Soon, I was met at the coffee shop by Jhavier our cheerful, ruddy-faced taxi driver, and another delegate from Poland. He spoke numerous languages and ended up being our personal translator for the trip. He understood the value of traditional games and sports and had built a platform where numerous organizations across the world could come together to document their work and collaborate.
He believed in the value of culture and games and how they brought people together, face-to-face, enabling them to build relationships that, in today’s world, would stand the test of time. Discussing it with him on our drive to Aranda along the beautiful, winding roads of Spain, I felt the echo of what I have believed and said all along. The world has gone mad, and people need to come together across borders, religions, communities and languages to play together and build relationships. If games can do that, then the work we’re doing is very important.
Since I work so little with people reviving traditional games, it was great pleasure to see this emotion echoed again and again. Through the conference, we came together, and language did not matter, religion did not matter, country did not matter—we could be friends over a game. This seemed a very promising start to a conference. I had been unsure what to expect when I came to Madrid – whether it would be merely a presentation of series papers with everyone in their own cocoon of work. What emerged, however, was the spirit of collaboration, the willingness to reach out, to work together, and to go beyond the confines of the games we know.
It is rare that you arrive in a new country and drive off immediately to a small town. I’ve never done that before. Typically, we end up spending a few days in the big cities. Getting out of the town immediately, along the winding roads, through the verdant greenery, and past the lovely old houses and buildings, all while talking about how games can bring people together, was wonderful. The mood seemed right—a mood of joy, happiness, and peace. Outside, the rest of the world was tearing itself apart, but for some time, for a few days, we could pause and hope.
Ripples Of Life and Time 