Greece!
I have to admit that it was with a very heavy heart that I landed at the Greek airport this afternoon. I could blame it on the 4 hours of sleep that I got between managing to close the last zipper on my over-stuffed suitcases at 1 am and then having my alarm go off at 5:15am to catch my plane. Or I can blame it on the fact that this is my last week of travel and afterwards I am going to have to go back to work. But the more I think about it I realize that I am not so tired that it would affect my mood like this and I am actually looking forward to going back to work (obviously absence makes the heart grow fonder). I actually think that I am bummed about coming back to the West. Even though I personally don't follow politics at all, either those at home or abroad, I am aware that neither do the majority of Americans. Having been to this very important region of the world, I now realize not only how little I knew about it, but also how little I cared to know about it. It was "other" and just not important in my day to day life.
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Now that I have been here and seen that it is a completely enormous part of the world and is not going away anytime soon, I feel disappointment and disdain at the United States rather narcissist view of world politic and religion. In all of the countries that I was in, from Morocco to Dubai, television stations broadcast shows in at least three languages. At any given time you could watch news, sports, or entertainment in Arabic, English, French, Italian, Spanish, or Hindi.
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In addition, as I mentioned in one of my earlier entires, many Muslims know as much (if not more) about the Bible as many American Christian, and almost everyone is aware of the American political system for better or worse. It is so impressive at how socially and politically aware the East is and how isolated and introverted we are becoming. There is a whole world out there that we in the West see as little more than a source of charming cheap imports, including oil. Perhaps I am not giving enough credit to the US and I certainly don't mean to imply that I have all of a sudden become a worldly, non-prejudiced expert on any subject, Middle East OR Western. But at least now I feel I am much more aware of the depth and richness of these other cultures and will also be able to put many of the things that I hear and read in the news at home into a more well-rounded cultural context. I also have an emotional connection to many of the places since I have met wonderful and fascinating people in all of the countries I visited, and that was the best part of the trip by far.
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My trip isn't over yet, and I look forward to comparing and contrasting the European "West" culture with that of the American "West".
Now that I have been here and seen that it is a completely enormous part of the world and is not going away anytime soon, I feel disappointment and disdain at the United States rather narcissist view of world politic and religion. In all of the countries that I was in, from Morocco to Dubai, television stations broadcast shows in at least three languages. At any given time you could watch news, sports, or entertainment in Arabic, English, French, Italian, Spanish, or Hindi.
*
In addition, as I mentioned in one of my earlier entires, many Muslims know as much (if not more) about the Bible as many American Christian, and almost everyone is aware of the American political system for better or worse. It is so impressive at how socially and politically aware the East is and how isolated and introverted we are becoming. There is a whole world out there that we in the West see as little more than a source of charming cheap imports, including oil. Perhaps I am not giving enough credit to the US and I certainly don't mean to imply that I have all of a sudden become a worldly, non-prejudiced expert on any subject, Middle East OR Western. But at least now I feel I am much more aware of the depth and richness of these other cultures and will also be able to put many of the things that I hear and read in the news at home into a more well-rounded cultural context. I also have an emotional connection to many of the places since I have met wonderful and fascinating people in all of the countries I visited, and that was the best part of the trip by far.
*
My trip isn't over yet, and I look forward to comparing and contrasting the European "West" culture with that of the American "West".
3 comments:
well i have heard it said that there is no education like travel and certainly from this part of the blog i would have to agree.
Again, totally amazed at the absolute breadth and expansive coverage that you have given us via blog. Thank you so much.
Jeanna
I agree with you on your views of the US. Travel is the best way to learn about other countries. Coming here from the Eastern Europe, I can assure you that people there (including myself) know more about US than some Americans know about their own country. But, again, we still all live here. Thank you for sharing all your thoughts! It's been great sightseeing with you the beautiful places throughout your travels!
Hi Chris and Amanda,
These are the first photos I've seen of little Ian. What a cute little package. Hope you have a great remainder of your trip. You'll have some stories to tell Ian later, Amanda -- nursing at the acropolis!
hope to catch up with you when you're back in the states.
Rachel
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