Sunsets change, but the dreams remain the same
By scott.poniewaz | February 15, 2008
Please click this main image to see a gallery of images. If you place the cursor over images in the gallery, you can see captions. Click a thumbnail to move forward, or use the buttons in the lower right hand corner to advance photos. There are also several photos that are more personal, as opposed to my photojournalism style, so I hope you enjoy the twist!
I’ve now been fortunate to have my feet hit the ground in six continents and I’ve had the opportunity to experience these places with new friends, old friends and mutual friends. As I’ve continued to learn, it is also smaller than I had previously experienced. The education of travel has touched my personal life in more ways as the cross-cultural boundaries have been breached. Each time I feel the world become a smaller one, it continues to surprise me, whether I search for Hippo’s in undeveloped West African waterways on boats on the verge of sinking or experience the endless neon lights on the streets of Tokyo, I am fortunate to live a life that typically can only be encountered in the glossy pages of travel magazines.
This past fall I’ve learned how the sunsets can strike you differently when you stand on the shores of the Gulf of Guinea, contrasted with the way it falls upon the high Himalayan peaks of Ladakh. I know what it feels like to be breathing the thin air at 18,500 feet sipping chai as prayer flags flutter in the wind as you gaze into the towering mountain ranges of Pakistan on the highest motorable pass in the world, and I know what it feels like to share kava in a “sevu sevu” ceremony in remote villages of Viti Levu on the Fijian Islands. I also have learned that the new iPods don’t function at these high altitudes, while the older ones do, something I’m sure Apple hasn’t employed its engineers to research! As diverse and unique as these situations are, the similarities continue to surprise me as I trot around the globe. Family, happiness, hope, a quality of life, and the ongoing struggle to understand about the rest of the world are all common traits in the people I meet, no matter where I travel.
At times, these themes can be understood by the two parties involved and other times they are unfathomable to both of as we attempt a conversation that crosses language barriers. Globalization is connecting the world and making it more fathomable for both sides of the party as technology becomes more attainable to even the most remote villages I have traveled to. Whether it is a school teacher going to the tree on the edge of the school yard in a remote Burkina Faso village, the only place to check text messages on a recycled cell phone, or the way a New York executive awaits confirmation of an important business deal on their Blackberry, there are ways which technology is crossing borders for better or for worse.
I’ve always been aware of these disparities in the world, however my travels have allowed me to become more cognizant of their rapid developments and the increasing global yearn for westernization. There is the sacrifice in Thailand among some of my friends for the new designer purses at the sacrifice of a small living space, but you start to realize that the importance of personable socialization is still at a higher value than that which America has been reaching with the prevalence of online social networking. Person to person connections are still held to higher standards than the cell phone to cell phone, or computer to computer forms of communication in Thailand and their room is simply a place to sleep at night, they spend more time with friends as opposed to in their room behind a computer screen. At the same time, I see the children of Tibetan refugees exchanging IM’s in local internet cafes across northern India.
Following my time in India, I spent a couple months in Thailand, as has become my regular work routine, and following that time I had the opportunity to travel beyond what has turned into my accustomed life. As I gear up for another nine months abroad after my surprisingly quick return to America this year, many of these realizations are quickly becoming apparent. Friends start commenting on habits that have previously been unnoticed in America and are otherwise normal in most of my year spent traveling through foreign countries. Walking down the left side of the sidewalk, much like the traffic moves in the rest of the world, covering my mouth when I eat, as many do in Japan, lowering my head when I step in front of people, a polite, non-verbal way of saying “excuse me” in Asia, and cringing when people hand me change from a $10 bill with their left hand, which is used for wiping; Each of these I’ve managed to integrate into my daily life and the reverse culture shock has shone through.
My time in Asia has caught up to me and become a norm, while my dwindling time in America has become the abnormal part of my life, which is a strange shift. At the same time, I’d much rather appreciate a head ducking in front of me to a shoulder in a subway!
This past fall allowed me to travel to some of the least developed corners of West Africa, when I visited a friend in Burkina Faso, to Japan where the technology would put America to shame! In recent weeks the New York Times reported that text message based novels were becoming Japan’s most successful best sellers, which was actually creating a reverse in the publishing industry due to their increased transit times that allowed people to post directly to internet sites that gathered fan bases, then publishing companies bought up the rights to these novels that read closer to text-messaging dialogues than classic literary works. In addition, it is not uncommon for people to huddle around a cell phone screen to watch streaming television on a commuter train. While these technologies are becoming more prevalent in American society, the world is beginning to catch up and I am about to return to one of those developing nations.
As I conclude my time in America, I realize again that I have been slow to post here, but my thoughts have been able to penetrate more deeply and appreciate my time in country more. My relationships among family and friends become more valuable and the support they provide me in my rather nomadic lifestyle continue to be the most important possessions in life. I am both excited to return to India, yet also sad to leave behind the times I have spent with those people and the fresh catches that Seattle has offered me. I’ll be trading my seared Ahi tuna for chicken masala, but cannot wait for the next round of travel that awaits me. I leave behind some of the things in life I’ve waited a long time for, but hope that they will await me upon my return. It is a life I’ve been fortunate to be offered and in this life-time that often becomes too fast, I’ll continue to experience it as best I can and take advantage of the exceptional opportunities that travel provides, hoping to share them with others.
In my short time in Kenya this past fall, just prior to the violence that ensued following their elections, I now feel a connection with the people of the country due to my short time there. I have continued to experience the compassion in my heart to the people of Burma, I can picture Abdallah kicking the soccer ball around his village in Burkina Faso with the hope of his family’s bright future, and I hope that Pakistan can regain its stability in the midst of its troubled times. This past year has been a challenging and diverse one for my family, my friends, and myself, but in my own trials and tribulations a lot has been gained for us all. Around the world, people face different challenges, but their lives all revolve around the same basic traits of humanity and that is something we all should have the opportunity to experience.
I hope you enjoy the pictures from my fall travels!
Topics: Travel, Photo Galleries, General, Thailand, India, Myanmar, Burkina Faso, Africa, West Africa, Kenya, Japan, The Fiji Islands |
Comments
« Sikhism to Buddhism and the sights in between | Home | There is an I in India! Pictures from recent travels »