"Holy Cow" Reflection

Macdonald’s book “Holy Cow” makes us experience a journey along India and its spiritual way. Its a very interesting story that tells us how Sarah deals with her stay in India for two years. At first she doesn’t wanted to come back to India (after hating it in her early twenties) but then she found herself in love with a reporter stationed in New Delhi, and does indeed come back to India. During her two years as a Western journalist (on sabbatical) in India, she explores a wide variety of Indian religions: from silent meditation retreats to bathing in the Ganges to miracle healers to wild Christian celebrations. 

I saw Macdonald as a tourist in the beginning of the book because she hated it; the heat, the garbage and especially the third world conditions that disturb her; she also got sick. In some of her narratives her expressions sound more like a tourist at the beginning. But in all the history she presents us her experiences and the beliefs of the people she got to know. While she knew people, she wrote about their perspectives so we can notice her transition from tourist to traveler.

The story does become better in terms of content once she starts actually living in India and she transforms from a tourist to a traveler. That happened when she decided to learn to let go and just be. She does this by being more open-minded and trying to understand the culture instead of judging it.  I mean when she decided to explore India and of course try out the different kinds of religions and its practices: Buddhists, Christians, Jainists, Jews, Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs, and Sufis. Certainly Macdonald is a traveler. Despite that her narratives were a bit negative, she knew what she was talking about and criticized it. Her spiritual journey was an adventurous one. She describes what she sees, and while she may be judgmental about certain issues she encounters, she acknowledges that she is making judgments based on her own cultural understandings. MacDonald delves into the Indian psyche, but with her writing style, manages not to sound pretentious, or all-knowing, or assuming at all.  I believe that despite her cynicism while reading the book, she present us a life changing transformative experience. In fact she thanks India for making her. While reading the story we can notice that the changing narrative of the book is a reflection of how she's actually growing as a person over the course of the book.

Comparing Antigua & Puerto Rico

 In Kincaid’s story A small place, the author presents us her perspective of what she understands is a tourist and also she makes us see that the outsiders point of view is not the only one we must consider. Her childhood was the engine that makes her write about the Antigua government and the tourist industry there. Her expressions about the tourist were very strong and one could feel the resentment she has to them. 

I have to admit that I did not get identify with Kincaid at first, but then when I did the research of tourist in my island, all that came to my mind was Kincaid’s book. In my tourist vs. traveler reflection I selected the main difference between a traveler and a tourist. There is a difference between look and observe and between hear and listen. That is how I difference a tourist from a traveler. The traveler maybe is not fit fully into the problem, but knows about it. For example: Travelers know that San Juan is surrounded by homeless (as tourists also know), but unlike these, the travelers seek how interesting and attractive can be a place with all that San Juan owns. Tourists evade things and also people that do not fall within their “perfect paradise” thought. Like what happens in A small place, Kincaid throughout the book puts blame on British colonial rule for the corruption of the government and for crimes such as drug dealing, prostitution, and the selling land for tourist attractions. The same selling land business the government of Puerto Rico has here. 

Kincaid challenges the reader to look beyond the beauty of a place and explore the reality and truth behind that beauty. She converts us ito travelers.

 

A room with a view

The thing I liked the most in the movie a "Room with a view" was the fact that Lucy is a musician. Lucy is a proper young woman. Some can tell by the way she plays Beethoven on the piano that there is a seething passion underneath her proper demeanor. She is a proper young woman. Some can tell by the way she plays Beethoven. The love, the passion and the issue of she being an outsider sometimes, is interesting. The emotions, the lies, and the incidents make this film a drama with a great potential. In fact, it’s a classic from 1895. I love the characters, the environment, the plot, and the travels that she faces. Internal and external journey occur in this movie, specifically to Lucy.