Cruising community benefit #325
How many of you can boast that you live in a community where people from a dozen or more countries routinely interact with one another? My guess is not too many. I know that I certainly couldn’t have said that about my home town. People often state that they set off cruising in order to see the world, but when questioned later, cite that it’s the people that they met along the way that had the most impact on them. While circumnavigating the world will ultimately net that result — meeting people from a variety of different countries — there are certain places, Grenada during the rainy season for example, that attract a huge sampling of folks from around the world.
At least as far as cruisers are concerned, we are all one!
Just off the top of my head, and I know for a fact that there are more countries represented here than I can list, there are cruisers in Grenada right now from the following countries:
- America (from all over the country, including Alaska)
- Canada (French and English speaking)
- Caribbean (various islands)
- France
- Great Britain
- Ireland
- Holland
- Sweden
- Germany
- Italy
- South Africa
- Philipines
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Brazil
The chatter that we hear on the VHF radio, completed in a variety of languages, is evidence of what I noted above. While those who share a common language may, at least initially, be drawn to one another, I don’t believe there is much in the way of isolationism, at least not intentionally. Adults and children routinely get together during impromptu or organized social events, and do so regardless of homeland. This type of community forces one to realize that we all have infinitely more in common with one another than we do differences.
We have yet to remove the French emblem from our wind generator, just to keep people guessing. 🙂
Amen, amen, and again amen. People in the UK can be teeth-grindingly insular at times – viz “Brexit” – *shudder*. Constantly pontificating about how wonderful we are/their home town/county is without ever having travelled properly or really lived amongst people of different nations. The secret is we’re all the same. We love our children & families in exactly the same way. We love, laugh and cry in the same way, for the same reasons. There ARE cultural differences but they don’t make us enemies, they just give us all something to compare notes about. “We do this/you do that” “how funny/interesting/intriguing!” I am proud to be part of a truly multinational, multicultural society – live aboard yachties. In my opinion the friendliest, most down-to-earth people on our amazing planet.
It’s likely true that what I described as a benefit, some people might actually consider a negative. Sad.
Well said Nadine Wiseman! You seem very wise. 🙂
I cannot say that I have lived it (I hope to start soon!!) but I really love this quote from Mark Twain:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
I would have to agree with that quote.