Welcome to my series “Interview With An Alien.” Today’s blog features the continuation of my interview with Kuzh from the planet Akmandah. Last week Kuzh told us about his job aboard a Hapida space ship and a little about his people’s family structure. Today we’re going to delve a little deeper into what his planet is like.
PART TWO: KUZH FROM AKMANDAH
S: Tell me a little bit about what are your homes are like.
K: Most of them are built into Makka trees. The trees grow from the top down.
S: The top down! How is that possible?
K: The seeds wedge into cliffs or banks and sprout roots that grow downward to solid ground and outward. They grow for hundreds of our years. The roots become massive trunks, and a single tree can cover a hundred kelas or more, Eventually, the 
original trunks die. Then we can chop them out to form rooms. It only takes a little wood, stone, or mortar to waterproof them. We have a lot of rain.
S: Very interesting. It makes a beautiful home. What is the interior like?
K: Inside is simple. Just furniture for sleeping and sitting and using our sitkas–like one of your electronic tablets. We paint the insides in bright colors, but we do not do much other decorating. The cooking and eating area is outside our home. The cooking fires are kept in a clearing away from the houses. Several related families eat together, usually fifty or sixty people. We like to eat together. Sometimes a meal can last half a day cycle. It is much more fun than the fast way your people eat.
S: I don’t think we would get much work done that way. So your weather must be warm most of the time.
K: Our planet is a little hotter than yours, similar to your tropical areas, but with temperatures closer to your deserts. It always seems cold to me on Earth, even in the summer. We work in the early morning and the evening. Midday is for eating and enjoying the company of others.
S: What else do your people do for fun?
K: A lot of water sports, of course. The Makka sap can be used to produce a substance similar to your rubber. The wood also floats. We do a lot of rafting for fun, but the rivers also provide key transportation routes. I am going to take a trip to your state called Colorado. There is a fast river there, and I want to go rafting.
S: It is very fast–too much for me, but I hope you enjoy it. While I was looking through pictures from your world, I came across this creature. Do you recognize it?
K: Yes. It is an asa dema—it translates as a seedbug. In this photo it’s carrying one of the Makka seeds. These are the creatures largely responsible for Makka reproduction. They put the seeds in crevices in the rock, where they take root. They build nests among the early sprouts. As you can see, much of our culture depends on the Makka. Fortunately, it exists almost everywhere on the planet.
S: What other kinds of animals do you have? Do your people have pets?
K: We have animals that live near our homes, but they are ones we use for their… something like your milk. I can’t understand keeping animals in your homes just for fun. That is very strange. They don’t seem to serve any purpose.
S: Purpose? Well, I suppose the purpose is that we love them, and love us, so we gain affection and comfort from them. For many people they become almost as important as family.
K: If you spent more time with your family members, you would not need pets.
S: Maybe so. But sometimes members of our families are far away.
K: That is sad.
S: Can you tell me about the religious beliefs of your people?
K: We believe in a single god, creator of the universe, as many of your people do. We have small temples all over the planet, some so old they’ve been completely consumed by the Makka trees. Some are still partially visible, and we build new ones from time to time as we move into previously uninhabited, or abandoned, areas. But we primarily worship within our homes. Each extended family has a priest or priestess.
K: Here on the left is one of the ancient ones, and on the right, is one of the newer ones we’ve built. The columns represent the roots of the Makka. Earth has some beautiful temples. I want to visit some of those, too, if my ship is here long enough. But your religions confuse me. If you believe there is only one god, how can you have so many different religions? That does not make sense.
S: That is a difficult question to answer. Many of our people believe in the same God, but we have very different ideas about how to worship. What have you enjoyed most about Earth so far?
K: I’ve been exploring your oceans. I went fishing, caught a fish as big as one of our boats.
S: Congratulations! That’s every Earth fisherman’s dream.
K: And I like sampling food from different countries. We do not have as many different… cultures as Earth does. It would take a long time to experience all the different ways of living here.
S: Yes, it would. Well, Kuzh, thank you so much for talking with me. I hope you stay long enough to do a lot of the things you want to do.
K: Me, too. I enjoyed talking to you. Aza kimai jaina to you. That means blessings of god .
S: Thank you so much.
Readers, hope you’re enjoying meeting these fascinating folks from other worlds.Special thanks this week to Queenie at MS Travel Solo for allowing me to use one of her extraordinary photos. If you enjoy travel to exotic locations, check out her site at https://www.mstravelsolo.com/solo-travellers-guide-tainan-taiwan/
Join me again next week when I interview Ambassador Phlip from Agzagi. Until then, fly high and free.
