december content meme (just under the wire) pt. 2

[rufus]

jawice24 wanted to know my thoughts about Narnia and/or Barbados.

Narnia: It has been a very long time since I read the series. I may only have gotten through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe though I have a feeling I may have gone further. Possibly I read them out of order; I have another vague memory of the whole thing making my head hurt and

Comments

[jawice24]

This really makes me want to visit Barbados! And I know that feeling, doing groceries and taking public transport abroad makes me feel so cool and I hope I might get mistaken for a local but I probably never am. I think the last part of what you're saying (I'm not sure if I understood it correctly because of the ~language barrier~) is the fact that you're so clearly not local and it feels like you can never get the full experience?
In a few weeks I'm moving to Austria for 6 months and I really hope I can break through that touristy feeling.

On narnia, just yes to all of that. Though I only read the books when I was already 17 it made me long for the childhood mystery of parents' things and tbh, I still feel,like there may be some magical places one must simply happen to come across.

Thank you for this!

[rufus]

I think the last part of what you're saying (I'm not sure if I understood it correctly because of the ~language barrier~) is the fact that you're so clearly not local and it feels like you can never get the full experience?

That is partially it. What I didn't explain was why the feeling is especially strong in Barbados (for me), i.e. that almost all of the residents are black and 95% of the tourists are white. So it is literally impossible for me to blend as I would, in, say, London, or Paris, where no-one would know where I was from until I opened my mouth.

I hope you get to escape the touristy feeling in Austria too!

And I'm glad you enjoyed the post!