So the church that I have been going to had a Vacation bible school, I have already mentioned this. But on Friday, after our last day of VBS, all teh volunteers celebrated by having a pool party at one of the moms homes. I knew beforehand that many of the families in my church are rich, but I didn´t realize how uncomfortable I am in that world. All the moms are so nice and many of them have only been here in chile for a year or two. Most of them have husbands who work for the US embassy or military. As we sat around the pool on Friday and watched the kids play in the pool. we ate tacos that were prepared by the peruvian house maids and talked about chile and life in general. One of the moms asked the group about how they handled their maids. Questions like: what time does she get up in morning?, do you let her take a break in the middle of the day?, and how do you set your own house rules with her? were asked. These women, these maids from Peru live and work for these families, and I just sat there shocked to hear this discussion. I am sure the moms are right and the lives of the peruvians are better here in Chile as maids than they were in Peru. BUT I still just cannot handle it. I don´t want money, or at least not more than what is necessary. I was thinking about it the other day adn I think I fit best in the lower middle class. Like the fact that I am going to work 15 to 20 hours a week (just enough to pay the bills) so I can volunteer the rest of my time at the program for the street kids... that is how I want to spend my time and money. I sat with these woman on friday adn defended their housemaids. The moms just thought I was adorable for caring so much, and they countered my concerns with their excuses. But I cannot, I will not feel comfortable in that world. It is just not me. I think i have too many hippie genes in me.
I live near a long thin park called Parque Forestal. It's really quite a nice park and it has a long stretch of a lane for riding bikes or jogging. And since I have a fear of riding bikes in this city, I jog. It's really pleasent. I usually listen to radioDisney on my mp3 player and jog along to Jonas Brothers, Beyonce, or Julieta Venegas. Great stuff. Yesterday on my jog I noticed that the trees were beginning to change. Fall has finally arrived and I am glad for the change. But as I was jogging through the falling leaves, I began to think about how much I like fall. And I had this special moment when I realized that I want to be here in Santiago, jogging through this park for many falls to come. After the past few weeks of cultural adjustment being a little more painful than normal, this was a nice thought to have.
Comments
i had the same feelings about money you express here until i had kids.
i'm still a little bit of a hippy at heart (which is why i chose berkeley over stanford). but there are aspects to the lower middle class that are not so convenient when you have kids. such as, the availability of good medical care (it almost always isn't as available to the lower segments of the economic ladder). or a decent education and the possibility of going to college. or being able to travel, or have music lessons, or gymnastics lessons, or a pony. those are all solidly middle-class or even upper-middle-class things.
what you don't want to do is absorb a feeling of superiority or entitlement based on income. that's what is really offensive. there are plenty of bad examples of people with a lot of money. but then there are some great people who are doing wonderful things with their money. consider jimmy carter and his work for world peace and habitate for humanity. or bill gates, and his work to eradicate malaria.
if you never have kids, you won't need to make money beyond a basic minimum. but if you want to have kids, then these issues will be real.
just my two cents worth!
(i totally related to your posting, but thought i'd bring in a parent's perspective)
love, mom