Day 21 – Some food for thought
Today we fixed an ancient EGC machine. We soldered some faulty capacitors and cleaned up the messy work of the previous technician. It was quite rewarding after our dry spell of having absolutely nothing to fix. In the afternoon we were again faced with boredom and so we decided to pay the nearby orphanage a visit. The first guy we ran into once we stepped out of the taxi was nice enough to just show us around. It was definitely a random trip with no expectations what so ever (we tend to just do whatever comes to mind here in Trujillo, hopefully I will continue that habit back at home). He’s been volunteering as a teacher, mentor, and all-around supervisor for 2+ years. The program has 16 volunteers and they have a 2.5 year commitment and they are secluded in poverty and camp-lifestyle for more than half of your time at college. I was shocked to hear that; I literally cannot fathom being away from home for that long and let alone in such an isolated place. I am already very much ready to go home despite not really wanting to face reality.
He reminded me of a couple of other people we met who were traveling the world after leaving their jobs and families behind for months. I couldn’t possible imagine packing up and quitting my life to just go around the world and do things as they come with just a vague idea of what countries you’re planning to hit. I thought what I was doing was pretty out there but I was definitely wrong. Counter-intuitively, meeting such different people has made me feel more comfortable with my life because even after seeing so many avenues I still prefer mine and surprisingly miss it. I would have thought that after all this expose I would realize how boring my life is but I realized how comforting it is and yet challenging academically, which I prefer over the physically grueling.
Though I can see that people in this country are pretty happy with their lives, I believe that the option of ‘moving up’ or just traveling and seeing what is out there is a luxury that everyone should eventually be able to experience. My viewpoint on poverty is completely reversed of how I thought/hoped I would end up perceiving it. I wanted to come out of this thinking that ‘poor’ people are happy and that there is no need to pull them out of their slumps because I didn’t want to seem like I was leading a superior life and telling them that my life was the right way to live. I didn’t want the guilt of complaining at time knowing that there are people who suffer out there. I wanted to believe that everyone had the same level of happiness just with different expectations, needs, and standards of living. It was a selfish desire looking back. Now I know that there is a commonality of what people want. Even if people want the sense of simplicity and are not looking for a lot more money, the option should be given to everyone. After speaking to the old man who’s been seeing Trujillo grow and change for the past 30 years, I was reminded of the simple saying that ignorance is bliss. The people were content with their lifestyle, but that was only because they didn’t know what else was out there. Now, after TV and internet has given them a glimpse of the outside world, especially the newer generation is not settling for their old lifestyle. Despite them being a bit ignorant and chasing the glamorous life without having much of the means, they should have the right to do that. After seeing how poorly run their government is and reading about the lack there of in other countries as well, I really do appreciate ours. Obviously there is corruption in the American government, that is inescapable and we should constantly be trying to improve it as well. However, people need to also realize how advanced it is compared to the rest of the world and just take some time to appreciate it. That just might mitigate some of the unnecessary tension. Just some food for thought.
Two more afternoons..ekks! I am getting nervous and excited at the same time :/
