Rose Colored Glasses

      This week we only have Friday class because of Inquiry Conference. Instead of going to the other classes, we are supposed to go to two hours of the Inquiry Conference. Today I went and listened to the Keynote Speaker - Dr. Brown. I didn't realize it before I went, but I heard him speak before at an Honors dinner given for Freshman last year. I really liked what he had to say then and was glad to hear him speak today, particularly because he was talking about the value of getting out in the world, which I will be doing in just 2 and 1/2 months! One of the titles that he threw out for his address was "Exposing Yourself". He talked a lot about context and perception and how leaving the country you are used to can help you gain new perceptions. He also talked a lot about the lenses that people have, which reminded me of that phrase 'rose colored glasses'. This refers to when you look at something in a way that makes it more pleasant or nice than it actually is. It is a little naive. The lenses Dr. Brown was talking about were the different ways that people see things depending on their upbringing, who they are, the contexts that they are used to. Some of my lenses will come from the fact that I am a 20 year old, American, LDS, female who has not been out of the country since she was a little girl - 10 years ago.

       I am trying to think of specific ways that this will affect my time in South Africa...it would be easy to be afraid, I think, using those lenses I listed. A young, white female in an unknown country surrounded by poor people desparate for money. But right there I am doing two things that Dr. Brown warned against. One of them is stereo-typing people. A big problem Americans have is that we stereo-type a huge group of people based on just a small group of radicals. The example he used was Muslims, and that is the one that immediately comes to mind. I have been listening to This American Life a bunch lately, and today I listened to a story about a Muslim family living on the East Coast during and after September 11th. There was a 4th grader in this family and she was picked on mercilessly at school after her teacher taught a lesson about 9-11 and blamed radical Muslims, majorly stereo-typing this huge, diverse group. The family was eventually forced to move because all of the children were treated so badly. Listening to this really made me feel sick to my stomach. So, I need to work on not stereo-typing South Africans. The second thing Dr. Brown warned against was fear. People are afraid of the unknown, of foreign countries, languages, customs. The world is viewed as this awful, dangerous place. And yes, there are horrible things going on, but the world cannot be all that bad! But here come the rose-colored glass - I do not want to be naive about the dangers that do exist. That means being smart and aware, wherever I might travel. One thing I am hoping to gain from this field study experience is some street smarts; an awareness of my surroundings and the ability to deal with whatever comes up. I am so excited to "expose myself" to the world, to gain new perceptions and be able to encourage other people to go visit the wider world, the glorious world.