songs of solitude;

a la playa

One day and a bit has past since my last entry and already so much has happened. Yesterday (en español es ´viernes´) we went to the beach. i must take a moment to describe the experience of crossing the highway as one would a crossway. its like being in the video game Frogger on the highest traffic setting. the cars and busses go zooming by, as we hold tightly to our human chain and try to cross. and i try not to wet myself. the process takes, on average, 7 minutes. and i thought jaywalking in toronto took skill. Lima is level 57.

it was on this journey that i saw my first white people. turns out that they all hang out in Lima proper, with their botiques and casinos. I seem to be the only one interested in the real Lima. it figures.

sidetrack. at the beach, one of the possible touristy activities is hang gliding. they all wanted me to try it, and admittedly i was excited to do so. so up i went. it was breath taking. the whole of Lima below my feet. my instructor kept calling me Gringo girl. its as good as calling me whitey.
after that we ventured down to the water. not only was the water freezing, but the waves are crazy strong. i was knocked over on more than one occasion.

when we got home, we watched Shrek 2 in spanish, which was fun because i know the english version so well. all the children and i sat on the bed laughing, esmeraldita on my lap. for a moment i became lost in it all. this is it, i thought. this is what life is. beauty amidst such struggle and poverty; family. staring into esmeralditas beautiful brown eyes is like holding a younger version of myself. she looks so much like i did as a child. i wish i could hold on forever as to let her know that she is never really alone in this world. a part of me is so scared for her...for what is in store for her. a life of struggling with her disability, her identity.

but i have to stop myself, because she has all she will ever need in her wonderful, loving parents, her caring and protective older brother Franco, and her vivacious and animated sister Fiorella. with them, she needs little else.

I hope i can come back someday when she´s older and able to speak. i wonder what she might say to me...

ñp

posted by crooked girl @ 7:00 PM