International Political Will

On June 2, I will return to the United States after four years abroad – 10 more weeks (I’m counting down the days to Mexican food…). Going with this theme, I will do a countdown from 10 – starting with this week at 10, and ending with 1 the first week of June when I depart India. And then that’s it – the end. I’ll ride off into the sunset where all the other former bloggers have gone, where we all comfort each other in the realization that no one noticed…

This week – the number 10 – as in the 10 countries I’ve visited or lived in since I left California in 2006.

1. Costa Rica

As you go through the immigration controls at the airport in San Jose, there are billboards warning visitors that “Sex with children is illegal” and that “Offenders will go to jail.” It’s a bit disconcerting, knowing that the first thing the Costa Rican government wants to tell newcomers is to “leave our children alone.”

It’s too bad, because there is so much to see in Costa Rica. The jungles feel like something straight from The Lost World, and there are natural hot springs to soak in at the base of an erupting volcano. The pristine beaches and temperate water offers a range of spectacular fish, up-close encounters with sharks, manta rays, eels, and dolphins. There are horseback rides deep into the jungle, where one can zip through the treetops hanging from a cable and get a bird’s eye view of the rainforest. The people are friendly and living the pura vida, ready to share with visitors the wonders of their country.

But the Costa Rican government, instead of letting the billboards in the airport focus on their rainforests, beaches, and eco-tourism attractions – find themselves forced to warn pedophiles to not sexually assault their children. (Rush Limbaugh: consider yourself warned.)

• SEE: La Fortuna
• AVOID: Tamarindo Beach

2. Japan

It’s simultaneously one of the greatest and worst places in the world.

Japan seems to have figured it out. They have a clean environment. Outstanding education for all citizens, regardless of income. Universal health care. A healthy diet. Efficient public transportation. Safe cities (I mean ridiculously safe). A social commitment among people that looks out for the community instead of just themselves. A grasp of the non-destructive role alcohol can play in society. The very few homeless people that do exist take their shoes off before entering their cardboard box (I’m not kidding).

But yet the country feels so inhibited, controlled, sanitized, and rigid that it drives you crazy. Women are still considered second tier, treated and paid accordingly. “Snack Bars” (basically fronts for prostitution) are endemic, even in the smallest of towns. Pornography is sold in vending machines. Independent thought, creativity, and critical analysis is discouraged. Information is tightly controlled through a homogenous media. Anything non-Japanese is assumed to be inherently inferior (including people).

What it comes down to is this: If you’re Japanese, and raised in Japan, there is no better place in the world to live. But that assumes that you’ve never experienced the human potential for creativity and individualism that exists in so many other countries – and that, like everything else, the answer is not an extreme but somewhere in the middle.

• SEE: Nagasaki
• AVOID: Youme Town Malls

3. Thailand

It’s like Hawaii without the high prices. Developed, modern, clean, safe – but with a long history, intriguing people, and solid tradition. Bangkok is a city of so many different people it was sometimes hard to remember what country you are in, especially when gliding along the monorail through the city.

The ancient capital of Ayutthaya is an odd mix of modern buildings and 1,000-year-old temples. Just before dusk is the best time to wander through temple ground before stopping off at a street stall for a dish of Pad Thai (really, Thailand is worth it just for the food).

• SEE: any place with Thai food
• AVOID: dogs

4. Cambodia

The border town of Poipet, where you have to find transport on to Siem Reap, the ancient city of Angkor, is a madhouse. Unless you want to pay $40-60 for a private Toyota Camry to drive way too fast on the dirt road for 3 hours, you are inevitably stuck on bus with backpackers. Which, of course, “breaks down” a few times, stops for dinner at a roadside shack, and conveniently pulls through an iron gate into a guest house after dark in Siem Reap, where you feel a little like you’ve just been detained. It was nearly impossible to leave the property and find our own guest house – I was surprised the gate wasn’t locked.

But the ancient temples are well worth it, and far more fun and exciting to explore than any other ruins I’ve been to. Buried in vegetation and giant banyan trees, it’s like being in your own Indiana Jones movie. The artistry of the temples is still visible, and there are still plenty of places inside the temple complexes where the only sound is the static of cicadas.

• SEE: Banteay Kdei Temple in Angkor
• AVOID: giant buses of Korean or Japanese tourists in white gloves

5. United Arab Emirates

At night, Dubai lights up reminiscent of Las Vegas. The city is not for the income-challenged: money is evident everywhere (the bus stops – small little booths on the side of the road – are air conditioned). And it’s sometimes hard to find actual Emiratis, since nearly 90% of the city’s population are immigrants. But you’ll run across the occasional young Arab male, complete with a traditional keffiyah and thoub, blasting music in his white SUV as he cruises the streets with friends, hopped up on Mountain Dew.

A bus ride outside of the city to the border town of Al Ain takes you into the Arabian Desert. Endless dunes stretch on either side, and it’s easy to imagine the Bedouins that first crossed the inhospitable sands on camel. The modern road, a 90-mile highway with nary a curve, has an irrigated and vegetated median the entire way – a man-made oasis strip. Proof that it’s possible, with enough money, to green the desert.

