(The Beacon)
By Megan House, Guest Commentary -- house13@up.edu
A sunrise over the Acropolis, art at the Uffizi Gallery, a race in the original Olympic stadium and Libyan refugees scrambling to stow away under our tour bus as we waited to load onto a ferry in Greece.
Which of these events does not belong?
As we pulled into Patras, the loiterers set an uneasy air about the bus. While we were 40 students constantly on the move in our year abroad, it was even more unusual for us to consider people who weren't going anywhere at all.
However, as soon as our bus came to a stop, they were on the move. Dozens of scruffy, unwashed men were swarming our bus. Many of them were crawling in the mere foot of space between the bus and the ground. Unsurprisingly, everyone, myself included, was concerned. No one had a right to get under the bus or into any of our things.
I didn't have much time to think about this, as all around me people were voicing their opinions: "Run them over, Roland!" That "bad man" can't get on our bus and "take my pretty things."
I was astounded that such things could issue from the mouths of world travelers and university students, students of a Catholic university committed to social justice.
I didn't know much about the specific situation, but what I did know was that these people were putting themselves at great risk and I highly doubted that they would do so without a very good reason. Personally, I wouldn't think some college kids' stuff qualifies such desperation.
Regardless, I was appalled by the blatant disregard for the value of human life. Even as perceived threats, these people were still human and their lives have value.
I am all for lightening a scary situation with humor, but it was utterly inappropriate to make comments of this nature.
The irony was painful; these people felt desperate enough to risk their lives on the thread of hope that it would take them somewhere better. Their lives had already taken on a lower value in their own eyes and here we were stripping them of the dignity they had left with our judgment.
We quickly disembarked and were not further hassled, but not without many comments that made my gut wrench. Later, I watched the Greek news and learned that those swarming the ports were refugees of the quickly deteriorating situations in Libya and North Africa. Though I couldn't understand most of what was being said, the footage alone made me nauseated.
Traveling is not about location or the miles your feet have tread. Merely experiencing another culture does not make one more aware. It requires a personal responsibility to actively put your- self in the shoes of others.
We often travel the world like kids in a candy store: We ogle, we eagerly sample and sometimes we might spit out something that's not to our liking.
But to travel categorically judging other's cultures, cities and treasures by what pleasure it gives you personally is not really traveling at all. Why not just watch the Discovery channel, a convenient distance from your very own bed and a refrigerator full of things you know you like to eat?
The true value of traveling is to delve into the culture, the lives and the reasons of the other. Many times this is uncomfortable or awkward, but it is the way that we find unity within diversity.
The answer to "Which of these experiences does not belong?" is none of the above, because each experience provides us with critical perspective when we open our eyes to the big picture.
Megan House is a sophomore organizational communications major. She can be contacted at house13@up.edu.
