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Travel and Foreign Affairs Pet Peeves
When it comes to travel or foreign affairs, I’m starting to think I’m different from many of those around me. I’m not afraid to fly long distances, use a passport, visit locales that require bottled water, stay in hostels, eat unfamiliar food, or speak or read languages other than English. I don’t understand the surprised looks from my parents’ friends, the comments from my neighbors about how ”brave” I am, why the concept of studying abroad makes my uncles’ (and aunts’ and grandmothers’) defenses go on red alert (it’s not like I’m going to spend five months in Iraq…). Aren’t travel and cultural exchange normal in this Millennium?
Instead, things that other people generally find inconspicuous or just not a big deal can really annoy me. And if they’re said or done—how should I phrase this?—more than very, very rarely can make my blood boil. I’ve been told that things of this nature don’t matter, that they’re not worth making a fuss over, that I’m being overly picky, that I should just let it go, that nobody cares. But I do care, and can’t stop caring, because the way I see it, all those little, so-called inconsequential, things point to ignorance. And not thinking that they matter suggest that some people don’t care about being ignorant—that they are happy to stay ignorant.
I would have thought we learned the dangers of staying happily ignorant 28 months ago. Have we learned nothing?
The following are just a few annoyances I can think of off the top of my head. Most come from normal day-to-day interactions with those around me (both online and offline), but one is something I frequently see everywhere in the mainstream press. In no particular order:
- I speak Spanish. I do not speak Mexican, Puerto Rican, Bolivian, Peruvian, or Dominican; no such languages exist.
- No, Spanish is not the only language spoken in Latin America. For one thing, there’s this country that takes up a sizable chunk of the South American continent called Brazil (maybe you’ve heard of it?), and they speak Brazilian Portuguese. And, in addition to countries like Suriname and French Guiana that use other European languages, there are a bunch of indigenous languages that are still used today. AILLA has a reasonable introduction for those interested.
- The words ”Muslim” and ”Arab” are not interchangeable. The first refers to someone who believes in the religion of Islam, regardless of their race or ethnicity. The second refers to someone of a specific ethnic decent, concentrated in the Middle East, regardless of their religious (or other) beliefs. There are Muslims in every country in the world, and they are Arabs who profess faith in different religions.
- Africa is not a country, it is a continent. Just like there are differences between Norway and Italy, there are differences between Botswana and Niger. There are lots of different languages (no, not everyone speaks French. In fact, many don’t), ethnicities, religions, forms of government, attitudes towards women, and degrees of economic development. Yes, there are concerns that blanket the entire continent, but the same that can be said for any major region in the world. Just ask the members of the former Soviet Bloc.
- Yes, I am American. No, I am not afraid of metric. No, mental currency conversion doesn’t scare me. No, I don’t mind other localizations of English, so long as you’re equally comfortable with my American expressions and spelling. (I admit, I am kinda lost when it comes to Celsius, though.)
- Australia is a big country, people! Hell, it also as a continent, all by itself! Just because your ex-roommate’s cousins live in Sydney or your best friend’s niece lives in Perth, that doesn’t mean I’ll want to visit them or it’s even helpful to know they’re there. Would you give someone visiting Boston the contact info for your former co-worker in Chicago because they happened to be in the same country? If not, why are you doing that to me now? Please stop!
- Also… stop giving me lists of things I should do or see that are as long as my arm. This isn’t some gap-year trip I’m taking down under for the sheer hell of it; I’m actually taking classes, will actually have to study, and will actually have exams and grades at the end of my stay. Do I want to travel and see the sights and have fun? Absolutely. Will I slack off? Maybe. But I have too little time to indulge in your fantasies about Australia; this isn’t a five month long extended spring break party, got me?
Ah… I feel so much better; I’ve been wanting to get those off my chest for a while. Until now, I’ve dealt with these frustrations by smiling and politely nodding at the ignorant, and then ranting about how stupid people can be to a very understanding Yvonne (who, I should add, saved many a monitor from premature death). Now that I have a functioning website again, this seemed like a much more constructive way to deal with it.
But if I come across another article in a nationally respected newspaper or magazine using Muslim and Arab synonymously, editors everywhere shouldn’t be surprised if they find rants in their inboxes. I’m done with smiling politely at the ignorant.
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