Friday, March 2, 2007
So I said I would make a post about my Geography and Tourism class...
Mostly I am torn between things. I want to travel, but how do I do it sustainably, responsibly, etc. The commoditization of culture is truely a frightening concept. We pay to see "Primitives" being primitive, even though the ceremony or craft that they can most of the time be completely phony! When is too much just too much! I really want people to travel, because it gives them a broader sense of existence. That other languages, customs and everything can be and usually is completely different then it is here in the US. People might actually realize how ignorant they really are and think globally. It seems tourism if carried out in a responsible fashion, taking in to account the local communities needs, wants, and privacy could actually be sustainable if done the right way, and be educational and beneficial to all sides participating. But unfortuneately it is a utopian ideal to believe that major companies would come in to a under-developed area and actually consider what the locals want, what the 1000 new toilets will do to that ecosystem will do, and whether the tourists themselves actually walk away with an organic real idea of what they have just experienced. Money as usual seems to drives most tourism these days.
I guess that I could go really far in to the detail about the pros and cons of different types of tourism, but I feel like I dont know what to say. Sometimes talking to someone else about things is easier then writing. I was supposed to write a response to a video and class discussion we had, but I just sat there. I coudlnt think of anything that hadn't been said. I nearly went bananas. In the end I printed a measely two pages worth of shit. I feel like if my teacher (who I really like) invited me to her office, I could just tell her all the things I know and feel about the video and class discussion, that writing it really didnt feel like the best communication to prove I know something.
Anyways now I am hyper sensitive to where I travel. Who will benefit and who will suffer by my coming to this country. Am I really getting an organic experience?
(Notice: I have painfully tried not to use the word authentic in this wee passage. I feel it is flawed in many ways when applying it to culture. As far as I am concerned culture is always changing, nothing is static and what was authentic in that time, may not be any longer. You cant expect under-developed places to escape globalization. Times changes, customs come and go. One doesnt go to Las Vegas to see the real Eifel tower, you go for the Las Vegas extraveganza! We can't expect things to stay the same. However this comes full circle, would it stay the same if explorers, reseachers, tourists stayed away? Again this is another reason I have a hard time in this class, it's all up in the air. But yea be careful with the word authentic, in my opinion)
4 comments:
wow caitlin. i've just read from the latest down to here. i don't know what to say about your relationship. that was so hard. i don't have any idea. i wish you the best obviously.
it feels a little awkward to talk about anything else, but i don't know. (i just wrote and erased a large amount of thoughts on dreams that got rediculous)
and would have ditched the whole comment but i've gotten to thinking a bunch now.
hmm, but it is late.
just that, stuff about cultures and respecting them and my reading about anti-racists lately but thinking about history always confuses me. just something about reading about anti-racists that existed in the 19th century. and something about how it was unavoidable to be racist if you were an average person. and how history tells us we'll be so wrong about something so important. and something about evolution. it's just that it gets more confusing and i dont' know what to think.
but at least i will say i very much admire how you write and how you think. it never fails to inspire me to do some thinking of my own. you just plod along at exactly the right speed. and 'plod' because - and i may be wrong and out of place to try to draw this parallel - there are so many thousands of things you can't assume and must double check before going from point A to point B. and that's cool. and at least that's how i feel. and at least that's how i feel your writing feels to me.
good luck. enjoy traveling.
Dear Chad,
I am actually fascinated by dreams, and any opinions on them are at the top of my interest pile to be honest. So if you feel inclined to write them, share them! (if only i could take my own advice!)
Anyway, "plod" is an interesting word. Kind of like spork, but thats besides the point. the point is, if you mean i plod because i take all things in to consideration with each step, then yes i plod. I cannot make assumptions and decisions without looking at all the sides of a situation. Only then do i feel comfortable taking another step forward.
My posts do kind of reflect this, I try to write everything I feel about a subject, and I usually only write when its completely necessary. Otherwise I wouldn't be writing the important things.
As always thanks for your input, I value it more then you know!
exactly what i meant by 'plod'
not the best word but i wanted to use it for fun. i liked using it because it got me into trouble and i usually do my best work when trying to get out of trouble.
and to make sure, i link myself with that word in the sense that i tried to apply it to you. in other words, i meant it as a funny kind of compliment.
i also like how you write out questions that come up. for example, "However this comes full circle, would it stay the same if explorers, reseachers, tourists stayed away?" that's just the typical way of the common plodder, eh? heh.
perhaps i will talk about dreams another time. i hope. but i've just been away from the internet for quite a while and i don't know if this was a fluke thing or if i'm starting to get back into it.
bye caitlin
hehe!
well no worries about the posting, staying away from computer, tv and crap like that is actually a good thing in my opinion.
I still check up on your blog, so if you post I'll know ur alive!
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