I have joined a gym! Last night I went to the Lighthouse Hotel and joined for a very reasonable rate. It made me feel a bit guilty I have to say - rich white Western woman thinks gym is cheap and the price I paid almost without thinking is roughly equivalent to 2 months wages for some people in Sri Lanka.
Hmmm, this started off as a happy (I'm having a great time) post and now I feel a bit crap about it all. I expect this will happen time and time again over the next few months. I want to enjoy my stay and there are things I want to do but I can't just forget how unfair it is that I can do it and most people here (in their own country) can't.
I swam last night in an outdoor pool overlooking the Indian Ocean. It was beautiful but even while I was doing it there was a strange mix of emotions - I felt happy and at peace because of the beautiful surroundings but I also felt a little bit alone. I like being on my own normally (being such great company and all!) but when you're doing something amazing it's nice to share it with someone.
And I felt guilt then too because it's a 4 or 5 star hotel and they've got guards all around it presumably to keep the locals out. Now I know when you're on holiday you expect to be able to wander about your hotel grounds without people trying to sell you things for example, but it just felt wrong. I felt like I was getting special privileges just because I happened to be born in a rich country.
And it occurred to me that if I DON'T use the gym, I'll be annoyed at myself because it's 45 pounds down the drain and I'm not earning just now. But at the end of the day it really won't affect my life too much, I will simply brush it off. What a wasteful society I belong to. Maybe the guilt I've just discovered will ensure that I actually USE this gym. It's better than not using it but it doesn't exactly do anything to address the problems of wealth inequality in the world does it?
Yours very introspectively,
IndyGal!
Hmmm, this started off as a happy (I'm having a great time) post and now I feel a bit crap about it all. I expect this will happen time and time again over the next few months. I want to enjoy my stay and there are things I want to do but I can't just forget how unfair it is that I can do it and most people here (in their own country) can't.
I swam last night in an outdoor pool overlooking the Indian Ocean. It was beautiful but even while I was doing it there was a strange mix of emotions - I felt happy and at peace because of the beautiful surroundings but I also felt a little bit alone. I like being on my own normally (being such great company and all!) but when you're doing something amazing it's nice to share it with someone.
And I felt guilt then too because it's a 4 or 5 star hotel and they've got guards all around it presumably to keep the locals out. Now I know when you're on holiday you expect to be able to wander about your hotel grounds without people trying to sell you things for example, but it just felt wrong. I felt like I was getting special privileges just because I happened to be born in a rich country.
And it occurred to me that if I DON'T use the gym, I'll be annoyed at myself because it's 45 pounds down the drain and I'm not earning just now. But at the end of the day it really won't affect my life too much, I will simply brush it off. What a wasteful society I belong to. Maybe the guilt I've just discovered will ensure that I actually USE this gym. It's better than not using it but it doesn't exactly do anything to address the problems of wealth inequality in the world does it?
Yours very introspectively,
IndyGal!
