It was two days before my departure from Tartu, Estonia when my new backpack finally arrived. Holding a tightly taped and waaaay too small package to contain a proper backpack in my hands, I had an urgent feeling to teach myself a lecture [again]. “Madle, you know… [no, you don’t know]. It’s not a good idea to leave your stuff on the last minute. Things might not work out. And you might not have time to do everything.”
Of course they had sent me a wrong backpack. The package was hardly in the size of laptop bag, weighing around one kilogram. I prepared myself mentally to face a children’s backpack covered with puppies and kittens, and unpacked it. But no. It was really my new, super-light 44-litre backpack. “Hehe, Madle, you actually can leave your stuff on the last minute,” told someone inside me and the life-lesson I was supposed to learn was swiped away. Oh, what a mistake. Because already on the next day… On my last day in Estonia…
I woke up like every other normal day. I only had to do few things:
- Pack my bag. (“Buuut, you can also do it in the next morning, before your bus is going to leave,” said this voice inside me again). So no packing but:
- Buy a new jumper, some food and go for your new camera.
- Meet your friends (the most important) and go to sleep on normal time.
That was it. Easy.
Everything went well, at least the first hour of the day. Then I went to hug my dear former colleagues. Well, they sent me straight to the police office. And as a bonus I was told that my phone number is about to close because the contract between the operator and my previous workplace is about to end. So at first I had to renew my ID-card at the police office which was about to close in two hours. Luckily I have some friends with super-powers to be my chauffeurs and mentors and partners in crime. ♡
That feeling that you still have time, the sun is shining and life is beautiful.
But back to the backpack. 44-litres without kittens’ pictures on it means that you really need to think through what to take with and what to leave behind. When already on the road you can easily find yourself hiking in the mountains or playing with the monkeys in the jungle, working on the potato field or enjoying a play in theatre. “Probably you should order for another 44-litre backpack, you still have one more day for that!!” would say the voice inside me, but I’m already ignoring it.
I packed only my favorite and most practical stuff into my new bag. And now, to finally reach the topic I actually was supposed to write about (“Where do you need to go with clean shoes?”) – it’s inevitable to wash your [almost only, because of the lack of the space] shoes after exploring dusty streets, cycling between the fields and accidentally stepping into the mud puddle. It’s inevitable because you want to go to theatre.
How was my theatre experience? Is it actually cool to go to theatre here in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan? Can you find some more shades behind this grey facade?
Wandersell on his way to the next post... ↓↓
❤
Madle
