Victor's definition of Paradise.

Maybe Victor and I are destined to meet. Often. Our paths cross.  Three times in the past week or so. Victor is my new-found Nigerian friend. A street peddler.  In Sardinia. Where I’m living.  Victor is seated on a bench. Along Via Gramsci, the main street in the city of Carbonia. His bundle of wares next to him.  We chat for a while. I take advantage of Victor. Because he speaks English. Good, Brit-accented English. Victor left Nigeria in 2006. He’s lost communication with his family back in Nigeria. But doesn’t seem to regret it.  Wonder if he’s a little disillusioned with life abroad.  Says the two years he recently spent in Libya were better  than life in Nigeria.  Meanwhile, it can’t me much of a life as a street peddler. Victor says he’s looking for permanent work. A real job. But finding gainful employment in Italy is difficult, if not impossible.  Even for native Italians, let alone a Nigerian. My Italian true love suggests that Victor probably would be better off emigrating to a Scandinavian country. I’m not sure how Victor finds solace in his wanderings. Maybe he thinks of it as exotic and romantic. He’s a professed Christian. Wears a plastic crucifix around his neck. Doesn’t talk much about his religion.  Only that he left Nigeria  because of the constant strife between Christians and Muslims. Makes me wonder why anyone is attracted to organized religion of any kind.  So much turmoil and animosity.  The ‘believers’ can’t seem to get along.  At least  agnostics and atheists  seem to find common accord. And live together. Peacefully. Cooperatively.  I find agnostics and atheists to be more spiritual than religious. Their focus seems more on the here and now.  On savoring the day. The moment.  The devout Christians and Muslims are more focused on the hereafter. On some day reaching Nirvana. Heaven. Paradise.  I’m already in Paradise. Right here in Sardinia. Living with my Italian true love.  Makes me wonder about Victor’s definition of Paradise. I’ll ask him next time. –Jim Broede