Bruise sits in the Ministry of Defence, Kabul, waiting to go for coffee with his friend Patrick. Bruise and Patrick became friends when Bruise wrote a response to the American soldiers that were killed in Afghanistan. Despite the fact that Bruise is Afghani, he was deeply saddened by this constantly occurring tragedy and expressed his sympathies in an article that was published in the London Free Press, via Patrick.
I met Bruise at our guest house in Arambol. I actually met him through his friend Abass. I was chatting on the phone outside of our room one night when Abass said ‘hello’ and suggested that I join him and his friend for drinks. I didn’t run into Abass until the next day when I joined him and Bruise for breakfast. Both of them are from Afghanistan, Abass from the south and Bruise from the north. We chatted for awhile and made formalities.
Later in the day I went to use the wi-fi at a place in the market but no connection was available. Instead I went to a café to write in my journal and have an avocado shake. While I was sitting on the beach enjoying my shake Bruise came walking by looking for a friend. I invited him to join me at the table, which he did. Conversation took off right away. I learned that Bruise worked for Asia Foundation in Kabul, he had lost his brother from the conflict in Afghanistan, and that he was a big fan of my favourite poet Rumi. We spoke about the war in Afghanistan and the American presence. Bruise definitely wears the weight of his country on his shoulders, you can see it in his posture. The pain of losing his brother you can see in his eyes. I don’t think I could ever get over losing a sibling, let alone losing a sibling from a horrific circumstance like war or conflict in my homeland. I have never grown up in a conflict state and never want to. I am blessed to be from Canada and have never know the fear and terror that comes along with war. I am thankful for this and pray for all of those who have suffered from such tragedies.
From my first impression I would never have guessed that he had as much depth to his character as I was learning from this one conversation. Bruise is a quiet and reserved man. The word that constantly came to mind is ‘unassuming’. You do not expect a lot of character, personality, or dynamism from Bruise, but he has all of these qualities in spades. Our conversation kept on for quite some time until I decided to go back to the hotel to find Rachy and see what the group was up to.
Bruise and I definitely had an attraction. We liked to talk about politics, poetry, running on the beach, our homelands. He may love Afghanistan as much as I love Canada, however I think he is more indebted to his country than I. I asked him once “what is the one thing in life that is the most important to you?”. He responded “to do something significant for my country”. I do love Canada but I don’t feel that I have to represent it anymore than by being a respectable Canadian and upholding values of kindness, consideration, and politeness.
Bruise speaks many different languages; Persian, Pashtu, Uzbek, English, Russian, Hindi, Urdu, and a little bit of Arabic. Very impressive. He uses many of these languages in his job, but also while traveling. It helps quite a lot in terms of traveling. Despite his strength of language Bruise is soft spoken, and quiet in demeanor. He says what he likes and what he doesn’t and there is not any ambivalence or question as to his meaning.
He rides horses. He told me that his grandfather had horses and he would ride them all the time while growing up in the countryside of Afghanistan. He said that he would speak to the horses. Not like the horse whisperer, but just confide in them. Perhaps one of the few animate creatures he trusts with his thoughts and feelings. As I got to know Bruise I figured that he was the type of person who takes a long time to get close to. He doesn’t let just anybody in. I think horses are the privileged few who get a taste of that inner depth. Perhaps a horse is the perfect animal to compare him to. Tame, quiet, strong, substantial endurance, strength in spades, unassuming, will mate with anything that is put in his pen, needs lots of physical activity or else gets restless.
I mentioned that Bruise and I had an attraction, and we did have a romance. On Christmas eve we took a walk down the beach after supper. As I mentioned in earlier posts the entire length of Arambol Beach was alive and kicking on Christmas Eve. Although while walking on the beach with Bruise everything seemed to slow down and be as soft and gentle as his voice. He held my hand as we walked down the beach. He has the most beautiful hands I have ever seen. Long tapered fingers, with soft café coloured skin. Just before midnight we stopped and he kissed me. I’m not going to lie his kiss made my knees weak. At the very moment that we first kissed fireworks literally went off in the sky and the warm ocean water rushed up upon our feet. It couldn’t have been more romantic! I felt like I was in a movie as the beautiful female lead that was being romanced by a dark and handsome foreigner. At that point I didn’t know whether this movie would turn out to be a romance, horror, mystery, or documentary. Hahahha! Alas I stopped things dead in their tracks despite my interest and attraction my heart hadn’t moved forward from my last relationship.
Time carried on and Bruise and I kept on getting to know each other while enjoying the delightful beaches of Goa. The romance did pick up again, once I was ready to say ‘goodbye’ to my old relationship and ‘hello’ to a new possibility. A possibility that was potentially one of the most romantic moments of my life.
