Benja el Gringo

SAF internship!

2010-03-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

I'm no longer in Mexico, but talking to migrants in Mexico inspired me to get an internship with Student Action for Farmworkers, here in the U.S., in North Carolina.

"Everytime we sit at a table at night or in the morning to enjoy the fruits and grain and vegetables from our good earth, remember that they come from the work of men and women and children who have been exploited for generations."

-Cesar Chavez

Rant about Immigration, the World Bank, Bartolome de las Casas

2009-06-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Mexico City, yet another time.
However, I can talk about that soon when I get back.
I´ve really learned a lot here. Some of it I´ve written about in papers for school. I haven´t touched on much of it here. I´ll put aside everything I now know about Spanish-language literature (from Spain, Cuba, Argentina, some from Mexico, etc.) and focus instead on current events.
Even that´s really too much to put in words, which is precisely the problem. Mexico is probably one of the most important countries for people in the U.S. to understand. Out of fear, people in the U.S. would rather ignore it, or if that doesn´t work, build a wall that can be seen from outer-space (the Chinese will still say theirs is prettier as it isn´t made from used airplane parts, but it makes very little difference from outer-space).
To me, the people who shout ¨stop the illegals¨ (as though being ¨legal¨ or ¨illegal¨ was something permanent, or making legal migration simple was out of the question) ignore all the real issues on both sides of the border.
It would be like saying the solution to Child Labor abuses and/or a rise in crimes by minors would be to stop having children. People almost never target the harder-targets: The corporations who hire the ¨illegals.¨ In the case of crime along the border I would also have to include many people on our side who sell guns and buy drugs. There´s a reason why here, farther away from the border things are often more calm.

There´s other things the ¨anti-illegals¨ people I have yet to hear anyone mention Mexico´s debt crisis for instance, mostly because it would hurt the rather childish ¨patriotism,¨ that you hear in these debates. Most Mexicans I´ve talked to know there´s a difference between loving one´s country and loving the country´s government (almost no one I´ve met here likes Mexico´s government).

To paraphrase one on-line poster to a news article I read a week ago, ¨these people live next to one of the most generous countries on earth.¨ Exactly. We, (especially through the World Bank, whose head the United States appoints) lend money to countries, and then they have even more problems paying it back. Anyone wonder why Mexico can´t pay for decent public schools, research, etc.? True, Mexican education is good by Latin American standards, and many people are willing to stay farmers rather than go on to ¨better¨ things.
However, I am not stupid enough to believe that the World Bank loans money to countries so that they can be great economic powers to compete with the U.S. No one in the U.S. really wants that. Look at how we reacted to Japan in the 1980s, and China right now. It´s notable that although the U.S. can take some credit for Japan, China has largely avoided links to U.S.-dominated financial institutions, and has ¨globalized¨ largely on it´s own terms. I am admittedly not an expert on China, and I wouldn´t put it up as an example for other countries to follow. These issues are admittedly complex, and I´ve just brushed the surface.

(A surface largely based on the writings of former world bank president-turned critic Joseph E. Stiglitz, whose work I´ve read in class here at CEMAL. Some might say it´s not worthwhile to read a U.S. author in Mexico, but he uses Mexico as an example many times, and it´s better to see the country he uses as an example for ones´ self before judging what he says. It´s one of the many advantages of doing a U.S. program in Mexico).

Oh, and then there´s the other equally uninformed ¨side¨ of the immigration debate, which does little more than say ¨we are a nation of immigrants¨ as though we were always a nation of migrant workers who due to currency exchange rates found it to our advantage to work in the U.S. and return to our home countries. Are we ready to be a nation of migrants?
Not to mention Mexico´s own issues regarding its southern border, and the U.S. selling arms to Guatemala, the violence in the 1980s which brought many Guatemalans into the U.S. to escape a government that was being funded by the U.S., but far worse than anything we have ever allowed at home. (admittedly I´m rough on the U.S. here. It´s far more patriotic to try to change my country than try to tell some other country how it should act. My role model-here is possibly Bartolome de las Casas who...

You know what? I´ve already touched on way too many subjects to even begin to get into Spanish colonial history. CEMAL is great for learning about these things. I´ll just leave it at that for now. Any questions on the above?

Note: I will write part two of the Complete Idioto´s guide. Do not worry.

Cuernavaca, The Complete Idioto´s Guide part 1

2009-06-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

Cuernavaca: a city of ravines.¨Upper¨ and ¨lower¨ class is literal. Well, not always, but mostly.

Walk up certain hills, and you´ll see mansions,and flowering trees.¨The city of eternal spring¨ is Cuernavaca´s motto, and true to it, there is nearly always some kind of flower in bloom.

These are often people who left Mexico City for bigger houses and courtyards here, some imitating the tiled domes of Spain. Unlike Mexico City we have enough water for some people to have swimming pools.The modern convent of the Guadalupanas del Cristo el Rey falls here, as do some language schools.

It´s good ground to avoid earthquakes like the one that ripped Mexico City apart in the 80s. Granted, land at the very top of some of these hills is probably looser and cheaper.

Okay, time to go down to the middle ground where I am now. Lots of small-shopkeepers with painted signs, good for if I need anything.

Walk down a flight of stairs down, into the ravines. Available space, if it´s there, often gets used for chickens. People come here from the countryside. Many will wind up in the U.S. eventually. The ravines actually look kind of picturesque from a distance strangely enough, because of their greenery and general wildness compared to the rest of the city.

At far bottom you hit the rivers that carved out the ravines. It´s nice and shady, but you´ll get a headache if you stand down there for too long. The black rivers carry sewage that washes down from all the layers above, and usually flow with suds. Just imagine the smell, I can´t show it. The worst of these ravines don´t even have roads at the bottom. Foreigners (except for me) avoid them.

(with the exception of the San Anton waterfall, which is awesome despite not being clean. Of course it´s a bit different in that it´s more or less one of the nicer parts of town).

The word ravine doesn´t come up in conversations very often in the states, granted. Yet ¨barranca¨ doesn´t exactly roll off the English tongue.

The city as it stands now, grew in a jumbled way out of Cuanahuac the pyramid site of the Tlahuica (meaning ¨They who work the land,¨ yeah, I know a bit obvious of a name). They were among Moctezuma´s more loyal taxpayers. They built their temples in a section I have yet to describe: El Centro, where Cortez had slaves rip them apart to build a castle for himself. In any case that´ll be in part 2.

Also, yes, I will try to add pictures. I know this can get confusing without them.
And yes, things have happened, but really, if you don´t know the place they have happened, then you might not understand them.

Palm weaving

2009-06-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

My relationship with the summer program is a little different from other students.I do go with them sometimes, but only when it´s something that I hadn´t done during the spring program, usually. One of our excursions last week was just down the street to visit some women from an indigenous village who were staying there and selling baskets and other woven goods in Cuernavaca. They taught us how to weave their style of palm baskets as well.
They talked a lot about life in their town and relationships with their husbands. I won´t go into that too much because I know this is a culturally sensitive subject, and I hate to be the white man criticizing the norms of indigenous society. I will say that they thought the location of houses in Cuernavaca next to the cemetery was problematic, due to their own belief in ghosts.

For them, their artisan work is very much an art, because it requires time and effort, just as much in their opinion as painting or engraving (which we discussed) particularly with the harvesting of plants.

