McToursim

tour⋅ist

–noun

	a person who is traveling, esp. for pleasure.

After 34 hours - 26 in a plane, 1 transnational & 2 international flights - I am writing from Australia as an official tourist. I am embracing this label like never before. I needed a break.

After my exams, I had to move out of the cabin and was turning in my key and talking to the RA on duty. We were discussing his trip to S. Africa over the summer and my coming one. I asked if the trip influenced him in wanting to work in Africa and he said he thought about international business. My reflex answer was "ethically?" I later apologized for my cynicism and introduced myself. My Christmas holiday started at that exact moment.

I decided to take my vacation to reflect on my experiences with tourism. How would it compare to Bosnia? Australia has the tourist model down, but the constant theme of consumerism is frustrating. (I have 28 minutes of my computer battery and only half a latte before McDonald's kicks me off their "free wifi.") Theme of the trip: first world tourism requires not only consumerism, but corporate materialism. Four weeks in and six left in the Balkans, considering myself and a veteran of guided tours, I chose to take the mature route. I started taking photos of other travelers. This game has since jumped the border and started down under.

The Winners from the Balkans:

The Classic

Best Dressed

camera + tripod carrier

Touring War

At least my brother tried to blend in

My family as tourists

My favorite: combat boots + matching outfit + backpack with 3 locks!
(He was a professional)

From Australia:

I wish I had some profound conclusion on tourism other than I support it. After all, I am destined to be a chronic one. I spent three months in the Balkans confused while I played both tourist and sojourner. I came to realize that war is now for sale in Bosnia and wondered if sustainable tourism is truly possible. They have turned the disgusting conflict into a new market. If people are willing to buy pieces of the war, at least they will have a souvenir that provokes. If a trip is collapsed into a quest for the ultimate purchase or coolest photo for that year's Christmas card, then why leave home? Where is the line between poorism/"hug-an- orphan-vacations" and informed pilgrim? If people visit a slum as a poorist, it should catalyze critical questions around systemic poverty, structural oppression, etc. I think we start by looking for the fight/struggle of that country. There is always a pulse below the surface.

Flirting with Post Conflict/War Zones

"There is definitely a threat and danger of land mines in BiH, but it does not mean that you cannot step off the asphalt" Travel Guide

I seem to be flirting with post-conflict/war zones: El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Northern Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. I'd even be as bold to say that my nine country/eleven month time frame could identify as an affair. For some reason, I am fascinated by violence and all that it encompasses. It is as if I am trying to educate myself on everything suburbia effectively sheltered me from. It is addicting because this line can be drawn to encompass everything from faith to politics. They constantly play off one another. What does God have to say about the nun who was tortured in Guatemala? Am I "blessed" by living in a gated community and the family sleeping outside damned to hell because they are "stupid and lazy"; what sins did the poor commit? Why are human rights activists being assassinated? Why was sex trafficking catalyzed during the war in BiH by the very soldiers and peacekeepers here to protect the people?Why is impunity given to internationals so that they march through as untouchables? And why did this "protection" allow the fourth largest European army to turn on itself and carry out the longest siege (1400 days) of Sarajevo since Stalingrad?

From January 2003 to June 2009 all I could do was talk, read, watch, and question. Now I am here to work. I am proud of the legitimacy I have attained and still stunned that I have been given permission to ask questions. I will be working and living abroad for 10 weeks in Bosnia and Herzegovina in three different cities, the capital Sarajevo, Mostar, and Srebrenica (the site of the worst massacre since WWII). It is a research fellowship but basically translates into an internship researching international aid effectiveness. I am working for the organization Beyond Good Intentions focusing on the specifics of human rights, legal aid, and psychosocial effects of returnees and refugees. Day to day, I will spend half my time with organizations, learning the logistics, and the other half with the recipients of aid. My research will provide the background information for the first film-based case studies on international aid by profiling different organizations for case studies. These case studies will be filmed between September 2009 and July 2010 and will be available in university classrooms starting in the fall of 2010.

As I was told this week, welcome to the "circus."