Suriname Is Not User-Friendly | Tired of the Western Mentality
▶️ Watch on 3Speak
Greetings all, I was feeling a little like ranting and a bit like reasoning after some events that have recently unfolded here in Suriname, but also just wanted share some thoughts in general about my conflict with the western way of thinking.
Longing For Social Living
I was certainly very tired when I sat down to film this, but sometimes the best revelations come during moments of extreme emotions and physical states. We don't do much in Suriname other than go to Western Union once or twice a month, and buy vegetables from around the corner.
My Cambodian family is not sold on the western way of life by any means, and they struggle to see where the efficiency is in so-called developed nations. We miss the user-friendliness of Cambodia where the whole country caters to those in poverty and tough times. We really felt a sense of community and unity in all the places we lived in Cambodia, and having pleasant conversation
Social living means so much to us, and we miss living among people in a similar situation and with a similar life struggle. We miss washing our clothes with next-door neighbors, buying vegetables from the people that grew them, and hanging out with people not consumed by ego and the self.
🙏 THANKS FOR READING 🙏
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▶️ 3Speak
So why did y'all leave Cambodia if it was/is so nice?
"Only" to get married?
Lots of reasons, but some of them the same reason anyone leaves their country to go see another place, simple human curiosity. Mainly though it was for legal rights because our children are not biologically mine, and their biological Cambodian father could've potentially caused problems in our life at any time. I was required at that time to earn $2,000 USD per month in Cambodia to be granted the privilege to marry, so we decided to make a two-part effort.
Why not go abroad and get married? We could go as close to the USA as possible to give my American friends and family members who are scared of Cambodia a chance to meet us. Also, we aimed to do this in a country we had a small chance of immigration in, just in case we liked the place and wanted to stay. We could've stayed in Ecuador, but our lawyer screwed us, and this caused a cascade of negative things to follow in the wake. !ENGAGE 10
ENGAGEtokens.I feel for you ( and your family ) my friend and can relate to most of this, even though I‘ve never been to, let alone lived in, a really poor country. Can’t stand that Western mentality either. I never owned a car but am kind of frustrated how dependent that makes you on others. Can’t stand bureaucracy either. Etc etc
You’re doing great under the circumstances and I hope 2021 gets better and better for your family.
Big hug,
Vincent
It's all in the eye of the beholder. Many people consider Portugal to be dirt poor, and I even heard this from a Portuguese-American girl on a weed farm in Oregon. She talked about Portugal like it was a third-world country. I always found this so entertaining.
Similarly, Albania is the poorest country in Europe, but when I arrived there, I was amazed that the country had sidewalks everywhere, clean streets, and no human poo in public places. For me landing in Albania after living in Cambodia was like living in the land of Kings and Queens. I guess it's all perspective, because even a Cambodian would be shocked by the struggle an average person from South Sudan has to deal with day in and day out.
Let's hope for better days my friend. If we land in Albania, we'd love to have you come for a visit. !ENGAGE 40
ENGAGEtokens.Yeah I know how it is in Cambodia as you know. Hey you inspired me to go and pick fruit from random places. In Thailand they'll even help you haha. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC. Full car culture. My brother still lives there. We'd have to walk FAR to the nearest shop to buy stuff as kids. Last time I was back I asked my brother "Wouldn't it be nice if you had a local shop in the neighborhood?". He said no. Kids would buy cigarettes and bad stuff. Huh? Anyway I understand. Car culture is wasteful. And foreigners do permaculture and these trendy terms is funny indeed. "Poor" people just do it naturally.
I know that attitude all too-well, as if the bedroom community is a sacred state-of-the-art institution. Somebody needs to go to the Cambodian countryside and let them know how hip they are for practicing permaculture and off-grid living far before it was trendy on Instagram. !ENGAGE 60
ENGAGEtokens.I can relate it. Don't worry. You and your family will through it finely!
Thank you for the encouraging words, sometimes I just need to rant on Hive, and that alone gives me a release that last several days. !ENGAGE 10
ENGAGEtokens.This whole situation you're in sounds so frustrating. I always want to get away from here but I end up back. At least I am in my home country not that it feels like home.
Is there anything that any of us can do to help with this? I know your hands are tied financially but the red tape must be the biggest thing about this situation.
I admire the strength and unity of your family through all of this. I can't wait for the day when you are reunited with Cambodia.
I know your feeling, even though I am from the USA, it hasn't felt like home to me since I was 18. Financially we are solvent, although not comfortable by any means. The biggest hurdles are the bureaucracy and red tape, as you mentioned. We're learning to stop hoping for things that are not likely to come true, but instead are aiming for the low-hanging fruit, and at the moment the low-hanging fruit seems to be Albania. Thanks for the kind words and support chef. !ENGAGE 45
ENGAGEtokens.This is a real thought provoker. Australia is a first world country, of course, but when shopping the other day I couldn't help noticing the difference between the rich and the poor shops and regions. It almost fits with what you say about being hungry. I live in a poorer region and the people serving you are more helpful and less inclined to rip you off than if you use shops and services in the more desirable regions.
What I've noticed most recently is the difference in enforcement of the covid sign in as well, between the shops. Our local JB Hifi has the covid tracking scan code, but it's more for show and legal reasons, so you use it if you want. Go to a better suburb and you can't get in the shop unless you've scanned or signed in and if you scan they'll want proof you've done it properly. So they lose some of their customers who don't want to do this. The Apple store apparently won't even give you entry if you don't make an appointment. Yet the shops which cater for the poorer end of the market don't cause any hassle.
You need a car here much more than the UK, but they are fairly good at having enough local shopping precincts that you can reach to obtain essentials if you don't have a car, so it's balancing out. There's also more chance of finding cables for technology because it's first world and there are providers at every budget level.
It's almost like you're stuck between two worlds in a second world country and they're losing the best bits from both third and first worlds.
That very last part line struck a chord with me.
Perhaps you are correct, this country has its eyes on so-called modernity, but it has chosen to only take the worst parts like inefficient transportation, air-con, and food desserts. On the other hand, there is no interest anymore in someone trying to hustle a living from home by plying their crafts in the neighborhood. It's a lose-lose I guess you could say, but the lack of much human-to-human interaction on a daily basis is the most depressing.
I'm a bit of an introvert, but I miss my daily 3 and 4 minute conversations with the dozens and dozens of people I would interact with to get daily necessities. Here the social living has been replaced by fences, windows, doors, and other physical barriers to human socialization. !ENGAGE 140
I hear you. I'm also an introvert, but when we first came to Australia my girls were in the school system, hubby was working and I was struggling with home sickness. I would walk down to the shopping centre just for some human interaction, then later started helping at the school.
ENGAGEtokens.