Ex-hacienda de Temixco

2009-06-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so, on a lighter note...
Seriously, I won´t bring up the Burger King club again. It really had very bad music, I was sort of joking last time. All of my other reviews will be honest!

Despite saying earlier that this will not just be a tourist blog, I will sometimes review various tourist attractions in the area here. People may just want more information about these places. Some of them (certain museums for instance) have long histories associated with them, which can be revealing.

So,the Ex-Hacienda de Temixco.
Old haciendas in modern Mexico have become any number of things. In central Mexico especially, many had to divide their lands under beloved President Lazaro Cardenas, while being allowed to keep their houses.This particular one is now a water park.

Yeah, you heard me right. A water park. The old walls and the house are now parking lots and a cafeteria (which was not open). The slides and pools are out in what was once the fields. We actually went as a class with the summer group, mostly just to see the style in which Haciendas are built. (This was actually our second class trip with the summer group so far. I´ll get to the first one with Universal in Mexico City later).

I slid down two slides, both fun, and both tunnel slides. I coasted in the wave pool, and swam in one pool which had some of the old arches still over it. It was a great chance to get to know the new students more too.

Most of the slides weren´t open though. They try to conserve water on week days, which are, for that reason, cheaper to get in. Some travel bloggers would tell you that this is a bad thing. I disagree. Sure, I may have wanted to do more of the slides, but water is a precious resource here in central Mexico. I´m not even sure how I feel about us having so many water parks nearby.

Some bad news

2009-06-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I left my computer on a taxi. Sure it should have been a learning experience, but it seems like I should have already learned to keep track of my things. All I can do now is except what happened, and deal with using other computers. I think my ipod may have also been with it, but I hope not (ironically I kept it in the same case so as not to lose it).

However, I am planning on writing a novel loosely based on this. Look forward to seeing it. It will be from various points of view, with the computer changing hands various times in Mexico, and a young man´s quest through Mexico to find it. I´d been looking for this inspiration for quite some time. If only it wasn't so expensive!

Summer Spanish Study Starts

2009-05-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the summer program's beginning. New people are coming in. It's strange to be the one who actually knows things. I'm staying in Casa Cemal right now instead of Verde. Next week we switch to homestays.
Today we did the CEMAL orientation and went to the Zocalo, where a guy selling henna claimed that my name (Benjamin) meant something about plants. It actually means "favored son," I think, but I didn't care enough to tell him that.
I may wind up following this new program on some of the trips I've already been on. Doesn't hurt to do that, might wind up writing more in detail this time, but...don't count on it. Maybe just more posts like this one.
-Ben

People at home still worried?

2009-05-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

Above: sure I'm allright, See? I can hug you now, I'm not infected!

Okay, seriously, at this point I can't take swine flu seriously. Except for a few hot dog and tamale vendors, who always wear the masks, no one around me seems worried anymore.

Well, the swine flu thing has mostly blown over or whatever. That is to say that there's less cases now than before. Besides which I'm richer than the rest of the population, and thus am less suceptible to complications. In my view, like I've said before,I think the whole class issue gets left out far too often.

I may be the only one here at CEMAL who doesn't have an album on facebook yet of me wearing a "cubrebocas." I wanted to play down the issue. Sure I wore one for a while, but I just felt like a complete asshole wearing one in the Zocalo (main square, I hope to talk more about later) where I stood out as someone who could afford a cubrebocas. The fact is that it's not any more dangerous than normal flu. Just normal handwashing is probably enough.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

The Last 100 Days

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

You know what? I should see what deals they have at the markets in Taxco on Silver bullets!

Even after sending out my first note one the subject on facebook, a friend wanted me to call to say I was all right. He said I looked pale. And I thought I had put up facebook albums to prove I was still all right! Of course I'm pale compared to some other people here, given that I'm Anglo not meztiso? I mean, sure I stand out when I'm wearing a rasta hat and a long blue skirt (below) but isn't that to be expected?

Seriously, Best. Manaquin. Ever. I actually saw this outside a shop once.
Well, I'd better start jogging before it gets dark. I've got lots more to say, about things that have nothing to do with swine flu. And I've wasted too much of the week sleeping and writing blogs, except for one trip to see some pyramids. Man! There's so much to write about. But also so much to do.
Hasta Luego,
Benja "Benito" Libras

Tepotzlan v. Amatlan

2009-05-20T23:03:00.000-07:00

One of the great thing about doing so many flashbacks this week is that I can look back at things I haven't covered and try to mix them up in ways that show people the contrasts that exist there.

Tepotzlan is, as I've already said in my facebook album on the subject, a very new-agey town, where hippies and other outsiders have taken over to some extent. It has great mountains though, and some nice ruins. The new-agey thing is kind of fun actually, but...

It was different from my class experience with the indigenous side of Mexico in the same municipality, this time in the city of Amatlan. Visiting the house of Ignacio ("Nacho," a community leader in nearby Amatlan) with him explaining the conquest, the pre-hispanic history, the government's (in his opinion) useless projects and the role of religion, including a trip out to a sacred natural rock arch with pre-Nahua-era petrogliphs was definately one of my favorite experiences connected to classes.

I may have doubts about the fact that the Spanish left them with this land only because they had purchased it back. Like reservations in the U.S., I've since concluded that it is not the best agricultural fields, in spite of its sacredness. Yet somehow at the time I didn't consider such things.

Mexico has a complex relationship with its indigenous past. Often people try to throw it off in order to advance themselves, wanting to be culturally closer to Spain, France, or the U.S., a process hastened by the inquisition and now less violently by migration and globalized trade. Still, it remains among the things I find most appealing (and often hidden to U.S. eyes) about Mexico.

Recycling Center

2009-05-20T22:34:00.000-07:00

While here, I've seen and worked at San Anton's recycling center. It's almost completely independent of the government (which claims now to be helping) and sells independently to corporations.

The people who run it consider themselves against the private garbage collectors and their landfill (see "Dirty Politics" post for details) their way of resisting is to provide alternatives.

It's probably among the things that have most inspired me here. In spite of the environmental problems I see around me, people are making efforts to deal with them.

And, it's easy to forget that the problem of garbage disposal is coming about as a result of U.S. buisinesses promoting disposable items here. If anything I think that some Mexicans here are at times ahead of us by being "behind" us.

Gathering rainwater is a necessity. Urban agriculture isn't just "gardens" for the concerned rich, it's people raising chickens in their own lawns. You can still get Coke bottles refilled here at many "Abarrotes" and restaurants. Some people even collect water in a bucket during showers to use for their lawns, rather than using sprinklers (a good choice given water shortages). Sidewalks are on both sides of the street. The list goes on and on.

I almost fell into the trap of complaining about every environmental problem we have here, and that list goes on and on too. If I do that, I'll try to be sure to backdate it before this post, or at least link to it. The developing world may at times appear mad "backwards." In reality they are often more "forwards" than the developed world. I'm glad to be studying here.

Soccer on a Baseball field?

2009-05-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

This happened a good deal earlier, near the beginning. I'm putting it here so that I will remember. When it happened I'm not in any way sure. In any case it's a fun story.

A few other students and I were looking for a place to play soccer. As it happened, the soccer fields were already taken. The baseball field had only informal practice. So we played there.

The baseball coach and a few baseball-playing kids joined in on our game (as I said the practice was informal). Our teams were both pretty mixed between Mexicans and U.S., not divided along those lines.

What struck me was that here we were as U.S. people playing soccer on a Mexican baseball field. Something about that seemed very ironic.

