Unknown Languages
I just realized what one of the big draws of travel is for me - the complete and utter ecstasy of not knowing anything about what's going on. I was looking through photos of Paris and I only have one that I'm the subject of. I'm on top of Arch de Triomphe. The background: a metropolis of some twelve plus million francophone speakers and no one knows who I am, what I do, what I think, or that I simply don't care about some things. Ecstasy.
I'm beginning to feel apathy toward a lot of things and I'm really desiring an escape from all the crap that has gotten me to this point. I blame society for chaining itself up into stupid stuff like the so-called "immigration debate" - the only people who care are Lou Dobbs, Arizonans, Texans, and illegal immigrants. The rest of us really don't care and don't think about the topic until Lou Dobbs says its conspiracy against the middle class. Ask me if I care if Lindsay Lohan has a drug problem, or if Paris Hilton is going to jail, or if Anna Nicole Smith was having affairs with whoever. Sorry, I don't care. There are a few more important things like... say, a genocide in Sudan. I do wish Ms. Lohan and Hilton the best of luck, but even the slightest sympathy is hard to muster.
This may be selfish, but I'd rather put the world aside at times so I can just tell someone:"I love you, with no conditions." Can you imagine that!? Wow, it'd be fantastic, but I can't do it because of the facades people wear and the mixed up messages they speak. I'm guilty of it too sometimes, but I try to remain facade free. The issue I'm having is that I'm no longer myself. Nope, I'm just a faceless person being spoon fed topics and discussions I have no interest in.
That's why I am so anxious to get to Poland, where I can just have some of this lifted off of me and where I can just be myself. I haven't adequately expressed the draw, but to be in a city of 700,000 or so where almost no one speaks English and to surround myself with people I can simply love without all the hassle of politics or without people expecting me to say all these idle words. It'd be amazing.
I can't stress the magic of being in a place where you can only communicate with a select few. All the stress of the world disappears and strange words and emotions take a heightened level of importance. Forget: "controversy," "scandal", "Paris Hilton", "Lindsay Lohan", "star", or "celebrity." The only thing that is important in these new worlds are those people your with, those relationships you're nurturing, love, and God.
Bill-on-the-Hill
That other Paris and her ilk
Well put, but you don't have to be fascinated with "celebrities" just because mediots are. Just ignore the mediots. I've made a lifetime routine, indeed one would say a career, out of ignoring them and concentrating on the important stuff; you can too.
I would put the "immigration debate" in a different category, however. There are real people's lives -- lots of 'em -- that are being affected, and in some cases ended, by the way that situation is going. There are also ripple effects that extend far beyond the border states. (Incidentally, what happened to New Mexico and California?) Without taking a particular position on the debate, I would assert that it is one of those things worth caring about.
-- B-o-t-H.
Sapphire
Just read
B-o-t-H,
I finally got around to reading this, kind of pathetic, I know.
Anyhow, I wholeheartedly agree with you. Until I became an immigrant myself, albeit a legal one I was rather apathetic to both arguments for and against illegal immigration.
I had been working with some illegal immigrants for a few years, hence the reason why I've never directly mentioned where I worked on Wikitravel. While I prefer that my friends (coworkers) worked legally in the US I could not simply give them up, because many of their lives and their families' lives depended on their illegal status. I am somewhat conservative when it comes to legal/illegal immigration, preferring the first before the latter. Advocating the complete deportation of 12 million people may amount to genocide by depriving a group of their inalienable right to life.
Regarding CA and NM, I simply cannot remember why I left them out.
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