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The universal through the particular

Posted by Word Camel on October 11, 2004

In Reply to: Aint necessarily so posted by Lewis on October 11, 2004

: : : : How to explain it?

: : : Travel gives you experiences and perspectives that you won't find at home.

: : It gives one the opportunity, but not everyone takes advantage of it. Some well-travelled people are still very provincial.

: when I was in Italy some years ago - we had an English couple sit next to us in a restaurant - the menu was the usual Italian trattoria/pizzeria fare - they asked for an omelette. now, there is nothing wrong with omelette per se, but to go so far and want home-cooking of such simple nature seems to defeat part of the purpose - we travel for pleasure in all the senses : the sounds of pealing bells and foreign language, the smell of drains(!), plants and cooking, the taste of the food, the sight of the landscape/townscapes/art, the touch of cool marble.

: ...at least that is how I consider it.

: seeing that what one experiences at home is not the only way of life is all part of it. OK, so a friend who works for an aid agency and had a visit to Rwanda may be thankful of the life he leads back here, but having been there, he knows something of how life can be different.
: seeing Madrid at 2 a.m. as crowded as London on Saturday afternoon was quite amazing for me - or wandering around safely at 1 a.m. with no bars closing unless the owners felt like it - or shops being generally open until late evening - these are all differences that make one think about how lives can be different, even on the same continent.

: with all due respect to our American friends, the global dominantion by multinationals and cultural imperialism does threaten these differences, but for now, we can still observe and celebrate them.

I think it's the market that tends to standardise things these days. There's so much lip service paid to DIFFERENCE these days but it's difference for it's own sake. The joy of difference, for me at least, is that it's the journey that leads to the universal. It's like learning to love haggis... you don't necessarily *like* per se (though I do in small quanities)but you love that you're in on the joke. Does that make sense?

Word Camel
Who is inexplicably craving haggis now

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