Humanity at its Core by Savannah

Humanity at its Core by Savannah - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

When I pass face after face in the halls, they all blur together. In a sense, the humanity is lost because I see so many of those faces. That tends to be a recurring theme when a person gets trapped in her own bubble; the importance of community, of communication, and of person-to-person connection blurs in the repetition of routine. In Nicaragua, however, my attention to this detail, and thus my passion for humanity, was revitalized, because these aspects of life were whittled down to their barest bones.
Candida Martinez defines this bare bones humanity. Before I even knew Candida’s name, she took a bold step, opening her arms to an absolute stranger by welcoming me into her home and generously offering me a bowl of arroz y frijoles. Our conversation eventually shifted toward her daily life- waking up at 6 in the morning to go to the farm, tending to her bean crop, returning in time to make breakfast for her children, grandchild, and daughter-in-law, and spending the rest of her day cooking and collecting clean water, occasionally having time to handwash her family’s clothes. Regardless of what we were speaking about or what we were doing, Candida always looked at me, smiled, and then we’d both break out into contagious laughter for no specific reason at all. Reflecting back, I now realize exactly why this “unreasonable” laughter surfaced. Candida and I were complete strangers to each other, but our similarities brought us together. Our excitement about the new school being built in her neighborhood, our love for her grandchild, our delight in eating meals together, generated pure joy and delight. We meshed easily, because although there were 40 years, two generations, different nationalities, and opposite lifestyles separating us, we still understood of the aspects of life that truly matter.
Julio Martinez, Candida’s husband, proves to me that even in a second language, I can still learn about different views on politics, economy, family, and religion. Every day, Julio would insist that I join his family for lunch, and I would stay for a couple hours. Every day, we would listen to music, dance, laugh, sing, and make fun of each other, and every day, we would always allow our conversation to dig deeper, wandering into discussions about humanity and life. Julio demonstrated that even across borders, people truly do care about the same things. He taught me about the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, and shared his opinions on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. We spoke about President Ortega’s system of socialism, and how the Sandinistas affected the general population of Nicaragua today. We spoke about religion, human rights, and love. Julio proved that no matter where we come from or what we’ve done, our existence carries the same weight, and we are equally concerned with the quality and identity of the world around us.
Herald Alejandro demonstrates purity and kindness. I have spent seven weeks with G, as I call him, in Nicaragua, and every single day, G epitomized what friendship means, no matter our origins. G and I would crack bromas (jokes) daily, teach each other words from our own languages, and watch out for each other. He would invite me to his home, buy me platanos maduros, and we would sit on the rooftop, looking at the stars, pondering our existence. From the first day that we met, G shared his dream with me: to one day, come to the United States of America. He wanted to see “the land of opportunity, two story houses, and American Football.” Four years later, G finally achieved his goal and was able to spend several weeks in the States with other friends and me. G’s budding faith and unending hope in his dream has inspired me to never stop believing in myself, and never give up on what I can dream into reality.
Candida, Julio, and G proved to me that when I take a moment to pause and spend time chipping away at my own mental, social, and emotional walls, any blurriness will fall to the side, and my perspective will zoom in on humanity’s true nature- love, kindness, hope, philosophy, and faith. Faces will always get blurry, just like they did (and continue to do, admittedly) in the hallways. Venturing into the world and being exposed to different cultures, however, allowed those faces to come into focus. Faces are opening up the door and letting a stranger into your life. Faces are interrupting everything to welcome a blurry face, allowing it to shift into focus. Engaging with the world taught me, that, when one takes the effort to bring faces into focus, she sees that the heart and soul of humanity is love, graciousness, and simply opening that door.