Currently, I am sitting at the gate for a flight to Doha, Qatar, where I will connect to Rome. I have come to terms with the idea of being there as my awesome boyfriend has reminded me that this summer was about getting published and not about globe-trotting. He’s so smart. I left Tioman this morning, connected in my FAVORITE place in the world (NOT), Kuala Lumpur, and am now flying out of Bangkok.
As a side note, I had to get a new piece of large luggage today at Subang Airport, where the small flights come in and out to Tioman. I was able to purchase a reasonably priced item and transferred my contents into it. I decided I needed to find a dumpster to put the old luggage into, but could not locate a receptacle large enough. I went to catch a taxi to Kuala Lumpur International and mentioned to the driver that I needed to get rid of the old suitcase. About 3 minutes into the drive, he attempted to pull the taxi over so that I could throw the old piece of luggage on the side of the highway… I politely declined. About 20 minutes went by without incident when he told me that he was hungry and needed to stop to eat. ??????????????? What??????????? Luckily, he wasn’t able to find a place to stop, but I did get a little nervous and think that he might try to kill me.
Anyway, back to what I really wanted to write about. In the US, people complain about illegal immigrants. They steal jobs, they stress the system by not paying taxes, they bring down labor costs, blah blah blah. But let’s get one thing straight here: they do jobs Americans simply aren’t willing to do. They do what they need to do to get by and help the people they care for.
When I first arrived at BKK, I had a thought, albeit a somewhat prejudicial one. In the US, oftentimes Hispanics (and other minorities), sometimes legal, sometimes not, take jobs like airport janitors. I saw so many women walking around BKK that were part of the cleaning crew and I asked myself (and pardon this, please), “If these people aren’t Hispanic immigrants, who are they?”
After only the short time I spent in Thailand, I now know the answer to that question… They are the women who would leave the small villages, like the one I was researching, to go to the big city for work so that they could make money and send it back home to their families. One case in particular that I’m reminded of is that of a 13 year old boy with cerebral palsy we met on our first day. He had never attended a day of school because the Thai educational system was not equipped to accommodate him. His primary caretaker was his aunt because his mother worked in Bangkok to send money home.
I’m really tired and I can only hope that I’m making sense right now, but the struggles of these people are the same as the marginalized in the US. Think about how many people you’ve met in your life who came to the US from a different country with the hopes of sending money back home to their families in their native countries. Take, for example, many Hatians in South Florida. This issue was made even more apparent after the devastating earthquake Haiti endured. It was revealed that a solid part of the economy on the island is driven by the money sent back by family members working in the states.
What I think I’m trying to get at here is that people who are so different – culturally, ethnically, spiritually, and geographically – can have the same struggles. Whether it’s mothers in Pakhon Village in Northeast Thailand, airport janitors in Newark, New Jersey, or Haitian cab drivers in Miami, Florida, the story is the same: Do whatever it takes to move forward and sacrifice everything for the well-being of your family… Take a hit for the team.
I am so thankful I was able to experience the little I did in Thailand last week. Connections like this were my main reason for wanting to be in a country so dramatically and diametrically opposed to the US. Not only did I want to see the differences, but I wanted to see the similarities as well. You don’t know what’s out there until you go investigate and find out for yourself.
Things are looking up, I think. I don’t know what Rome will bring, but I can only hope that it will blow my mind completely and teach me something I never expected to learn.
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