NOT KEEPING SCORE

Freelancing abroad in the Holy Land for 18 days

1. Shalom, Shanni! Feeling Lucky? 
The best part of being in Israel is that when I’m online my browser streams ads in Hebrew. How does iGoogle know I’m in Israel?!

2. Castro Worldwide
There is a popular clothing brand in Israel named Castro that has just come out with a men’s line. Everywhere I look, men have little Castro labels sticking out of their shirts. Are they particularly confident with their sexuality, or have they just never heard of San Francisco?

3. Article Idea: Tourism is the New Colonialism.
“They’re everywhere!” exhales my friend Heather as we stroll through the Carmel market in Tel Aviv.

She’s talking about the French. Israel is a very popular French destination, and in some places French is more pervasive than English (I was handed a French and Hebrew menu at one such cafe, and luckily remembered enough from my 1 semester-long escapade with the language to be able to point to fromage and whisper “Merci.”)

Another friend mentioned that the influx of the French investor has driven up housing prices in and around the major cities at such an incredible rate, that it often pushes locals out of the bid.

But it’s not just the French.

All of this sounded familiar — while in Turkey I wrote about the presence of a large amounts of UK travelers — and don’t think I would assert American travelers/investors don’t change many a’ local landscape. Not to mention the market effects of cross-market investment within the U.S., such as California residents wanting to move to and buy homes in other, less dense, states (aka “Californication“… but not the TV series nor Red Hot Chili Peppers kind).

(As an aside, this notion of foreigners drastically altering what they originally came to see was the original premise for “ecotourism” — which, if you’ll pardon my humble opinion, I’m not positive has any less significant an effect on local cultures and economies than other kinds of tourism).

Settler colonialism (United States), dependencies (British Raj), plantation colonialism (Jamaica), trading posts (Hong Kong) the influence of war (Vietnam) and even Neocolonialism (the maintained control of former colonies through economic control… just pick one)*[1], these seem to have paved the way for a ‘neo-neo-colonialism’ — a kind of ‘Global Market colonialism’ — where the breakdown of economic and cultural borders, a continuing flood of travelers interested in “the next unspoiled destination”, and the ever-increasing pace of the modern global marketplace, contribute to developing economies leaving traditional lifestyles in order to have a play on the global stage — and thereby accommodating those who want to plunk down their dollar, euro, or pound to discover a bargain ‘tourist destination’ or new ’investment opportunity’.*[2]

Whereas before disruption of the local way of life occurred when heavy-handed militaries or migrants ‘invaded’ a country, now a country is changed internally, through the importation of a tourism infrastructure.

Or, perhaps we’re all are just eventually colonized by Modernity.

As my Patient Readers may have noticed, I am very fascinated with this topic; it’s one I’d like to investigate more thoroughly. However, presently – and not without complete acknowledgment of its irony – I have to go catch a flight to Vietnam…

*[1] Source: Wikipedia. (It’s good to review.) And for a real treat, click on this map of colonization through the ages. Love it: has a time lapse from 1492-2007. Geek out!

*[2] That was a meaty sentence. My apologies — it won’t happen again. Unless, of course, I start writing about the difference between Roth IRA and 401K Simple IRA Rollover Plans… and then I can’t be blamed for my enthusiasm-induced verbosity, now, can I?