I still feel like "life" is on pause. I feel like this is one of these two-week programs I used to do for the experience. I feel like it's not quite real.
In some sense, it's not. I don't belong here, I'm not staying here, my heart's not here. But this is as much life as it is in the States.
I just can't imagine walking out of a movie theater to a snowy night, getting into a warm car and driving to an all-night diner, afterwards snuggling into bed to wake up and do it all over again. I can't imagine how normal I'd feel doing it and how overprivileged I'd truly be. I guess a part of me has always felt that way. I'll just know it for sure now.
And now I know what privilege is - it's not skin color or intelligence or financial prowess. It's where you're born. I remember at about 10 years old, thinking how lucky I was to be born American in the era in which I was born. I still feel that wonder at how much it affects and how deeply it affect every aspect of my current life. And if I were born Mozambican, I might be sitting in one of my classes, trying to figure out what this strange guy is really trying to get me to learn. But if I were born Mozambican, I'd most likely never break free of poverty, in some sense, and forever be a slave to my lack of privilege.
Peace
John
