Walking down the street today I got the distinct feeling of being in a zoo. Two sides, with a fence in between. One side pays to gawk, the other gets gawked at and fed in return. The tourist experience is so far removed from what everyday life is like for the local people. What a shame I can't speak at least some Indonesian – shoulda learned more languages when I was young. Maybe tomorrow I can convince my instructor to take me to a restaurant were the locals eat. Kinda hard to do on my own – what's "gluten free" in Indonesian?
Just to clarify: I don't mean to suggest that the local people are any more or less animal than I am. What I do mean is that it feels like I'm being disrespectful just by being here, by being (relative to average income in the world) wealthy and thus able to be here and have all these things like food, a place to stay, a massage, etc. provided to me at such a low price. Our wealth in the 1st world, and the freedom and power that comes with it, is in part only possible because people in places like this are poor.
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