I went to Normandy, the north western part of France last weekend with Abigail, my roommate. We stayed at her friends' house there, which is in Caen, a town in Normandy. They were a married couple, and quite travelers they are! The guy already went to 31 or so countries, and his wive already went to 5 countries! how awesome! This guy told me how he just wants to move out of the country as soon as possible, because he thinks that now people in France are too capitalized. They only care about money, and money, and for that money, they can just forget family and friends, or at least that's what he told me. He is just getting sick with this kind of attitude. He said that he is going to move to Vietnam, and stay there for the next 10 or 20 years. He already has two Vietnamese girls whose life expenses they have paid for for these last four years, and they already call daughters. They just want to have a nice and simple life there, together with those two girls, their friends, and their gonna-be-born-baby. And I think this is a pretty nice idea. Not a lot of people have this kind of thoughts, you know. Um, usually, people from developed countries already have their comfort zone, and it would be hard for them to leave it. But this couple, they just want to have a nice and enjoyable life without always getting troubled by getting money and stuffs.
<this is the couple that I'm talking about!>
I think, in one way, its true. Humanity and prosperity in many cases just doesn't always come in one same package. Just like the famous three-times-hit-and-run-toddler case in China. I read an analysis that along with the prosperity of China, the sense of humanity among the people is just getting lesser and lesser. I'm not saying that people shouldn't be rich and every rich people is a mean person. No, there is no intention from me to make such a hastened conclusion as above. However, as people are trying to have a better life by trying to have more and more money --- and I think that that is a pretty human thing to do --- they shouldn't forget that they also have the obligation to share some with the others. And this is not a new thing to know, I think this has been a moral value in a lot of religions, and cultures. And as for me, I am a Muslim, I have been taught the same thing by my religion. Being faithful in your religion is not only about praying or reciting your holy book thousands times a day. Well, you should pray! You should recite your holy book! I underline that. However, it is also about having it in your heart. About being a good and useful thing to the others in the world. About making a better change in the world, no matter how slight. About doing good deeds.
#Uh, I think I'm going so deep in this post! haha..
And so, my trip to Normandy would better be described by these pictures below, or as they say, pictures worth more than a thousand of words. So, enjoy! :)
Raspberry trees!! I don't why I took this picture --- its only a tree, for God sake! --- but since I've never seen a raspberry tree in Indonesia, it was kind of fascinating for me. LOL
me and Abigail
some strange (and kind of scary) flower
in someone's (God knows who) flower garden
Some memorials from the WW II, the Battle of Normandy.
The long story short is that in the end of the WW II, the Germany was badly invaded Normandy. The US then came to get the Germany off the land, it was supposed to be to aid France. Well, then, the rumor is that to do that, they killed more french people than the Germany did, and destroyed Normandy worse than the Germany did. Only God knows why.. (Or no?? )
Beautiful Churches!!
Chateau de Caen
This castle is supposed to be one of the largest castles in Western Europe, or at least that's what I read in the dearest wikipedia, which I just found out after visiting the castle itself. LOL.
A tilted church in downtown Caen. Kind of fascinating, just like Pisa, in the form of a church. LOL
And the closing, me and Abigail on our way home, on the train.
For additional information, after one hour sitting on our seats on the train, we got kicked off our seats, by another passenger who claimed for our seats. I don't know why, but he has a seat assigned for him on his ticket, while our tickets don't say anything about our seats. So, we ended up standing on the rest of the trip home, which made me quite feel like home actually, just like on the train home from Jogja. Don't feel too bad for not going to Europe, people, its not so much different here. LOL.
PS: Although I never thought that I would feel this, uh, it feels so good to be back in Paris!! :D
No comments:
Post a Comment