Travel Vibes11

I choose a tossed salad over a melting pot.
I was taught in school that America was the great melting pot. It was a country comprised of people of varied cultures all co-existing, become one, melting into one new culture, to be blunt, that really does NOT work for me. Nor does it seem to be working for our society if you look around. Currently it seems that much of our society is in fact anti-sustaining ones culture or identity.
In my opinion, I feel that being a salad bowl is a much more viable opportunity for a functional society. A salad is comprised of many individual parts, many flavors, colors, tastes and smells. As they are all tossed in together they remain individual, they do not lose their individual identity but what they do, is compliment and enhance the other elements. So why can’t we do this as people? Why are we so scared of people being WHO THEY ARE, why do we feel the need to make someone like us. Good grief how incredibly boring this world would be if we were in fact all the same.

Ethnicity is typically defined as being comprised of ones language, nationality, culture and even religion, but let’s be honest we are a global world. Countries are no longer comprised of only their native born citizens. International travel is commonplace and living and working in a place other than the place of your natural born citizenship is not unheard of, but does that mean that we should toss heritage and traditions to the wind and melt into one big new type of people. Should we ignore, or worse yet deny our identity and roots?
Growing up I was always a bit disappointed that my family tree did not have strong cultural roots, at least not any that I knew of. Whenever we discussed heritage my mom would say we are of the Heinz 57 variety, a mutt, ethnically diverse or more appropriately, void. I had a friend who had grandparents direct from Italy, her parents were first generation, the food and traditions were mesmerizing to me, I was jealous of it. Then there were my Jewish friends, it is not just a religion, it is also a culture – they are separate but the are also integral. I grew up in a town that was a summer resort for Hasidic Jews. The traditions, the parties, dancing, music, food oy veh the food! I remember going to a family friend’s bar mitzvah, I was fascinated by the tradition of it all. Don’t get me wrong, if you know me, you know there is much about organized religion that I am very in opposition of but I am referring to the ethnic traditions rather than the theory of spiritual belief, this is where we get the ethnicity element.

In New York, as in many states we have neighborhoods that attract people of similar ethnicities. Manhattan is the world epicenter of ethnic neighborhoods, Little Italy, Chinatown are usually the first to come to mind but let’s not forget Little Odessa, the Russian community, or Little Poland, both in Brooklyn or Little Guyana in Queens. For some reason these ethnic communities seem to have an aura of negativity that surrounds them, but why? I mean I do understand that the younger generations by sheer existence want to rebel and get away from their parents and grandparents. I understand that many old world traditions are laden with oppression of one form or another but we are wiser about much of the roles that led to oppression. Do we have to toss out our heritage in the name of progress? Is the need to get away from ‘who we are’ or ‘where we come from’ greater than the need to remember our heritage and ancestors, and more importantly to celebrate their triumphs? Why does today’s society shun and degrade these communities rich in ethnic traditions?

When I married, it was to someone who was foreign born. When I met his family I was enthralled by the culture, although not extremely ethnic, the simple connection to something deeper, to roots and heritage excited me. We adopted a couple of traditions, basically Christmas traditions, but I embraced holding onto this for sake of my son having something of his ancestors. Holidays are often a time when traditions and heritage become most prevalent to the layman eye, it also seems a time when we more readily willing to embrace tradition, as well we should.

I personally love to learn about different cultures, it engages me like an adventure. Perhaps one of the reasons I so enjoy meeting with new cultures is that much of our traditions and culture is seated in food & dance, two things I adore! When I travel I much prefer off the beaten path, non-tourist areas because I like to connect on a personal level, which I often find difficult in a commercial, tourist focused area. Going into a little mom and pop restaurant anywhere in the world is almost always a better path to true local flavor on a variety of levels.

As I sat down a few weeks after beginning this article, to wrap it up, I realize there is more to this then denying our roots. I also misrepresent myself in saying that I like to learn about different cultures, because it is actually far broader than that. I like to learn about different religions, different lifestyles and traditions, different opinions and people and places. This is where my salad bowl comes in, I don’t want to live in a world of ‘me’, I don’t want to ‘melt into the pot’ with everyone else until we are all pea soup. I want to be me and I want you to be you. If that you is Polish, or black, or gay, or transgender, that’s is fine, if your difference is accessibility or you are Muslim, or maybe you are bi-polar or have addiction challenges. My point is we are ALL different in SOME WAY. I just want to talk about our differences and similarities, and find out what made us who we are. I want to learn about your traditions, your cuisine, your beliefs, your culture, and share mine with you, even if it is only our family chocolate jumble recipe and that Santa only brings one present.
Differences seem to be a heightened topic in the news. Personally, for me people are about connections. I connect with you and the more I learn about you the more people I gain a connection to, even if that connection is simply a story about a certain dish you grandmother cooked, or a tradition your grandfather shared with you.

I am an onion, you are a tomato, so let’s go find some spinach and have ourselves a culturally diverse salad party.