Is it near or far? LARGE or small?

Every time I returned to the island after being in my supply town, I had to convince people that I had NOT gone to America in my 1 or 2-week absence, and would try to paint a picture of how massive that distance is. But how do you give perspective to someone who lives on an island 65 miles long that goes to the "city" a few times a year (10 miles away) and considers a town 35 miles away a once-in-a-lifetime experience?

A few days after I left the island, my old village got cell phone signal. So, while I was staying 5 miles down the road from them, I never heard from them unless I physically visited. And now, a thousand miles away, I hear from them daily (often multiple times a day). Ah, the irony.

So last week, I get this call from a dear sweet lady I love in my old village, and she tells me that she and her 70-yr-old husband are in the same city as me! I couldn't believe it. I had to see it with my own eyes. So yesterday, after passing the phone around to several people
on both ends, I managed to get some directions I hoped to be able to follow. I left work early and set out on a series of bus rides in search of my friends who were a very long way from home (and not exactly "in" the city). :) But I found them! And here's the proof.

Maybe it is a small world after all.
Or just all a matter of perspective....