Taxistas

2009-05-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

It's become so commonplace that I rarely ever think about it: taking taxis. During my homestay time I took them to avoid being late (although the bus, if I could find it, was cheaper). Now I take taxis to avoid being stuck in rain.

Riding in a Taxi with friends or homestay family the Taxista ignores us, generally. Yet riding alone, I nearly always wind up chatting.

It's a great way to practice my Spanish, which I've heard from Taxi drivers is pretty good at this point. Starting out, I had problems with the difference between "derecho" (straight) and "derecha" (right) which used to lead to problems. Now I can talk easily.

The Taxi drivers are usually eager to talk and sometimes start the conversations themselves. It's something I hope to come back to. The headlines nearly always portray Mexican-U.S. contacts as violent. The reality is that most Mexicans I've met are eager to chat and eager to please foreigners. Given the dollar-to-peso rate this should surprise no one.

They nearly always want to know where I'm from originally. I'm happy to tell them Tennessee, which is famous here for Elvis (who lived in the one part of the state I've not been to, although I'm happy to share the same birthday).

I often ask if they've been to the U.S. Often they have, although East Tennessee hardly ever. California seems to be the state I hear most often, although once I met a Taxi driver who had been as far north as Idaho.

Once I was asked whether or not I thought Mexican women were pretty. I honestly answered "Yes." I've had similar conversations with other non-Taxi-drivers, some of them finding it strange that I actually prefer brown-eyes to blue ones. I've heard the Spanish conquest imposed a standard of beauty here that only gets reinforced by U.S. media.

Mostly though taxi-drivers just wonder what brings me here. I've learned to focus primarily on telling them that I study Spanish, which is part true. Somehow I've never felt comfortable saying "Migracion y Globalizacion." Then of course there's trying to explain that back in the U.S. I study Creative Writing. My lack of a clear future plan is also a little bit of a problem too for some. I've never heard anyone particularly say that they were confused by my answers but I've sensed it.

I've told some here that I want to teach English in a Spanish-speaking country. For a while that seemed the most promising option. I've met one woman here who does that, while being a writer on the side. The only problem is that I like the U.S. in some ways. As much as I love certain things about Mexico, there's just something wrong about coming into other as a foreigner. I especially don't know if being involved in other countries' politics would even be right for someone like me.

I told all this to one particular Taxi driver, and he said that I should translate books from Spanish to English, or maybe even write the full history of Mexico for U.S. audiences (he sensed my interest in the history of the places we were going through). In the meantime though I could always become the first comercial Nopal (cactus for eating) grower in Tennessee. I've heard they require almost no work.

A lesson

2009-05-20T20:15:00.001-07:00

This is a story from back when I was staying at my urban homestay. I'm not going to worry about all that "Update/backdate" labels anymore. The point is that now I understand some things maybe differently than when they happened.

I should have been doing homework. Instead I was lying on my bed, doing nothing. Really nothing special about that. I'd also left the light on, so that I wouldn't feel that I was sleeping, or possibly so that I wouldn't feel like I had to sleep.

Then Alicia came in, and turned off the light.

I wasn't actually sleeping so I got up from the bed and told her that I wasn't sleeping. She said that I shouldn't have the light on if I wasn't sleeping, and that in Mexico, people try not to waste power.

I realized afterwards that I had my values entirely reversed. I was charging my homestay family money just so that I could feel more productive than I actually was. And, to top it all off, I was probably making the air worse too.

I had always considered myself an environmentalist. I have no idea if Alicia considered herself as such. Yet at that moment it scacely mattered what either of us believed that we believed. What mattered was results.

Random Newsflash! Panic!

2009-05-19T00:08:00.000-07:00

Yeah, an earthquake struck near Acapulco. Makes me feel happy that I'm among the few U.S. Americans who is somewhere else in Mexico besides Acapulco.

Yes, I write about problems here in Mexico. I'm not Mexico's PR dude, allright? But the news media hasn't done anything but insult Mexico since I've been here. It makes me want to find something good that is newsworthy about Mexico. And by that I don't mean "The dance club on top of Burger King near the Palacio de Cortez is excellent."

(which it is, sort of, at least in terms of lights and atmosphere, despite being on the second floor above a Burger King. although a bit heavy on pop and hip-hop. I prefer Aloha bar's techno music, or Eclipse's live band covering the Red Hot Chili Peppers in English: "I don' believe its b-eeh-d!" Sorry about that tangent anything to lighten the mood here!)

The job of the news media in the U.S. is to get people worried about things in other countries so that they don't worry about things "over here" (which is not where I am right now, hence the quotes). Sort of like the U.S. military.

U.S. people respond by hating their southern neighbors even more. Harder to place blame on U.S. drug purchasers, or U.S. gun trafficers for border violence. Not to mention the connections between NAFTA, peso-to-dollar rates, and undocumented migration to the U.S.

The Mexican media, meanwhile, mostly reports on Mexico, to control the Mexican people, sort of like the Mexican military, and many militaries throughout Latin America. Which is why they blew the whole swine flu thing out into a panicfest, then told us the number of cases was going down and we had nothing to worry about (I'd already quit worrying, but really it just meant "that's so last week's news" as far as they were concerned).

Sorry if this post offends anyone who works for the media, (and yes, we bloggers mostly parrot what the MSM gives us). Sensational news just sells better! That's why the Cristian Science Monitor is now only a weekly paper. I should put a bunch of pictures of me wearing "cubrebocas" just to increase ad revenue.

P.S. Is it just me or do I do my best writing at 2:00 AM after watching clips of Steven Colbert?

Jesus H. Street!

2009-05-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

It's neither the most scenic nor the most ugly street I have seen. It was all orchards once, even Now, the trees all grow behind courtyard walls. Such walls are often guarded here by shards of glass on top. It's not as though people avoid each other though. With sidewalks on both sides of the street, you're bound to meet people anyways.

Such is the street on which I have all my classes, spread out through three buildings. Jesus H. Preciado in full, but H. Preciado to just about anyone referring to it. It sits somewhere in the middle class, or what I might consider middle class, compared to the mansions a ways above and the shacks a ways below. When I use above and below, the terms are almost literal. H. Preciado is the place I will start this blog-tour of Cuernavaca.

The courtyards can be a whole different world sometimes, gardens resembling jungles.

The road is lined with small shops. "Abarrotes," mostly, "corner stores" as one might say (except that they aren't just on the corners). Others specialize in school supplies, perhaps knowing full well that students attend classes here.

The owners live in apartments above. Signs are often hand-painted, with a fair amount of skill, I might add, but still the use of actual paint on walls threw me off at first.

It was once part of its own town. Despite being so close to the center, it was divided by a deep ravine, until Puente dos mil (the 2000 bridge) was built.

The houses are cheaper down in the ravines than up here on H. Preciado. They are closer to a river containing raw sewage and trash from above. Also, they have no road, just stairs, which one has to climb in order to reach the top.

Ravines like this can be seen all around Cuernavaca, a city where nature seems to have decided the zoning laws. Unlike some other travelers, I perfer not to ignore poverty, these barrancas (ravines) remain on my mind.

Many of the people who live there migrated from other parts of Mexico. They may soon find themselves heading to Mexico City, then on to the border, before migrating often to the United States. Such ravine houses are nearly always hidden from view, until you start crossing the bridge. As seen here, trees take over whatever spot the humans don't claim.

