A Field Trip Experiment
Uploaded by regguy on Mar 23, 2007
DEJA’ VU
The trip was to the West Edmonton Mall on the West side of the city and my Professor had thought it a perfect choice for a field trip given the limited options and the convenience of saving a buck. Most of my classmates had thought it tacky, admittedly I was excited at the prospect of being at the “biggest mall in the world”, and I personal didn’t see what all the fuss was about. This trip would be a first to the mall and definitely not the last.
I come from a remote village at the foot of Mount Kenya where I had been raised and received my education. A field trip in my part of the world would be a visit to the next village across the river, where the journey would have been made on foot or by means of black Chinese-made bicycles, having to ring bells and hurl warnings as you navigated to avoid the human obstacles that lined the dirt roads of remote Africa on their way to the village market.
We got paired into twos before we left for the mall that evening. On arrival, there was something familiar and magical about the place, people seemed removed from themselves: Lovers walked hand in hand, sellers were busy in their stores, buyers haggled for discounts; teenagers cut loose from school, shrieked their way around the mall, some walked around aimlessly, in this parts called hanging out or “just chilling”, people everywhere streaming through mall alleys and around each other over a thousand tongues that make the noise of the mall. For the hungry, the food courts provided a variety of dishes to pick from. At the mall’s ice rink a figure skating team, all dressed in black uniform practices a routine as a crowd of curious onlookers take a break form their shopping to catch a glimpse.
The trip, my first to the mall was as I had expected, busy with activity. My friend had described it in a way that made me look forward to a visit. Being there felt like an curious youngster left alone...