Final reflections on my trip

Didn’t intend to return to NYC & immediately start blogging about bar crawls. My trip to Sri Lanka was really amazing. I now understand the value of traveling so far for a vacation. Would definitely go back to South Asia. Would even return to Sri Lanka, as it’s a large country and there is plenty we didn’t see.

As well they should have, my journeys did make me think quite a bit about race, nationality and gender. Here are some of my observations:

Sri Lankans are obviously not Caucasian. While in Sri Lanka I never felt threatened because of my fair skin, though I definitely think I was the whitest person in the country (and therefore sometimes felt like a zoo animal). I do recommend that everyone spend some time in a place where they are the racial minority. It makes you more aware of what it’s like to be a minority, and hopefully the experience will make you more sensitive to others’ feelings.

Aside from the people who came for the wedding, I met no other Americans during my time in Sri Lanka. This was actually rather nice. There were some people from Western Europe and a few people from Australia/New Zealand, but that was it. Typically when I travel I don’t admit I’m American, mainly for security reasons. However no one in Sri Lanka seemed to care about America; many of the locals even seem confused about where it was located. Pretty refreshing, considering how much of the world absolutely hates America. The current turmoil in Sri Lanka is Sri Lankan-on-Sri Lankan violence. Hurting or kidnapping Western tourists doesn’t “help” the cause, so they could care less about Americans. Therefore I didn’t feel like as much of a target traveling in Sri Lanka as I do traveling in Europe.

Most surprising was being singled out as a female. When Clara & I were down South at the beach, we could get a drink. But ordering a 2nd round was like pulling teeth. Mainly because drinking is a man’s activity in Sri Lanka, and women typically don’t do it in public. However, being female really hit home in Dubai. Western women do not need to wear traditional dress in Dubai. However Clara & I were the only women showing our heads, arms and feet, so we got plenty of looks. At the airport the arrivals/meeting area for women was different from the one for men. There was even a separate mosque in the airport for women.




In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been so taken aback by all this. I suppose it shows how little I know about Arab culture. America has plenty of gender inequalities, but seeing female roles in Sri Lanka and Dubai made me appreciate the opportunities women have here in the States.