Meaningful Experiences

I decided to stay in Perugia this week—mainly because my bank account was hurting from traveling but also because I picked this amazing city for a reason. I wanted to explore more and start to do some more meaningful things. So of course the first thing meaningful I sign up for was a free chocolate tasting. Let me explain…chocolate is associated with the day of love, Valentine’s Day, so this makes it meaningful. Well, that’s at least what I convincingly told myself while signing up. Plus, the city of Perugia is well known for their incredible chocolate, so why not indulge?

The chocolate tasting was not what I was expecting. Instead, it was more of a somber lesson learned. Somber and chocolate? Yes, I know. Even I was surprised that the two words could coincide with one another. The group of anxious tasters and I were led to a theatre room to watch a movie before the actual tasting began. The fair trade students in our program had organized the whole event and gave a quick spiel about what we were about to watch. The short documentary displayed modern day child slavery in Africa, specifically the Ivory Coast. The crop: the cocoa bean. Large chocolate distributors such as Nestle are purchasing their cocoa beans from plantations filled with child slaves taken from their homes in neighboring countries. These children were young, malnourished, beaten, barely clothed, and walking around with machetes in their hands.

The company Nestle still refused to admit that their cocoa plantations featured child slaves even after video footage. We learned that Nestle and other large chocolate distributors pay 1 euro for a kilogram of cocoa beans, which can then make 40 chocolate bars. So these corporations are making around 40 euro for every 1 euro they pay and knowing that the people working in the plantations are barely making a wage.

Afterwards, we were introduced to some chocolate that was fairly traded (meaning workers were given a fair wage in return for their work). It still felt strange—trying all this chocolate after watching the film. So, yes, chocolate and somber can coincide.

Refugees:

Later on in the week a few of the people in my program were invited to help local refugees practice their English. The experience was great because we were able to meet people from other countries and walk around Perugia. We ended up at a park with one of the most glorious views, and we all bonded quite quickly. Although it was somewhat difficult to communicate, it was still interesting to hear stories from the refugees. Most of them were from India, Mali, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, but they had been almost everywhere in Europe and Northern Africa.

A story that really stuck with me came up when discussing if Americans approve of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. One gentleman from Pakistan told us how there was an American attack a few weeks ago that killed over 140 children. They were school kids around the ages of 6 and 7. He had a sort of pain in his eyes while telling us the details. I looked around at all of the Americans who were listening in and there was only one expression upon their faces: shame.

When you’re studying abroad in a place as amazing as Italy you forget that the rest of the world is existing. Sometimes it’s easy to get out of touch with what’s going on back in the States or really what’s going on anywhere else in the world. I know for me the focus has been traveling and having a good time, which is what is supposed to happen. But at the same time studying abroad should show you so much more. It should show you that we, as human beings, have had a lot of successes in our time, but we have had just as many failures. It’s something you’re bound to realize when traveling and interacting with so many different people and cultures. I think the main goal of studying abroad is to help open your eyes to these failures so you’ll be inspired to one day improve them.

 

 


Location: Perugia, Italy

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One thought on “Meaningful Experiences

  1. Renee

    Great Blog. Thanks for sharing….I will not select Nestle products anymore. I know it is not much…but I will help spread the word.

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