, i felt something in the spiritual! honest! all i wanted to do was get away from her and protect those who were talking to her. it was really strange.
what really did it for me yall, was her following us around airport! let's talk about that. OR Tambo is the air transport hub of southern Africa and literally the busiest airport on the African continent. yet, this lady finds us and proceeds to follows us around! we slept in the airport on july 6th and she slept in close proximity to us. she told me to come sleep closer to her, because it was a warmer area and that threw me too! perhaps her intentions were good, but i didn't take it that way. betty thinks im making a big deal outta this. maybe so. for me, she was the first African woman i consciously observed in Africa. she was so different from what im used to. guess she was a quick case study. i encountered one other lady similar to her while in zambia. this lady had tattoos on her face, wore large drapey clothes, and had a remarkable look in her eye. i was truly in awe of her.
last thing on the lost passenger and we'll move on. or i'll move on...i was later told she was simply trying to get home after missing her flight. maybe we were a welcome sight to a lost passenger, some friendly american kids and their professor. who knows. lost in translation or lost in passage, i'll never forget her.
brittany
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