Map courtesy of ODT Maps.com Homeyra of Forever Under Construction in Tehran, Iran and Ann of Reclaiming Space in Sydney, Australia have asked me to join with them as a Sister Site. Ann has brought this idea forward in the last half of this article at Reclaiming Space.
This sounds like an interesting proposition and could be fun too.
Homeyra and I have already been conversing for a couple of months in the comment sections of our blogs and I was introduced to Ann several weeks ago when I first read her article on the Sister Site idea.
Both of them have already listed me in their blog rolls as one of their Sister Sites along with other friends of theirs. Homeyra, "From the Axis of Evil" has taken to calling me "From the Land of the Great Satan" -- which, in honor of the season has temporarily been changed to "From the Land of the Great Santa".
Currently we are thinking of things we could do as Sister Sites to explore our respective countries and what it is like living within them.
Since beginning blogging, I have had the pleasure to meet a number of interesting people from around the world through links they left with their comments or from links at the sites of visitors.
In some ways it's kind of like learning to swim. Being rather naive of other cultures I find myself proceeding cautiously, not wanting to offend anyone. My main purpose being to spread kindness and good will.
While I could hardly give a damn about being "Politically Correct" I do want to be "Culturally Correct". The difference being that Political Correctness is a form of coercion. It categorizes things into predefined groups or objects without regard to variances and nuances, whereas Cultural Correctness tries to recognize those variances and nuances. IMHO anyway.
Therefore, when homeyra ran a photo of two men having tea on a Persian Rug with traffic whizzing by, I was tempted to make a comment about them being on a flying carpet. It was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the photo.
Figuring that it could be a big insult to say such a thing I left another comment instead. The western view of Ali Babba and all such would show through and my new friend would think I was a moron. Well, it wasn’t but a few comments later when I see my error. All the other commenters were talking about the magic carpet aspect. I ended up getting a good natured ribbing for my attempt at "Correctness".
Perhaps expanding one’s visions through Sister Sites along with a big dose of humor could be a step in the right direction towards bringing peace and understanding in this world.
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