Journal #28

I was recently reading articles about illegal immigration and what the US is doing as far as legistation is concerned to solve this problem. As I was reading the article and the different viewpoints that the informants addressed I started thinking about how US citizens are not really good about understanding other cultures (at least according to the comments I have heard and the articles that I have read). People tend to say slandering comments about the "mexicans" (which is a word used to describe anyone south of the US/Mexico border), how they need to learn English and stop hopping over the border and to have their kids here, etc. etc. etc. These phrases paint a very different picture of immigrants than the ones who I know. Whenever I have met an illegal immigrant they generally have 2 or 3 jobs and are trying to save money to send back home. I am not writing this post to discuss the politics of illegal immigration, but about how we as US citizens view other countries, and why our scope is so limited. A few months ago CNN came out with a statistic that only 30% of US citizens have passports, and 44% speak a second language. For an international "super power" these numbers seem low. Now I realize that not all US citizens have these close-minded beliefs; however, I do think these beliefs are common. Part of it has to do with the fact that the US is separated from a lot of the other countries in the world, making it harder to travel.. It seems that we are loosing the curiosity and desire of finding out about other cultures/countries, even though these cultures are quickly coming to our door in a world that is constantly growing smaller. I would think that technology would make it easier to travel, but it seems to be taking away from travel. Why go to Rome when you can have a treadmill that puts pictures up of Rome and simulates the roads so it's as though you are "in Rome"? Hearing these comments and seeing how others view different ways of life give me a greater desire to have more cultural experiences and learn about others ways of life. There is so much to learn and so many ideas and beliefs to hear and think about. As time gets closer for departure I become more excited to go and have another immersion experience.