Just beyond the bridge is the spot that the orchard town of San Anton once ended.

I wouldn't have recognized it as a significant spot were it not for its almost meaningless marker, the shrine to the Virgin of Guatalupe. In legend, this was a miraculous image of Saint Mary that appeared to an Aztec in Mexico City. Strictly speaking the one here is just a copy, larger than the original, I think.

Some Mexicans call her "Our Mother" or Tonanzin, rather than the more orthodox "God's mother" which explains her psychological appeal. She is sort of analogous to having a mother around to to help you through the tough times. An effective opiate of the people one might even say. She is the symbol that people put in front of towns as protector and welcomer. In the war against spain, Hidalgo, himself a former priest, grabbed the image and improvised by usning it as a flag.

When I came here, I found her to be just another foreign obsession, but now she seems familiar somehow. I can set aside the rather annoying insistance on virginity that for some she embodies. It's probably a sign of how long I've been here.

How can I not feel inspired?

2009-05-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up to that last blog about the neo-Zapatistas being over-romanticized, I realize that I am a hypocrite. Why? Because I find myself admiring and idealizing the people of Atenco, themselves supporters of the neo-Zapatistas. Maybe it was just because I met them. I already wrote about Atenco, but I didn't explain it well, perhaps.

How they stood up, at the signal of fireworks, against the people who wanted to buy parcels of land for the price of a Coke. How the government was willing to stop at nothing to get this land, including the cemetery, before finally changing its mind.

How they went on to help flower vendors in Texcoco defend their space from a coming Wal-Mart. Sure it turned brutal, they had gasoline bombs with them then, I won't lie. Yet these were people defending their space that they used. I can admire their conviction, even if I have doubts about their claims to "non-violence."

How the police (or possibly army dressed as police) took its vengance on the town. All the accusation (not explained in detail at the time, but easy to find on the web) of rape and sexual torture. All to defend a Wal-Mart. How the government placed a toxic waste dump there, out in the Atenco fields, literally.

I saw the land they were fighting for, from up on a hill. It's too bad my camera wasn't working well. Sure it looked like desert, where once it had been the swamps surrounding the lake. Yet that was it for them, the Mexico City people were trying to expand here to take their water. That was the real purpose of the airport in some peoples' view.

Okay, Okay, I need to chill out. I already wrote about Atenco, didn't I? Well, that was a bit too long, and too dry in terms of only presenting information. What struck me in Atenco was the sense of a community rising.

It's a far cry from the U.S. world of web petitions, or of Che Guevarra's "vanguards" coming in and waiting for the people to support them. Or of people back at Warren Wilson College being "in solidarity" with people that they may not have even met.
Anyways, in short, I am a hypocrite who can't help admiring rebels in other countries, even if their cause, I know, is not truely mine. I'll write about something more calm next entry, I promise!

Who is this Subcomandante Marcos dude I keep mentioning?

2009-05-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

Above: Subcomander Marcos shows that he is not afraid of cancer. courtesy of http://kassandraproject.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/el-subcomandante-marcos/

I am studying Spanish. Yet I write these entries in English so that people back at home can read them. I also spend some time here taking classes about history and current and past issues facing Mexico, along with the rest of the world.* So, when I refer to these things, people may get confused.

I've made at least two references to Subcommander Marcos though, without explaining who he is. For my blog's two official followers, I assume this is not a problem. For everyone else, it might be.

Actually no one really knows who he is. Like all of the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) officials he nearly always appears in ninja-type ski-mask outfits which he regrets making the norm for his appearences given the Mexican heat.

Marcos is not his real name. I've also heard that he decided to change his name to Delegate Zero. He claims the mask isn't just to hide himself but to make more people identify with him by not making himself a specific person.

The Mexican government believes that he is Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente, a former philosophy profesor in Mexico City. He denies this, but it does fit the popular account in which he came into the state of Chiapas trying to tell the local Maya "workers of the world unite!" and that they should grab land from the evil greedy capitalist thieves etc. The Maya "just stared at him."

They told him that the land wasn't property and they didn't consider themselves workers. This is the version that Wikipedia believes in. So, it has to be true. In any case, he claims to have been converted to their way of thinking.

He's a spokesperson for the "Zapatistas" The name comes from Emiliano Zapata, a leader in the 1910 revolution.

One of the ideas behind the EZLN was that the NAFTA trade aggreement and other policies of were favoring big plantations over small farms. There were many other issues of course, but if I had to pick one, that would be it.

I find it telling that, according to my teacher Antonio (himself a gay-rights/AIDS activist), Marcos is on record as saying "transgenic" instead of "transgender" when trying to talk about LGBT rights. It probably means he often can't think about anything besides corn.

They captured control of a series of towns in 1994, and still hold control of some areas.

They claim to be an organization of direct-democracy with Marcos acting only as a spokesperson for the Mayan communities which he represents. I can admire the idea, if it is in fact true. My friend Rudy Rodriguez-Vivero thinks that they are pawns of Europeans who want mineral rights in Chiapas. The EZLN often gets labeled as a foreign group of armed terrorists,especially here in Mexico.

Which is why Subcomandante Marcos and other Zapatistas have, more or less quit trying to expand militarilly in Chiapas and are now doing speaking tours around Mexico, and apparently writing childrens books.

Mexico has, however, moved on. Many leftists now support Lopez-Obrador (whom Marcos hates). I get the feeling that most ordinary Mexicans would rather run across the border than fight the system. After all, they get better results from that usually.

Idealizing foreign rebels is exactly the wrong strategy for people in the U.S. right now. We have "indigenous" people in our own country too!** Supporting rebels in foreign countries (also including his holiness the Dalai Lama) sends the message that we just want to save some random exotic race and not ourselves. The left is just as guilty as the right on this.

If there's anything I've learned here from studying Atenco, or the 13 Pueblos movement,*** or even the "Zapatistas" it's that these movements draw strength from being rooted in Mexican or more often local identity. People in the U.S. should seriously take the hint already.

*Unlike when my sister did this program I am not going to Guatemala on any official visits (people said it was too distracting). However, we have discussed U.S./United Fruit Company interventions in El Salvador and Guatemala, we just haven't been there.

**The term "Nativo Americano" never caught on in Mexico, because literally interpreted it includes nearly all Mexican Citizens.

***A group against the creation of the landfill in Loma de Mejilla.

I'm staying!

2009-05-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

So, if it doesn't surprise you, I am staying. Yes! I'll be doing a summer program here, including an internship promoting Center for Global Education programs and more spanish classes. I may also sit in on the art history class offered this summer. I've got a full week before all that starts. Meaning? Hopefully more blogging, especially now that it's rainy season

How (not) to present NAFTA

2009-05-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

What happened last week? Why did people quit hearing from me then? Swine flu? Are you joking? You've got more chance of catching it than I do, like I've said!

No,I had a 10 page paper and presentation to do on a subject that I could present back at home. I chose NAFTA (North American Free Trade) and globalized trade/debt in general as far as it impacts here in the state of Morelos.

The night before it was due I stayed up late in Casa Cemal and the little sleep I got was on the Cemal couch (for any number of reasons. Safer not to be in the streets with a laptop computor at 5:00 AM, desire to put finishing touches on my project in the morning etc.)

I asked for suggestions afterwards from classmates. People said it was too scattered (I was trying to relate it to everything I saw).

They thought it was weird that a writer such as myself would do my presentation as a powerpoint with no prepared script.

