I want to believe that I am not a tourist, I think that in Nueva Guinea I am defiantly viewed as mysterious outsider. This is a very small town and I know that many people know talk about me and want to know more about the reason why I am here. When I walk around town, people always stare and on several occasions, people who I don’t even know call my name. This tells me that many locals are aware of my presence; it is obvious to them that I am not from around here, but I also think that they do not see me as a tourist.
About a month ago, a group of Americans came to visit Nueva Guinea, and I think they did follow the “tourist” agenda. They behaved exactly how Larissa described it; they wore sandals, shorts, flower shirts and silly hats. They also spoke broken Spanish and they were always taking pictures of people and places; I even think that the obscene amount of pictures being taken made some of the locals uncomfortable. The Americans would also comment on how slow the service was at restaurants and how the food was not very good.
One day the High School prepared a celebration in their honour; during that event, the organizers made the Americans dance and play games in front of everyone else. Some of them were good sports about it and they went along with the games, but one of the older men said later on, “I would like to make a fool out of myself on my own time, thank you very much”. This guy especially, always seemed uncomfortable and not pleased with the locals.
I do not act that way, and as much as I felt like an Alien in the beginning, I always made an effort to blend in. I always knew that I had come here to do a job and to share a similar lifestyle with the locals. Obviously I am not viewed like a local nor I feel like one, but it has been made clear to me (especially by my colleagues) that my visit is a chance for everyone to learn. The students tell me that they will miss me a lot because they like how patient I am with them and they feel that they have learned a lot from my classes; on the other hand, my colleagues have told me from the beginning that they are very thankful to have interns (like myself) coming to URACCAN, the teachers I work with see my visit as a beneficial opportunity to learn. I make a note of all of this because tourist are not viewed in that way, in my opinion, the locals who live in touristic places are just interested in profiting economically from the tourists, and that is defiantly not the case with me or the other York interns who have visited Nueva Guinea.
Although I know that I am visitor and people treat me as such, I know that I am also accepted and included as a part of the community. I have been invited to many events and I have participated as a member of the community and not as an irrelevant tourist. For example, right now I am helping one of my students who will be participating in the Miss URACCAN pageant which will take place on Saturday. I have written a speech for her and I am helping her make one of her dresses, that makes me part of the festivities and therefore part of the community.
I am not shy to talk to new people and people are not shy to talk to me anymore, there is no awkwardness and there is a general sense of mutual comfort ability and respect. I may not be one of the locals but I think there is a distinct difference between a tourist and the foreigners who come to Nueva Guinea to work. Maybe in the beginning I was viewed as a tourist but for most of my stay I think the people around me see as a “the teacher who comes from Canada,” and they treat me accordingly.
It is true that this internship might be too short to really experience any place abroad. I feel that it took a while for me to get used to this new environment. I had to learn from and about the people, I had to figure out how to act and how to approach different people and situations. Today, I feel like I have got the hold of it pretty well, I do not feel out of place anymore and I am really happy to be here. However, now that I have accomplished this attachment, the time is speeding towards the finish line. It is obvious that when you start having fun, time just flies by, and for this reason I am sad. I am trying to take advantage of every day I spend in Nueva Guinea because the clock is ticking and I know that many painful goodbyes are coming my way. My colleagues, students and new friends have become dear to me in the last months and even though I have gone through numerous “farewells” in the past, it never gets easier.
