Throughout my life my exposure to
other cultures and languages has only brought me positive things, so I just
find it hard to believe that people would take diversity as an offense. Quite
the opposite, I can imagine how dull our world would be if we all looked the
same or we all spoke the same language. Yet, a few weeks ago the Coca-Cola commercial
“It’s beautiful” caused such outrage among some individuals in the US that I just
had to write about how I feel in regards to this subject. So, here my take…
I can say that my upbringing was
sort of international, although regional, based on the mere fact that my
hometown was so close to Colombia and Brazil that these countries’ influence in
my life was undeniable. For instance, we would dance cumbia in parties way
before this genre became popular everywhere else in Peru and there were certain
Portuguese words people used inadvertently in casual conversations (e.g. cheiroso for something that smelled
nice). Iquitos was also a duty-free area for years, so many of the things we
consumed came actually from other countries, not necessarily nearby. In some
respects, we were closer to the rest of the world than to Peru’s capital, Lima.
I think this may have fueled my curiosity
towards foreigners and their cultures, although it may easily be something innate
too. I clearly remember that when I was approximately 10 years old my parents
took my siblings and me on a trip to Arequipa and Tacna (south of Peru) and at
one of the hotels we met a Chilean family. They had a daughter about the same
age as me and we became friends instantly. I remember being fascinated by
everything about her: her accent, her clothes, etc. I think I may have liked
her just because I found her “different”, yet so much like me at the same time.
My interest for the unknown
hasn’t changed much throughout the years: I’ve found myself in identical
situations time and again when I went to college in Miami, when I lived in New
York for a few months and later on while working in the hotel industry. Indeed,
to this day I am still mesmerized when I meet people from other countries and I
just want to know everything about their habits, their food or their language,
especially if they come from far away.
Interesting enough, aside from
the obvious differences, I always manage to find similarities between their
culture and my own…I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise though. After all,
we’re all human beings and we all share this wonderful planet called Earth.
Diversity only makes people’s lives
better, richer and more colorful. At a personal level, I cannot think of one
single aspect where it could have affected me as a person in a negative manner.
Not only my life has been enriched in so many ways by it but also I’ve become
much more appreciative of my own culture and heritage and, ultimately, of my
own self.
This is why I believe in embracing
diversity and promoting love instead of hatred and discrimination. I wish
everyone appreciated having the possibility to interact with other cultures so
easily nowadays, without even having to travel far. I am sure many of our
ancestors also wished they had had the wonderful opportunities we now have. Let’s
make the most of them in a positive way!