• SEE: Spice Souk in Dubai
• AVOID: tank tops and shorts

6. Afghanistan

Spending time in Afghanistan makes you wonder how the mainstream media has gotten it so wrong. Turns out, there are actually people living there (not just terrorists or victimized women) – and even more surprising, they are happy to meet Americans (not to say they agree with U.S. foreign policy). Afghans have a warm sense of humor and like to joke and laugh a lot (unless they are taking a photo, at which point they instantly become very serious – even if they want you to take the photo).

But there is a glut of foreign development agencies, and the division between Afghan and foreigner is growing. The NGO workers, UN staff, and private contractors travel around in the back of their SUVs, set apart from their drivers and co-workers, moving from secure compound to barbed-wire guest house with little exposure to real Afghans or their lives. Aid agencies send out lists of “security approved” restaurants, but the list is divided: there are those restaurants open to all – and those open only to “non-Afghans” (not because they are dangerous, but because they illegally serve alcohol).

• SEE: Old Kabul marketplace
• AVOID: Taliban

7. India

India is an explosion of life. It may not be “Western” by traditional measures, but India has an individuality and pride that meshes well with American character. People are free to do and think what they want, and that includes visitors and foreigners.

India has Japan’s sense of community without the Japanese conformity. People live, eat, work, and play together. Everyone has the freedom to live how they think best fit. If you want to sell somosas on the sidewalk, go ahead – no one will stop you. Want to light firecrackers at midnight for a wedding? By all means, enjoy. Want to butcher a goat for Eid in the apartment stairwell? Feel free. Need to dispose of bodily fluids in public? Go right ahead. Care to gawk at someone’s personal business? Join the crowd.

India has its share of problems – endemic poverty, a horrible public education system, corrupt government and police, a stupefying bureaucracy – but they also have more than one billion innovative and entrepreneurial people that are figuring out solutions. Everything in India is compounded by scale, so it will take some time. But in the meanwhile, enjoy the chaos. It’s human nature.

• SEE: Singalila National Park in the Himalayas
• AVOID: Mumbai trains at rush hour

8. Uganda

Far and away, the friendliest, most comfortable place I’ve ever been. I felt like I was insulting someone if I just asked for directions – I needed to first say hello, inquire about their day, offer an opinion about the weather, my trip, etc., before actually asking a question. And the best part is that (just about) everyone speaks English.

Kampala, perched at about 4,000 feet in elevation next to Lake Victoria, has a pleasant climate (well, compared to Mumbai). The pterodactyl-sized storks of Kampala that perched in the trees were a little intimidating, but I now see where we got the “stork brings the baby” fairy tale.

Outside of Kampala are all the wonders we hear about Africa when growing up: lions, elephants, hippos, chimpanzees; verdant plains and thick jungle; small towns with tasty banana- and sweet potato-infused snacks. Uganda is the hidden gem of East Africa.

• SEE: Kampala
• AVOID: crazy matatu drivers

9. Rwanda

Rwanda is about as serene as one could imagine. There are people everywhere, walking the roads, collecting wood, hauling goods, but everything feels relaxed. Not knowing French posed a bit of a problem, but it all works out in the end. The high elevation makes for a perfect climate, and restaurants serve tasty fried chicken and French fries for a decent price (though you may wait a while). Sitting on the upstairs porch of one small diner in Kigali, after waiting at least an hour for our food to show up, the waiter brought over a liter of beer – on the house – for making us wait. That is the ONLY time I’ve ever been given beer as a token of apology. Fantastic.

However, I could do without the abundance of western “soft rock” everywhere. Where is the traditional African music? There was too much no-talent, easy-listening rock imported from the West that seemed more apt for Utah than Rwanda.

Kigali itself is strange – the influx of NGO, UN, and aid workers since the 1994 genocide affect the atmosphere. There is a tendency of the elite in Kigali to assume that because life is good or improving for them, that it’s the same all over. But most of Rwanda is rural, poor, and living off of eroding land on steep hillsides. The government might be leaving rural Rwandans behind as it tries to turn Kigali into Africa’s IT hub. Part of the problem is everyone is a bit too quick to blame only “ethnic” or “tribal” tensions for the 1994 genocide, ignoring the role of economics and land use issues.

• SEE: National Museum in Butare
• AVOID: music

10. Kenya

Hell’s Gate National Park is a unique experience. You can rent a bicycle and venture into the large canyon on a dirt road. Soon you find yourself just yards from zebras, warthogs, giraffes, various kinds of antelope, buffalo, and baboons. The abundance of wildlife is unbelievable, and being so close to it – and not trapped in a motorized vehicle – adds to the aura of being one with nature.

Nairobi is a bustling metropolis, with good pubs (and lots of soccer fans). And the obsession with Obama will get a shout-out from many passers-by who suspect you may be an American.

• SEE: Hell’s Gate National Park on a bicycle
• AVOID: eating lunch in front of a baboon

All these countries had something in common: none were as dangerous, scary, or as full of disease as sometimes advertised in the West. There wasn’t a sea of pickpockets, con-artists, thieves, terrorists or boogeymen that the U.S. State Department likes to warn travelers about. Americans weren’t unwanted or hated as the right-wing xenophobes claim. In essence, there wasn’t the fear that we imagine exists outside of our comfy borders.

Internationalism requires contact with others – to explore and experience the unknown, the different, the potentially strange. Globalization is bringing the world closer, and that requires us to step out of our comfort range, to visit places other than Western Europe, to see and interact with people that don’t look like us, but with whom we share more than we think.

Tags: travel, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Rwanda

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