Slumdog

Okay, for those of you who know, I am getting a doggie tomorrow - her name is Hannah and she is very cute and sweet. As far as I know, she did not come from any slums...although she did come from an animal shelter. But, this is not about her - it's about a movie - Slumdog Millionaire. I have heard many people talking about it and saying how good it is so I went to see it tonight. And it was a good movie...disturbing...but good. It's disturbing because of the light it sheds on the slums. It's a good movie because it's a great storyline and sometimes I think we need to be disturbed. I would rather stick my head in the sand and pretend like this isn't reality but I can't.
I have been to slums in Mexico and Kenya and some very poor villages in Argentina and I think because of those experiences I have a hard time seeing that in the movies. Often with movies we use it as a means of escape, or at least often we watch what is happening on the big screen knowing it's fiction. I can't watch that kind of stuff anymore and think it's fiction because it's not - I've seen it, I've smelled it, I've been there. It's not pleasant but it's life for people. Even though I've been there, I don't understand it. I could not possibly know what is going on through the minds of these people or what EVERYDAY life must be like for them.
On Christmas day I went to help a friend feed the homeless. Now, it's not that I was all for sacrificing my Christmas, it just so happens that when you are single and your family all has their own families, Christmas sometimes sucks. So, instead of sitting at home this Christmas by myself (we were celebrating it the next day...so it's not like I didn't get to celebrate with my family) I decided that I'd rather be out doing something positive. So, I remembered my friend Cory goes with his family to feed the homeless and I called him up and joined them. It was a great experience even though the weather was awful! Wind, rain, cold (and I had a sinus infection)...but none the less you have a hard time feeling sorry for yourself when you see what other people have (or don't have) on Skid Row. One woman stood there across the street talking, sometimes screaming, at some imaginary person for several minutes. Wow, if nothing else I can be thankful that I have my mind.
Seriously though, I don't understand this kind of life. I have been so pampered and so blessed to live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world...and one of the wealthiest counties in that country. I think it is good sometimes for us to be shown the realities that so many others know and understand as life. Another movie we recently watched, also disturbing, was Kite Runner. Another excellent movie, but highly disturbing. It does amaze me what people go through and how people rise above it. How they survive through these things that to them is daily life - to me would be devastation!