Lessons in Travel

17/05/08 PM
Not paying attention to a switch in dinner times, I miss my meal. Walking around the block, I find a restaurant advertising Air Con. I am shown to a small table in the corner. Whereas in Indonesia and Malaysia, direction is shown with the thumb. Here direction is shown by a gentle sweep of the hand. I watch as the tables fill, 8:30. In walks a 20-something, colorfully dressed in a sarong, smart looking woman who sits at the next table and plops plastic bags filled with her evening purchases, on the table and floor. She is waiting for someone. The server asks what her wishes are. Water first, which she receives in a 1 1/2 litre bottle and pewter cup (We have already established that it may not be pewter, but tin. I must remember to ask Milan). She pours and drinks from a straw. Having also ordered, her meal of chicken fried rice arrives. No someone! Her cell phone near, she calls, talks, hangs up and spoons rice into her plate. With her holy hand, her right hand, she cups food into her mouth. After 5 minutes in walks a hurried woman, also in her 20s, very well dressed, also in a colorful sarong, smiling and jabbering. Passing to the rear of the restaurant, she washes at a sink and returns. This is a common sight in all areas I've visited - a wash basin, many eat with their fingers. Returning, they order drinks, lemon juice, and catch up, pointing occasionally to the packages. I must admit I found it odd that she drank her water through a straw and ate her food with her fingers. Eating with your fingers is not an issue of poverty, low-caste, or any such thing. It is cultural!
Comment - We are all, in our essence, the same. We do differ, however, in our behaviour. Learning to distinguish those differences, so I don't offend, is important in traveling. I have found too many Westerners who have been upset, confused and stupefied by certain behavior they believe wrong. To take our cultural expectations and believe them to be what all should hold to is arrogant. In traveling, don't be first, step back and watch. Where do the utensils go following my meal at the Ashram? Wait! Watch! How do I negotiate a busy intersection? Watch! Ask! What are the duties of the floor lady in relation to me? Watch! Listen! These four words, WAIT, WATCH, ASK, LISTEN, may be the most important lessons of travel.