Big Ideas
 

A serious whimsical thought struck me when I had stopped extracting the michael from a grammatical construct elsewhere. <BR>Have you ever been anywhere/seen anything whilst travelling that completely changed the way you thought about something? <BR> <BR>(And I don't mean your views on Turkish toilets or the benefits of money machines over credit cards,thanks:-))

I travel frequently specifically BECAUSE it changes the way I look at things. I have a very hectic professional life working with dying people, mostly cancer patients (which makes one think quite a bit about 'what it all means')and the trips are a necessary buffer to prevent burnout and, as much as anything else, a way of living, however briefly, in someone else's world, which always makes me grow. I can travel virtually anywhere other than where I live and come away with something new for my perspective, but varied cultures provide the best experiences for me. <BR>I know you were asking for specifics, so I'll provide one that quickly comes to mind. Spent 2 1/2 hours getting to know some shopowners in Bellagio this fall. 2 sisters, approximately 70 years old. Born and raised there, shop handed down to them. Fascinating to listen to their stories of having spent their whole lives on the shores of Lake Como. Recently a management person from the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas invited them to visit, at the hotel's expense, just because they were from the actual town, and this person had taken a shine to the sisters. Hearing the sisters describe their experiences in Las Vegas and California (with which they were not overly impressed...natural beauty they'd grown up with...the 'plastic' character, the pace of life, the rudeness, etc. left tham longing for home)caused me to stop and rethink the American perspective on what is desirable in life. Is living in a beautiful area worth the hassle? Is the transient character of the populations in 'desirable' areas, which discourages true friendships for many reasons and prevents one from developing a sense of permanence and belonging, significantly detrimental to true quality of life? The list goes on. Living an entire lifetime in a tiny, beautiful place like Bellagio, surrounded by one's family and childhood friends, no need, reason or desire to try life as an urbanite....hmmmmmmm. A whole different world from mine.

Oy, Sheila, great minds...water seeks its own level, takes one to know one, ad nauseum... <BR>I was thinking about this very thing on Sunday night...as I was watching the Y2K disaster movie (the movie was the disaster, but that's another forum), I got to thinking about Brussel sprouts (now you know how bad the movie was). For my whole life (and it's a substantial one), I've loathed "those leetle caa bee jez", as my friend Tarek calls them. Ptooey! BUT, on the Chestnut Tour this fall, we had a lunch of chestnut, including Brussel sprouts. Being the good little girl who was taught politeness by her mother ("Embarrass me, and you'll not see your next birthday"), I was prepared to choke them down. Lo and behold - they were YUMMY! The secret? Sauteed in bacon fat and tossed with chestnut pieces (like green beans almondine). In my dodderhood, and I find new food. I've now decided to saute everything I hate in bacon fat to see if it helps.... <BR>And, secondly, I've learned that I can think that art sucks. Okay okay Van Gogh (newest pronounciation of his name? this is a beauty: van hah hah) cut off his ear and all, but I can recreate his masterpieces with Crayolas. At our art museum is an exhibit of Monet's paintings from the Marmottan; after spending 90 mins surrounded by beauty and talent, I wandered into another 'special' exhibit - where some guy made art from aspirins and ibuprofen. I felt perfectly fine giggling and rolling my eyes (not so's anybody else could see, in case they liked it). What freedom! <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

This is a broad topic. I guess seeing Europe as a 22 year old draftee in the Army in 1970 changed my outlook on the world. Prior to that I believed that the United States had all the answers and that our lifestyle was superior to anywhere in the world. My wife and I soon discovered that this was not the case after living in Europe for 18 months as young adults. It developed a lifelong love in us for Europe and an understanding that there are many different ways to live a life and all cultures are worthy of respect.

OK, I'm trying this a second time. I fully expect to see it twice. #%&@!! <BR> <BR>Hi, all <BR>To me, one of the important revelations from travel is the ability to see one’s own circumstances and national history through a different prism (O wad some Power the giftie gie us…) I think it’s especially acute when N. Americans visit Europe and vice versa, because of all the shared legacy and also the separateness which has evolved, often out of necessity. I sure do remember, though, standing in front of the awesome locked-cage gold chapel at the cathedral in Seville. My wife whispered sotto voce to me, “I’d sure be p*ssed if I was an Aztec.” We emerged into the orange trees and heat thinking about Cortez and Pizzaro and how our feelings about the Spanish heritage, in California, for example, had shifted in that moment. We knew intellectually about the conquista, but seeing the booty before you is another thing. A friend of ours in the US Peace Corps now serving in Ghana said the coastal slaver forts have the same effect. Not too whimsical, I’m afraid, but there you have it.

That's Pizarro, of course, not Superman's enemy, the father of Domino's.