In my neighborhood, there’s this house near the police-entrance-gate-thing that’s very modern, and it has a stone statue of the Buddha on the front steps. It’s been a year since that statue has sat there. I’ve always had the following theories regarding the owners of that house: 1) they’re Buddhists, 2) they’re not Buddhists, but they like exotic things and thus have that statue on their front yard. Whatever the reasons, I thought that it’s quite interesting to have such a piece in the neighborhood, so uncommon in Puerto Rico, an island where any reference to eastern culture is pretty rare (not counting the presence of Otakus*). The thing is, I took a walk one morning last summer, and I came across this Buddha, and I see that it has MONEY in his hands. Like, pennies, nickels, and dimes. That very precise moment suddenly became so surreal for me…I almost felt as though the statue…was REAL, or alive. How can I explain it…in my head, I thought, if these people are leaving coins in its hands, then either they really are Buddhists or they’re just superstitious, like people who throw pennies into fountains to make a wish (though most of them do it just for fun, not necessarily for superstition). Both explanations sort of gave life to the statue, since the people are leaving money because they really think that it will help them or something. I savored the moment, for I love finding any situation that’s as close as possible to magical--especially when Asian culture is involved! Now, every time I pass by that house, I check if there’s still money in those hands. There always is. I wonder if gardeners, cleaning maids or anyone else snatch some of that money once in a while, perhaps to complement their pocket money for train and bus rides.
*anime fans or geeks
........have there been any moments in your life that seemed surreal?
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