"Ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise” 

2/17/2013 Home Written stream of consciousness

WOW! This first chapter from Kincaid’s novel gives a whole other meaning to the world travel. Mostly, the point that she is trying to establish is so shocking because it’s so undeniably true in most cases. I mean, when I travel I try to be as inconspicuous as possible, I try to blend in with the locals just because the type of person that has been coined with the term “tourist” is not what I like to associate myself with. Anyway, this chapter of the novel is like viewing travel from the opposite side, we look at a trip through the eyes of the native. When one travels, and in my opinion this applies even more to developing countries, a person never thinks about the tiny details as Kincaid mentions: “You must not wonder what exactly happened to the contents of your lavatory when you flushed it.”

It’s very inconsiderate to just go to a place and enjoy all the island has to give and just leave, when the other half of the island, the one that you didn’t see, is crashing and burning. I mean, you’re paying for it, of course, but sometimes people just ignore the panorama of the situation; barely anyone sees the big picture. I’m not intending to be highfalutin, I’m not implying that when I travel I don’t do these things, but I just want to agree with Jamaica Kincaid, because it’s so true. People go through hardships and some don’t have the frivolities or the luxuries that we consider normal technology, acquirable by nearly everyone. 

I think that if you truly want to be a traveler, and be a part and immerse yourself in multiple cultures, you authentically have to experience what the people of that culture go through, not be ignorant about things, just because it’s convenient. More on this later… Those words in my title from Gray are so true sometimes, although wrong in some cases, but for the most part, true.