Last night I spent the majority of my evening watching the National Geographic Channel, or NatGeo as it’s called. It’s always good to watch some of that stuff every once in a while and be reminded of how really huge Earth is.
Earth, while getting smaller in a communications and technology sense, is still really humongous. It’s a big place with an extensive collection of people, cultures and life. I was watching one show in particular, Explorer: The Lost Mummies of New Guinea. It followed a really lovely woman, who quickly won my heart, Ulla Lohmann, and her journey to Papua New Guinea to find these lost mummies. This woman was incredible. She’s a photographer and adventurer and brave. Really brave. It was something to watch her interact with the natives and really get them to open up to her about their culture.
In a broader sense however, while enamored by Ms. Lohmann, I was still amazed at this culture living barely a generation removed from wild savages in the jungles. The tribe is called the Anga people and they are tropical dwellers who somehow developed a process for mummification in the dampness of the jungle. Mummification usually has to take place in very dry climates, like Egypt, but this culture figured out a way in their jungle environment to preserve their ancestors through mummification. It was amazing and I was just blown away that this culture even existed on this planet. Most cultures abandoned mummification long ago, likely due to the spread of Christianity in the world and burying the dead became a more common practice.
I had never heard of this tribe and my life would have likely gone on interrupted without hearing of them. But my mind was certainly affected; I was reminded of this precious oral and tribal history some cultures on Earth still have and this sense of being human. Even though I am culturally on a different planet than the Anga; I could clearly see their humanity and was easily touched by their desire to hold onto their cultural past and traditions. Their raw, untempered emotion was amazing to see.
When the tribal elder, Gemtasu, saw Ms. Lohmann after not seeing her for a number of years he openly wept with joy to see her again. He wept. He stood for the entire village to see and cried. Ms. Lohmann wiped the tears from his cheeks and I could feel his raw happiness. I was impressed with this small tribal people and felt a sense of loss for our own culture. I don’t think I’ve ever wept with joy, for any reason. I’m far to Victorian in my sensibilities to weep. Perhaps if I have a child I’ll be reduced to tears of joy but so far in my life I’ve not experienced that simple happiness. I felt the Anga people were somehow, luckier than me in my modern world. I’m sure the idea of pain in the neck caused by stress is not one of their overwhelming problems.
I tried to imagine myself as some sort of worldly explorer and I just couldn’t do it. I won’t even go near a restaurant that has a funny smell. I couldn’t imagine myself squatting in the bush somewhere trying to experience a culture first hand. I’ve been made quite soft by this luxurious lifestyle. I’m what you would call institutionalized by my culture and the idea of even running barefoot anywhere scares the crap out of me. I might cut my foot, catch a disease and die and then giant jungle bugs would eat me. But I’m still filled with wonder and an eagerness to see this giant planet. I guess that’s why I’m happy I have cable. Take that Network sitcoms!
I suppose one day my adventurous side will come out and I’ll find myself scouring the Egyptian deserts searching for the Ark of the Covenant, but until then, I’ll be amazed at this planet from afar and keep my sense of wonder up my sleeve, right near where I should keep my heart.
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