THANKSGIVING

Every so often something happens that reminds me just how little and also how much I know.

The night before last we had dinner with a couple of Swiss people we met on the island. One of them was in Providencia for a couple of days only, as she had come to Colombia to look at some projects that the organization she works for funds indirectly. This meant that she had been to lots of places in Colombia I have only dreamed of going, a lot of war-torn places, that are beautiful and unique but with an incredible amount of suffering.

She talked about these places and the situations people where in, and confessed she had been so surprised and impressed. Karina (that was her name) has traveled through most of Latin America, and always thought that Colombia being a much wealthier place than most of its neighboring countries, probably did not need as much foreign support as say Bolivia or Peru. But upon leaving the major cities she discovered the extent to which war has affected the country, leaving displaced people everywhere, with an incredible lack of education. I know about this, but when she was talking about it in detail I felt so ignorant, to me it is abstract, to her having come from 4 weeks of traveling around Colombia it was specific

She was so impressed though with the programs that have been set up by community leaders, a lot of them priests, who are doing a lot with very little to help their community. She was surprised that a lot of these priests were not even concerned to push religion on people but just wanted to help. This made me happy to hear.

I told her about my mixed feelings about Colombia, about how I feel I don't really know my country any more and that I don't have the necessary tools to try and effect any sort of change. She said, trust me you know so much about your country, so much more than other people and you should trust yourself and your instincts.

She then told me about what had surprised her the most, the spirit of Colombian people. This I know. She said she was surprised that amidst war and lack of resources people seemed to be in generally high spirits, that this was not the case in a lot of the countries she visited where a sense of hopelessness and resignation exists. Karina was amazed at the resilience and strength of people. This I know. She finally confessed that it seemed to her after being all around Latin America and only coming to Colombia for the first time on this trip, that Colombian people were the nicest and most warm people she had met in Latin America. This I did not know. It felt nice to hear it though.

The conversation with Karina made me realize how much of who I am and the way I approach life is distinctly Colombian. Despite the fact that I have spent now a considerable amount of time in the US and that a lot of my ideas and approach to life has been influenced and affected by the US point of view, my core is distinctly Colombian. And again I felt so proud of being Colombian at that moment; of being part of a group of people that are warm and welcoming, loving and more than anything extremely hopeful. And then I gave thanks.