What could I say? It is somehow what I’ve
imagined before. Remember that I am becoming an environmental activist, so
don’t expect great comments about the place. What was more shocking was the
fact of seeing all those massive buildings full of lights, expensive shops and
the casinos where mostly lonely people spend fortunes gambling; feeding with
money the already gigantic corporations that own the casinos while homeless
people roaring in the streets can be seen, in addition to the fact of having a
neighboring country with high levels of poverty (Mexico), wars in the Middle East,
etc. I think of the hypocrisy and cynicism in its bigger disclosure seeing how
people don’t give a shit for their neighbors suffering when supposedly America
is spreading liberty and democracy, so
the people (not all of course) support a war against anyone who thinks
different to “liberate them”. If I were one of those countries that had been “helped”
in history I would say to America: “Thanks, but don’t worry about me, don’t
help me please!”
Maybe I am being too partial, what I was
thinking the other day is that this is already my second time in California, I
knew how everything is but the way some people talked me about it and people
I’ve met during the last years changed my impressions a little bit. I sincerely
hope I will find my place here, at the ranch I am going to or in San Francisco
from where I’ve heard so many good things. Sometimes I think I am becoming too
extreme, I remember the last time I went to Mexico City how I thought that
living there would be so unhealthy according to what I would like my life to
be. On the other side, whereas living in Jalpan I felt that my healthy side was
fulfilled, I missed being with people who shared my interests, to whom I was
able to discuss more academic and philosophic issues; exactly the same I miss
when I am in Acambaro except for when I spend time with my friend Jorge.
On the other side though, from my aunt Dolores
and her family’s perspective, Las Vegas is full of beautiful memories of past times
passed here. She and her family have always lived at Los Angeles and this city
of Las Vegas has been for a long time a world famous spot that everybody wants
to know. She invited me to come with the best intentions and I totally
appreciate that, and in fact I’m having a very interesting experience here plus
the comforts of the Spa we have at the hotel. I think this was my first time
being in one and, God, it feels nice! Even though the relations between aunt
Dolores and her family and the rest of my family in Mexico had been turbulent,
since the first time I came to visit in 2006 they were really nice to me. I
clearly cannot take sides, or at least I prefer not to, but the more I know my
family, the more I understand the complexities of human social relations. And as
Mr. Nasser told us today: “what happened a minute ago is history and i cannot
do anything about it, but I surely can do something in the present in order to
improve the course of the future”. So no matter what history brings us out, on
a personal, familiar, national or any other level, we can take our
responsibility to build our own life and relationships with the world we live
in. That’s why I, as an independent individual being, want to know the Wiarco
family better and build my own relationship apart with them.
Today we went, thanks to my aunt again, to meet
Mr. Nasser, a Holocaust survivor. My aunt was getting an order of autographed
copies of a book written by him for the kids of the school she works at. With
all the stuff going on here, the talks about the family and about the US and
Mexican politics with my cousin Vanessa, the updates on what we’ve been doing,
plus all the attractions of Las Vegas; I didn’t really get the fact that we
were going to meet such a person until we were outside of his and his wife’s
home. He is the author of the book “My Brother’s Voice, How a Young Hungarian
Boy Survived the Holocaust: A True Story”. Even though I am critical about the
whole idea of the Holocaust and how the US’ interests support a bunch of
propaganda on the side of the Jews only, while other holocausts are going on
around the world, Mr. Nasser does not have anything to do with all this. He is
the kind of person you imagine living his life as a second chance, with a
strong personality but a great humility and peacefulness. His words are deep
but his humor is like one of an innocent kid. He married a Quebecois[1]
and decided to settle in Las Vegas where the weather seems to be pleasurable
for the elder people and now he spend his life giving speeches at different
schools and universities across the US and he is learning painting during his
free time. It was a real honor to meet him.
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