Pascasmayo, a beachy, coastal town where the Pacific ocean kisses the shores of Peru- a town beautifully crafted with sun-reflecting water and grainy sedimentary rock, hosted thousands of tourists each year- and this year, me. It is home to perseverant street vendors and taxi drivers, everyday Spanish-slang-speaking pedestrians, Fito, our humorous, laid-back in-country representative, talented, amateur artists, and the impoverished shadows of Peru. Every Experiment group is expected to perform some kind of community service. I, excitedly expected to work with children at a local shelter- ready to play with jubilance, but instead was in utter confusion when we arrived on foot to a local soup kitchen for the elderly. A group of people from
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He had family- daughters in fact, but they left years ago to create their own families- forcing him to live on his own. Cesar, with his winkles like the Nasca lines and chocolate freckles scattered across his face, spoke in near quietness often getting emotional when speaking about his life and his disappointed expectations of his failed government. A man with a strong heart that allowed him to speak with American, teenaged strangers who so desperately wanted to only picture the jolly and beautiful side of …show more content…
I blamed the Peruvian government, the wealthy living so comfortably in Lima, and the rest of the world that worried about TV and celebrities fighting on Twitter. Cesar was poor, I am too- but not to that extent. Cesar is old and I am young. Cesar is Peruvian and I am American. I am somewhat strong and Cesar is somewhat weak- so it is only right to help him. Right? No. Huh? It is right to serve. See, when my group felt the need to "help" the elderly Peruvians, we were giving off the impression of superiority. The impression that we are strong and must burden ourselves to help those who are not like us- to become like us because we are pulling them up to our level as if they are on a lower level- even if they might enjoy their life and enjoy being different and "unfortunate" than us. Who's to say that all must be like us? Why would anyone want to be like
He had family- daughters in fact, but they left years ago to create their own families- forcing him to live on his own. Cesar, with his winkles like the Nasca lines and chocolate freckles scattered across his face, spoke in near quietness often getting emotional when speaking about his life and his disappointed expectations of his failed government. A man with a strong heart that allowed him to speak with American, teenaged strangers who so desperately wanted to only picture the jolly and beautiful side of …show more content…
I blamed the Peruvian government, the wealthy living so comfortably in Lima, and the rest of the world that worried about TV and celebrities fighting on Twitter. Cesar was poor, I am too- but not to that extent. Cesar is old and I am young. Cesar is Peruvian and I am American. I am somewhat strong and Cesar is somewhat weak- so it is only right to help him. Right? No. Huh? It is right to serve. See, when my group felt the need to "help" the elderly Peruvians, we were giving off the impression of superiority. The impression that we are strong and must burden ourselves to help those who are not like us- to become like us because we are pulling them up to our level as if they are on a lower level- even if they might enjoy their life and enjoy being different and "unfortunate" than us. Who's to say that all must be like us? Why would anyone want to be like