Why Am I Here?

For this blog I will discuss my two and a half week travel course to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands that I attended through my US study away program at the Duke Marine Lab.

I agree with the author in that a privileged white American student cannot become fully immersed in another place's culture-- especially when it is not as industrialized as the United States.  During my time in St. John we attempted to embrace the culture to a small degree as we were busy conducting research in the field.  However, we did engage things like eating at local restaurants, attending a native Caribbean drumming and local vegetation event, and browsing through the shops.  Throughout all of these experiences, I was uncomfortably aware my privilege and the socioeconomic differences between me and the locals.   The feelings was especially salient as my relationship with the locals was primarily through service.  We did not dine with the locals.  We did not ride the ferry to the island with the locals, but by the locals.  They were always serving us. Driving the bus to the research station, serving our food, making our smoothies, etc.   Learning about the history of the island accentuated these feelings as white Europeans ran sugarcane plantations with the locals as their slaves.  It felt as though they were still enslaved by the white man, but in a more modern form.  There was such an obvious amount of inequality and economic depression for the actual residents of St. John -- that of course exclude the billionaires living on the island like Kenny Chesney.

Ruins of Annaberg sugarcane plantation and mill in St. John

I felt as if we were using and exploiting another's culture for our own fleeting amusement.  I felt as if we were shoving our (primarily) white, (relatively) rich advantage in their faces, and it was very unsettling. Even when we were engaged during the drumming circle. The discomfort quickly faded as soon as we left and we continued our consumption of St. John.  I feel fortunate that we were conducting research the majority of the time because if we had been typical tourists on vacation these feelings would be magnified significantly.

I believe this experience was worthwhile (as well as continuing to reflect on it for this blog) because I was forced to be conscious of and confront my privilege.  This does not happen at home because I am around people of mostly the same status.  Privilege only seems to be obvious when in a position of inequality.  As I believe the author was concluding, it is important to continue traveling and experiencing other cultures; however, we must do so in light of our own privilege and the boundaries that will always be present in another culture.  We must also facilitate discussion about these differences, as this blog has done.