Mysterious Little, Pink Heart

I’m gonna get a little narcissistic for a moment and talk about me. That’s what this thing’s for, right? So, at the top of this blog there’s this cute little map of the world and all these adorable little hearts that show from what area of the globe people have visited my site – yet another example of my narcissistic tendencies. This map fascinates me. I’m always looking at it, searching for new hearts, making sure old hearts are still there, representing the people who I imagine to be incredibly interesting, affluent, and/or possibly trapped in a location that, tragically, cannot support their genius and have come to my blog for entertainment.

I know exactly who some of these hearts represent. The one in Alaska is my Aunt, Jill. The one’s all over So-Cal are my friends and family. The one in Hedley, Texas is my friend and fellow blogger, Colleen. The one’s in Bulgaria are other PCV’s like myself who also have very interesting and entertaining blogs showcasing the goings-on of this place. Though, for the most, part, I have no idea who most of those hearts represent.

I love that.

It allows me to over-romanticize the fact that we are all connected. That people, all over the world, share common threads that bind us together and prove that we work better as a team than as competitors. People from all over the world who are drawn to peace and the promotion of friendship beyond borders connect through the web and through blogs like mine. It’s kinda great, is what it is. Kinda, f***ing great.

There is one heart, however, that has baffled me for months. I’ve been dying to comment, to ask, to scream, “Who are you!?!?”

Do you see it? It’s that lone little heart, off the coast of Africa, in the ocean, all alone, by itself, and single.

When you put your cursor on it, it says, “Unknown.”

UNKNOWN?!?!

Doesn’t that drive you crazy?!

It drives me friggin’ crazy.

So, I click on the map and I’m taken to a website that gives me more map options. When I put my cursor on it now, it shows not only the names of each place, but the flag of it’s country as well. This little, lonely heart has a flag I didn’t recognize (despite the fact that I’ve been living in a seriously foreign country for almost a year now, I’m still not very cultured) so I googled it. The flag is for the European Union.

Yet another mystery. What the h-word?

So now my mind has created all these wild fantasies regarding this heart and what it could possibly represent. At first I thought it was an island that is simply unmarked and some seriously crazy stuff is happening not unlike that show LOST that everyone used to watch before it got so crazy and confusing that we all had to stop.

But, no, why would it have the EU flag?

It must be a top-secret, underwater station for spies to meet and…do spy stuff. Or a submarine that never moves, or…or…?

Yeah, my imagination only goes that far. But I really want to know. Who are you? What’s the deal? What is this place and how do you get internet access?

TELL ME!

I realize that the desperation in my all capital letters gives you a bit of an advantage over me. You may be thinking to yourself, you mysterious heart you, that you can keep this information from me and hold all the power in our relationship. However, I’ll strike you a deal. You tell me who and what you are and I’ll, in exchange, offer you one question of your own that I promise to answer in all truthfulness. Or a banana. Or I’ll give you a banana. I’ll mail it right to you (if you have an address – if not, I’ll save it for you and you can come get it).

That’s your choice: question or banana.

Choose wisely.

-Age