Another thing to be thankful for is how much we get paid at minimum wage. I looked up how much centavos were worth in dollars and I found out that 100 centavos= $1. ladino families settled in their spots.
That is outrageous!!! Rigoberta was saying that her father used to work in a monastery and used to get paid thirty to forty centavos a day. That means he didn't even get paid half a dollar to eat and live. If you think of getting paid that much these days...I CAN'T EVEN. The Guatemalans couldn't make the means to afford a house and stay there. They were all pretty much in debt and was forced to leave town because
I have SO MUCH to be thankful for. I have a roof over my head, more than enough to eat every day and extra luxurious things that I enjoy. Im lucky enough to have parents that support me to live every day. Guatemalans suffered and went through many hardships. If I didn't take this class I honestly wouldn't have ever read about Guatemala and all the difficult times they went through.
Count your blessings!
I couldn't believe the wages either, how do these people make it?! What a tremendous amount of perseverance.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize how little a centavo was worth... It is so crazy how little they made for doing so much work!
ReplyDeleteI feel like a lot of people had the same reaction of how much they have to be thankful for after reading this; I know I did!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how so many of our readings / assignments have related to each other -- Rigoberta, Modest Proposal etc...
ReplyDeleteI didn't even make the Modest Proposal connection, that's a good point. Rigoberta's story was really eye opening, I'm glad it made you appreciative of your life too, it did the same for me
ReplyDeleteI too would have been someone completely oblivious to the situation in Guatemala were it not for this class, and to be honest, I'm still oblivious to the conditions in most of the world. Stories like this help me open my eyes to the reality of life. It's not always pretty and nice, often the way we think of it here.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right, we have so much to be thankful for. This reading really gave me perspective on how blessed I am to live the life I have
ReplyDeleteI looked up how many centavos would be equivalent to a US dollar bill as well. I don't know how a family could survive on that!
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