American Eagle. (Tanya Photo)
125.
We walk over to the large air-conditioned American Cultural Center for the latest news from the states.
President Ford’s photograph is already on the wall and there is no trace of Nixon!
When I left America I was very discouraged with my country but these months of solo travel have shown me that most of the world which I have seen is in far worse shape than I ever knew in the states.
Being “without a country” has made me a lot more patriotic--like the man in the short story “The Man Without a Country.” There is truth in that story.
The two New Yorkers are teachers from a black ghetto on their summer vacation. Whenever I speak to them about America in somewhat hopeful terms they counter with: “American progress? Nuclear Submarines! Viet Nam! Watergate!” But they would have to be blind not to see the terrible condition of the people around us here in West Africa.
When the black man is short-changed for a ten dollar loss in the local post office, instead of being angry about that, he focuses his anger on what he calls “Fascist America’.
Perhaps they should stay longer than the week or so they have for their vacation.
I have not yet met anyone who has been out of the country for many months that does not appreciate some of America’s good qualities.
If you are an American citizen feeling discontented with your country, try my personal cure: carry your backpack around some of the rest of the world for a few months and see what it does to YOUR head!
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