Just got on the flight to JFK. I met a guy named Josiah who has just sold everything he owns to try and find work in Europe. I must say, I'm jealous. To pick up, leave everything you have, and walk into the unknown is admirable. He's as of yet not sure what he will do, where he will go, or where he will live. But he's taking the leap of faith none the less.
He says he's sick of America, what we stand for, and how we treat our citizens, and how we carry ourselves. I cant say that I blame him. As much as this trip that I'm taking is academic, i think a big part of it is an escape. Not a vacation per say, but my own form of stepping into the unknown.
Take off was delayed as to be expected and this is the shortest of all my flights that I will be taking over the next 30 some-odd hours of travel. As much as I hate sitting on an idling airplane, I think that the guy sitting next to me is a good reminder to not just settle for the norm.
Carol Delaney describes in her cultural anthropology text book, that good anthropologists leave the classroom, library, and lab. They head into the field for an extended period of time. They look, listen, and learn.
This is my goal: Look, listen, and learn.
I'm incredibly anxious to see and read about your South African adventure. I think part of leaving your country isn't so much based on looking outward as it can be looking in-ward. What makes the United States strong, in theory, is exactly this: that we have all of the influence of the rest of the world trying to create one national identity. It's not an easy task, and so I personally advise to people who are disillusioned with the United States to remember this.
ReplyDeleteIn a place like South Africa we have something similar to this sort of mixing and creating of a new national identity going on since the end of the Afrikaner government. This is why I'm even more interested to see what conclusions you can draw from paralleling the two societies. I hope, personally, that rather than give up on the idea of the United States, your writing and your goal of looking, listening and learning can help to re-invigorate the original intent of the United States when you return.