As you may have noticed, I haven't had a 3rd date yet and it's been well over a week (ok, 2, but who's counting?).
After my 2nd date, I took a brief hiatus and went traveling about on a documentary shoot in Tunisia, a place I've always dreamed of going.
When I was maybe 18 or 19, I started having this dream about traveling to Tunisia. In my dream, I was making a film there and I was staying in this small hotel painted all white with blue accents. My room had a little balcony overlooking the Mediterranean from a hill top. There were white curtains always moving in the slightest cool breeze, the sun was warm and the sky the most perfect shade of blue. I dreamed of meeting my perfect man there - in the lobby of my hotel, we laughed and that was it, I was hopelessly, foolishly in love.
But that was just a dream.
In reality, I was traveling in a country where women can't sit at a cafe alone, where I had to fake marriage to my DP so I wouldn't be dragged off into the desert by Bedouins. And while my dream took place in the very real Sidi Bouh Saiid, my reality was Douz - a dusty town not unlike Mos Eisley on Tatouine in Star Wars.
I'm not complaining, it was an exceptional journey. But, when I looked out into the vast expanse of the never-ending Sahara desert, after years of dreaming about this place I'd never known, I couldn't help but think the reason I dreamed of this place is because I am filled with sand. Perhaps, I am a desert that goes on beyond the horizon and never meets the blue of the sky....
Before I left, I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who asked me what my goal really was in pursuing that crazy "27 dates" mission. I said I wanted to meet new people (she saw right through that). So I revised: I wanted to prove myself right - that there isn't a man out there that can handle all that I am, that there isn't a man for me. Well, going into this with that kind of attitude - of course I'm going to prove myself right because it means I'm not really open to being proved wrong. But really, I don't want to prove anything.
Let's be honest. Standing in the middle of the Sahara can feel like you're standing in the loneliest place on earth, but even there, you're not alone. There are plants here and there, there are scorpions and snakes and camels and Bedouins. There is the sky and the sun and at night - the most vast expanse of stars you've ever seen. And the moon. So really, I don't want to be alone. And as much as I hate to admit it to myself (and all of you), I'm just a fool looking for love in all the wrong places (the Sahara being one of them). And I just want someone to share the adventure with me.
So I still have 17 weeks (117 days) left and I'm determined to keep pushing forward on my mission - 25 dates to go! If a bush can grow in the Sahara, than there has to be one man willing to face the desert with me and I'm going to find him (someone should probably warn him).
After my 2nd date, I took a brief hiatus and went traveling about on a documentary shoot in Tunisia, a place I've always dreamed of going.
When I was maybe 18 or 19, I started having this dream about traveling to Tunisia. In my dream, I was making a film there and I was staying in this small hotel painted all white with blue accents. My room had a little balcony overlooking the Mediterranean from a hill top. There were white curtains always moving in the slightest cool breeze, the sun was warm and the sky the most perfect shade of blue. I dreamed of meeting my perfect man there - in the lobby of my hotel, we laughed and that was it, I was hopelessly, foolishly in love.But that was just a dream.
In reality, I was traveling in a country where women can't sit at a cafe alone, where I had to fake marriage to my DP so I wouldn't be dragged off into the desert by Bedouins. And while my dream took place in the very real Sidi Bouh Saiid, my reality was Douz - a dusty town not unlike Mos Eisley on Tatouine in Star Wars.
I'm not complaining, it was an exceptional journey. But, when I looked out into the vast expanse of the never-ending Sahara desert, after years of dreaming about this place I'd never known, I couldn't help but think the reason I dreamed of this place is because I am filled with sand. Perhaps, I am a desert that goes on beyond the horizon and never meets the blue of the sky....
Before I left, I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who asked me what my goal really was in pursuing that crazy "27 dates" mission. I said I wanted to meet new people (she saw right through that). So I revised: I wanted to prove myself right - that there isn't a man out there that can handle all that I am, that there isn't a man for me. Well, going into this with that kind of attitude - of course I'm going to prove myself right because it means I'm not really open to being proved wrong. But really, I don't want to prove anything.
Let's be honest. Standing in the middle of the Sahara can feel like you're standing in the loneliest place on earth, but even there, you're not alone. There are plants here and there, there are scorpions and snakes and camels and Bedouins. There is the sky and the sun and at night - the most vast expanse of stars you've ever seen. And the moon. So really, I don't want to be alone. And as much as I hate to admit it to myself (and all of you), I'm just a fool looking for love in all the wrong places (the Sahara being one of them). And I just want someone to share the adventure with me.
So I still have 17 weeks (117 days) left and I'm determined to keep pushing forward on my mission - 25 dates to go! If a bush can grow in the Sahara, than there has to be one man willing to face the desert with me and I'm going to find him (someone should probably warn him).
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