I am not a “journaler”. While on The World Race, I have discovered that the way I “process” things is not to sit down and write in a journal. Many many people around me are like this, and I can see how much they get out of time spent in this way… and it looks appealing! So even though I didn't journal before the Race, I thought that naturally I'd join the masses and start doing it. After all, it sounds fun to me to get up and enjoy a mocha or cup of tea and sit and write down what is going on in life and how I'm feeling about things!
The thing is, though, I just don't do it.
What I realized that I always have been, though, is a note taker. I really enjoy writing down little snippets that will jog my memory about something later, or help me to rally my thoughts about a topic. It's not that I don't enjoy writing, either, because I do.
Like a lot of people, throughout each day I have ideas for things I could post as a status update on facebook, and I have a running list of things in my mind that I should google later, and on The World Race I have a million blogs that I think about but have never written. If you follow my page, then this is not news to you, seeing as how I haven't posted anything since we were in Thailand in September. So fasten your seat belts and enjoy the ride to Blog Town, because I'm making up for lost time! Each topic won't be getting a whole blog to itself… so I hope you enjoy the snippets.
Cultures and Differences
One of the million blogs I have in my mind is about the different cultures we've experienced around the world. We have tried to be respectful and honoring of differences everywhere we go, and yet there are some things I doubt I will ever understand or get used to. An example of this would be the church services in Africa where they blasted music and the preaching as loud as possible… even with ear plugs in I would get headaches from the loud noise and shouting. We think some services in America are loud, but they aren't anything compared to some African churches!
Most differences I have experienced I wouldn't label as either “good” or “bad”, but they are just things we don't do in the U.S. After almost a year I still am not used to getting my fruit weighed and tagged before leaving the produce department at a grocery store, I'm still not used to remembering to have money on me in case I need to use a bathroom that charges a small fee (though I usually do remember to carry some toilet paper with me in a pocket or my backpack), and even in future travels and missions work around the world I don't know if I will ever get used to being asked to pay bribes or illegal fees (these make it into the "bad" column).
Bribery
My first real exposure to the ugly world of bribery came in month five in Ukraine. We were helping some Peace Corps volunteers at an English club they organized. Each week they would choose a different topic to have discussions about, so not only were the locals learning English, but they were also being challenged to think about things from an outside perspective. The first week there our topic of discussion was the EuroCup 2012 and the projected affects it would have on the area and economy, since Ukraine was joint-hosting it along with Poland. At the end of the session a Peace Corps volunteer said, “thank you all for joining us, and we hope you can make it next week when our topic will be corruption!” I smiled and laughed a little thinking he was joking. He was not joking and the next week we had a very interesting discussion about a reality in their lives that we don't experience in America. They pay bribes for anything from getting pulled over and paying the officer, to paying teachers for a grade or to pass a class, to getting to the front of the line to see the doctor first. Some of them didn't believe us (Americans) when we said we don't pay bribes in the U.S. To be as honest with them as possible, I said that I realize that there is bribery in America, but it's just not a part of normal everyday life. Yes, we have the option to pay fees to expedite things, but they are available for anyone and are up front as an extra cost. In some circles, like politics, I explained that I know bribes take place but it's just not something most people are exposed to or experience in daily life.
Border “fees”
Most places we have traveled to the price goes up when they see us ("Westerners") coming. Whether we are seen as low, middle, or upper class at home doesn't matter, in 3rd world countries we are rich. We got used to standing our ground with not paying double or triple the prices that were normally charged to locals wherever we were. Besides just being told a different price for things, we have also experienced being asked to pay illegal fees. A classic example of this was last month when Alys, Wes, and I took a quick trip to Vietnam from Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Wes had done research online about the border crossing and knew that they would be asking for 2 different illegal fees. One was $1 having to do with the “health inspector” and one was $5 that they add on to the Visa fee. It said online that if you stand your ground and tell them you know it's not a legal fee that they will finally concede. Wes decided to stand his ground with the first $1 fee we were asked to pay, and after going back and forth several times the guy looked annoyed and waved us away without us paying him anything. We had seen him pocketing everyone's money that came up to the counter during this time.
On the way back into Cambodia the three of us approached the shack to pay for our re-entry Visa and were told to pay $25. We said no, we know the amount should be $20 each. He said no no, you must pay $25, and then he told Wes that he needed to go exchange his money because they wouldn't accept Vietnam currency. While Wes went to exchange his money, I stood next to Alys waiting for our passports to get stamped and when asked to pay the $25 I said a couple more times that we would not pay more than $20 because that is what the amount is supposed to be. I pointed to our first Cambodia Visa that clearly said “$20” and he shook his head and said, “yes, but that was not here, and here I am doing it quickly so it's more.” I told him we were not in a hurry, to take his time. I stepped back and told Alys that I would try once or twice more, and then we'd just have to pay it if he wouldn't give in. When I stepped back up to the window and started to say again that we knew what amount is required, he gave us the same annoyed hand waive the “health inspector” had the day before and said okay as he handed us our passports and waived us away.
Next Up……
If you like what you've read so far, stay tuned for Part 2 of A Million Blogs which will arrive in 24 hours! First up is “Funny Stories” which you're not going to want to miss, followed by the popular subjects of "Politics and Religion!"
Blessings,
Jo Linda
