Human Footprints, the Disparity of Privilege, and the Acclimation of our Children
Hi there, again. I last left you in Guatemala, quite some time ago now...let’s see, almost five countries ago—wow. Just wanted to start by saying that I think Aila is doing a slam-dunk job of jotting down her observations and reflections on country after country; it makes my job of occasional haphazard writing all the more simple. I hope that you are enjoying reading her work product as much as I am, and I hope that you are all following us on our InstaGram account (@franklin_street_globetrotters) for daily documentation of our crazy family adventures.
So much has happened over the last few weeks. It has been amazing, fascinating, exciting, and frustrating as shit (at times). I think we have officially logged two legitimate threats to our children that we are going to pack our bags and go back home. Just to be clear, we in no way want to go back home. We didn’t want to play this card for at least another couple of months, but oh man, if we knew what we know now about the battle—no, war—that homeschooling was going to be, we may have approached this whole thing quite differently. But if the little rascals wanted a fight, well they got one. And, in the absence of anything more powerful or productive or empowering, we threw the ultimate guilt card - that if they didn’t get there act together, and figure out how to approach school with a positive and non-combative mindset, we were going to cancel the rest of the trip. Ok, I/we admit, that was aggressive, but I honestly did not expect their reaction. Zayan started sobbing—strong, uncontrollable, sincere wailing—and the other two followed suit. Then something beautiful happened. The three of them collaborated and created a written contract about how they were going to turn their attitudes around and do what it takes to ensure a positive schooling experience and (more importantly) that we continued this journey.
Why am I telling you this? To be honest with you, there has been a small anxiety gnawing away at the back of our minds about whether the kids actually want to be here with us, doing what we’re doing, being away from home, and all the rest. Their response to our threat was superb, and it completely eliminated our anxiety. Also, because I am not one to sugar-coat things, I wanted to let you all know that in concert with all the amazing experiences, there are also struggles that keep it real.
Guess what else is real? The significance of human impact on this planet. My profession at home revolves around working on projects that accommodate civilization and to develop solutions to mitigate against detrimental human “footprints”...so I guess you could say that I have an eye for this sort of thing. Although, it doesn’t take much, if any, training at all to understand that our natural environment is changing and that we are partially responsible for it. Regardless of your political or spiritual disposition, please don’t argue against that statement. There is so much evidence and data to support climate change, and the presence of trash and plastic in our oceans and coastal areas, coupled with the exponential deterioration of coral reef and the dependent ecosystems, make it an observable impact...a significant one for our family.
So much of our journey has been spent along the coast of Central America, specifically on the Caribbean side, and Cuba and Nevis of course. Belize was the first location that we were introduced to the reality of “seagrass”(you may have read an earlier post about it and/or seen our Instagram posts ) and that its presence is directly correlated to climate change and the warming of our oceans. What you probably haven’t had though, is the unpleasant experience of being around it, or in it. Not only is it a significant problem for coastal marine life that may get tangled in it or have to go elsewhere for food, but the local tourist businesses that depend upon clean beaches for rich foreigners to visit are starting to get impacted as well—so much, so that many have displayed “apology” letters to their clients. The letters state that they are doing the best that they can to help clean up the problem, as if the problem originated from the locals in the first place (which it didn’t).
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Then there is the deterioration of ocean coral, which has been an interesting phenomena to observe. I could have sworn that when Aila and I went diving in Belize on our honeymoon in 2004, the reef was ripe with life and color and marine activity, but now, 14 years later, diving along the same reef we didn’t see the same thing. So much of the coral has literally died and is literally grey. There is such a stark difference between the vibrance of what we saw back then versus what we saw (or didn’t see) this time, it’s hard to ignore that there is something going on. This observation carried into our dives in the West Indies (Nevis). There, we definitely found natural beauty, but also a lot of the same, monotone, absence of life on a lot of the reefs. Again, there is data to support that the disappearance of so much of our reef and coral can be attributed to climate change, and also the chemicals contained within sunblock sprays and lotions...unless things change for the better I worry about how the reefs will fare over the next 14 years.
