Even though Miami and Orlando certainly seem to have the highest concentrations of practitioners in Florida, Tampa has its share, too. I just never see many of them, I guess. At least not unless I’m looking for them.
For lunch today, I decided to stop by a nearby Publix. As I walk in the store, I looked over towards the floral department. There, I spotted a woman wearing all white and holding a big bouquet of yellow flowers. On its own, it wouldn’t have phased me much, but then I spotted her beads.
Before I could give it much thought, I found myself walking up to her to get a better luck. The eleke for Shango caught my eye first. I looked at the rest and then my eye moved to what I’m relatively sure was a maso for Oshun. It looked similar to the one I have for Obatala, but with honey-colored beads instead of white. The woman saw me looking and I suddenly felt a lot more self-conscious. I leaned in from across the floral arrangements, smiled, and said, “Bendicion.” She bowed her head a little and put hand up to her chest in one-handed response. I don’t think she said, “Santo”. Instead, she just smiled timidly. We parted ways. I ended up standing an aisle away from her in the checkout lines, just by chance, but I didn’t say anything further. I figured that if she wanted to make conversation, she would.
As I left the store, I was pretty psyched about finally having my first “iyawo sighting” outside of a religious function, botanica, or latin neighborhood. As I got to thinking of it, though, I wondered whether she was truly an iyawo or just someone going somewhere ocha-related. I think what tipped me off was the lack of head-covering. Between that and not responding with “Santo”, I figure it’s a pretty safe bet that she’s just an aborisha like myself. Who knows.
Still, it’s pretty nice running into someone randomly like that. Really makes me think about what it’ll be like when the tables are turned and it’s me wandering around the grocery store in my whites…
