Tuesday, April 13, 2010

I am extremely attracted to the idea of exploring new places and doing things that are somehow exotic and exiting just by being different. Where this attraction comes from is difficult to pin down, but it is one of the components that first attracted me to the Kenya course. Is it a cultural lens that draws people to want to explore new places? In our culture everyone is constantly watching movies and reading books about people whose lives seem more exiting then ours. Is this encouraging us to go seek out adventures? Or are these stories making us less satisfied with our lives as they are? The article said that people often travel for bragging rights, checking places off a list for some kind of social status. And it is a kind of social status, you need a considerable amount of financial stability to travel internationally.
The part about trying to find a pristine and unvisited beach, and then keeping it that way was disturbing in its reality. I spent winter block in Mexico kayaking on the coast, at every camp site there was signs of previous campers, or other people camped there already. It took us hours of driving and/or kayaking to reach these sites but no mater how remote there were other people already there. the attraction to these places is destroying them.
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3 comments:

Lisa Landolina said...

I thought the phrase "visual possession" was quite interesting because that's how a good majority of people view travel -as a conquering and a way of feeling special. You can go backpacking and reach your destination peak and miss the feeling- that amazing rush and appreciation at the top because now you can see even bigger peaks that you are eager to take on next- to defeat or conquer... it's a wanting and a desire to have more. If you travel to a place and know that many people have done the same thing as you: seen the same attractions, walked the same cobblestone streets, bought food from the same restaurant, the place can lose its appeal to some travelers because they can't 'possess' the place and have it all for their own.
I hold ambivalent feelings on this subject having taken both sides before. There is an inexplainable feeling of being the only American in a town or entering a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that only the locals know about... you feel the authenticity of place and the people and things that make it what it is.
I feel that exposure to a place is fine depending on the situation- why hold an experience all to your own when other people can feel that great feeling you felt there? After all, you are not a local in the town you are visiting so you can never 'possess' it and be a local, even after years... so you have no say in keeping it from others if they will visit respectfully. But there are circumstances where I can take the side of the travelers wanting a local experience when they enter a place where you can't even pick out the locals and every restaurant waiter speaks english. This is the influence tourism can have on a place for the worse... the place may look the same as it did many years before an influx of travelers arrived, but the people, the food, these things that tourism takes over are not material things, they are culture.

April 13, 2010 at 9:31 PM
Lisa Landolina said...

oops I commented on your post not in response to your blog entry just fyi
haha this thing still confuses me

April 13, 2010 at 9:33 PM
Lisa Landolina said...

Still unclear on how to be a contributor instead of commenting so I am going to place my ethnic community blog here.

The tribe that tigers and leopards fear; THE SANYE FOREST WTCH WARRIORS
CHECK OUT THIS YOUTUBE of the Sanye tribe! It’s nuts! Definitely worth checking out! They can climb any tree to gather food.... also, my title makes more sense
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRp4o0EJF3E


Stories from past generations reveal to us that the Sanye tribe were originally from Shungwaya and then settled in Iwizoon of the banks of the Tana River where they are currently settled within the Lamu and Tana River districts.
The community is made up of 7 clans: Walunku, Wamanka, Ebalawa, Ilam, Digilima, Simtumi, and Radhotu – speaking in sharp dialects that can compare to Xhosa in South Africa.
They hold suspicion toward outsiders since their territory was taken over by Swahili and Pokomo farmers in a resettlement scheme during the 70s. In 1977 hunting was banned so the tribe abandoned hunting and gathering and took on farming.
Although some members of the tribe try to become literate, school is not a primary focus for these isolated people. The Sanye are focused on the forests and take immense pride in their land. A local resident by the name of Mohammed Ali Baddi says, "They are so much at home in the forest that they can hide there without being seen." In fact, if visiting the Lamu and surrounding communities, you will think you are in a deserted village. They take much comfort in their forest, spending most of their time there and rely on it for medicine as opposed to nearby hospitals.
"People take us to be primitive because our way of life has not changed” says Sanye elder, Alio Batie. One herb in particular, mavumbani, is used to make a drink similar to tea. They use aromatic herbs to make beverages and heal people. Some tribes call them ‘witches’ as witchcraft is a major part of their lives. Every Thursday evening they gather at the tree in the middle of their village where they dance around a fire to cure the sick if the herbs fail in helping the illnesses. The Sanye believe that evil spirits can sometimes possess people and that an exorcism in the form of dance can solve health problems.

April 13, 2010 at 11:14 PM

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