I am sorry to report that I have become a not-so-nice person in Lima. I do not kick street dogs with mange, do not punch bus drivers, yet.
I chalk it up to grey skies, incessant shrieking horns, shrill whistles, plastic coke bottles and plastic bags that litter the side of the road, and sitting in traffic for hours breathing diesel fumes. I feel poisoned from MSG meals in restaurants. My senses feel assaulted at every turn.
Poverty and the relentless drive to modernize leave the Lima landscape blighted. I find myself hating a Fujimori government that imported cheap vehicles that failed emission tests in other countries, a government that abandoned its metro system years ago. I visit poor neighborhoods to give sexual health education workshops, and see piles of plastic products dumped next to their houses, no running water, and a thirst for coke.
I have the resources to flee from gritty conditions that incite rage and helplessness. The poor are not so lucky. I wonder if they too feel not-so-nice.
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... with poet-fighter eyes. I'm am following your blog.
ReplyDeleteAre you living in Lima or in Cuzco? If you are trapped in Lima, I hope you are (and imagine that you are) getting out to the mountains and sea often!
ReplyDeleteg
amber,
ReplyDeleteyou are lucky . . . and i pray that you are bringing change, maybe resources, or at least the hope and potential for anyone who lives in those conditions to find their own way through plastic, smog and oppression. I just read your May 9th post, too . . . let us know how your work in Lima has resolved?