Orbis Terrarum Meme

Bethany who organizes the Orbis Terrarum Challenge has asked the participants to participate in a meme about (what else?) traveling. Here are my answers.

1) What country do you always go back to in your travels (not just while reading for OT)?
I don’t have a country I keep coming back to. Not anymore. Before I moved to Armenia, Armenia was that country. Before I moved here permanently, I spent about four and a half years traveling back and forth between Holland and Armenia. I’d spend anywhere from three weeks to three months there doing volunteer work, for vacation or seeing my friends. Actually, since I moved to Armenia I haven’t done a lot of traveling other than to Holland once or twice a year. I live on a local salary, so I can’t really afford to do all kinds of swanky travels. Especially since flights to and from Armenia are not that cheap. I did spend six weeks in Lebanon three years ago with my boyfriend (he is from Lebanon), which was awesome.

2) If you could visit 4 of the countries you have read about in your life (that you haven’t been to yet), which would they be and why? (you can include the book that makes you want to visit if you remember).
I would love to visit Turkey (Istanbul especially), Iran, Georgia. Notice how they are all neighbors of Armenia? And all within reach. It takes about four to five hours by car to get to the Georgian capital Tbilisi from Yerevan, depending on the condition of the road and on the time you have to spend waiting at the border. In more than three years of living in Armenia, I haven’t even once been to Georgia. It just didn’t happen, though it’s been on my to-do list forever.

I haven’t even traveled inside Armenia as much as I would love to. The country is beautiful, with lots of mountains and nature and historical monuments. Unfortunately, getting to those places is a huge hassle if you don’t have your own transport. The only reason I want to buy a car in Armenia, is to get out of the city more often for hiking or to visit the historical monuments (mostly centuries old churches and monasteries hidden in the mountains). Driving in Yerevan is a major pain in the behind, because there is permanent road construction going on everywhere and people don’t know (let alone stick to) any traffic rules. I guess my number four choice would be to travel extensively inside Armenia (even though I am supposed to pick countries that I have never visited).

Countries that I have visited that I would love to return to are Israel and Lebanon. Can you tell I have a special interest in the Middle-East?

3) Have you ever dreamed about a country you have read about, that you have never actually traveled to- except in your dreams?
I guess the answer would be the same as for the second question. The two questions actually seem rather similar to me, but that could just be me.

4) In what ways has reading about different countries opened up your perspective about global issues?
I don’t think my reading has really opened up or changed my perspective about global issues, but it sure has deepened my knowledge or my passion about certain issues. As long as I can remember, I have always been aware of the world around me, the environment, other countries and cultures. I guess that’s how I grew up.

Issues I am passionate about are the environment, gender issues, education, human rights, the Middle East. I read a fair amount on gender and women’s issues, the Middle East and human rights and a lot less about education or the environment. That does have a lot to do with the fact that books on the environment and education are less readily available to me at the moment. If anyone has some good suggestions for books on these two topics, please, leave a comment. I am always open to suggestions.

5) What countries have you felt your judgment was off about-after reading about that nation?
I can’t really think of any country. I think we all have some sort of prejudices, rightly or wrongly. I try to be as open-minded as I can. I have always been interested in different countries and cultures, traveling a lot. Also, I have always read lots of foreign (non-Dutch for me) literature, probably because I have never really liked Dutch literature (now, this might be my particular prejudice! ).

I think a big difference or advantage is that I come from a small non-English speaking country which apparently does relatively well in translating books from other languages into Dutch and in publishing non-Dutch literature. Also, books in major foreign languages are readily available. For me, it has never really been an issue, nor have I ever given much thought to reading about different countries and cultures. I just did it: The books were easily available and I have always been curious to read about other countries.

Okay, I realize that my answer doesn’t really answer the question, but I just didn’t know what to answer. Truth is, I have never given it much thought whether reading about a country changes my perception of that country. It sure does, I suppose, but probably in ways that I am not aware of. I think that is in part because reading about different countries or books from different countries has never been an issue for me, it’s not something I need to make an effort for, I just do it as part of my reading habits.

Thinking about my answers for this meme, made me realize that I have never given much thought about reading about other cultures and countries or global issues. Not because I don’t care or am not interested, but because reading about these topics has been part of my reading habits for so long and is so settled that I am not even really aware of it.

6) Which is your favourite book that you would recommend for this challenge (you don’t have to have read it during the challenge)?
There are a couple I can think of. The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak about Turkey, Ali and Nino by Kurban Said about Azerbaijan, Generations of Winter by Vassily Aksyonov about Russia, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi about Iran, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini about Afghanistan, and A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz about Israel (or anything by Oz for that matter, he’s a great writer). Links are to my reviews.

7) I am thinking about hosting again, for a full year next time starting in January, do you have any constructive criticism, is one book a month about right…more? less? Give me some thoughts.
I am perfectly fine with one book per month. Though I am not sure about a year-long challenge with twelve books! Maybe a six-month challenge with six books would me easier to plan for most people. On the other hand, I think many books for the OT Challenge can easily be fit into other challenges or reading projects.

Anything else that you have been wanting to tell us all about? let us have it!
Bethany, you’re doing an excellent job! Thank you so much for hosting the challenge!