Remembrances

Monday, June 29, 2009
I read a posting on facebook from a new lady that just moved here and it brought back so many memories of first moving here. I wanted to share a short excerpt…

Jenny said, “So some news...we arrived last Tuesday 16 June and for the following week, we were all in shock and me depression. We had been so spoilt in the past with HK [Hong Kong], Europe, South Korea and then Singapore and the contrast between those places and here was too vast for me to take. Poverty surrounds us everywhere, it's surreal. Naked kids bathing in the gutters, men pissing on the side of the road (our driver included...when he suddenly decides he feels the need!), cows roaming the street, people rummaging through huge piles of rubbish, kids carrying babies knocking on your car window when you stop, begging ...the list is endless. The difference between the "haves" (us) and the "have-nots" is huge. We really are privileged and I have realized just how spoilt and lucky I have been and am to lead the life I have.”

I also really liked what one of my friends said in comment to the above email…

Margaret said, “Nicely thought out note jenny. Give yourself some time - your eyes will adjust to the surroundings eventually and you will start to find beauty in the small things, maybe for the first time ever. It is really hard at first because of the extreme poverty to find anything beautiful, but you'll start to notice smiles on people's faces, a really pretty salwar kameez or sari on someone, a cute batch of street puppies. You’ll be surprised at what you will eventually notice and appreciate.”

I just thought those were really true from my experiences here too.