Service Project by Tejas Sundaresan
Recently, on June 26, I went to the Ronald McDonald House of Durham along with a group of my peers from a summer camp. We cooked breakfast for the residents of the house supplying a meal consisting of household favorites, including pancakes, fruits, orange juice, and muffins.
Although no serious and overwhelming challenges faced us, we did have to overcome minor difficulties. One of the more memorable challenges included communicating with a resident who spoke no English, only Spanish. I strained the three years of middle and high school Spanish I had learned in school in a dialogue analogous to a struggling and stuttering four-year old talking to an experienced literature professor. Despite the enormous disparity between our vocabularies, we were able to communicate effectively on a topic we both enjoyed, la Copa Mundial, or World Cup. We talked endlessly about possible victors and who will win the golden boot or player of the tournament. Such an experience serves to demonstrate that no matter how different we are, we still are all the same.
The Ronald McDonald House was a truly elucidating experience for me. Not only did I improve my communication skills and work on my pancakes, but also I understood the diversity of the world. Yet, I also apprehended the opposite, that we are all the same. Although my Hispanic acquaintance and I came from very different cultures from opposite parts of the world, we still were able to traverse the formidable cultural gap with soccer as our bridge.
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