Footsteps

Today, I received this email from a Colombian friend who used to live in Canada with his family and then recently decided to go back to Colombia. The story of immigration is an “interesting” one:

Hello my good friends,

I think all of you knew about our plans to come to Colombia for a year.

Well, ... after several days of traveling, we are finally at our final destination i.e. Popayan (Cauca, Colombia) a beautiful old city in the Colombian Andes. M. and D. are planning to stay for a year and I will stay for six months.

I see people on the street and no one looks strange to me, I see working poor people and pretentious rich ones. I see people from the army, farmers and revolutionary ones, and all talk in a language that I understand. I do not necessarily share their political views but I do understand their personal wishes - No one is a strange when we look at their wishes.

In other words, I am very happy to be here and I wish you all are having a great summer. Do not worry much about the forest fires or the black out in New York. People here have more complicated problems and however, live a simple life, one day at the time.

A big hug,

D. and the family.