by Mahzuza Rahaman is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Travelling to Martinique was an amazing, eye opening experience. However, this was not my first experience abroad. The first time I had travelled abroad had been to Bangladesh. This is the country that my whole family is from. The first time I had visited Bangladesh I was too young to actually remember much of my experience there. The second time I had visited, it was very interesting to see how different it was to what I usually experience on a day to day basis living in the United States, it was such a culture shock. Even though I have lived in the United States for my whole life, and the fact that my parents have been here for longer than that, it is amazing that we kept a lot of aspects of our culture and traditions, such as clothing, food, holidays, etc. When I had went to Bangladesh, it was easier for me to adapt to some parts of my culture than others. For example, it was easier to adapt with the language, clothing and some of the traditional dishes because these were things that I was familiar with and used to. It was harder for me to adapt with things such as transportation, air conditioning and some foods, because these things were so different from what I was used to, and had taken for granted.
When I had travelled to Martinique, it was the first time that I have been without my family for a stretch of time. My experiences in Martinique were somewhat different from when I went to Bangladesh. I still had a sense of culture shock, however it was mainly due to the cultural differences. Although the language barrier was quite a bit difficult at times, my experiences in Martinique has taught me so much more than when I had visited Bangladesh.
I believe that GBL 102 has better prepared me to travel as a traveller and not as a tourist. When I had went to Bangladesh, My family and I did things that all tourists would do, such as visiting waterfalls, going to visit the amusement parks, the big shopping malls, taking pretty pictures, and did all of the other touristy things, however I never really learned much from my experiences there. I believed that I knew the culture and the history of the country and that there wasn’t anything else for me to learn. When I went to Martinique, I had a better idea of how to be a traveller and to be mindful and open minded of the different culture and traditions of a new place. Although we still visited the places that all tourists would visit, I believe that we were more immersed into the Martiniquan culture. We got t experience it first had when we went to see Carnival and when we got to explore Fort- de- France by ourselves. Although the language barrier was the most difficult part of the trip, I believe that I was able to experience the culture fully when I was travelling like a traveller and not a tourist.
While in Martinique, globalization was something that could be seen intertwined with Martiniquan culture and traditions. The intermixing of different people and cultures was especially evident during Carnival. During the Carnival parade, there were groups of people from the Dominican Republic and from Haiti holding up banners and their flag to represent their country. They were proud to show off their own culture. Our guide during the trip, Julie, had told us that the people of the island were very accepting of others despite the cultural differences and such.
When travelling, the reason that we travel and the mindset we travel in can provide with new experiences and new perspectives. We are constantly learning about new things through our experiences, and if we travel like a traveller and not like a tourist, we are able to fully understand these new things. When learning about the theme of why/ how to travel, we are reminded to be mindful, open minded, and accepting towards the differences we encounter during our travels. People all around the world are different, there are different factors which make up their identities. Our identities are made up of the places that we are from, the experiences that we have had, and cultures and traditions that we may follow.
My goal before going to Martinique was to actually travel and become a more global person. There is more to a place than what we see on the news and in social media. In order for us to be more global, we need to experience these cultures and these differences first hand. I believe that My experiences in Martinique has changed the way that I perceive the world. My experiences from Martinique has helped me become more open- minded and willing to try new things.
