Canadian chocolates and Guatemalan families

A few days ago in a note on Facebook, Howard Culbertson wrote about how living in a different country provided an opportunity to see things from perspectives that are different from our own. He specifically mentioned the perspective many Latin Americans have on Che Guevara that is different from the one held by many U.S. citizens. One of the surprises and pleasures of traveling is discovering how different people can look at the same event or cirucumstances and come away with different perspectives.

When we moved to Canada, we were introduced to the Laura Secord brand of chocolates and ice cream. With our children attending school in Canada, we were also introduced to Canadian history books. One of those books told the story of the Canadian heroine, Laura Secord, who helped British troops defeat Americans who were trying to invade Canada. It turns out that the brand is named after a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. She is considered a heroine because she warned the British in Canada of an imminent attack by American forces. As a result, British soldiers aided by Mohawk warriers defeated the Americans at the Battle of Beaver Dams and prevented them from taking their outpost in Canada. Laura was sort of a female Paul Revere, except on the side of the British rather than that of the Americans. I wonder how it felt for my children to study a historical battle from the other side of the fence.

Sometimes the perspective we get to see when we travel is one that makes us stop and think about who has the right idea. For instance, when we lived in Guatemala, our children's pediatrican had studied and practiced medicine in the United States. One day, I got to talking to his wife, who was the receptionist at her husband's office. We talked about how long they lived in the States and how nice they found it there. I thought about all the conveniences the U.S. had compared to Guatemala and about how the doctor and his wife could have been a lot better off in the U.S. than in Guatemala. I asked her why they returned to Guatemala. During that time of my life, I truly believed that everyone wanted to live in the U.S. and anyone who had the chance would jump at it. Her response was that although the U.S. had a lot going for it, Guatemala was a much better place to raise a family. She talked about how U.S. families were so often torn in different directions by all their commitments and activities and about how Guatemalan families were a lot more united. I found this same attitude in the architect from whom we bought our house in Guatemala. He had the financial resources and other things going for him that would have made it possible for him to live in the U.S. However, he prized regular Sunday dinners with his children and grandchildren far more than the opportunity to make it big in the U.S.

The encounters with the wife of our children's pediatrician and with the architect from whom we bought our house occured early in our stay in Guatemala. I'm glad they did because they helped me understand that Guatemala's lack of conveniences in comparison with the U.S. was really a minor issue. In many important ways, Guatemala had a lot going for it that the U.S. was missing.

After living for many years overseas, I hope that I managed to bring back with me to the U.S. just a little bit of the important perspectives I ran into abroad. My children may remember the Laura Secord ice cream from Canada or Guatemalan tortillas and black beans. I remember those, but I also remember the people who helped me learn that it's a big, wide world and my view only captures just a little bit of it.