If you feel like I’m being a bit of a “Debbie downer,” then sorry...but I’m not quite done yet. Also, in retrospect, this post really could have been broken up into three separate posts that each delve into much more detail but given my track record of timely writing, that may have taken the entire year. It’s really quite difficult to ignore how much wealth exists in this world, and how that the majority of that wealth is controlled by a select few. In the States, we have been observing the greatening of the wealth gap over the last decade or so. The backbone of progressive first-world countries, also known as the middle class, has been diminishing as wealth is being spread upwards at a rate that is not sustainable. It’s not so much that the middle class itself is lessening, but rather the resources available to and the corresponding purchase power of the middle class itself. If Americans would like to know what their future holds, if in fact this trajectory continues, they should visit their neighbors to the south; Latin America.
Please forgive me as I’m not attempting to oversimplify or grossly generalize entire nations of people, just relaying some basic observations based upon what I have seen and how my simple mind attempts to provide meaning to things that I may not fully understand. From my perspective, while we’ve had the privilege to travel around so many different countries already—each country rich with it’s own cultural uniqueness, whether it be food, art, environment or people— it’s been really interesting to notice the dichotomy of our experience. What I mean by that, is we walk along the line of privilege; if we look over to one side of it we see poverty, hunger, and many that have resigned themselves to the life they were born into and continue to live; and if we look over to the other side, we see money, resources, and the ability to live a comfortable life. We learn, through our observations and conversations with people, how many are struggling to make a few dollars a day, or to feed their families, or to be something greater than what they were born into; how some social constructs are simply too great for their will to overcome. Then as we sit down as a family for nice dinners on outdoor patios, and order our gourmet plates and drinks...and we look at each other and sometimes have a difficult time with our own indulgences, knowing what exists out there, what we may have seen that very same day, or what we continue to see.
I’m reminded of a specific dinner we had in a beautiful setting in Santa Marta Colombia, sitting outdoors and enjoying each other’s company. Given the geography of our specific table, we were uniquely placed to easily interact with people, both tourists and locals, as they walked by. Every few minutes, some of the locals would walk by, seeing us as family, and attempt to score a little money from us. Some would try to entertain us with music or rap, and some would walk up with their infant babies in their arms and directly ask for money. Having been born in India and having visited there multiple times in my childhood, this was something I was used to seeing. For our children, this was new, and I could tell that it was affecting them. At one point Kenza asked me why I couldn’t simply give them money? That was harder to respond to then I had wanted it to be. We talked about how so much of the world lives in poverty, and it’s not only important to acknowledge that, but also to take some form of action to contribute what you can...and simply handing out money in the street isn’t necessarily the the most productive thing to do. We talked about the fact that the amount of money that we were spending on that meal was more money than a lot of the local families might see in a month, or that the amount of resources we were expending on this yearlong trip was more than a lot of families might see in a lifetime. I think they got that, and from both verbal and non-verbal cues, I could tell that for the first time on this trip they were starting to explore the world in a different way, that new perspectives were being formed for them, and that there are realities that simply cannot be ignored.
And interestingly that leads me to the final notes of this post. Having watched our kids over the last several weeks has been an adventure in and of itself (see beginning of post). But I also mean so much more than that. It’s one thing to observe the affect that traveling has on one’s adult self, the horizons it expands and the perspectives that are gained, or to observe the world with your babies and toddlers who are being formed by the experience but cannot comprehend he nuances. But it’s a very different thing to notice the affect that travel has on your own (mostly) innocent and inquisitive children. I touched upon, in my previous post from several weeks ago, the concept of “discomfort”. It’s been amazing to see in the kids how well they have adapted to and acclimated within this lifestyle that we now live, and will live for the next ten months. Whether it’s the climate, bugs that bite, foreign cuisine, living out of a suitcase carrying only what you need, or even the week-to-week movement from location to location, we are so proud of how the kids have figured out how to best maximize this experience for themselves. And they don’t do any sugar-coating either, because it’s not as if they don’t still get homesick, but they’ve grown already. The kids are honing their ability to verbally express and acknowledge the things that they miss very very much, but to compartmentalize those emotions and place them in the category of “no longer taking them for granted and will very much enjoy when we return next year”...know what I mean? This is so awesome for me as a dad to see how much the kids have stretched themselves and learned over the last couple of months. I am so proud of the lenses they are developing for how their world occurs to them; it is beautiful; it is real and it is profound. Apart from the actual destinations themselves, the thing that I most deeply cherish about this journey is watching my kids, being kids, and being travelers. So cool. Thanks again for taking time to read this post, I hope that you all are well. Until next time, which hopefully isn’t another month away ;o)
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