They were expecting a series of monologues,like my earlier show about this neighborhood's tap water and sewage disposal history (Yes! One can do a series of monologues about water issues!). Judy Shevilev criticized that earlier presentation for presenting my interview subjects' views but not mine.

I should have just done a rap video like my friend Josiah ("Goose") Guzik did.

I may put up some more on NAFTA and/or water issues later, given the variety show that is this blog (nightclubs and landfills?).

Dirty Politics (imported from CGE Blog entry by me).

2009-05-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

lunes 20 de abril de 2009
Dirty Politics?
By Ben Pounds
Please note: the version on the CGE blog has pictures, which I'm to lazy to include here. Also because of the more academic nature of this entry, I only dealt briefly with being attacked by bees after getting briefly separated from the group. My arm was swolen for a while after that.
That blog has a strict policy of having to ask permission of people before showing their faces, a rule that I should have followed here.

We were going to see Cuernavaca’s new landfill. We had left the edge of the city and now saw cows grazing. Then we hit what could only be described as a homemade checkpoint. A barb wire fence stretched across the street. After a few residents serving as guards opened the gate and our van passed, I had no clue what to expect.

The farmer who owned the land was happy to show us around. He opened yet another fence and let us walk through.

So, without setting foot in the landfill itself, we saw it. A grey hill above the canyon with trucks coming and going.

The gate had not been meant to stop us from entering government property. It had been built to stop the government or its allies from coming in and coercing the residents out of their land. Really its main purpose, now that I look back was to prevent trucks with garbage from coming in.

I had not intended for this entry to be about politics primarily. Our partners, the bloggers in Thailand, had been writing about human rights and government accountability rather than environmental concerns. Politics here though is tricky as is politics everywhere. It may involve bribery, alliances, networks, and (if I am to believe what some people have told me with regards to the landfill) physical threats. In short it is like politics everywhere else. I would hate for what I write here to be misinterpreted as an insult to Mexican politics particularly. However, one can broadly say that the “perfect dictatorship” described during the years of one-party domination continues in some ways in today’s multi-party Mexico.

The landfill was itself an improvement on the previous open-air dump near an indigenous community. Not everyone has access to the services of the privatized, new garbage collection company, PASA (the privatization of garbage collection was a controversial move on the part of the government in recent years).

The rivers in some ravines, already places for dumping sewage, hold a great deal of garbage put there by the residents whose houses cannot be reached by garbage trucks. In some ways one could say that the landfill is an improvement over that system.

Studies say that the soil is too porous to protect the below-ground aquifers from possible leaching. Thus, the project deprives neighboring communities of the right to clean water as their water is now contaminated. The local government representatives that we met with countered by saying the lands do not contain very much fertile soil. They may not be very fertile although that does not stop people from raising corn, cattle, chickens, and (as I found out the hard way) bees.

Despite the vocal opposition all the political parties are in favor of the landfill, including the “Ecological Green Party” (a party here famous for its support of the death penalty).

When they proposed other sites, government officials said “go research them yourselves.” Perhaps the greatest motivation for the current site is that the contamination that results from the landfill flows into smaller, poorer communities and doesn’t directly affect the city of Cuernavaca.

Some local citizens have found their own solution in setting up recycling centers and small-scale water-treatment plants. Despite, or possibly because of, their general distrust of the city government, these people have received some government support, including the filming of a public service announcement. Yet they remain cynical. When asked about the sewage treatment plants in Cuernavaca created directly by the government, the creator of a small scale plant at a local school was quick to point out that they did not work.

As I watch the local citizens in the Cuernavaca area so actively engaged in their communities, I remain aware of my role here as a foreigner. The last thing I want to be is another invader in this country, so my own involvement has limits. However, in learning about the struggles of this place and of the people here working for a more just world, I am convinced that my involvement back in the U.S. will always be affected and inspired by the activists of Mexico.

Don't Panic!

2009-05-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

Share this anyone who is worried about me and/or about the swine flu.

Yes I am in Mexico. In Cuernavaca, Morelos to be specific, the city of eternal spring (to me more like eternal summer). I have been to Mexico City recently, but not recently enough for that to be a problem.

As far as I know there have been no reported cases in Cuernavaca. A few in the state of Morelos.

Yeah, I was freaking out at the first warnings. Now I just find the people with their surgical masks (cubrebocas) to be funny. Not only that but we here at Augsburg's Center for Global Education have way too many of our surgical masks, for what its worth. Also I've heard that there's more cases in the U.S. right now than here in Mexico.

The fact is THIS IS A NON-FATAL ILLNESS. NORMAL FLU KILLS MORE PEOPLE! People always get scared of new things because they're new.

Please check out this site if you want some real information. If the link doesn't work for you, copy and paste the adress
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20090501/putting-swine-flu-in-perspective

Our classes aren't closed because we're all from the U.S., even if we're running out of Mexican guest speakers at times who are willing to come to our classes. Some people are leaving but this'll probably be over as fast as bird flu or West Nile Virus. I'm still staying.

The real issue is that some Mexicans aren't educated enough to wash hands before eating and other such preventative matters, often try to auto-medicate with useless anti-bacterials and don't see doctors soon enough. However, I can assure you that none of the above applies to me or my friends down here, including my Mexican friends. Also I've temporarily suspended my involvement of

One girl here called her friend in Mexico City, who said that he didn't know anyone who actually had it (neither do I) and that it's all a conspiracy by the government. I don't know about the Mexican government, but I think that the U.S. government and media may be trying to distract attention from Osama bin Ladin's death, as announced by Pakistani officials. I heard that in passing here in Mexico. I'm not sure if any of you did. I still believe that it's real, but not really a threat. I may have already had it and gotten over it actually.

Oh, and eating well-cooked pork will not get you sick. I just thought I might add that.

And I might mention my favorite Mexican flu remedy I've heard, this from back when I had, and got over a different strain of flu (or possibly the same one, but unlikely, because it was earlier):
Have someone experienced put alchohol and lime juice (probably some other ingrediants too, I've never actually seen it done), burn it, and then put it out before it actually hits your feet. It's used by Indigenas (as we say here in Mexico, the term "natives" being too ambiguous) from the state of Puebla. I assume it's a solution they figured out after the Spanish destroyed their sweat lodges (which I've seen in the ruins here).

Atenco

2009-04-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

This Thursday and Friday we went to Atenco, a place of resistance in the face of brutal government actions, of love for the land and compadres. It happens to be located near Mexico City, but it remains semi-rural ejido land.

Basically the government wanted to build an airport right over their fields, houses, even their cemetary, while negociations about water and schools were already underway. They were accused of kidnapping public officials, a charge that many in the town say was false. Protesters took to the street with machetes shouting Tierra Si, Aviones No! The protesters avoided violence except in self defence, and even then their weaponry was limited to machetes. The government decided to put their airport elsewhere.

In addition to attracting visitors from other resistance movements (including Subcomandante Marcos and other neo-Zapatistas) Atenco began to help other nearby towns. In a particular case they were trying to help flower vendors in another town who stood in resistance to a Wal Mart being built over their flower market. To make a long story short the state police came in, possibly with some national military dressed as State Police, and led a campaign of arrests, rape, and in one case literally beating people to death. Some of the people in prison from that time still have yet to be released.

Touring Atenco, I was amazed by how the people could still remain smiling, and determined (right now freeing prisoners is the main concern) after all that happened. They no longer vote in elections, but to me they seemed more engaged than anyone I had met in the U.S.

