After a boring and a little-bit-late flight from Santiago, I am in Lima. I'd been warned by someone who lives here that even though Chile and Peru are right next to each other, "there is a world apart between Chile and Peru. First world/third world." From my glipses of the city as I drove to my hotel, he is right. Now, we're not talking Ghana third world here, but it's a definite step down from Chile in terms of cleanliness, transportation, and modern conveniences. (Santiago smelled like industrial pollution and Lima smells like fish, so I'd say they are tied in terms of stinkiness, though.) The airport resembles Ghana's or Sri Lanka's far more than it resembles Santiago's or Sydney's for instance. But my hotel, while not posh, is perfectly servicable and far from the worst I've stayed in. And the neighborhood I'm in is apparently fairly nice; nice enough for me to explore on foot in daylight hours, at least.
During my ride here, and looking at the dirt and the shabby buildings and the 15-seater vans that are packed full of people and are on the verge of losing an axel and serve as the local buses (a definite sign of a third world country lol), I started to think about something I've been telling people about my trip. People I meet who hear I'm traveling for a long time always ask where I've been and where I'm going. One of the things I tell them is that, looking back, I'm glad I started in Ghana. Before I left for my trip, I was very prepared for everything to be very different than back home. And Ghana was indeed very different! As were Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Bali. Cairo, Bangkok and Singapore, being big metropolitan cities, were more familiar territory, but each of them was more of a stopover than a long stay.
The second half of my trip -- Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, and Chile -- even Easter Island, for all its remoteness and simpleness -- are all quite modern. Had I done my trip in reverse, I think I would have been far more shocked when I reached the more "exotic" countries because the first half of my trip would have shown me the world is actually quite comfortable and similar to back home. Peru here at the end might prove to less somewhat less comfortable -- or at least, less like back home -- but that is OK, because I traveled to see different things, not to see the same things on the other side of the world.
I can remember my mom telling us when we were kids -- and anyone else who's listen, really /wink at mom/ -- that when she and dad moved to Paris in the 1970s for several months, they didn't feel culture shock because they expected everything in Europe to be different. So they were ready for... whatever. It was when they returned to the States that they felt the culture shock, because they'd forgotten what it was like, and it was quite different from Europe. I wonder if the same thing will happen to me. I'll let you know. ;-)
During my ride here, and looking at the dirt and the shabby buildings and the 15-seater vans that are packed full of people and are on the verge of losing an axel and serve as the local buses (a definite sign of a third world country lol), I started to think about something I've been telling people about my trip. People I meet who hear I'm traveling for a long time always ask where I've been and where I'm going. One of the things I tell them is that, looking back, I'm glad I started in Ghana. Before I left for my trip, I was very prepared for everything to be very different than back home. And Ghana was indeed very different! As were Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Bali. Cairo, Bangkok and Singapore, being big metropolitan cities, were more familiar territory, but each of them was more of a stopover than a long stay.
The second half of my trip -- Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, and Chile -- even Easter Island, for all its remoteness and simpleness -- are all quite modern. Had I done my trip in reverse, I think I would have been far more shocked when I reached the more "exotic" countries because the first half of my trip would have shown me the world is actually quite comfortable and similar to back home. Peru here at the end might prove to less somewhat less comfortable -- or at least, less like back home -- but that is OK, because I traveled to see different things, not to see the same things on the other side of the world.
I can remember my mom telling us when we were kids -- and anyone else who's listen, really /wink at mom/ -- that when she and dad moved to Paris in the 1970s for several months, they didn't feel culture shock because they expected everything in Europe to be different. So they were ready for... whatever. It was when they returned to the States that they felt the culture shock, because they'd forgotten what it was like, and it was quite different from Europe. I wonder if the same thing will happen to me. I'll let you know. ;-)
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