Parable of the Prodigal Suitcase
Parable of the Prodigal Suitcase
w. 7 | Lost luggage, book clubs and surprising new friends
In mid-December my husband took a work trip to Kenya from Malawi, where we live. He had colleagues traveling in from the US who were also attending the retreat and they generously agreed to schlep some1 Christmas presents across the pond for a few items that are either prohibitively expensive or hard/not possible to get here. I will make a post another time about the treasures I purchased!
Unfortunately, on his direct, 2-hour flight from Nairobi to Lilongwe the suitcase decided it wanted to make a tour of Eastern/Southern Africa and did not arrive with my husband.
Cue me embracing non-attachment2 while my poor husband cursed the airlines and we embarked on a month-long campaign to get the suitcase back while also carefully not mentioning to our children their Christmas gifts were inside.
Also cue me singing this song (him = the suitcase).
In early January, a friend was moving away from Malawi and I took her to the airport because there can sometimes be nothing lonelier than arriving or leaving somewhere in a taxi. We also luckily live pretty close.
While I waited to make sure she was able to check in alright, I walked around the corner to chat in person with the Lilongwe Lost Luggage Crew (L^3C) to see if by chance our suitcase was tucked into a dusty closet somewhere.
As I walked up to the Lost Luggage Booth (LLB), the woman seated behind the cloudy glass divider directed me to a small group headed in the direction of the Lost Luggage Room (LLR)3 so I tagged along, feeling my luck grow with each step.
Along the way, I started chatting with a woman who had also lost her bag (though only a couple days prior) and had received a call that her luggage had arrived (I had received no such call).
This lady seemed so cool and by the time our walk/chat was over I thought we should hang out sometime and be friends, but that seemed like a strange thing to suggest after a few minutes of chatting so I said nothing (for those who know me well, shocking, I know!).
A couple weeks after my initial L^3C experience, we received notice that our suitcase had made it back to Lilongwe after pitstops in Johannesburg and Addis Ababa. After numerous emails, WhatsApp messages, phone calls, and a few in-person visits, our suitcase was once again in my very attached little hands.
I was thrilled to break into the bag, sort through our treasures and then have a bit of a second Christmas. I also thought our suitcase saga had closed its door.
Then, this past weekend I hosted a book club at our home for a group I learned about on Instagram. It was my first time attending the book club (or any book club for that matter) let alone my first time hosting4. One by one guests arrived with baked goods and beverages until our couches were filled and our snack plates were spilling over.
We started our discussions (January’s reads were this and this) and I felt this cozy, connected feeling listening to women talk about strangers, change, and the essence of good and evil when 45 minutes into our talk I heard a knock at the front door.
I went to welcome our latecomer and my mouth literally dropped open when I saw who was on the other side: my Lost Luggage Lady Friend (L^3F)! She laughed at the same time as I did before scoffing at our collective surprise and explaining away the coincidence with how small Lilongwe is.
I live for small world connections and will treasure this story for as long as I remember it (lucky for me I have now memorialized it here on Substack).
Moral of the story: don’t give up on your lost luggage or your missed connections. She and I have plans to get tea sometime this week :)
Joyfully Linked
Below are some recent treasures I’ve read/found:
RFP for Airbnb “to collaborate on the development of a Tourism Growth & Policy Guidebook for the African Continent.”
Na’amal is hiring remote trainers as part of their World Bank Innovation Challenge “to support displaced professionals and host community members in securing remote job opportunities.”
Bezos Earth Fund is hiring a Program Officer, Nature Finance.
I am delighted to be part of the University of Mary Washington’s inaugural Alumni of Distinction class where I went as an undergrad. Go Eagles!
Peace Corps Week 2024 is February 25-March 2. We’re hosting a potluck that I’m already looking forward to.
I’m in Week 2 of my 12-week course “Climate Change: Learning for Action” through Terra.do. So far, so great! More to come.
I’d love to hear how you’re doing, how things are going in your corner of the world and if you’ve ever lost (and I hope found) a suitcase or a book club friend!
With love and lemons,
Jennifer
OK, an entire suitcase plus a few more items worth of goods.
Non-attachment is the “subjective quality of not being stuck or fixated on ideas, images, or sensory objects and not feeling an internal pressure to acquire, hold, avoid, or change” (Sahdra et al, 2010, p. 118).
Not actual names, but rather the names I would like to give to these spaces/people.
One way I ensure I’m on time is by hosting - it is a somewhat labor intensive strategy that is very worth it to me.