A new land, a new dream...

Previously, I had written about a friend whose ideas differed from mine. Although we are friends, we think and view differently issues pertaining the world. Regardless of his response, I still respect, cherish, and value our friendship. Not a single part of me sees him differently after he told me how he truly felt about a citizen's responsibility to love every child as a mother would (analogy of Loeb). Instead of drawing us apart due to our different way of thinking, I would argue that it brought us closer. I was surprised at his response. I thought I knew him, yet he acted in a way I would not have foreseen! This is amazing because it opened my eyes and I realized the importance of hearing all arguments that people have pertaining certain issues. If we only listen to what we want to hear, it diminishes our power to think outside the box. It is actually insulting I believe, and we are doing it to ourselves. The fact that I thought all my friends shared my same thoughts was extremely foolish. Only now I see the hidden power of diversity and how strongly influenced we can be by it.

Since I was 12, I have been exposed to a world I truly believed I could not fit into. Back in Peru, I was a straight A's student, good athlete and well spoken. When I came to the United States my plane seemed to have landed in an unknown place. There were different rules to everything. Streets, local markets, neighborhoods, parks were different. At school all the kids had grown up knowing their childhood friends that the need of new, different looking acquaintances was not an option. On top of that of course was the fact that I did not speak English. Even my peculiar "Good Morning" was seen as too formal and funny spoken. Fitting in was not an option anymore, it was a must. In order to survive in this enormous society, I had to learn new set of rules, new costumes, and of course a new language. It took me a couple of years to not be extremely self conscious of speaking in a large group of people, however once in a while I still feel anxiety whenever I have to speak. Although I have been living in this marvelous place for almost seven years, I cannot help but to feel like an outsider at times, it is a feeling that I believe will be with me until the day I must depart. However, there are times were I truly feel like I belong to this country and that I am too, an American. The gratefulness I feel towards this place that has given me so much is indescribable. In return, I feel the necessity to serve my community to its every need. This is what I would do if I was back in Peru, give back to the soil that has accepted me and my family as new members of society, and has been my support, home, fortress and dreams.