Traveling taught me to be Human - April 2017

One of the interesting people I have met on my travels is the man sitting beside me on the flatten cardboard box. I don't remember his name, but what I do remember and cherish are the moments we shared.

I know it kinda sounds we were lovers or something, but that is definitely not the case. I met him during my 12 day lost in translation moment in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur was an unintentional destination of mine after being Detained in Australia for the crime of being a poor Argentine American. I'll get into that in another post. My trip to Australia ended in less then 24 hours, in which I was held in a room for 9 hours straight before behind sent to the detention center.

The most positive aspect of this experience was not getting sent back to the United States. Instead, I was sent back to where I flew in from, Singapore. Upon arrival at Singapore, Singapore told me I could not stay in Singapore due to being detained in Australia and for having lack of funds.

So, the nice people at Singapore airport where nice enough to let me use the free wifi to buy the cheapest quickest ticket out of Singapore I could find, so that's how I ended up in Kuala Lumpur. I guess KL was always going to be a destination of mine since I spent several nights at the KL airport while in transit to Singapore and Thailand.

Upon arrival at KL, I needed to find a place stay. So I went online using my poor excuse for cracked screen Iphone 4s. I found a place that looked cheap and had good reviews, so I bought my train ticket and off to Raizzys Guesthouse.
(Just a side note, the trains in KL are amazing)

KL was definitely the exact opposite type of destination I was looking, it was big city, dirty, overpopulate and uncomfortable humid. This was for from being on a farm in nature as far away from civilization as possible. But as many times in my life, the Universe shows me and gives me what I need rather then what it is I think I need or want.

So I arrived in KL not knowing why I was there and what I was going to do next. Upon arrival I noticed the man sitting next me in the picture. The first days we didn't communicate much, aside from him asking me for money for food.

Then something happened, we had a connection. At this point I was really lost in space. I had been in a sleep deprived insomniac depressed state upon arrival at KL and then into a deeper suicidal depressed state from some sleeping pills a South African gave me. When my South African friend Mikhyle left to Indonesia I didn't talk to anyone accept this man.

Aside from giving him a few ringgits for food, I just started hanging out with him as a friend. I just looked at him as myself. I didn't know his story and he didn't know mine. He didn't know what I was going thru and I didn't know what his deal was either.

But I saw the pain in his eye, the defeated look on his face as if the say is this all life has to offer me. I too was very familiar with this look, as it has been the expression on my face thousands of times before. In the mornings I would bring him coffee and some toast. I know this is not Guesthouse policy, but nobody gave me any issues about it. Then I offered to roll him a tobacco cigarette.

I then began to see his face start to change and notice his spirit and countenance being uplifted. He also started to invite me into his world. He invited me to sit with him on his cardboard and just chill with him. It didn't matter to me in the least bit that I was sitting with this man in the middle of a busy street while people and cars were passing on. Once one starts living free, the opinions of others becomes of little significance.

He did speak some English so we had some verbal communication. But most of our communication was non verbal. We just sat next to each other not uttering a word but just wondering in our minds and enjoying each others presence.

The reality is that there was nothing to say. Many times in life we think we need to say something because we are uncomfortable with silence and just being in someone presence, we have enough issues with being in our own presence. But on many occasions just to feel someones presence, to feel that someone cares has more worth and can give more comfort then words could ever bring.

Sitting next to him taught me humility and to think about others. As I would stare at the picture of Shiva that was across the street from us, I also wondered about his life. This made me all the more grateful for my life and taught me not to judge others.

My situation had solutions, I just didn't know them at the moment. Even at my worse I still had a place to sleep and food to eat on most days. My friend was sleeping on the street on cardboard, I cannot even imagine and it would be disrespectful to compare my situation to his. It actually breaks my heart when I think about it.

My initial thoughts about my friend could have been, this guy is a bum, a loser, a zero. Actually these were the exact words use by my baby mama in Namibia to describe me. But why think like this, anything was possible. As my life had gone thru many changes from once working in the World Trade Center to Living in Miami to this moment I was presently experience.

In all reality how can one coming from a land of so much privilege judge someone from the 3rd world. I had only tasted a small bit of the suffering and tribulations felt by others around the world who were not born with a Golden spoon in their mouth.

I'm sure he too had his story of what happened to him, of how he ended up homeless on the street without his family. I'm sure someone out there must be wondering or worried about him. He did tell me he had 3 children which made me wonder where were they now? Does he have a wife? How did he injure his leg? Did he previously work at 7/11 or was that just the shirt he had on? I'm sure 10 years earlier he didn't expect to be sitting on a cardboard box in KL drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes and some hash with a so called American boy.

Oh yes there was some hash involved in our friendship. From getting very depressed from the sleeping pills, I needed something to balance me out. So as has happened to me many times in my life, the weed fairy appears right on schedule.

I went outside the hostel to smoke a cigarette and there sitting on the bench next to me was a young guy from Singapore smoking some hash. Of course I asked him for a hit and he kindly obliged.

We had some interesting conversation, he told me how he worked on the farms in South of India and brought back the Hash from there. He was a young guy, with a lot of wisdom and very advanced spiritually. He basically told me I should not complain about my current situation because I am the one that choose it and put myself in this predicament.
Although his words stung me a bit, I knew he was telling me the truth.

Many times in life we fall into a black hole of sorts and it appears there is no hope in sight. And just as one is at his weakest point and almost ready to give in, that is when the magic of life appears and along with it the answers.

With all this being said, upon my Singapore friends departure he did sell my some hash. I honestly don't know how I would have made during these days without the hash. It definitely countered the negative effects of the sleeping pills.

Sadly though the hash was also the cause of the end of my beautiful friendship. After one early morning sharing breakfast with my nice friend outside the hostel, I rolled him a hash joint. And in our limited verbal communication asked him if he was capable to get more.

This definitely was not necessarily and I realize that I might be putting him in a tempting situation. But I felt comfortable enough with him at this point in our relationship to ask him for the solid. I proposed to him that he get me 20 ringits of Hash and I would give him 10 ringits. He immediately jumped up after me giving him the money and told me to wait as he seemed to hobble to wherever it is the neighborhood pusher lives.

He came back and basically told me the guy was a sleep, which makes sense since it was only around 7am. He then tried again an hour later and still no cigar. So since he appeared to be making the effort, I decided to leave him with the money.

Big mistake on my part, I never saw him again. In the evening I looked out for him and nothing. His cardboard was stored in the same place as usual. Everyday I hoped to see him again. I didn't care about the hashish, I was just concerned about my friend. Day after the day the cardboard was still in the same place.

I had hoped he didn't end up using the money to go on some crack binge for a few days or whatever drug it is they take in KL. The truth is I had no clue and had wish I never put him in the situation that now he felt the need to avoid me. For all I know he could have been hit by a car.

The romantic side of me hopes that he used the money for good, to see his family or to put himself in a better situation. Not it was so much money to start a new life, I just hated that he had completely disappeared and it was all connected with the money I gave him.

Ultimately I don't know what happened and I hope he is alive and well. Maybe he used the little bit of money to reconnect with his family. The truth is I will never know what happened.

Though I do feel some guilty there is no reason for me to feel this way. I know I had only good intentions and I can't control the actions of others neither should I judge or assume the actions of another.

I guess pure motives don't always turn into pure result, but such is life. At the end of the day I learned valuable lessons about life, people and ultimately myself.

After my 12 days in KL it was time to continue my journey to Thailand. And just like the time arrived for me to continue my journey, the same can be said of my friend, wherever in the world he is.

Share the kindness, spread the Love and share a little piece of yourself.