Falta

Falta.

This word used to confuse me because it is used in a seemingly unending variety of situations. Now this word is such a part of my daily vocabulary that oftentimes I struggle to translate the meaning into English.

The best translation is
Lack.

How much further do I need to ride the bus?
Falta.
How much time is left in class?
Falta.
Do we have enough ingredients?
Falta.

You speak Spanish well.
No, falta.
This could be the context I most often use this word.

When I share stories with friends and family back home sometimes they stop me to ask, “Wait. And all of this is in Spanish?” Claro. It’s true that my Spanish has notably improved. (I’m sure anyone who suffered through a conversation with my in Spanish in years past is happy to read this.) But my vocabulary… well… faltas because it almost exclusively consists of what I hear and speak on a daily basis.

Clearly the word falta comes up often.

Unfortunately.

Often.

So that when I hear, read and feel recent events in the United States

With wide eyes

Shock

Horror

Disappointment

And sadness

I whisper falta.

In daily observation I can see

In what is happening around me

Near

and Far

In the state of the world

There is an undeniable lack.

Near

I see a lack of resources

A lack of medical care

A lack of education

Of roads

Water

And electricity

A lack of governmental organization

[Specifically in the postage system, which my mom would be quick to tell you.]

A lack of nutrition

Of food on the table

Of goods that are exported to other countries

A lack of childcare

Of presence in homes of working parents

Of afterschool and co-curricular activities

I do not see the shit that I see

Far

The greener side

Of opportunity

Of freedom

Powerful, connected and privileged

Where supposedly every person has basic rights and resources

There is a serious, basic lack that becomes sharper, clearer and more alarming

the farther away I am

And the longer I look

We’ve been so busy advancing, developing and moving forward toward an uncertain and unattainable goal

Systematically excluding and purposefully forgetting people along the our way to something greater

That we’ve lost algo básico                    something basic

A humanness

A way to be

I see it

In hospitalidad                      hospitality

In besos y abrazos                 hugs and kisses

In cariño                                care

Y solidaridad                                     and solidarity

In a place where siempre más alto (always higher) does not mean moving upward myself and leaving others behind… or possibly even pushing them down

It means working together as a community, always seeking the best for our family

Together: young, old, sick, strong; aunts and uncles and cousins; sons and daughters and every image of parent under the sun

We need everyone. Every life matters

En la paz        in the peace

In the peace that accompanies such belonging

That I welcome and appropriate into my own way of being

Poco a poco    little by little  

 

The more I unlearn of my own culture the more I learn where I… where we falta

I prayerfully, patiently continue learning

With faith, hope and charity

So that in rediscovering how to be human

One day

God will help me humbly encourage others to love

Beyond our limits

All the way back to the basics

To the saintly love that is the divine presence within us

Our way of being