Cycling The Road Less Travelled

The road between Tozeur and Mides had been like the previous days; long, quiet, through an arid, barren landscape. We cycled for hours without seeing a soul. Late in the day we spotted a lone, modest home, miles away from the closest town. As we approached, we saw what had now become a familiar scene; two kids running to the road to greet us; a girl, about 11 years old, and her younger brother, about 5. With huge, energetic smiles they waved us down. We stopped, how could we resist? They outstretched their hands to shake ours. “Bonjour, ou est-ce que vous allez?”, she asked sweetly. We replied “Mides”. “Oui, c’est très beau”. We continued to chat for awhile and were immediately taken aback by these two little kids. Aicha then invited us into her house; we could rest for awhile and have some tea. We were running very late so we politely declined but promised to stop in the next day as we returned back to Tozeur.

When we returned the following day, we stopped in front of the house as promised. Neither Aicha, her brother or anyone else were anywhere to be seen. Unfortunately, it seemed like we had missed a chance to have what probably would have been a lovely experience. Why were we in such a rush yesterday? We decided to leave but, not wanting her to think that we lied about coming back, went around to the back of the house to leave the cookies we had bought for them and perhaps a note. Ten minutes and a flurry of activity later, we were inside the house having fruit and coffee with the Aicha and 5 of her 10 siblings. We stayed for a long while, talking about their lives, their family, school and what they wanted to be; one a teacher, one a doctor, one a dancer, another wanted to travel. They didn’t speak of movie stars and big screen TVs, just about how happy they were. They have a nice, peaceful life, they have all they need to get by and they have each other. At one point, one of them brought out a plastic container and used it as a drum as the others took turns dancing. Don’t ask me to explain what that was like, how could I do that justice?

I sat there amongst these beautiful children, wise beyond their years, in awe of their spirit and humbled by their generosity. Not only did they feed us but as we talked to one, the others searched drawers and closets for gifts for us…because “we” were so nice. We went in with a box of cookies, we came out with a belly full of fruit and a treasure chest of items they wanted us to have to remember them by; necklaces, a photo, figs, and pair of ear rings that I may never take off. We were speechless. I wondered where such generosity came from; I had certainly never stopped a stranger in the street and invited them into my home for coffee. Isn’t it sad that we would find such kindness…surprising.

Had we cycled by without stopping, had we not gone around the corner to the back of the house, had we not said “yes”, we would have never met this family. We wouldn’t have had this experience that brought tears to my eyes and made our spirits soar. We would never have known what we missed. It made me sad to think of how many other moments like this have I’ve probably cheated myself out without knowing it because I didn’t take the time, didn’t want to impose or because I simply didn’t accept a kind offer. There’s a lesson there.

There are moments in life that you carry with you wherever you go, moments that change how you see the world; this was one of them.