SI MONTHLY NEWS July 2006 Travel reports
From SI Exco News
SERVAS IRELAND, MAY 2006.
MY EXPERIENCES OF SERVAS
►Became a member because my sponsor mom was national secretary of Servas Malawi and a host.
►Experienced hosting when Servas Travellers visited Malawi and Mom arranged hosting for them.
►Took part in Servas National meetings which took place at my home in Blantyre - I cooked the brownies!
►Took part in Blantyre Servas social activities like hiking up Michiru Hill & visiting Leopard Match factory.
►This was my first experience of Servas Travelling!
PRE-VISIT PREPARATION:
I had planned to go to the USA, but to my surprise I got refused a visitors visa. (It cost !$200 to apply!) I was tired and had really been looking forward to a "holiday" and time to "reflect upon my year away and what I'd done and achieved". I had to start planning a new trip from zero and more the problem where to go? In the end Mom booked flights to Ireland x1 week, Scotland x1 week and Israel x2 weeks. I couldn’t wait to relax, chat and just be a tourist!
TRAVEL & ARRIVAL TO IRELAND:'
The day before I flew to Ireland I was staying in Bury St Edmonds with my friends Andy and Emily and their 4 daughters; they used to be my old next door neighbours in Blantyre, Malawi. My mom had real problems finding out if I could go to Ireland without a visa but the Honorary Irish Consulate in Blantyre (Mr O'Neil) assured her I didn't need a visa. In the end I caught a night bus from Kentish Town to London Victoria where I took Terravision bus at 2am to London Stansted Airport. There I caught a 0600am Ryan Air charter flight - booked over the internet by Mom.
The flight itself was fast and good and the air felt fresh and cool when I arrived in Dublin all excited at 8am! My Irish Servas hosts gave me directions and warmly welcomed me. I bought a day-travel ticket .from the Airport for Dublin buses which I used for the whole day. I didnt have any problems finding my hosts house which was great (usually I'm useless with directions, I was obviously getting better at it).
ACCOMMODATION:
I stayed with one Servas host the whole trip in Ireland. The two story home of Gwyn and Sean in Dublin, in the Glasenvin area of Dublin. I had my own cosy bed - very nice. Over the weekend they drove to their holiday cottage in the North and I got to go with them! FOOD #: Food was good in Ireland, similar to that in the UK with many of the same large brand supermarkets like Tesco etc. This was good because I was familiar with their foods; meals = rice, spaghetti, potato with meat sauces etc which I had got quite used to, was great. Fresh fruit, cheap chocolate bars and snacks to gobble at lunchtime where reasonably priced. I did try some Irish pubs out to and they had a rather special atmosphere and were "smoke free"!!
TOURISM/TRAVEL IN IRELAND:
Just like any other big City, Dublin has well organised tours, with lots of free "what to do" leaflets in the tourist centres. There were coaches and trains to take you in and out of Dublin and to places further a field like Galway on the west coast of Ireland. I'd wanted to go there but I ran out of time. There were lots of sight - seeing buses in Dublin taking and dropping you off at tourist attractions. But I did not take one because I prefer to walk and soak up the atmosphere at ground level! Prices on the trains, coaches and buses were more reasonable than those in the UK. Everybody speaks English in Ireland but I founded their accent very difficult to understand at the beginning of my trip.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES, CHALLENGES
► Not knowing I was going to Ireland for sure, until 24 hours before I actually flew there!
► Getting 100% correct information upon whether or not I "needed a visa or not" to go to Ireland.
► First time travelling abroad and having to organise all my hosts stays/hostels myself.
► My first travel experience as a Servas Traveller made me nervous - "had I forgotten some Servas rule I was supposed to keep too?"
► Not feeling confident my "volunteer visa" in my passport would allow me to re-enter Britain;
► Not getting to visit Galway. I only had 6 days in Ireland and by the time I'd decided where I wanted to go the Servas there had made other plans and couldn't host me! Shame.
► Not getting to stay with any other Servas hosts because I was spoilt by the hospitality + kindness of Gwen and Sean. But thanks thanks thanks!
ENJOYABLE, REWARDING, FULFILLING
► The opportunity to be a member of an organisation like Servas and have the opportunity of staying with hosts.
► Being a Servas Traveller for the first time! Good fun
► The kindness and warm welcome I received from my hosts when they were obviously busy themselves.
► The opportunity to stay in a real "Irish" (especially in Cavan) home and discuss and chat to my Irish hosts about their lives and the latest economic and cultural changes.
