I gotta change speeds here. Stop (wait for it.....) monkeying around More posts, less verbage. I love writing, but it's actually pretty difficult for me. I feel like it takes a lot to get the engine going. Once I do, everything's peachy, but getting to that point, battling writer's block, trying to avoid my natural inclination for schmaltz with a layer of cheese on top, is pretty exhausting. And then once I finally start writing, I feel like I'm vomiting up a ton of pseudo existential wannabe streewise mish-mash all over the page. I even got a little on my shirt.
Anyway, I think maybe rather than reading Moby Dick lite, all three readers of this blog would probably prefer shorter posts more often. At least I would, and that's all that counts, right? Thanks to Saul for lighting a fire under my butt(that's figuratively, not literal folks). Right, so...on with the show.
Today is May 2nd. So is tomorrow. awesome! In other words, tonight we cross the international date line, so we repeat the same day twice. Trippy. It'll be like my own mini Groundhog Day(a highly underrated film...how great is Bill Murray. If "I Got You Babe" starts playing on my alarm, I'll know I'm in trouble. Especially since my alarm clock doesn't have a radio).
But I digress. I'm backed up on countries to write about, but I wanted to get a chance to mention Penang, Malaysia. One interesting aspect of our mini docs for the Global Nomads Group is our initial concern about balance in who we portrayed in the pieces. What I mean is, after South Africa, we felt like we had too many strong male subjects, and not enough female subjects. Yet, ironically, from Cape Town on, we only have female subjects. It wasn't really planned, just the way things ended up. But also interestingly, in the broadcasts I found in the port cities that it was the girls that really stood out for me, in terms of what they had to say and how eloquent they were in saying it. This isn't to say that they overshadowed the boys, but probably has more to do with my expectations of male/female roles in societies other than that of the western world. Nowhere else was this more surprising than in Malaysia.
Being a Muslim country, perhaps I expected the women to be more quiet, deferring more to the men in social situations and discussions. Whoa was I wrong. Our main subject, Alia, was great. So smart, charismatic, and not afraid to speak her mind at all. She was everything we could have asked for in a subject for our piece. And she wasn't alone. Her friend Wali, as well as many of the other female students that took part in our broadcasts from Penang, we exceptional in representing themselves. They brought up some really fascinating points about Islam, particularly in Asia. They are allowed to drive, they dress in much more colorful outfits and headscarves, and are allowed to show their face and feet, unlike many Muslim women in Arab countries apparently.
But the biggest issue they addressed was the need for understanding, for not judging all Muslims by the terrible actions of a few(just as I hope they don't judge us by the few Americans-unfortunately those in power, that have tore apart Iraq), for people to educate themselves, not just through books or films, but on a personal level, to reach out and get to know those(in this case Muslims) in your community that would give us a better and more real appreciation of what the culture and religion is all about. It's been an education for me, seeing firsthand what GNG is able to do in its' video conferences. For people of different cultures to see each other and talk, face to face, about misperceptions they may have about each other, and realize they're not so different.
It's just really powerful to bear witness to. I guess that's what GNG is all about, trying to make those personal connections, the kind, in this world of Internet, video games, TV and movies, I feel like we could all use more of. They say the world is getting smaller all the time. If that's so, we better get to know our neighbors, and not draw the blinds and shut ourselves up in our little condo. Cus you never know when we'll need to borrow some sugar. And besides, we smell them cooking some awesome food, and we heard they throw a pretty good party, so they might fun to hang out with after all.
(I have no idea what that means, but I think you get the idea).
~Ben
Joanna, a student, Wali, Alia, and some weird dude who just rolled up last minute
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