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Interesting, GC.
I had two experiences, one similar to that. I went on a summer missions trip (during HS - summer 1984) to some areas of Mexico that were particularly poverty stricken. Before that I really had no idea what true poverty was. Little to no food, little to no shelter (the purpose of our trip was to haul building materials and construct some homes), no sanitation or plumbing of any kind, and doctors that would come every couple months for a day or two....just beyond the scope of anything you would find in the US.
The other was a two week trip to Europe (summer 1985). During the trip (mostly in Austria) we went to the Austria-Hungary border to a rather unique place called the desert lake. It was a massive lake that was no more than 4 feet deep at any point and dried up every year, refilling during the rainy season. Anyway.....the border ran through the lake. About 50 yards across the border were gaurd towers, about 30 feet high, spaced about 100 yards apart, as far as the eye could see. With my binoculars I could see gaurds in those towers with machine guns, ready to shoot anyone who tried to leave Hungary. Our guide told us that people were shot there and in the surrounding forest on a regular basis.
Scared the hell out of me. Made the whole Soviet Block a reality and shaped much of my view of the world.
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