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Life is an adventure, do not know where you embark on an interesting journey and where you disembark off the same, and more when you're somebody different.

 

I'm Latino and increasingly proud of it, I was in different academies, met many people, great mentors, mediocre officers, great classmates and some other crazy but we were all a brotherhood in order.

 

I was called to be part of a select group of instructors who embarked on a new adventure, yeap,  a new one, try to teach in on country of Asia "fire service" under a completely different mode of Asians, until then all of wonder.

 

No one knew me and I did not know anyone either, but I got an e-mail telling me your flight is confirmed see you there, traveled about 20 hours to Asia, not counting the trip from Florida to Washington, after nearly a day in the air and landing on my final destination and be picked up by a driver, traveling two hours to the hotel and starting to feel "jet-lag" I went to sleep.

 

Upon waking I found in the lobby with two different people to local, “gringos” were definitely, I introduced myself and was introduced to the rest of the group, I was the difference in a group who already makes the difference there.

 

I felt a little rejection maybe because of my accent, perhaps looked different but mostly because I was not an American, I was among a select group of instructors and was different from them.

 

We began to divide the tasks and gave me the easiest, at first I thought because they already knew each other but then I realized it was because I was different, so I was sneaking into everything, I went striving each morning in the PT, I was asking for more tasks for me, shooting an occasional joke from time to time and I knew and could demonstrate that I knew like them, after some time my name has changed from Philips Chan to Jackie Chan, I understood that it was not bullying but rather it was because they accepted me in his group knew they could trust confided in me as who trusted selected me for this task.

 

In South America every time I finish an instruction to try to leave two legacies:

 

  1. If you learned something from me and it was to save a life, it will be worthwhile.
  2. Let's be proud of our race and what we are, if a partner sometime has to train us we have to listen, with detention, with humility, no matter where is the instructor, respect him and learn from it, and if he is from our country feel proud of him because he may be us at any time.

 

All instruction is worth, the instructor can be good or bad but there are always something to be learned, something new, always take advantage of it.


Today I have brother firefighters, friends, colleagues around the world because this latin was trusted by someone that itself was able to instruct others in this noble work and because I could proudly show to an amazing group of instructors that being Latino can do what they do with my head held high.

 

The adventure started long ago and hopefully not yet finished, because now I want an adventure for them, my fellow “gringos” it is time to start-up in South America and see you can teach Latinos as Asians were taught at the time.


If we see and analyze a brotherhood firefighters believe appropriate to say that Americans are the older brothers and Latinos and other races are the younger brothers, it is time for older siblings inculcate younger to learn better how to take care of themselves much better.

 

En Español:

 

La vida es una aventura, no sabes donde te embarcas en un viaje interesante y donde te desembarcas del mismo; y, más cuando eres alguien diferente.

 

Soy latino y cada día más orgulloso de serlo, estuve en diferentes academias conocí muchas personas, grandes mentores, mediocres oficiales, excelentes compañeros de aula y uno que otro loco pero todos fuimos una hermandad en fin.

 

Fui llamado a formar parte de un selecto grupo de instructores que se embarcaban en una aventura nueva, sí, nueva, tratar de enseñar en un país de Asia “fire service” bajo una modalidad completamente diferente a la de los asiáticos, hasta ahí todo de maravilla.

 

Nadie me conocía y yo no conocía a nadie tampoco, solamente recibí un e-mail que me decía tu vuelo está confirmado nos vemos allá, viajé cerca de 20 horas a Asia, eso sin contar el viaje de Florida a Washington, después de casi un día en el aire y de aterrizar en mi destino final y ser recogido por un chofer, viajar 2 horas al hotel y empezando a sentir “jet-lag” me fui a dormir.

Al despertar me encontré en el lobby con dos personas diferentes a los locales, definitivamente eran gringos, me presenté y me presentaron con el resto del grupo, yo era la diferencia en un grupo que YA hacia la diferencia en ese país.

 

Sentí un pequeño rechazo quizás por mi acento, quizás por como lucía pero sobre todo porque no era gringo, estaba entre un selecto grupo de instructores y era diferente a ellos.

 

Comenzamos a dividirnos las tareas y a mí me daban las más fáciles, al principio creí porque ellos ya se conocían pero después me fui dando cuenta que era porque yo era diferente, me fui colando en cada cosa, me fui esforzando todas las mañanas en los PT, fui pidiendo más tareas para mí, disparaba una que otra broma de vez en cuando y fui demostrando que sabía y podía igual que ellos, al cabo de cierto momento ya mi nombre cambio de Philips Chan a Jackie Chan, entendí que no era Bullying sino más bien era porque ya me aceptaban en su grupo, sabían que podían confiar en mi como confió el que me seleccionó para esa tarea.

 

En América del sur cada vez que termino de dar una instrucción trato de dejar dos legados:

 

  1. Si algo aprendieron de mí y valió para salvar una vida, habrá valido la pena.
  2. Sintámonos orgullosos de nuestra raza y lo que somos, si algún momento un compañero nos tiene que capacitar escuchemos con detención y humildad lo que nos enseña, no importa de donde es el instructor, respetémoslo y aprendamos de él, y si es de mí mismo país sintamos orgullo de él porque podemos ser nosotros en cualquier momento.

Toda instrucción vale la pena, el instructor puede ser bueno o malo pero siempre se aprende algo nuevo, siempre se saca provecho de ello.

 

Hoy tengo hermanos bomberos, amigos, compañeros, alrededor del mundo porque alguien confió en este latino de que sí era capaz de poder instruir a otros en esta noble labor; y, porque con orgullo pude demostrar ante un increíble grupo de instructores que si se puede ser latino y hacer lo que ellos hacen y con la frente en alto.

 

La aventura empezó hace mucho y ojalá que todavía no termine, ya que ahora quiero que la aventura para ellos, mis compañeros gringos empiecen en América del Sur y vean que si se puede enseñar a latinos como se le enseñó a Asiáticos en su momento.

Si vemos a los bomberos como una hermandad creo oportuno decir que los norteamericanos son los hermanos mayores y los latinos y el resto de razas son los hermanos menores, es hora de que los hermanos mayores inculquen a los menores para que ellos se aprendan a cuidar de mejor manera.

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