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YOUTH
A VEGETARIAN IN PERU
nam Neetal Mehta recounts her gap year experience HoM A me and recalls the kindness of strangers in a foreign landbal talks
half's flight south of Lima. I was picked up by the organisation and taken to what was to be my home for the next four months. To my surprise, as soon as I walked into the house, I saw a television, hi-fi system and a karaoke machine. "This is going to be a breeze!" was my first thought. Little did I know what lay ahead!
Luckily, there were already three volunteers staying in the house, which made it a lot easier for me. I slowly got to know all of them. I also learnt that there was no hot water - I had to have a bucket bath with cold water. The soup was made with chicken stock as the family did not understand what vegetarianism
Neetal with the Peruvian children she loved to teach was. And I repeatedly awoke in the mornings to the sound of the toilet being unclogged!
N JAINISM, THE PHRASE parasparopagraho jivanam means that 'all life is interdependent'. It is the law of nature that souls depend on one another for their survival. My gap year adventure in Peru, a land and people very far from my own culture and history, demonstrated very vividly to me how this ancient wisdom is so true. I discovered a whole culture of interdependence where everything was shared with much joy and humour.
On venturing to a country as remote as Peru (in our eyes) for four months I was very anxious about what to expect. I found myself thinking a lot of the language barrier, the culture shock and the fact that I was vegetarian. To be honest, I kept imagining the worst scenario, living in a mud hut with no water and an outside toilet! After an exhausting thirty-hour journey, I found myself in a town named Cusco, about an hour and a
.
My first project was teaching children aged 2-11 at a summer school. I can honestly say that this was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. On top of the age gap, I did not speak a word of Spanish, so communication was a problem. As the weeks passed, I picked up more and more Spanish, but was glad when school finished - trying to please 30 children of different ages is a task! There was then an Easter period when no schooling occurred so I engaged in small projects such as developing rainforests and decorating buildings.
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As Easter Friday approached, my host family told me about the twelvecourse lunch we would be having on that day. Peruvian food is hardly appetising and the thought of it made my stomach turn, especially as guinea pig was the main delicacy. Luckily I am vegetarian, so that got me off the
A VEGETARIAN IN PERU
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hook! However, the family really did not understand this concept and often asked me if I wanted meat 'just this once!'
My final project lasted nine weeks teaching English in a school for children from deprived backgrounds. This was the most incredible experience of my life. I loved every minute of it and as I had almost become fluent in Spanish I could easily translate the topic if they did not understand it.
As my host family started to become my second home, I could readily speak with them about anything. They were so hospitable - I have never received so much love from strangers. They would do anything for me, including travelling for two hours and back to buy a meat substitute so that I got enough protein. At he end of my wonderful experience, I became extremely tearful and the fact that the family hid my bags so that I could not leave really did not help at all! I had to say goodbye to the beautiful mountains I had been surrounded by, to the wonderful people I had met on the street every day - and I had to say goodbye to the family who I longed to take back with me. I had the most amazing time in Peru, one which I will never ever forget and it always puts a smile on my face to know that I am welcome back there with open arms at any time.
I feel deep down that interdependence is much more fun than independence. We do ultimately depend on one another. Through sharing, we truly enrich ourselves in the process.
Neetal Mehta is 18 years old, and is a Psychology student at the University of Surrey, England.
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