walking from the ashram to the german bakery a few days ago
i fell into conversation with a few guys who had just got off
a bus. asked where i thought they were from i guessed Bagdad.
they were from Amman.
They wondered whether i had been to an Arab country.
i joked that with the usa's behavior in the arab world
i'd be afraid of getting shot.
they were totally offended.
said the perception of arabs as violent was unfounded
and that they understood that the behavior of the governments
didn't reflect the wishes of the people - it never does.
...
in a later conversation in the bakery
with two of very few north americans i've met since travelling
we discussed why there are so few americans travelling ?
'paranoia' was everyone's first guess, tho it seems alittle
too superficial. i don't really believe that all the cool people
in america - and i can attest to the fact that they are there -
are really afraid of terrorists in places like thailand or india.
i don't have any good theories to explain our abscence,
but it doesn't reflect well on us.
