Stupid Americano
Have you ever stepped
out of your house and been yelled at, hissed at, or heard people say things
like, “YOU, Blanco, AMERICANO!!?”! I used to want to become famous but now I
know semi what that feels like and I just wish most of the time that I could
change the color of my skin to not be noticed.
I used to think I
knew everything there was to know about life and how to live it but since I
have joined the race I have learned that that’s simply an American thing and we
are totally wrong. A lot of countries make jokes and call us stupid Americans.
But you know what? They might have a point.
Before I left on this
journey, I was so excited because I thought that I was going to be able to save
the world. Boy was I wrong! I have learned so much since leaving but the
biggest thing that keeps coming up is that I know nothing. Just when I think I
am getting better at understanding the secrets of life, God has this way of
switching it up. I’m truly blessed that I have learned this important lesson at
the age of 21 though because a lot of people go thru their entire life and
never fully understand that they don’t understand anything at all.
For those of you
thinking about doing the world race, I know you have probably heard a million
times that this isn’t just some cute mission trip, this is real life. I know
that you have probably heard that this isn’t a vacation, since you will be
doing things that are out of your comfort zone and before you would never think
about or want to do (like crossing a river of poop, killing a pig with your own
two hands, not showering for days, or puking your guts out simply from working
so hard in the heat… just to name a few examples.) I know you have probably
heard that this is not a way to “SEE THE WORLD” because the things in the
countries that you go to that you have heard about being nice and amazing your
entire lives will probably be the last thing on your minds and after working
your butt off all week the ONLY thing you and your team will want to do is
SLEEP instead of sightsee. And if you
did get to go into the cities and see all the nice and beautiful things it
would probably just make you angry since you knew how bad it was back where you
were staying.
My family (who
instilled the love of traveling in me) has this ongoing joke about my dad
because every time we go to a new place, even if we have the GPS on, my dad
always takes us to the ghetto. Right before I left for the race, my family was
in Cleveland and sure enough we ended up in the ghetto a few times thanks to my
dad being behind the wheel but fact is, I would love to relive that experience
because after the things I’ve seen these past two months, those places are like
million dollar homes in candy land.
I think as Americans
our instinct is to try and blind ourselves from the true pain of the world.
Ignorance is bliss after all right? And if we don’t see it, we don’t have to do
anything about it, right??? People think we are stupid because we chose to be
ignorant of what’s going on in the world around us. But maybe, just maybe
people of other countries have a point. We might actually be stupid.
People in other
countries also have this false idea that we are all rich. They think that our
lives are the same as they see on MTV. And coming from someone who has always
thought they were poor, at first it was just weird. Especially since I’m on the
world race now and everything I did have I gave up to be homeless and to live
out of a backpack for a year of my life. But then I started living the way that
others lived and I realized just how blessed and rich I was back home. I
remember the days when having a constant supply of water at my house to take a
shower in or wash dishes was just the normal. I remember having a fridge full
of food and cold drinks and not really understanding what I had or how blessed
I was. I will NEVER make that mistake again.
So maybe the next
time I get ripped off for not speaking the language here, or just being white…
And as they drive off laughing calling me a stupid American, maybe I will not
be so quick to judge them. Because after all, the first step is admitting you
have a problem right? And I’m stupid enough now to think that maybe, just
maybe, I don’t know everything.
