Post Hamptons.

So I am back from a weekend in the Hamptons; more specifically we were from Friday to Sunday in East Hampton; a village located in a beautiful area on New York's Long Island with much nature and close to the beach. It is also known as the "Playground of the Rich" where people with money helicopter in from New York for a weekend.

Two things made me think of Eastern Congo while in the Hamptons. First, there were a lot of 4x4s and wooden houses. In contrast to the Congo, however, the 4x4s were not owned by development agencies, and the median price of a house in the Hamptons is several million dollars; with a large number of them topping the tens of millions of dollars. Second, I noticed how upset I was with how Hamptonites spend their money: the excessively large houses; the large number of expensive cars standing in the driveways; the over-representation of shops like Ralph Lauren and Tiffany Jewelry Shop in city center; etc.

Probably what upset me most is that it struck me only now again that the difference between us living here and people living in Africa is so large. When I came back from fieldwork last summer I wrote a post using the words "what a fucked up world" when discussing the difference between my living standards here in New York and those I had in Africa. However, over the last months my life in New York has become 'normal' again; I order a bottle of wine when I like, I go to the cinema whenever I want, and I spend almost 100 dollars on a weekend in the Hamptons without thinking.

This sucks. Two things, though. First, when I came back last time from fieldwork I asked some colleagues (with much more field experience) whether they also had difficulties coming back from conflict-torn, poor regions into a city where it is normal to pay hundreds of dollars for a handbag. They said "yes". However, they also said that this feeling lessens over time. People seem to adapt quickly to new environments was their experience - the Hamptons made this clear for me. In addition, I can see how from an emotional point of view this is probably also a good thing. Second, I am happy, though, to go back to Africa soon. I miss it.

Me looking towards mom and dad (the Netherlands).