make way for the president

i was on the on the way home after french class tonight, as i looked out the window i noticed the traffic jam ahead. there were police officers lined up and down the street and then i saw about 7 cars without lincese plates and tinted windows go by with police car escorts. it was the president.

as we continued down the street, i looked out the window to see people standing out in the cold begging for money, people still at their vending stands selling all they can, the young police officers who are still standing on the side of the street even after the president has come and gone...and then i am grateful for my life. for being on the bus on my way to my home knowing i have a family, friends and food waiting for me...

then i wonder did the president see what i saw? did he see the people of his country fighting to survive by selling whatever they could, the families that have been displaced sitting on the sidewalk begging for whatever people could give them, and the very young police officers who stand there in his defense. did he see how much work is really needed to clean up bogota? i can only hope he is as grateful as i am and saw what i saw. i couldn't help but notice the super nice SUVs that drove by most likely to the House of Nariño where he resides, when more than half of the 40 million colombians are living under the poverty level and 2 million+ have been displaced from their land and homes.

what determines what kind of life we're born into? i ask myself that all the time, especially when i see a girl who's my age sitting on the street asking for money. or when i see 7 year old boys on the streets, dodging cars while they wash the windshields for money...these are kids who should be in school, and it breaks my heart.

on a brighter note, i met up with a friend of a friend who is from austrilia but loves traveling throughout south america. i asked him which south american country was his favorite...he said colombia:) i love hearing that. because regardless what you hear/see in the news, in the movies, or from people who have never experienced the country. i'm learning a lot, good and bad but it comes with every country, with every experience.

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."
— St. Augustine

Cheers!