Adaptation Leading to Acceptance (week 2)

The second week was very similar to the first week. We worked around the project knocking down corn, moving roof tiles, bleeding the irrigation lines for the strawberries and whatever else needed to be done around the property in the mornings. The afternoons were spent developing plans for the things we would teach the kids and then of course the 2 hr classes. This week I was mostly in charge of the English classes. For the younger kids we did fruits, animals, and colors on monday, tuesday was using those words in simple sentences, and wednesday we did a word puzzle first translating from Spanish to English then finding the English words in the puzzle. For the older kids we did simple sentences on Monday, then Days of the week on Tuesday then a word puzzle using common verbs.. from Spanish to English. Thursday was Sports day, much of this day can be found on my Kids of Cai Cay video. http://www.youtube.com/omovision And Friday my last day was movie day. The kids all watched Happy Feet in Spanish. Which by the way is not the best of movies.

As I finished out the week, I noticed how routine things got. The little things didn't bother me as much as the first week. I was able to sleep better in my unsupportive bed, partially due to extra blankets I stuffed in the middle. Although Thursday I was up most of the night with stomach issues and a major case of diarrhea, every hour I was running out the door, literally. The meals became tasty and I found the little positives about eating the same thing for two weeks. Going to bed early and getting up early became customary. Laundry by hand wasn't such a chore. The dirt under my nails wasn't so uncomfortable it just was the way things were. The dusty taste in my mouth from the dirt roads and adobe houses wasn't something I focused on. The open shower and camping towel felt soothing instead of cold and miserable. It was amazing to me how quickly I was able to adapt to the environment.

I discovered what I had first perceived as a struggle and below standard living conditions was actually just another way to live. It became more about embracing the environment instead of imposing my American standard upon the way of life in Cai Cay. Who's to say what is the "right" way to live? I believe choice is important and with a better education as well as the improved economics of the area we live, the amount of choice we have is increased. We all have choice some more than others, but more important is acceptance of what is. I'm not saying that the people of Cai Cay, especially the kids would choose to live in the conditions they are living if they had all the resources available to change. All I am saying is that from my Americanized way or my American-eyes I felt sorry for the people in Cai Cay when I first arrived. By the end I still empathized with the way they lived but also understood it wasn't wrong or bad so to speak it was just the way things were. I'm not saying don't help these people or that these people don't need support and help. What I"m saying is be aware of what kind of help we are giving. Are we giving from a place of sympathy or are we giving from a place of love. Do you see the difference? For me sympathy is about one way being better than another and love is about meeting another human being heart to heart.. eye to eye... hand in hand.

Perhaps the separations we see around the world are due to our limitation of thought and nothing more.... what would the world look like if we took those biases, judgements, and boundaries we impose on others out of our consciousness? Is that even possible? Perhaps just having an awareness of that would be the first step to creating a world in which we are all united?