Barack Obama was in Mexico City at the same time, and we saw his heiliocopter passing. What struck me here was that, unlike elsewhere in Mexico, here I actually found cynicism about Obama, rather than indifference, or (rarely) hope, as I've found elsewhere. They considered him to be the same as Bush, which to them made him at least something of an enemy. Like me, they were concerned about the troops in Juarez, although theirs was in some ways the opposite of my concern. While I worried that the army would encounter hatred, violence, and endless war (another Columbia, or another Iraq) they were worried that it would be another Puerto Rico! It's not too surprising to hear that kind of sentiment in what history has taught me is the Polland of the Americas. Yet no one else seems to have any problem with the foreign troops. It could be their own experience has made them distrust armies, while in Cuernavaca, one still finds tanks patrolling Holy Week processions.

I worry about writing entries like this. I worry that I will be blacklisted here in Mexico, or that dissidents will get unwanted exposure. For that reason I did not give names.

Urban Homestay familiy

2009-04-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

Some people might want to know about my urban homestay. So here it goes:

My host-Mom is Alicia, a retired teacher. She's very understanding of any problems that I have. Originally from Puebla, and the decendent of Hacienda owners, she still enjoys Puebla food and traditions, including my favorite flu remedy: Putting alchohol on ones feet and lighting them on fire, then putting it out (there's probably more to it than that, I've never actually seen it). When I was sick she never actually got around to having here sister do it, but she was planning it.

She considers herself Catholic, although she never attends mass, and believes that how one acts is more important than what one believes. She still has a cross above every bed in the house for protection though. She enjoys chatting with relatives and dancing.

My host-Dad is long-time Cuernavaca resident Rudy, an auto mechanic and bicycling champion. He still bikes long distances every Sunday with friends, often through the mountains. Like Alicia, he does not go to mass. He's not around very much, due to work and cycling. He enjoys talking about history and politics, although all conversations with him are somewhat one-sided, given his hearing problems.

Rudy used to support the currently-powerful PAN party, but now blames them for the current economic crisis and considers them a lesser evil. One could call him generally "conservative" in that he sticks to his habits, opposes large government spending, and strongly hates Subcommander Marcos, a revolutionary in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas. Rudy claims Marcos is merely a puppet for foreign interests, which seems to be the equivalent of calling someone a Communist in the U.S. Yet Rudy is not the kind of religious conservative I know and love from Tennessee. Social and religious issues rarely come up in conversations with him and he would rather ride his bike across mountains on Sunday than go to mass.

Last but not least of my nuclear family is Herbe (pronounced Herb-bay), my host brother. He is an adult technically, but he still lives at home with his parents because of his mental disabilities, which also make it difficult for him to talk coherently. He enjoys sitting on staircases for long periods of time and pushing people in the direction that they are heading. It is impossible not to like Herbe, even if he is the main reason my family does not travel outside the state of Morelos.

As with many Mexican families we often get visits from relatives both young and old. Alicia's young god-daughter Marta also stops by often for help with homework, or to watch after-school telenovelas such as "La Rosa de Guatalupe."

And maybe for lack of practice, I can't think of a good conclusion.

Clubs and Cafes thus far

2009-04-05T17:18:00.000-07:00

Here´s a few places I´ve been to thus far. This is not in order of when I visited them. More to come! And I've added a few that I'd already visited when I wrote this but had no time to write about.
Los Arcos:
Restaurant/bar/live music. The prices of drinks are generally cheap. They sell small coronas in sets of eight, which can make ordering beer a bit confusing (I´ve experienced this). Food is generally overpriced (for Mexico) and my friends who have eaten there don't like it very much.
Music varies. I used to think it was always Salsa, but apparently only on Tuesdays and sometimes on weekends. Goose has told me that the entertainment when he was there Thurs. night it was just a man on a keyboard. On nights when there is Salsa, it´s a great place in my opinion. The spaces between tables are crowded at times, but you can go outside the fenced in area and dance (no one will stop you). It´s also right in the middle of town.
Guantanamera:
Club, Salsa and Cumbia music. They alternate between a live band and recorded music, all of it Salsa or Cumbia. It´s fairly expensive, but if you want an actual dance floor it beats Los Arcos. A good variety of drinks, both alchoholic and non-alchoholic. Probably the weirdest feature is the televisions that are always set to MTV, on mute, when not dancing you can watch Bevis and Butthead.
La Comuna:
¨To Eat is a Human Right, at La Communa it is a pleasure¨ bar, and restaurant, nice omlets. It´s run by an independant human rights observer. When I was there it was a night for Mexican political/protest music, which, like its U.S. equivalent is an acoustic style emphasizing lyrics.
La Maga
Restaurant/Cafe with an all-you-can eat buffet for lunch. Excellent food and atmosphere. Also great for live music on some nights including the local ecclectic band Ampersan. Personally I like it if you couldn't tell.
Barcenal
American-pop dance club, with some Reggaton thrown in. As this is Mexico, and given the current music-style's emphasis on grinding, guys outnumber girls (who presumably worry more about modesty). The club is considerably more popular with the girls of our group than with the guys. I'm often fine dancing alone though.
Harry's
Saved this one for last, and worst, but this blog is not just about good things. A group of Mexicans led us here, possibly because Americans seem to like it, despite it being listed in our book under "not recommended." Exclusively American pop and hip-hop music. The decorations look copied from American Eagle T-shirts that happened to relate to bullfighting and Lucha Libre. Nearly all the people there are Gringos. It has a reputation for being racist, sexist, and possibly drugging girls' drinks. I feel guilty that I actually enjoyed myself there, as one Mexican girl there actually seemed to want me to dance with her (in typical Mexican fashion her brother was the one who actually came over to ask). Given the club's reputation though, perhaps the brother forced her into it. Other than dancing with her (which I now also feel guilty about) I can't think of too much to recommend that would counterbalance the club's terrible reputation.

I've had other things...

2009-03-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I´ve visited the Palacio de Cortez, seen the towns of Tepotzlan and Amatlan (actually those towns were before everything else I´m listing here) seen the construction of a landfill from a distance, been chased by bees near the same said landfill site, and been to a combined total of three birthdays and weddings. I´m staying at my urban homestay now, which explains the many family occaisions. And on top of that all my classes, with long readings and sometimes long writings every week.
And I haven´t written about any of it here, yet
Why?
Well see the above!
Plus I got the flu for a brief bit and needed rest! I think I´m over it now, and am only coughing from allergies, I´m not sure
I can´t go down to the 6 pesos-a-day internet place all the time, even if it is close by, I´ve had other things.
My next blog entry will be for the official CGE blog. I´ll let you know when it´s up.

No digas Amen!

2009-03-02T19:48:00.001-08:00

This happened a few sundays ago, when I was struggling more with Spanish. Apparently I'm quite fluent with it now, according to Rosaurio my current Spanish teacher. Anyways, just a nice "Gringo Idioto" story to put down while I'm here at Casa Verde with less other people using the wireless network. For the purposes of this blog my own religious views do not matter. Assume if it amuses you, that I worship Quetzicoatl.