I feel fortunate and thankful to have met such an incredibly interesting and dynamic man. I pray that Bruise will do something significant for his country and in honour of the brother he lost. Although I feel that he already has in terms of the work he does with Asia Foundation as well as his personal representation in his daily life. Thanks Bruise you reminded me that there is a whole world of possibilities out there ;)
I met Bruise at our guest house in Arambol. I actually met him through his friend Abass. I was chatting on the phone outside of our room one night when Abass said ‘hello’ and suggested that I join him and his friend for drinks. I didn’t run into Abass until the next day when I joined him and Bruise for breakfast. Both of them are from Afghanistan, Abass from the south and Bruise from the north. We chatted for awhile and made formalities.
Later in the day I went to use the wi-fi at a place in the market but no connection was available. Instead I went to a café to write in my journal and have an avocado shake. While I was sitting on the beach enjoying my shake Bruise came walking by looking for a friend. I invited him to join me at the table, which he did. Conversation took off right away. I learned that Bruise worked for Asia Foundation in Kabul, he had lost his brother from the conflict in Afghanistan, and that he was a big fan of my favourite poet Rumi. We spoke about the war in Afghanistan and the American presence. Bruise definitely wears the weight of his country on his shoulders, you can see it in his posture. The pain of losing his brother you can see in his eyes. I don’t think I could ever get over losing a sibling, let alone losing a sibling from a horrific circumstance like war or conflict in my homeland. I have never grown up in a conflict state and never want to. I am blessed to be from Canada and have never know the fear and terror that comes along with war. I am thankful for this and pray for all of those who have suffered from such tragedies.
From my first impression I would never have guessed that he had as much depth to his character as I was learning from this one conversation. Bruise is a quiet and reserved man. The word that constantly came to mind is ‘unassuming’. You do not expect a lot of character, personality, or dynamism from Bruise, but he has all of these qualities in spades. Our conversation kept on for quite some time until I decided to go back to the hotel to find Rachy and see what the group was up to.
Bruise and I definitely had an attraction. We liked to talk about politics, poetry, running on the beach, our homelands. He may love Afghanistan as much as I love Canada, however I think he is more indebted to his country than I. I asked him once “what is the one thing in life that is the most important to you?”. He responded “to do something significant for my country”. I do love Canada but I don’t feel that I have to represent it anymore than by being a respectable Canadian and upholding values of kindness, consideration, and politeness.
Bruise speaks many different languages; Persian, Pashtu, Uzbek, English, Russian, Hindi, Urdu, and a little bit of Arabic. Very impressive. He uses many of these languages in his job, but also while traveling. It helps quite a lot in terms of traveling. Despite his strength of language Bruise is soft spoken, and quiet in demeanor. He says what he likes and what he doesn’t and there is not any ambivalence or question as to his meaning.
He rides horses. He told me that his grandfather had horses and he would ride them all the time while growing up in the countryside of Afghanistan. He said that he would speak to the horses. Not like the horse whisperer, but just confide in them. Perhaps one of the few animate creatures he trusts with his thoughts and feelings. As I got to know Bruise I figured that he was the type of person who takes a long time to get close to. He doesn’t let just anybody in. I think horses are the privileged few who get a taste of that inner depth. Perhaps a horse is the perfect animal to compare him to. Tame, quiet, strong, substantial endurance, strength in spades, unassuming, will mate with anything that is put in his pen, needs lots of physical activity or else gets restless.
I mentioned that Bruise and I had an attraction, and we did have a romance. On Christmas eve we took a walk down the beach after supper. As I mentioned in earlier posts the entire length of Arambol Beach was alive and kicking on Christmas Eve. Although while walking on the beach with Bruise everything seemed to slow down and be as soft and gentle as his voice. He held my hand as we walked down the beach. He has the most beautiful hands I have ever seen. Long tapered fingers, with soft café coloured skin. Just before midnight we stopped and he kissed me. I’m not going to lie his kiss made my knees weak. At the very moment that we first kissed fireworks literally went off in the sky and the warm ocean water rushed up upon our feet. It couldn’t have been more romantic! I felt like I was in a movie as the beautiful female lead that was being romanced by a dark and handsome foreigner. At that point I didn’t know whether this movie would turn out to be a romance, horror, mystery, or documentary. Hahahha! Alas I stopped things dead in their tracks despite my interest and attraction my heart hadn’t moved forward from my last relationship.
Time carried on and Bruise and I kept on getting to know each other while enjoying the delightful beaches of Goa. The romance did pick up again, once I was ready to say ‘goodbye’ to my old relationship and ‘hello’ to a new possibility. A possibility that was potentially one of the most romantic moments of my life.
I feel fortunate and thankful to have met such an incredibly interesting and dynamic man. I pray that Bruise will do something significant for his country and in honour of the brother he lost. Although I feel that he already has in terms of the work he does with Asia Foundation as well as his personal representation in his daily life. Thanks Bruise you reminded me that there is a whole world of possibilities out there ;)
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