*o..* MEMBER SPOTLIGHT 1/18 & 1/19 - Tatooed_Hand *..o* - Page 2

[Tattooed Hand]

I'd really like to travel with her as a child, take her to places where people look, act, eat speak and live differently. But mostly to expose her to lots of different types of people so that she learns that there is more than one way to be in the world and people who are different are people you can have warm interactions with too (and are people too). It makes it harder to demonize other people and easier to be sympathetic and empathetic.

It might sound weird but given my experience of watching many Americans' responses to their government's undertakings in the world and being an Iranian growing up in this country, it's not in overabundant supply.

[cloudbutterfly]

Originally Posted by Tattooed Hand

I'd really like to travel with her as a child, take her to places where people look, act, eat speak and live differently. But mostly to expose her to lots of different types of people so that she learns that there is more than one way to be in the world and people who are different are people you can have warm interactions with too (and are people too). It makes it harder to demonize other people and easier to be sympathetic and empathetic.

It might sound weird but given my experience of watching many Americans' responses to their government's undertakings in the world and being an Iranian growing up in this country, it's not in overabundant supply.

It doesn't sound weird to me at all. I went to Turkey when I was 19, and it really changed the way I looked at the world and thought about the US, which in turn led me to study post-colonial literature/theory/history. DH lived in South America for 3 years as an older child, and would like to do that for our children.

[carmel23]

Originally Posted by Tattooed Hand

I'd really like to travel with her as a child, take her to places where people look, act, eat speak and live differently. But mostly to expose her to lots of different types of people so that she learns that there is more than one way to be in the world and people who are different are people you can have warm interactions with too (and are people too

This is what I miss most about living in Berkeley-- the sheer diversity of people (and the old people protesting nukes).

We have traveled with our kids to Mexico and plan on living there for an extended period of time in the near future. It *is* amazing what the kids see and remember from the trip and what we notice. It really changes the way we see ourselves, too.

We also plan on living in Italy for a bit when our littlest one is 4- 5 years-old.

[Tattooed Hand]

Originally Posted by cloudbutterfly

It doesn't sound weird to me at all. I went to Turkey when I was 19, and it really changed the way I looked at the world and thought about the US, which in turn led me to study post-colonial literature/theory/history. DH lived in South America for 3 years as an older child, and would like to do that for our children.

That's funny, I'm teaching postcolonial studies in a department called History and Literature right now...

[fazer6]

I've travelled a bit and abroad for extended periods when I was younger. Travelling really does broaded your horizons and you gain so much. I get itchy feet and could never settle full time back in England. We've also b oth decided to travel a lot as a family and encourage language learning. Leo will grow up bilingual english/spanish, and I'll see if I can encourage him with other languages as he grows up. Because we live so close to Morocco we plan to explore there, so that means I've got to brush up on my French and have a bash at arabic. I think it's important for children to be exposed to new cultures from an early age, I really get so annoyed by the xenophobia in the UK.