Plurk paste

Lesson in Social class
	I had just got off the plane a few days ago, with jet lag still clogging up my thoughts when I pressed my nose up against the car window as my cousin drove up to my grand-ma’s house.  I remember being bounced up and down along the rough mountain road which at the time had not yet been paved, shaking at the prospect of the car possibly tumbling down into the deep crevices of the mountain.  Us finally arriving at the front door of my grand-ma’s house in the dark of nightfall with fluorescent lights casting long shadows as we walked in.  Coming from an urban lifestyle being dropped right into my grandma’s rural one, I was shocked to say the least and my little mind filled with questions.
	My questions soon answered by one single word that was easily understood by my little 8-year-old mind: poor.  My grandma lived in a poor area, it’s where my mom grew up with all her brothers and her sister all grew up.  There was no running water, no internet, and no heater; growing up in urban New York, I didn’t know what to think coming to a rural area.  I had always thought that everyone was the same as me, living in a beautiful house with many amenities.  They were soon proven wrong however with my first encounter of my youngest cousin. 
~~~
	“Ni hao jie jie, Hello Sister,” as my little 6-year-old cousin greeted me in a blue t-shirt with a striped skirt, her eyes roamed up and down my floral pink dress in envy, which confused me.  She gripped me by the hand pulling me to her room, where I would be sleeping for the night.  I sat down on the wooden bed, my eyes slowly adjusting to the dark shadows cast by the single light bulb overhead.  I was still adjusting to the time change so as my cousin put her head down to sleep, I lay awake so confused about everything this life my mother’s family lives.
	The next morning, I woke up to the sound of sizzling meat cooking on the stove.  I turned around to find an empty pillow.  So I padded out to the courtyard to find her; she was coming back from brushing her teeth, but she came back with the same blue shirt and striped skirt as before.  At the sight of this I ran to my mom, hoping for some answers.
	“Mama, why is she wearing the same clothes?”  I reached up to grab my mom’s hands as she listened.
	“Jie, she doesn’t have any more clothes to wear”
	“What?  She doesn’t wear that every day does she?” 
	“No, she doesn’t but all her other clothes are dirty,” as she calmly answered my unending question.  I glanced up at her before stepping out into the courtyard yet again.  I looked out over the lush green mountain and onto the dirt floor I was standing on.  She couldn’t wear anything else because there was nothing she could wear.  Some people have a choice in what they can be, others just make the most out of what is given to them.  It finally made sense why my little cousin had to live like this out in the countryside, it was because I was the lucky one.