Anyways: I went to the Pentacostl church down the street. I figured Penticostals are becoming more and more a part of Mexican culture, and I'd already visited the Catholic church down the street. It seemed a good way to meet people and learn Spanish also.
I'm slightly late, realize that I'm sitting on the wrong side, and move over to the mens' side. The seating consisted of plastic chairs. Just as at the Catholic church that I'd visited earlier, they lacked hymnals and seemed to sing from memory. Also similar to the Catholic Church that I had visited, they had a band with a keyboard and electric guitar. They were more call-and-response oriented though.

At one point the preacher asked us to raise our hands if we had lost all sense of hope in the world. I didn't catch what the question was so I raised my hand. No one else did.

The man next to me (whom I later learned had found Jesus while working as a landscaper in Texas) wispered to ask me what was up. I wispered to him that Spanish was not my first language.
He invited me to the church cena that night, and explained it to me there. It was tortas with beans and cheese, and (in some cases) spicy peppers. He said he hated the food and had only taken his torta to be polite, so he gave it to me. Personally I preferred the food at Cemal, but I As I recall, he said something (in broken English) about trying to learn dirty words in indiginous dialects before finding Jesus. I clearly got that he continued landscaping work here in Cuernavaca.

Hacienda

2009-03-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

After visiting the Ixlilco Ejido we stayed at an Hacienda linked to Antonio's family. I did not mention it there becauses that post was too long already. It was a learning experience. Now, haciendas are quaint resorts for tourists. Previously, they were where the upper-classes kept the Indigenas and Mestizos growing shugar for them, often holding them there through debt.

Above: The beginning of the Hacienda system, using "encomienda" slavery (debt came later after slavery was illegalized. Picture by Diego Rivera

In the 1940s hacienda owners had to choose which part of the land they wanted to keep. Usually this meant their house.

It was very luxurious compared to my time in Ixlilco. We still had class sessions though, often talking about what we saw and about the differences in legal systems and what "The Law" means (why, for example "illegales" is considered an OK term here in Mexico by those who have been illegally to the states, but isn't really the best term to use for them back in the U.S.). And of course, Ivan Illych's "To Hell with Good Intentions."

The hacienda was one of the most beautiful places though that I've seen here in Mexico. With cane-warehouses converted into pools, I wasn't sure of what to make of past and present here. They seemed distinct, contradicting, yet both here.

Good Indian, bad Indian

2009-03-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

The picture above is by Siqueros, one of Mexico's greatest muralists, alongside Orozco and Rivera. I actually saw this mural. Some of this posts other pictures were not taken by me though.

(Note, I didn't put this when it happened, but at this point I do not care. My composition class is over now, but I'll mention a few more stories from it probably)

As my Spanish class with Rosalva was one-on-one, we got into some odd conversations. We read a piece in the textbook (for our reportage unit) on one indigenous Mexican town's "Dance of the Conquest," unusual in its portrayal of Malinche as a heroine (people in the town claim her as one of their own).

We got onto the subject of one of America's Malinches: Pocahontas. Rosalva said that in America we love Indians only to bury them (also referring to the portrayal in Dances with Wolves). I asked her whether it was true in Mexico as well. She said "yes." It's funny how the whole "good indian" v. "Bad Indian" thing works out, at least in "traditional" histories (just as racist in both countries perhaps, but still interesting, things are beginning to change in both countries). Here's the U.S.A.'s "Good Indians":

here's our "Bad Indians" :

I realize this is starting to change, with the current work on the Crazy-Horse monument. The 19th century view is still alive to some people though. What we put on pedastals does not necessarily jive with our present-day reality. It's more our version of where we came from and what we choose to define as "national."

Anyways in mainstream Mexican History, it's just as racist...

Good Indians:

(The statues were taken by me, the other one of Cuahtemoc, I got from a web search.

Bad Indian:

That last one was Malinche, Cortez's translator and mistress. She's also in that first picture, but I couldn't blow it up big enough to accurately show her making out with a suit of armor. Oficially she's considered the reason for the downfall of the Aztec Empire. Rosalva said that it was just another myth like Cleopatra or Eve, that was intended to put women down. She claimed some Meztisos (mixed-race Mexicans, the majority of the country) hate her because they blame her for creating the Meztiso race ("Hijos de la Malinche"). They'd rather be 100% Spanish.

As for Rosalva's opinion, she sees her as a curious victim caught up in Cortez's plan.

I'm not sure I agree with her version or the old version. The fact is that many nations in what is now Mexico were tired of paying tribute to the Aztecs and thought the Spanish were there to help them (they were wrong, the conquistadors demanded more). Rosalva gets offended though when people insult pre-Collumbian nations (she has problems with Apocalypto too).

As far as present-day Mexico goes, Rosalva's statement that I pass for an upper-class Mexican probably says something about the current upper-class. I've found people who look like me more at the top of the hill than at the bottom (upper and lower are literal here in Cuernavaca) I'll get to my environmental racism observations later (or seeing how this blog is going, "earlier").

"fear" v. "common sense"

2009-02-22T18:07:00.000-08:00

There's one story I forgot to tell about Lucha Libre night.
It seemed at one point that the guy selling Luchador masks had quit going around and selling them. I asked one of the guards/ushers at the door about where the man who sold them was, and he pointed me to portly mustached man wearing a Spider-Man T-shirt. The Spider-dude said that I needed to follow him outside where all the masks are.
Then Vinnie (a native of New York and current roommate) caught me and told me that I should ignore the offer or else ask Spider-dude to bring them back inside.
"But isn't that rude?" I asked.
Eventually I pretended to agree with Vinnie. As it turned out a different man (not Spider-dude) came back with masks during another break. Vinnie was probably right.
"Being rude" is what gets people into trouble in Tennessee (the steriotypical image of the guy with a shotgun saying "get off my property!" comes to mind, even though that's never happened to me). Politeness is valued here too, perhaps more-so at times. But there's also a whole set of assumptions that, being from a small town, I never really learned, about cities.
For me, suspecting the worst of other people is something I got over. In middle school I was nervous the swimming pool for fear someone might laugh at me, especially when I was with my parents. Learning that people aren't going to laugh at or humiliate you usually (which as a child I assumed was the worst that could happen) was a part of growing up. From there on, I made the logical jump that people are good until proven otherwise, and that planning for the worst was doublethink.
On one car ride to a club (can't remember which) I had a talk with some girls from Minneapolis who told me that it's not fear, it's Common Sense.
Well This is what was Common Sense:

Wear a seatbelt (Seatbelts are often sunken into seats in Mexico possibly from disuse?)
Motorcycle helmets (I actually rode a motorcycle with Raul in Ixlilco, with no helmet).
Wash your hands before eating ... (And look like a paranoid Gringo Idioto!)
Tall walls with broken glass = just creepy (they're the trend on this street)

A Note on that last one: I've come to appreciate them as an excellent sustainable re-using of glass. Same goes for making cattle fences out of matress springs, which I saw in Ixlilco. Maybe instead of all these key cards at Warren Wilson College, we should invest in some tall walls with sustainable broken glass...

Libras on "Lucha Libre" and souveniers.

2009-02-20T15:11:00.000-08:00

I saw my first Lucha Libre match last night. It wasn't very crowded, but I'd say there was a fairly good-sized crowd. I hadn't really realized how much audience participation was involved. It was a routine trick of theirs to throw each other out into the audience. I'd say whoever runs it was taking some chances when they had Mystico, their biggest star, loose.

