The real magic is still in this world

Let me prove this with my newest experience!

As an international relations student I can really appreciate when people from different cultures love each other. Unfortunately nowadays we can hear much more about the fights and disputes between people who have different origin, religion, color or traditions. Yesterday I participated in a local event which was the small prototype of a perfect world without all of these prejudices.

The story started with Tanja, who is another volunteer girl. She teaches English and Spanish for immigrants in Taco, which is a special district between La Laguna and Santa Cruz. The people who live there came to Tenerife from 15 different countries. They were celebrating this diversity in a street festival with music, dance and of course with food:) We could try the typical food of Senegal, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Ghana and a really yummy drink from the Dominican Republic. It was an unforgettable experience to see the enthusiasm of these people. They were so proud of their cuisine and culture, what is more they were extremely happy that they could share it with us.

It was amazing to see that the people are so interested in each other. Everybody wanted to get to know the recipes, the ingredients and simply the other person. The people were talking, laughing and eating together with friends and with strangers. To be quite precise, I am not sure if I can use the word “strangers”, because I felt like a new family member immediately. Surprisingly in this community I felt as comfortable as I do at home. I had some really nice conversations in Spanish (!) and I learned a lot of new thing about African culture and people.

One of my favourites: couscous with chicken and couscous pie with jam from Morocco

I feel really lucky that I could experience this pure happiness without any interests and ulterior motives. It was a perfect afternoon with heavenly dishes, delicious teas, colorful African traditional clothes, and most importantly with constantly smiling, incredibly nice people. 

I was looking for it so badly and I found it in this peripheral district: the magic of the people which still exist. 

And I really believe that not only in Taco.