365 Days Of Love. Day 28

Early yesterday morning I trekked into the nearest city, an hour away, for a doctor’s appointment. On my way home, I stopped at the grocery store to buy a (very) few groceries to get me through the day. As I meander through the store, the Mexican candy aisle called me ever so sweetly. Alongside a Spanish-speaking grandmother, I loaded my cart with chili covered lollipops, japones (crunchy peanuts), and fruit rollups doused in a spicy chili covering. I took my cart of meager nutritional value to the speedy checkout and wafted out the store as best I could in my new walking boot.

En route to my car, I tore a corner off the japones wrapper and immediately started dipping my fingers in to grab the crunchy balls. As I lifted each individual snack to my mouth, I thought,

How remarkable how much my preferences have changed after living in a community for a year and half.

Prior to moving to Roma, I would have scoffed at chili-covered candy. Had anyone ever told me that fruit rollups drenched in spice are better than the regular ones, I’m sure I would made gagging faces before they finished their description.

Prior to moving to Roma, I thought the border was a booming mecca of tourism and well-planned novelty shops. I’ve learned that it’s a land a limbo, not quite Mexico , but not quite recognizable as America either.

Prior to moving to Roma, I neglected to think about the 14-year olds affected by the achievement gap as real people. I knew they existed, but I didn’t know how profoundly their stories would impact my life.

Prior to moving to Roma, I thought drug violence was a problem Mexico had to deal with, not America. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I see buildings burning in nearby Mexico, my students’ families could very well be in those buildings or at the receiving end of a bullet. Reality, my students are forced to consider trafficking as a career, not because they are bad or because their parents don’t care, but because they’re simply not options.

Roma is marking me, changing me, engulfing me.

Roma is teaching me that loving is learning from a community.