Babies & Banana Bushes

Sometimes being abroad is just.too.much.

In a child development class I took back at Beloit I learned that when babies are over stimulated by their environment—if they are having trouble regulating what is going on in front of them, they simply look away. They avert their eyes. They take a moment for themselves.

Well, I feel like a baby who needs to look away.

My funky mood was confirmed today when I walked past the banana bush without checking on the banana.

Let me explain. There is a bush by my house that I pass every day on the way to the train station. Just a regular bush. Well, three days ago, a banana was resting on a few of the branches on this bush. I spent a good two minutes staring at it. I imagined a twelve year old boy, trekking home from school, remembering the banana in his backpack that his mom told him to eat, and putting it on the bush. Or a six year old girl living in the neighborhood who heard from a friend that if you put a piece of fruit on a bush then the bush will grow more of the fruit. Or an old man with a weird sense of humor.

Next day, it was still there. A little more brown, but untouched. I smiled at it and kept walking.

Then this morning, when I walked past it, the banana had been eaten, and the banana peel was resting on the exact same branches. I gawked for a few seconds and kept walking.

This afternoon, I walked past it without thinking of checking on it. I was too wrapped up in my mind. And I didn’t want to know. I didn’t care. I was thinking about the way the old woman on the train attempted to say something to me in Danish, and how her face had dropped when I said “sorry…I don’t understand you.” I was thinking about the homeless person I saw sitting on the corner holding a candle, protecting the flame with his hand. I was thinking about how I miss home, my dog, and my pillow that has the perfect amount of fluffiness. I was thinking, thinking, thinking. And now, after a hot bath and some tea, I’m done thinking. It’s time for the most non-thought provoking tv show reruns I can find. Here’s for a peaceful and relaxing Saturday. Cheers, everybody. Enjoy your weekends! (And don't think too much, unless you find a banana bush).