By Rawlins Gilliland, KERA 90.1 commentator
Dallas, TX – I have a guest in my home from the noble but embattled country of Colombia. He is here on a student visa. I took Carlos to the Trinity Fest on the 4th of July. I could see that it made him homesick for a time when he might celebrate his country's Dia de Independencia, Independence Day, which is July 20th, and not sense the bitter irony. Carlos, you see, has just left a place where, as he once told me, talking about terrorism is like "talking about what one had for dinner the night before."
Colombia suffers in a 40-plus year civil war with three separate guerilla groups. It remains in the vice grip of ruthless Drug Lords, beginning with Pablo Escobar, and violent daily drug turf war organized crime the most monetarily immense in the history of the world. So, as grotesque as Carlos saw our Sept. 11th nightmare, he was quick to remind me how he has routinely witnessed ongoing atrocities throughout his 24 years: The Palace of Justice bombed, killing the judges and others attempting to prosecute the cocaine cartels. Grenades tied around the necks of ransomed hostages. Priests and other leaders murdered for no apparent reason. These daily events, and the resultant exodus of the young, and the skilled professional talent, are the soundtrack to the lives of those who live, love and die in Colombia.
We can learn much about ourselves from those whose lives are not as materially blessed as our own. For instance, I have a leak in my bathtub faucet. I know I need to call a plumber. But instead of the water simply dripping, Carlos collected it in a bucket to use on my plants each morning, rinse the walkway, even to flush a toilet. Despite seeing myself as a proud recycler, this humbled and reminded me - we can all do better on wastefulness one of the least laudable and most American of traits.
Yes, Carlos was amazed that one hour after my phone lines went dead, a repair-person arrived at my door. In his country, the time span to restore service would rival a pregnant elephant's wait to give birth. No, he was not aware that hot water showers are practically a birthright here in the USA. He is stunned, coming from a country where hunger is common, seeing the portions served in American restaurants and the resultant number of overweight Dallasites. Overnight, after spending two decades sweating on Colombia's Caribbean coast, his instant 'American Dream' became central air conditioning.
Still, beyond the superficial, I wonder what to show him here. Dallas is not awash with naturally gorgeous sites or historical treasures as he would see in Cartagena or Bogota. But one thing I am trying to show him is the natural city, my state and country that I grew up believing was the 'real world.' Where a dark-skinned young man here on a student visa can be greeted with warmth rather than suspicion. Where somewhere between Walt Disney and David Duke, he can come to his own conclusion what the "American Experience" is really all about.
Rawlins Gilliland is a writer in Dallas and a former National Endowment poet.