Five Countries I Want to Visit and the Authors Who Inspire Me

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I have seen enough of the world to know that I want to see more. Quite honestly, it’s hard for me to stay in one place for very long, which was a mitigating factor in my becoming a teacher-summers off-and choosing to call a bustling, diverse, colorful city like San Francisco “home.” I have what friends refer to as “the itchy feet syndrome.” I love stepping off a plane, and being reborn in a place where the language, customs, and people are completely new.

I recently created a list of places I have always wanted to visit, and the authors who have helped me form a relationship with the culture, land, and history of each country-grounding my imaginings into clearer vision, passion, and understanding.

This is not a list of light summer reading. All five of these countries have been embroiled in major conflict in the last one hundred years. There is a part of me that feels forever called to social justice, to the story of “the underdog,” and to the spirit that prevails. You will find all of this within the following countries, pages, and people.

Cuba

I’m sure most of us have probably read The Motorcycle Diaries and know the subsequent legacy of Che Guevara and his influence in Cuba. I can’t help but think of mojitos and hot nights dancing salsa to live, raucous drums in the streets of Havana when I think of traveling to Cuba. But it’s not just the dancing that entices me. Cuba is mysterious to me, in part because there’s the legal challenge of getting there and in part because of its fascinating political history. A friend of mine told me that she and her new husband traveled to Cuba for their honeymoon and spent an evening smoking cigars and listening to Cuban mobsters tell their stories.

Don’t get me wrong: I’ve heard both sides of the argument, and I know that some people see Che as a hero and some see him as a cold-blooded murderer. I can’t claim to know enough objective information to take either side. What I appreciate about Che Guevara is his writing and his ability to draw attention to the voice of the oppressed.

South Africa

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay changed my life. It allows a glimpse into the beauty, intensity, and passion of African culture. It illuminates from a very personal perspective the intricacies and politics that surrounded apartheid. But more than anything, it tells the story of one hero’s journey from boyhood to manhood and how his faith in himself enabled him to abandon social structures, resist racism, and instead concentrate on the beauty and inherent worth of the individual soul.

As a music teacher and musician, I am drawn to African culture, as all music in America has some root in African form and polyrhythm, especially jazz. More than anything, as a spiritual person I find my heart filled to bursting when I recall the power of song in the lives of South Africans, how they used song to communicate messages to one another and to celebrate, to rise above whatever literal and figurative chains existed around their lives. I want to go South Africa to see if they will let me sing with them. I would love nothing more than to experience that power and energy firsthand.    

Rwanda

Please, please read Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculée Ilibagiza, a Tutsi woman who lived in Rwanda during the genocide of 1994. For 91 days, she hid in a bathroom with seven other women, while all around the country her people were being slaughtered, swiftly and mercilessly. When the killing finally stopped, almost a million Tutsis had died, including her mother, father, two brothers, eight month old cousin, and many other friends and family members. 

It is not an easy read. You will cry, a lot, and at times feel nothing but horror and despair. 

But ultimately, as Dr. Dyer says in his forward, it is “truly a love story in the purest sense of the word.” It is a story of the deepest, most miraculous kind of faith and forgiveness.

This book makes me want to go to Rwanda for many reasons. I want to see the beauty of the country as Immaculée describes it, as well as the beauty of the courage and spirit that has prevailed. I want to help.  I want to see if my body, my voice, my money, and my love and commitment can be of any value to the people who might need these things, especially the young children who were left orphaned. I also want to be able to bring stories back to the US to generate further knowledge and support. I am grateful for this book and Immaculée for giving voice to the horror a small country endured as well as a voice to the power of survival and healing.

Tibet

The threatened people, history, and culture draw me to Tibet, the “rooftop of the world.” Yes, I want to see the highest mountain ranges on Earth, the beautiful temples, and Lhasa, the capital. I want to see the Potala Palace, the Holy Cave in Drak Yerpa, and, without question, Mt. Everest’s base camp.  More important, I want to witness firsthand the strength and beauty of a people who have been needlessly pushed towards near-extinction. Over 1.2 million people have been killed as a result of the Chinese invasion, and their holy leader and Tibetan Head of State, the Dalai Lama, has been living in exile in Dharamsala, India since 1959.

I love the writing of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, because I feel it reflects the true peaceful nature, as well as the strength and commitment of the Tibetan culture. Favorites for me include The Art of Happiness and Ethics for a New Millenium. The Dalai Lama is not afraid to take a stance on issues like abortion, gay rights, and global warming, and he is also able to take these somewhat modern issues and relate them to a modern Buddhist perspective. He emphasizes peace and justice, as well as empathy and compassion for our fellow beings. He also teaches the reality of our interconnectedness and, especially in “Ethics,” our need to be globally and socially responsible. 

Nepal

Nepal calls to me like a long lost, well-loved friend. There is something so passionately familiar about this country, and I suppose that’s why I savor it as my ultimate destination and why I do not yet believe I am in a place worthy to receive its calling. In part, it comes down to this: I need to see Everest before I die. I want to trek in the Himalayas, sip tea in Pokhara, and see rare wildlife in Royal Chitwan National Park. I want to play with children on the streets of Kathmandu. I want to raft the Seti River and cross the Friendship Highway into Tibet. Nepal is a place I’d like to stay for a long time

There are many great stories about Nepal, but Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children by John Wood, is especially moving. The title is a bit off-putting, until you look at the facts: John Wood was a head honcho at Microsoft, when a trip to Nepal led him in another direction. In 2000, he started the non-profit Room to Read, based in San Francisco, an organization that builds schools, libraries, and computer labs and provides long-term scholarships for girls as well as opportunities for local language book publishing in hard to reach areas in developing countries. To date, they have built 287 schools, 3540 libraries, and 117 computer and language labs, donated 1.4 million English language children’s books, published 144 local language children’s titles, and given 2336 long-term scholarships to girls in eight countries in Asia and Africa, and Room to Read plans on expanding to Central and South America in 2008.

This book is an entertaining read, but it also personally inspiring to me: I, who will probably never be deeply invested in corporate America professionally, greatly value someone with that level of business savvy choosing to put his talent in the non-profit sector. His model works. It’s not just the big dog learning to tolerate the underdog, it’s doing away with such distinctions altogether, recognizing the equal potential and value of each individual, and living, personally and professionally, from that place of knowing. 

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