Dear Diary ...

Wednesday, 13.09.2023

Dear Diary, 

tonight I went down the stairs of the hostel in search of water, with my bottle in hand. The backdoor was still open, and the cool nightly breeze carried a phone conversation in Swahili and fresh cigarette smoke into the kitchen where our water canister was supposed to be. The canister in question was not to be found, and I continued my search in the dining room with the two refrigerators. The voice died away. I heard footsteps and wanted to leave quickly not to disturb anyone, because it was already quite late at night. In the kitchen, me and the owner of the hostel met, and I started to stammer in English that I was looking for water and unfortunately our canister was not to be found. The first thing he said was: „Deutsch ist einfacher.“ (German is easier.) and then: „Nimm einfach hier aus dem Kühlschrank.“ (Just take some out of the refrigerator.) But just as he said that, he put his still-burning cigarette on the edge of the sink, got out a canister himself, and filled my water bottle: "Wir sind hier alle wie Familie“ (We’re all like family here.) That's how we got to talking. I asked why he had learned German. He has friends in Germany, he said, and that made him learn German. He has taken a language course and speaks the language with his friends in Germany, but in the meantime he also keeps his level by watching German TV series. Berlin Tag und Nacht and Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! are his favorites. Amused by the selection but also just surprised to hear these TV-show names here on Zanzibar in the evening in a hostel, I recommended him LOL: Last One Laughing, a German comedy reality TV show. Now it was his turn to ask questions. He asked what our group was doing here because earlier in the afternoon he had heard our question: Who Cares? and our answer chorus "I Care! You Care! We Care!“. I told about our exchange, the question "Who Cares?“ and that we get to know different people, organizations and institutions that care for the community and our world. He said: “Das ist eine tolle Sache.“ (This is a great thing.) Shortly after we said goodbye and goodnight. I heard him relighting the cigarette that had gone out in the meantime and resuming the phone conversation and as I walked up the stairs to our floor I wondered what he cares about.  He cares ... for his friends in Germany, the guests in his hostel ... and for much more, which I could have learned about in a longer conversation at an earlier hour. And for a short moment I thought it was a pity not to have asked more precisely but I took with me from this encounter that we all care and if we look closely, the small things we care about may not be so small sometimes. And if we take time for random conversations and deep listening, we’ll learn what the people around us care about, we’ll be able share what we care about, find common ground and perhaps inspire each other for the days to come, no matter how small an encounter seems to be.