Yesterday the group went to a local market and it was very neat and interesting to see what they had there. They had everything you could have needed or wanted, including clothes, purses (most of which I assume are knock-offs), pirated DVDs (which I thought were funny because most of the movies were still in theaters), food, and random tools and car parts. But of course, this isn’t what had the biggest impact on me. What had the biggest impact on me was being a foreigner in this market full of natives. When I would walk through the narrow paths, I felt awkward sometimes because I felt like the native people were looking at me and judging me thinking that I was just a stupid American tourist. This made me feel uncomfortable because I wanted the people to know that I wasn’t just a stupid American tourist, but a person who wants to help their people. I know that it’s okay to have these feelings because I am a foreigner in their country. This experience also made me realize that American people do the same to the foreigners that go there, because when foreigners come to America we judge them and stereotype them. I now know how the tourists and foreigners feel when they come to our country and experience our stares and judgmental eyes and it makes me think about how, I personally, have been looking and judging the foreigners. Although I felt awkward the experience in the market was amazing and eye-opening.
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