17 October 2006

Veinte Preguntas

-- I am a woman.
-- Are you dead?
-- No.
-- Are you from the Americas?
-- Claro que sí. (Of course.)
-- ¿Colombiana?
-- Sí.
-- ¿Barranquillera? (From Barranquilla?)
-- Sí.
-- Do we know you?
-- Personally, no.
-- Do your hips lie?
-- NO!
-- You're Shakira!!*

As we drove back to Barranquilla from Cartagena this weekend, Traci and I played Twenty Questions with two Colombian friends. While the game usually elicits the most creativity when the person to be guessed is obscure or hard to categorize (the constellation Orion, for example, or the Statue of Liberty), during this inter-cultural round we tended more toward simplicity, choosing choose famous world figures (Gandhi, Castro, bin Laden) or mutual friends from the community. Although Traci and I had a hard time naming an old-school Vallenato** singer from the Colombian coast, and I stumped the men with Marge Simpson***, in general, I noticed that we were all very careful to make sure each participant could equally enjoy the guessing game. We laughed a lot and congratulated each other during clever or challenging rounds, and as I posed my questions and watched the stars through the car window, I was struck by how easy it is, when you think about it, to treat others with kindness. For me, our one silly roadtrip game offered a glimpse into a world in which we consider the needs of the group, engage in inclusive rather than exclusive activites, and enjoy each other all the more as a result.

*In the spirit of inclusivity and keeping everyone informed, here's the scoop on Shakira: She's a singer from Barranquilla who has made it big in the world of pop music, with songs in both english and spanish. Her most recent hit was called "My Hips Don't Lie." The latest news around Barranquilla is that she has donated a huge sum of money to the city to build a new school.
**Vallenato is a traditional form of Colombian music, wildly popular on the coast, which features far more accordian that North Americans are accustomed to.
***Marge Simpson is the mother of the family on the television show Los Simpson. She has yellow skin, blue hair, is not engaged in politics, and lives somewhere in the United States.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

it is easy to treat others with the respect and kindness they deserve as long as they haven't stolen your land, killed your family, or treated you with hate. the world is not ruled by justice, and when this becomes clear it is all too easy to respond with hate. it is when times are tough that people hate each other.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006 11:22:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

rach,

you go, girl.

"An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind."
-- Mahatma Gandhi

this is why it is so hard to change your heart. change yourself and you can change the world. lead by example.

l'amb

Sunday, October 29, 2006 1:28:00 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home