Privilege

For the past few days San Pedro has been experiencing a bit of a water shortage. The offshore dredging which is being done by an American contractor for the purpose of building a luxury resort has created a lot of silt and sediment, which is overloading the water treatment plant. Or at least that's how I understand it. As an English major, it's not really the kind of thing I understand easily. All I know is that our water pressure is ridiculously low right now.

It's been a trying experience. We're so used to amazing showers with hot water, extreme pressure that will perfectly rinse the shampoo out of our hair in a matter of seconds, the ability to do laundry every day or every week if we want, and the ability to consider our tee shirts "dirty" after simply one day's use. We forget that we come from one of the most, if not the most, privileged country on the face of the planet. People simply don't live like this everywhere else in the world.

And yet, people survive. Being down here is one of those interesting experiences that makes you think a lot about the state of life. We're so "plugged in" all the time. However, I realize that I can live without three square meals a day. I can live without ever even touching a computer or knowing what the Internet is. I can live without a hot shower every day, or even a shower at all. Sure, these things make life easier, but once you strip everything down, you still realize that you are a person, and that you don't need all this "stuff" to get you through.

I'm really enjoying the more simple way of life here. San Pedro is arguably one of the most westernized of the towns in Belize, due to the large amount of tourists, but it's still very different in feel from any American city. Just last night, Courtney and I were just getting out a restaurant and we saw several local children playing soccer. Courtney played soccer in high school, and she was like, "Oh wow, can we join?"

The kids simply smiled and said that we could. We introduced ourselves, and then some more random kids joined the game. It's something that you just don't see often in the United States. We are so used to not trusting strangers, that we've stopped knowing how to have fun and meet new people. We're so used to privilege, that we forget how blessed we are simply to have food in our bellies. We forget the simple pleasures in life, like playing soccer with random kids on the beach, and getting to know people who we will likely never see again, but whose experiences will stay with us forever.