So, our Laoation tour guide, Tui, was awesome. I seriously have a crush on this 24 year old Laoation man. He was so kind, so cute and so knowledgeable. All he wants to do in life, is be a Monk and find enlightenment. However, is speaks English well, and makes good money being a tour guide, and he feels a sense of duty to help his family since he has the skills to make money.
Today was our last day with him. At lunch, I stopped to ask him a few questions about the Laos people. I noticed that everyone seemed content, maybe not happy or smiling all the time, but just okay with how life was. They were very accepting and calm. Having gone through my life dealing with my own depression, and watching my friends and family deal with it too, I decided to ask Tui if there was such a thing in his culture... and the answer... was no.
In fact, I had to explain what depression was to him in other terms. I ended up comparing depression to him as sadness, like when a loved one dies, or there is poor luck in the family. Tui seemed to get the idea. But still, I'm not sure the translation really went through. He could not understand that meaning. To me, this was amazing. It gave me hope for mankind. It also brought up questions of how great living in an 'advanced' country is, if the 'simple' countries of the world do not have a word for depression, because they just don't experience it... at least as much.
Today was our last day with him. At lunch, I stopped to ask him a few questions about the Laos people. I noticed that everyone seemed content, maybe not happy or smiling all the time, but just okay with how life was. They were very accepting and calm. Having gone through my life dealing with my own depression, and watching my friends and family deal with it too, I decided to ask Tui if there was such a thing in his culture... and the answer... was no.
In fact, I had to explain what depression was to him in other terms. I ended up comparing depression to him as sadness, like when a loved one dies, or there is poor luck in the family. Tui seemed to get the idea. But still, I'm not sure the translation really went through. He could not understand that meaning. To me, this was amazing. It gave me hope for mankind. It also brought up questions of how great living in an 'advanced' country is, if the 'simple' countries of the world do not have a word for depression, because they just don't experience it... at least as much.
Your posts are inspiring and I nearly cry each time I read them...happy or sad. What a trip of a lifetime. Know that we are reading even if we do not comment on every post! Stacy Reh
ReplyDeleteI would have liked to hear this conversation. Imagine...no depression... what a wonderful thing
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