I explained to my mom that upon graduation I will be making a journey to Malaysia for a reunion of sorts with my old roommates, whom she has known for the last 5 years. In fact, this roommate has been working in Malaysia for the last 7ish months. This is her forwarding of an email she received as her reply to me wanting to go to Malaysia:
Hi Nancy- (my mom)
I have not been to Malaysia - not a whole lot of garment manufacturing there. Do have to say that I have heard, while beautiful, not entirely a safe place to travel to.
It doesn't matter who sent this, as I've never heard my mom mention this person to me. Ever. Which means this person obviously means a lot to my mom. And because of such a strong connection with this anonymous person, my mom must have decided this person's opinion on a country they've never visited mattered way more than a person whom she has known for five plus years and is actually LIVING in Malaysia.
I'm not posting this to say my mom is stupid; she's not. It's just that sometimes I get overwhelmed by her non-stop, instantaneous fear of the world (world being anywhere not named Random Lake).
And this conversation reminds me of a previous conversation:
Me - Mom, I'm going to Venezuela for 10 days for an AIESEC conference.
Mom - You can't go to Venezuela. I heard it's very dangerous there and with the war and everything, you really shouldn't be traveling outside the US.
Me - Mom, it's not near Iraq.
Mom - Are you sure?
Me - Yes, Mom. Venezuela is not near Iraq. AIESEC wouldn't host a conference in a place that is not safe.
Mom - Well, ok then. But be careful.
The day before I leave: NEWS BULLETIN: Riots in the downtown streets of Caracas(the capital of Venezuela) after Chavez declared himself the winner of an election in which 99% of the people voted for him. The CIA issues a strong warning against traveling to Venezuela in the immediate future.
Mom - Have fun and be sure to take a lot of pictures!
Me - Will do. (And then I hopped on the plane and created many a story; none involving riots)
Now in the second case, my mom could have had a very valid reason/fear for not wanting me to travel to Venezuela. After all, being caught in a riot isn't very fun. But her fear was from the overarching fear-of-the-world being broadcast over the television and in the newspapers. This fear is rooted in no fact, only more fear. And this is the kind of fear I'd like to see diminished, especially when it's being passed on by an anonymous informant of an anonymous informant who has no direct knowledge of what they're talking about. I also tend to block out these nonsensical fears, which sometimes makes me miss the real ones.
I believe this reply made me more upset than usual after reading Mix's post about the insane assumptions being made about Barack Obama and Islam.
Hi Nancy- (my mom)
I have not been to Malaysia - not a whole lot of garment manufacturing there. Do have to say that I have heard, while beautiful, not entirely a safe place to travel to.
It doesn't matter who sent this, as I've never heard my mom mention this person to me. Ever. Which means this person obviously means a lot to my mom. And because of such a strong connection with this anonymous person, my mom must have decided this person's opinion on a country they've never visited mattered way more than a person whom she has known for five plus years and is actually LIVING in Malaysia.
I'm not posting this to say my mom is stupid; she's not. It's just that sometimes I get overwhelmed by her non-stop, instantaneous fear of the world (world being anywhere not named Random Lake).
And this conversation reminds me of a previous conversation:
Me - Mom, I'm going to Venezuela for 10 days for an AIESEC conference.
Mom - You can't go to Venezuela. I heard it's very dangerous there and with the war and everything, you really shouldn't be traveling outside the US.
Me - Mom, it's not near Iraq.
Mom - Are you sure?
Me - Yes, Mom. Venezuela is not near Iraq. AIESEC wouldn't host a conference in a place that is not safe.
Mom - Well, ok then. But be careful.
The day before I leave: NEWS BULLETIN: Riots in the downtown streets of Caracas(the capital of Venezuela) after Chavez declared himself the winner of an election in which 99% of the people voted for him. The CIA issues a strong warning against traveling to Venezuela in the immediate future.
Mom - Have fun and be sure to take a lot of pictures!
Me - Will do. (And then I hopped on the plane and created many a story; none involving riots)
Now in the second case, my mom could have had a very valid reason/fear for not wanting me to travel to Venezuela. After all, being caught in a riot isn't very fun. But her fear was from the overarching fear-of-the-world being broadcast over the television and in the newspapers. This fear is rooted in no fact, only more fear. And this is the kind of fear I'd like to see diminished, especially when it's being passed on by an anonymous informant of an anonymous informant who has no direct knowledge of what they're talking about. I also tend to block out these nonsensical fears, which sometimes makes me miss the real ones.
I believe this reply made me more upset than usual after reading Mix's post about the insane assumptions being made about Barack Obama and Islam.
posted by Bruhaha at 10:46 AM
4 Comments:
I've been thinking a lot about this since Mix's post. I think Kristi was the first AIESECer to point out to me that the most powerful aspect of AIESEC is the fact that we can make a profound difference in the way our families think of the world outside of their own.
The mind-jolting impact that your experiences can have on your direct and extended families can be pretty remarkable. While it can definitely be endlessly frustrating, I can't think of a more effective way to bring about the change in perceptions that we want to see.
surya and i coined a phrase for this phenomenon: auntie stories
Enter two indian women, bumping into each other at the grocery store:
-hi anji how are you how is your family has your husband still that cold?
-no mina we are just fine i am buying cardamom i want to prepare dinner for my beta he is going to calabar
-that boy ay there are armed robbers on the road i have heard why just yesterday mrs. karcher said that she heard on the radio of armed robbers on one highway
-i do not want to lose my beta to armed robbers.
exeunt.
The image of my grandmas face when i told her i was going to live in gautemala was priceless and I dont' think it will ever forget it.
I think it's vaild and pretty easy for people who are older than the ripe age of 20, in my case, to have all those negative newstories from over the years, build up in their minds and create a twisted picture of a place they really have no concept of the reality at the present time.
I guess you could call it ignorance, but i see it more as their mental assosiation with the country hasn't kept up with the times as things have changed...
I'm specifically thinking of Latin America right now- but its prolly a safe bet for across the globe.
PS: Face the Fear event coming up next week sure does fit perfectamente with this...don't ya think?
Malaysia? When? I'm heading there myself in June. Let me know what you're thinking...
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