Plaintain Farm in Colombia

Sting ray for dinner

In general Colombians have been amazing. They help you and are so friendly.  Well I spent a few days on a plantain farm in Colombia.  What an amazing experience meeting some people who were so excited to meet a foreigner for the first time.  They were so generous and the kids were so cute and eager to learn English and learn about the US.  They kept being surprised that not all Americans are blond and couldnt believe that babies dont speak Spanish.  One of the boys earnestly asked me why my Spanish is so bad and why it was so difficult for me to speak Spanish.  They were so generous and expected nothing, they believe that if they are kind to others they will be repaid for it so it almost seemed a competition on who can be the most generous.  They were also so appreciative for all they had, they have very little but they were happy and appreciated all they had.  I wish we could all be so generous and appreciate what we have, but I also realize its sometimes difficult to appreciate what we have without knowing what it like to be without or seeing and experiencing less than what we are fortunate to have.  If we havent experienced or seen real poverty its difficult to appreciate what we have.  I definitely appreciated running water and time to let all my bug bites heal.  In my travels I have lived in areas without electricity and running water, and with spiders that could cover my entire face with their legs.  I appreciate hot showers, running water, electricity, comfortable beds, being able to escape bugs, and nice climates.  There are few people in the US who dont have a minimum of these things and when I am home I quickly forget how lucky I am because those things are taken for granted.  Generally people in Latin America, share.. even when there is little food and they are poor they share their food..  On the farm I was on they gave me my own bed while they slept 3 or 4 to a bed.  How can I remind myself everyday how lucky I am and be thankful for all I have.  While I know there are so many less fortunate when in the US its so easy to take what I have for granted cause poverty, hunger, poor health and inaccessibility to good healthcare is prevalent throughout the world but we are often so shielded from it and while we know it exists we close our eyes to the injustices that happen.  We close our eyes for different reasons, its behind closed doors in the US we dont see it and it seems like such a big problem that we dont know what to do.  Where do we start?  What can I, an individual, do to help create a better world with less suffering and pain?