over the rainbow it's all greek to me.....

What a difference a few miles makes. I recently realized that our "small" world sure is big. Living in California I interact with all types of folks from all over the world. The thing is that they live in my local area and even the most traditional of cultures will adapt to the city or town around them over time. They don't seem strange or foreign to me. They are just part of my familiar life. But, what about those folks that come here to make a new life. How do they feel? To really experience how varied our world is you have to go outside of our borders. In one minute you can be in San Diego and the next your in "TJ." Just a matter of a few yards but, boy, what a difference. Every time I've ever been to Mexico I get that nervous flutterby feeling. I know I'm only 500 yards from US soil but I can't shake the feeling. I'm not afraid of the people or the culture. I'm bothered by the lack of familiarity. I'm frightened by what I don't understand. It's like having cultural vertigo. I get it now. Imagine being hundreds or thousands of miles from your familiar surroundings. I understand what people must think when they come to the US looking for streets paved with gold and all they see are streets paved with our homeless. It must be 110x as shocking as walking through TJ. In my case, I know that I have the option to turn around and walk a few yards back home. But, when people from other countries spend their life savings or even risk their lives to come here there is no turning back. They must feel like Dorothy and her house sucked up and spit out in some crazy place. They have to deal with that cultural vertigo feeling too. It all makes sense to me now. If they could click their heels together three times and wish to go home, they probably would. No wonder they look at us funny when we tell them to go back to their own country. That's exactly what they want to do. Afterall there really is no place like home.