Spoiled, Like Un-Eaten Food

A few days ago, I was chatting with my empleada about how she developed a life from zero in Lima and her journey throw this process. Her installation stood out to me… she mentioned that she built her own house on the mountains with a couple of friends simply by digging a cave in the mountains crust and placing whatever materials there to be able to have shelter. With no light water or food, every day was a struggle for her. If she wanted water, she had to hike up the mountain with two huge buckets and fill them up in a water source at the very top. She ate little bits of food and slept with no bed… but never complained. But out of all the things she had been through in her life, the hardest thing to get through was to see the food that she cooks for us be left un eaten on our plates. She immediately started to cry. To be honest, it happens a lot, even I do it sometimes. I have never felt such guilt in my life…it stuck to me.

Now, the fact that something so small caused her to feel this way is what stood out to me the most. I now feel like a spoiled brat not eating food that is prepared for me. I could imagine thousands of starving kids that would love to eat the food was prepared for me, but I just decide not to eat it because I simply don’t like the taste. Plus, something that to my eyes is so simplistic, to other people that aren’t as privileged as I am means the whole world to them. This made me take a second look at my life and learn from this experience.

From now on, even if I am served vegetables or onions (which is my least favourite food) I will finish all of it… but I have learned a lot more than that. I am extremely fortunate, and I take this for granted to a level that I don’t realise how lucky I am. Not everyone is born in the same family as me, and many people (like Doris) would love to.