When prompted to write about an experience that has changed my life it was hard to think of a small incident that had a large impact. The first thoughts that came to mind were large events in my life that made me leave part of my soul in the hands of those who created the events. The time that was really powerful and truly made a difference in my mind and life was part of one of these large events. While traveling to Spain with my school we took a day trip to Morocco, and that is where my eyes opened for the first time, like a baby seeing the world the second it is born, I saw what it really meant to live, the sacrifices one must give to be alive, the joy one can get from a small gesture of generosity. The life that I lived before this trip was very materialistic and focused on the attention I would receive day by day. I was an American who only knew or cared about the environment around me, I never wanted to hear about how hard it was for another person or how I could help them.
While walking the streets of Morocco I felt the eyes on the natives striping the life from my bones, knowing that I was from America and that I was disgusted by what I was seeing, homeless sleeping on the streets, dirt roads, old decaying buildings. As my group went to enter a market, it was if I hit a wall, everything I thought before was replaced with the greatness of humanity. I gazed around to see the crowded, narrow streets twist and turn full of people selling items to those that needed them to survive. The items being sold were not like what we have here at home, there was fresh produce literally from a mile away, fish from the sea about ten minutes down the main road, and handmade clothes that were so beautiful to gaze upon. But while looking at the people I did not once see these beautiful clothes on a single person, the people of this city knew that they lived each day knowing they would make just enough to get by and support their families.
My mind was racing trying to figure out what I saw before me. When I started to realize what was occurring, I was thrown off track by a sight I never expected to come across me in a place like a dark narrow street of Morocco. Two young boys, I would say around the age of 7 were running down the street laughing and smiling, in the first ones hand was a string about 2 feet long and at the end was a block tied to it. As they circled around I found myself watching them and losing track of where I was. I looked up to see a man selling a fish, but he was not looking at the fish or the man he was selling it to, he was watching the boys as I was. His eyes glittered from the reflection of the ice buckets below. A white smile appeared as soon as his eyes met the young boys playing.
The man set the fish down and walked over to the boys and he reached into his apron pocket grabbing something for them. He pulled out a small box that contained a real toy from a vender down the road. It was wrapped, as if it was a present, he gave it to the boys and they opened it with eyes sparkled like diamonds. The paper gently ripped off the box was flung open and the boys each grabbed a stick. They started to play as if they were swords. The man stood up and patted them on the back and slowly walked back to the fish stand. The boys did not return after that, I was left wondering if that present was for the man son, or perhaps he knew the boys.
As the group continued down the street we passed more people, the further we went in the less people surrounded us. Doorways were covered with sheets and bars, and occasionally we would pass a person sitting in the doorways with a cup. I remember one that really made me look at it for a minute. An elderly woman sat with a cup in her hand, we could see that she was blind and she was alone, behind her was a large blue sheet pushed to one side of the doorway. As you looked past her you could see a very small room with only a chair and some food in a corner, she obviously lived alone and was in need of help. The cup in her hand was empty besides a singular coin in it. My group walked along without even noticing, I had stopped and thinking of what I just saw with the two boys and the man I grabbed the money I have and put it in her cup smiled even though she could not see me she shook her head as if she knew what had just happened.
Even further down the road we came upon a group of men who were to bring us to lunch, as we entered a large cold building we saw large tables that could fit our entire group. As lunch proceeded the tour guide of this trip translated for us, and the men that served us and knew English were sure to tell us how much money we would be spending and how much they encouraged tipping because they needed to feed their kids. Our tour guide had told us earlier that day that the men we were having lunch with had no children and were not married. They would try to get as much money as they could from us and that we should know when to stop. They tried to get money from us when there were people in their streets starving and in need of care.
After this day came to an end I found myself restless, sitting in my hotel room alone carefully watching the Mediterranean Sea, all I could think about was the two boys happy with just play sticks and the old woman so joyous because I helped her, this was over powered by the greed I saw in those me. I started to look at my own life and how I was just like those men, I just wanted more then I had, whatever I was given was not enough and I needed more. I grabbed my notebook that I brought along with me and before I knew it three hours had gone by and almost half of my book was filled with thoughts.
On my return home my parents could tell that I had changed, they did not hear me ask for something I did not need, I used what was given to me, and I felt the need to give. I became a citizen of the world in just twelve hours, in a place that I was only suppose to go on a day trip. The images that I mentioned here are burned into my brain and have been with me ever since that day. I now life my life with my head not held high with glory of my possessions but my slanted towards the ground looking at where I am and what is truly happening around me. I feel that I am not a better person because I experienced these events, but a changed American from living these events and transferring the essences of humanity to my home, you cannot break a person from their life in a matter of days but you can alter their perspective and show them what it truly means to be human.
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