Movie Review? Central America Review? Something Like That.

Due to a last minute route change, we somehow ended up in Eastern Europe instead of Columbia. South America has shut down its borders, meaning we had to adjust our plans a week before flying out. So now I sit here, in Albania, a country I never thought I would be in, reminiscing on my time spent in Central America. The time change is insane and jet lag is so real, so I was up late last night and decided to watch a movie a friend had recommended. He had been trying to get me to watch this movie for a while now, but I finally had the time. It was all in Spanish with English subtitles, but luckily I was intrigued enough to push through. 

The movie is called, “The Motorcycle Diaries”. It is the true story of Che Guevara, a Marxist guerilla revolutionist and an important player in the Cuban Revolution. It is about two young men that decide to travel all over South America on a motorcycle, 8000km in 4 months. One is a biochemist, Alberto, while the other is a month away from becoming a doctor, studying to specialize in leprosy, Che.

It starts out with the boys planning their trip. They both agree that their goal was to have a good time, explore, and hopefully, “Get laid in every country in South America, in every town too, if we’re lucky.” The beginning started out as such. They sought out women and got themselves thrown out of a lot of towns. Their motives were clear, to have fun. But something changed along the way. Che changed. Their motorcycle broke down pretty early on and they had to travel by foot, staying with whoever would take them in. They went country to country, seeing people who had so little treat them so well. 

In many countries, Alberto would find women, while Che would have to choose between going with him or helping the people around him. He gave up his own asthma medicine to a woman who was dying, left dates to aid the sick, and quickly learned that life was not all about adventure. They traveled with immigrants in the back of a truck full of pigs. They camped with a couple that had to leave their children behind to mine to get money to send home for food. He saw them treated so poorly and wondered what would happen to them after he left. He gave them the last of his traveling money, but knew that he couldn’t do much more. 

He lived in a leprosy colony, helping the sick, building houses, playing soccer, becoming one with the people there. The doctors lived on the other side, separated by a river, forced to wear gloves when talking to the patients. Che refused. He stepped off the boat and immediately shook hands with the patients, gloveless. They were all astonished. He treated them like people. He saw them. While Alberto would be focusing on his future, where he would work next, or what woman he would find that night, Che would be staring out the window, haunted by the faces that he had seen along the way. He set out to have fun and explore, but his heart was breaking for the world in every single country. 

Someone very special to me told me to watch this movie. I thought it was just because I liked motorcycles. But now, thousands of miles away, I see why it was recommended to me. I relate to Che in so many ways. Not the whole Marxist revolutionary guerilla part, but the 24 year old exploring the world, plagued by what he has seen. I set out to make a difference, to help people. I didn’t set out for adventure like Che, that wasn’t my intention, that part just kinda came with the territory. 

I post pictures or videos on Instagram and everyone comments that they are so jealous that I get to explore and experience the world. They say that I am living the dream, being young and free. They say that my life must be so fun. What they don’t realize is that, like Che, my heart is breaking in every country, in every town, for every face. I won’t negate the beautiful experiences and exploration, it has been fun, but it is so much more than that. I have seen such hurt, such division, such pain in so many eyes. I’ve seen extreme poverty and illness, loneliness and trauma. It’s hard. Leaving is hard. Being here is hard. The people we have met have been so overly kind and giving. They give all that they have, even if all they have is a pot and a fire, offering to make you the last of their coffee. 

I have also seen gratitude in ways I could never have imagined. Gratitude, selflessness, kindness without ulterior motives, and genuine love. I am excited to be in Albania. I know that the Lord is going to do amazing things here. But I will never forget my time in Central America. I am forever grateful for the time I spent learning from such a selfless culture. I never want to let go of the lessons they taught me. I never want to go back to where I was, who I was. 

The movie ends with the line, “Wandering around our America has changed me more than I thought. I am not me anymore. At least I’m not the same me I was.” This line is followed by photos, the faces of all the people he had seen, talked to, helped, loved. The faces that he couldn’t get out of his head when he tried to live for himself. The faces that were constant reminders that the world was bigger than himself. That the needs of the world were bigger than his own. I close my eyes and I can see them. The faces that have changed me. The faces that I had no idea would impact me so much, stretch me so much, grow me so much. 

Again, I am excited for Europe and the rest of this trip, but there was just something about Central America. My heart broke for the people that I met there. I wanted to help, serve, grow alongside them. I learned from them more than I ever thought I would. I loved them more than I ever thought I should. The Lord used these countries to grow me in a way that only He could. And now all I can say is thank You.

Thank You, Father, for all of it. The joy, the pain, the happiness and the hurting that You showed me over these last four months in Central America. Thank You for breaking my heart, for these places, for these people, for what breaks Yours. I am forever grateful for this time of hurting and healing all in one.

-K