Through Bajan Eyes

One thing that has been quite interesting in some of my travels is how people respond to me as a black person. So far (perhaps I've been lucky), I've not had any really negative experiences, just a few strange ones. The other thing is because I also have dreadlocks, and that seems to add additional exotic impact to my appearance.

Even here in England, I get lots of compliments about my hair. But no experience was more bizarre than in China. I started off in Shanghai, and every where I went I seemed to cause a bit of a stir. I attracted a lot of attention - people staring (blatantly and not even looking away when you catch them), people giggling and pointing etc. Some of the bolder ones came up to me and asked to touch my hair. Some of the not-so-bold ones snuck up behind me and touched/tugged my hair when I wasn't looking. A few asked if they could take my photo and some people wanted to have their photos taken with me.

This all took me quite by surprise. I just wasn’t expecting it. And as a matter of fact, I didn’t even notice until my travel companion pointed it out. Like I said, it’s not particularly negative but it is rather strange – knowing that you are being noticed to that extent. And it becomes tiresome after a while.

But one of the first places I can remember causing a stir about my appearance is in Thailand. I visited a poor rural village in Thailand. I was treated like royalty. Lots of people from the village came out to greet me on my arrival. Special dishes were prepared for me, and I was given the best room in the house to sleep. I was later told that many in the village had never seen a black (of African descent) person before and that I was probably the first to have visited that village. You can read more about this experience here.

Generally, Europeans don’t seem to react much. I guess they’re more used it. There are quite a few blacks in Europe, especially western European with its colonial ties. However, I went snowboarding in Poland one winter and that was probably a bit unusual to some people. I even had one guy wanting to take a photo of me with his son.

Another bizarre incident occurred in Irkutsk, Russia. My friend and I were being shown around the city by a guide. We were in the main public square, and I stopped to take photos of the surroundings and the Tsar Nicholas. There was a wedding party there taking photos to commemorate the occasion. So I tried not my best not to get in the way of the photographer. Suddenly, I became aware that there were people surrounding me so I moved to one side. The group moved with me. Then I realised they were trying to get my attention. They wanted me to be in the wedding photos! So there I was, in my cords and looking shabby, next to the smartly dressed couple, in the wedding photos. Then I was given champagne and invited to the reception. I didn’t go.

I’ve also had minor incidences in Mongolia where, instead of watching the soldiers march, the kids were busy looking at me. And where a woman walked up behind me and pulled my hair. I had people requesting photos in Moscow . . . in Red Square.

Sometimes I think I could charge money. . . Hmmm, might help offset the cost of the holiday.