► Being taken by my hosts to their Cavan county holiday cottage in the north town of Cavan, near the Northern Ireland boarder. Very kind Sean and Gwyn to let me go - a great chance to see a different part of Ireland.
► My hosts allowing me to stay extra days with them beyond the normal just 2 nights and 2 days.
► I thought there was a special feeling to Ireland. The people are very relaxed and seem proud of their country, its recent EU development, and its rather stormy history.
► Meeting and having a companion to travel around with was great. The Servas Traveller from USA. She also stayed with Gwyn and Sean and came to Cavan with us. It was interesting to hear her travel stories and ideas - her outlook in life was similar to mine. That is another benefit of Servas that you often meet quite like-minded people and get cheap fleece jacket and lovely leather travel wallets given to you!!
► Rich linguistic heritage - Irish and all the music that goes with that, theatre and poetry.
(There was actually plenty more, but we have run out of space, another time perhaps. Ed.)
Saulo Phiri, Malawi
TIPS FOR CROSS CULTURAL
TRAVEL
For me and for many, the best part of travel is learning and interacting with unfamiliar cultures. Discussing Islam, snacking on live termites, debating the societal effects of religious devotion, understanding how a person of modest means can be a conservative Republican ... extra-cultural experiences like these are what lure me on the road time after time. Not knowing what or who you'll encounter next is a literal thrill for many travellers.
Those same cultural unfamiliarities can also cause problems. Unintended insults, damaged international perceptions, financial loss, even crime and violence can result when you don't understand the culture in which you're immersed. Nothing ruins a vacation quite like dying or landing in prison along the way.
The purpose of this series then is to expose a variety of principles and situations of which knowledgeable travellers should be aware. This is not a paranoid listing of how horrible the rest of the world is. If it strikes you that way, you need to travel more (or not at all). Even where life is hard, there are many good, wonderful people to meet and share with.
For some Servas travellers, what I say will be obvious. To those, I apologize and invite you to skip on to something else or suggest future topics.. As an American, the viewpoint I express tends to be that of the Western traveller in the developing world. Similarly, many of my examples are taken from my Moroccan travels, where I learned an enormous amount about cross-cultural contact.
Everything I say, though, can apply to some extent to every traveller in every country. Take away with you the generalizations rather than the narrow examples.
The next few columns will cover avoiding financial damage to hosts, awareness of hosts' selfinterest, and engaging in sensitive discussions.
© 2006 by John Gunther
RICH vs POOR I - DON’T PRESUME!
Travelling Westerners, no matter how affluent or poor, will often be perceived as rich - and relative to the locals, they often will be. Social contact between rich and poor can be awkward in any context. Trying to keep up with a rich friend's tastes in restaurants and entertainment can ruin an ordinary American's finances.
On the other hand, almost everyone would find it uncomfortable if the rich friend paid for everything just to enable the other one to participate in their mutual social life. No matter how selfless the rich one'motives may be ("Hey, what the hell, I can afford it and you can't. I'll be happy to pay") tensions would almost inevitably develop.
Even if you never play the "rich" role at home, you'll find yourself in it when you travel in developing nations. I use the term "developing" politely. In many areas of the world the lives of ordinary citizens are gradually improving. In many others, the rich are getting richer and ordinary people continue to struggle, year after year, for the bare necessities of life.
Virtually every Servas host is hospitable. It's the very definition of Servas but host hospitality sometimes exceeds financial capacity and many hosts, particularly those who have had few or no travellers, will suffer economically rather than rein in their desire to treat their guests well. That chicken and fish feast served up in your honour might well have cost a week's worth of grocery money.
Offering a host money, although a practical gift, is simply not part of the Servas tradition and it risks setting too commercial a tone. Once a visit is under way, family pride will often prevent a host family from accepting traveller help with hosting expenses. I've never had a problem, though, arriving at a host's home carrying an armload of fresh groceries. It makes the "visitor gift" both symbolic and practical, lessening the hospitality burden for a host of meager means.
Groups of two or more travellers can easily precipitate an unseen financial crisis. If your visit is extended, you'll probably develop a sufficiently honest relationship that allows you to contribute financially or in kind for the costs of hospitality.
Servas travelling is a way to go further on less money, but don't make that your priority. Be prepared to contribute as much to hosts as you would on low-end commercial accommodations. In almost every case, hosts won't considr accepting that much assistance, but it's arrogant of you to presume on their generosity. Hosts and travellers exchange cultural contact, attention, hospitality, and eventually friendship. Hosts' out-of-pocket costs should not be taken for granted.
© 2006 by John Gunther
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