A young girl approached me holding out sticky rice wrapped in pineapple leaves. I bent down and started asking her about her hometown and family. She seemed stunned that I was trying to conduct a conversation because she stepped back and paused before proceeding to answer my questions (spoke English). I want to get to know these children, because after all they are humans with stories just like the rest of us. She asked me to snap a picture of he as well (children by Angkor Wat requested the same as well as a showing of the photo).I rode a tuk tuk to the extraordinary home of a friend of a friend (oh connections). The interior was unbelievable. I... I... I am trying to make sense of how much a beautiful home can exist in such close proximity to the poverty I witnessed along the road to Phnom Penh. Although I was thrilled to take an actual hot shower and sleep in a my own room, I felt strange. I simply cannot comprehend how I could be surrounded by an impoverished village one moment and a fee short hours later be welcomed into (in my opinion) paradise. I began to reflect on my lifestyle in the Twin Cities. Whether I'd like to admit it or not, I do desire a certain living standard (hot water, clean bed, accessible transportation, etc), which I am ashamed to say I do not know if I wouldn't completely be willing to give up. But my conscience was eating away at my sense of everyday expectations. My mind is at war with itself. I was torn between whether to stay in the comforts of a beautiful home or flee for a hostel on the river. I did not feel worthy to stay reside in such living accommodations. However, everyone has a story and theirs too was quite extraordinary. Never make assumptions or entirely permit your self-righteous side to entirely take over.
2 comments:
Reminds me a lot of my experiences in South America, which I told you about. Just recently I read an article about kids in the poorer parts of South America and their growing importance for their families since they often make more money than their parents by selling stuff, offer to clean shoes, beg for money or posing for photos. The downside is certainly that they often don't have the chance to go to school being too busy to feed the family and no education, no jobs...a witches circle. Its really interesting that kids in one part of the world (e.g Eurpoe and the US) go to McDonalds and follow the same (fashion/music/etc.) trends, while other kids have to work hard to support their family like these kids you wrote about and the kids I saw in South America. Isn't globalization a "great" thing sometimes? We decided not to buy from or give any money to these kids, which was hard as you can imagine (but we shared sweets with them). If this was the right way to react and helped in any way, I don't know though.
The problem is on another level anyway and maybe has more something to do with the fact that the gap between richer and poorer countries as well as rich and poor people in general gets wider and when I think of a country like Bolivia that is so rich of natural resources and yet so poor I wonder who benefits, certainly not the majority of the people, even if Evo Morales is attempting changes there.
In a lot of Asian countries that offer their cheap "human resources", things are similar I guess. The folks making the money are the managers of western companies and to some extend the guys owning the factories, themselves afraid of the global labor price war going on.
This sounds so banal I know, but going to these countries and actually seeing and thinking about all this is a huge difference and an experience no TV documentary or book can give. I think you do know from your own perspective now what I meant when I said that, it definately sounds like it. :)
On the other hand I was amazed by the friendliness (well sometimes, South America is not Asia, haha!) and attitude (certainly) of the people we met there and talked to and yes, they have their (his-)story, their values and their pride. They try to make the best out of their situation, their lives. I felt thankful and ashamed at the same time about all the possiblities and luxury that I have compared to them, still do. Just the fact that I was traveling their country "for fun" while most of them will never ever travel further than to next big city even if they wanted to is crazy if you think about it.
We always tried to be as quiet, modest and respectful as possible with the people we dealt with in every day life (harder with a taxi driver obviously trying to rip you off...) and not "feeding" the stereotype of the not caring, just fun-seeking tourist, people we met too often. But were we really that different when we sat in the best restaurant in La Paz and sipping fancy whine with our meal and then slept in a comfy hotel bed?
I remember when we got into a discussion about how to tip our porters (these guys are amazing) on the Machu Pichu Trail in Peru and the person wanting to give the least amount money was a guy working as a pilot for a big Airline and getting a pretty good salary I guess. No comment on that. I think we found a fair solution.
But like I said I don't know if we did everything right over there and well, what is the right thing to do anyway. It is at least important to be aware of how wealth is distributed in our so called globalized world. To be aware of the history and the culture of places we can be glad to visit and the people we meet. Because "after all, we're (all) only human(s)"...
There are other people who have the power to change things and yeah, change a big word like current political campaigns show...but its easier said than done, sad.
Phew, just some random thoughts after reading your post. Don't know if this (/my english) really makes sense, especially after a day in the libary reading (/going obviously crazy) about the joys of "international trade finance" (ha!), damn those capitalists! :)
Hello Emily!
We're really enjoying your blogspot. You're so descriptive we feel as though we're there with you on your journey. Hong Kong sounds amazing, not to mention Thailand and Cambodia. You are on a trip of a lifetime and will forever be changed. Be safe, be happy, and keep on blogging!!!!
Love Aunt Ann and Paul
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