Upon returning from our visit to my uncle’s beautiful home—situated on a pristine street, flanked by trees, and perfumed by the scent of blossoms—we looked upon our own street: with its filthy ground and its drab, dilapidated houses; where candy wrappers lay scattered along both sides, and garbage piled up at the entrance in a mountain-like mound; and where the air was permeated by foul odors and swarming with flies...