Of my beloved "barrio" or neighborhood.
La Ensenada is nestled between the hills that separate it from the Pacific Ocean. At the top of the middle hill, there is a white little cross that was constructed by a former community of Heart's Home and a little old lady, Abuela Victoria. The houses are often tiny. Many are one or two room homes but are inhabited by families, large and small. Most have the ground or cement as their floors. Laundry is still washed by hands in most homes, and pantries don't exist, the shopping is done daily and depends on each day's lunch and dinner. There is no such thing as a yard and greenery is scarce. Besides all of this, La Ensenada is my Promised Land.
The time I spent there was most valuable and precious. Despite the lack of paradisaical landscape, it was a beautiful place. What made it beautiful? The people. So welcoming, generous, loving. They seem to know no boundaries when it comes to loving their neighbor. You ask for a cup of sugar, they give you the whole bag just because you'll need it eventually. They are always willing to tell you the best home remedy when you are a little under the weather. They seem to spend more time smiling and laughing than complaining and being pessimistic. In front of the most difficult circumstances, they are more valiant and hold their head high and don't lose faith in God above.
I miss my brown hills and seeing those smiling Peruvian faces day after day, but they continue to be in my heart and that is where they will stay until I see them and feel their warm embrace again someday.