I'd say it was worth it. They had some pretty awesome souveneirs. I got a red and blue mask with two eagles. I didn't see the luchador associated with it (if their is one). Earlier I bought a souvenier sun and moon at Universal, my language school, which often hosts various craft vendors. At the time, it looked like just the thing for one of our blank walls, but I'm not sure whether anyone back at home will want it. I mean seriously, a blue sun?

Don´t Panic!

2009-02-18T18:48:00.000-08:00

I was talking to my friend Goose (Josiah Guzik) today. He told me that I should only write about one conversation or event per day. Or at the very least keep things simple. I´ll try to do this blog daily with that style. Is that alright with everyone?

Okay, so some of this will make more sense when I do more back-dating. The embassy talk clarified much of what follows. My journal and notes can help me with back-dating.

But I assume people want to keep hearing from me especially with events in Juarez being what they are right now, never mind that I´m not in Juarez! Oh, and I´d go off on a long diatribe against wrong policies there, but I´m just a Gringo Idioto! For now I´ll say that Mexico´s problems, especially along the boarder, are at least partly the U.S.´s problems.

Several conversations today. I´ll leave Betty Ramos aside for now, even though she came again today (see below for her theories).

The big news is that last night some students were held up. I would say ¨mugged¨ but that implies physical harm rather than just taking the money and running. Funny this is the first time anything like this has happened. (I´ll try to connect to classmates blogs in the future to fill in narrative gaps). Also, interestingly enough, it corresponded with analyzing a newspaper article in my Spanish workbook about the rise in use of burglar alarms and security guards in El Salvador´s capital (the article was not current).

Rosalva (my teacher) and I had a long discussion in Spanish about gun control in the U.S., even though we had just barely gotten through talking about a previous ¨Minivacas¨article which talked about dog-sized cows that required less land. We also touched on the many ways of indicating cause and effect in Spanish and their connotations.

Theoretically there are even stricter gun laws here in Morelos than in the U.S. even if they are not followed. Some police are corrupt here, and they may have been involved. But we have support of local businesses on our street and the local Catholic church. I learned some of this at a meeting we had as a group.

Also we have a new security guard to join our old one. We also have a new emergency cell phone system. So please, don´t panic!

Today in Class

2009-02-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

Today Rosalva (my Spanish teacher) beat me at Spanish language scrabble. We also discussed the composition-style and guidelines of journalism, and how to detect bias. The examples the textbook used had to do with bullfighting, a sport Rosalva deplores. Actually seeing as its status as ¨sport¨ is disputed, I should probably think of a different term.

I handed her an outline of my ¨advertisement¨ describing Stinson Lake. I realized after writing it that I hadn´t adhered to the guidelines very well in terms of selling the place, or describing the kind of people attracted to it. I realized that I had to expand the ad to include places in the area. I think I just wrote about it because all this warm weather was getting to me.

Why I now allow google ads

2009-02-17T13:52:00.000-08:00

In short it is because I have no certain job future. So, I figure Google can have their fun with what I write, if I can make a few cents off it. I don't think most people read blogs much anyway, and if you're here by accident well go ahead, click on an ad! You might just as soon be reading the latest "learn-Spanish-quick" page or some fancy resort page as what I write here.

Oh, and one thing: It'll all be over if the Peugeot Automobille Lottery takes over my e-mail account again, and changes my name to "Peugeot Automobille Lottery." Yes this actually did happen once. Got that! Don't be evil, Google.

Update/Backdate: High v. Low Context

2009-02-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

(The "Sacred Heart," at left in Robert Brady Museum, at right, the low-context "sacred head")

Okay, so here's the deal with "high-context" v. "Low Context" cultures. I have some issues with it. We've read about these concepts in a book by Mexican-Canadian Betty Ramos (who now lives in Mexico). The book is called The Geocontext and as of now it's only available here in Mexico despite being in English. It was cheifly written for buisinesspeople, but her central idea is that Mexico's "high-context" culture should complement the U.S. "Low Context" culture to form a "Geo-Context" culture. She admits that this will not be easy because of values on both sides of the fence

Especially here in Mexico, the demonization of the "Malinche" (a term used for Cortez's translator/mistress, fluent in numerous languages) has implications, especially for women who want to exist in a "Geocontext." She had many complicated things to say about the whole "Malinche" buisiness, which could fill an entire other post.

So, without further ado here are the high and low contexts, as best as I can sum them up.
Please note that these are Ramos's opinions, not mine. I am not sure what to think at this point. Some people have said that their homestay parerents were anything but "high context."

Low Context
As the name implies, in a "Low Context" culture people are more "to-the-point" and direct in conversation. Prices are not negociable, "yes" means "yes" and 4:00 means 4:00. Hence the context does not matter as much as it would in a "high-context" culture. Also, people value individualism and the present, rather than society and the past. This does not mean they are bad team players, as their ability to put aside emotions makes compromises more easy at times.

Laws have to be written out in order to be followed. Lawsuits are more common in some low-context countries. At least in theory, equality is considered important. The United States, Brittain, Germany, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico are all low-context, as is arguably Russia, under the system that Betty Ramos uses.

High Context:

With high context cultures, the context matters a good deal more. The language is used is often more flowery and less direct. "Yes" often means "No" or "Maybe." 4:00 can mean 4:15 or 4:30, especially for social gatherings. Hence in order to express true apreciation, you have to make sure it sounds like appreciation, not dismissal. Politeness is important, and takes a much longer form. To thank someone, one should not just say "thank you." One should also include why one is thankful.

However, joking complements on physical appereance are also accepted in some high context cultures, even though in low-context cultures they are considered harassment. This is because the context in which they are said matters.

Emotion generally matters more in high-context than in low-context societies. Indeed, the word "romance" can also refer to a group of languages (Spanish, French, Portugese) derived from "roman" latin. Emotions in high context culture are often reduced to steriotype and the export of Mexican soap operas does not exactly discourage the steriotypical image. However, like all cultural standards, those surrounding emotion are also a bit complicated (see below).

High-context cultures put more emphasis on one's standing in society, which is different from the low-context concept "self-esteem." Most words in English (a low-context language) that include "self" have very few translations into other languages. Social obligations, particularly involuntary ones such as loyalty to one's family are seen as important.

In terms of countries, Mexico, Columbia, and Japan are all high-context. Southern Europe (including Spain and Italy) is also somewhat low-context, or at least it has been in the past.

Problems that I see with this scheme:
It's not bad, but I see some shortcomings. Even Betty Ramos sees shortcomings within the scheme, such as the difference between "male" (in most countries low-context) and female (in most countries high-context) cultures. She also mentions differences between regions and even individuals. Many cultures (such as in Northern Mexico) are already mixtiures of "high" and "low" contexts.
I've got a few of my own problems with it.
First off: "High" v. "Low"? Any scheme that divides the world into two categories seems suspicious. I particularly have some issues with where exactly to put France in this scheme (pretty low-context, but not as low-context as Brittain? Or is it more low-context?). Also assuming that Mexican customs will resemble Japanese ones just because of them both being "high-context" may get you into trouble, particularly concerning "piropos" (complements and cat-calls flung by men at women).
"High" and "Low" are somewhat charged words to use in any situation, as they imply that one is better than the other.
In addition Ramos mentions Catholic v. Protestant influence on the U.S. and Mexico, saying that high-context Mexican culture, with it's emphasis on social hierarchical obligation and non-verbal communication can be seen as Catholic-influenced, whereas Protestantism has had the opposite influence on U.S. culture.

At first I thought this made perfect sense, noticing that religious signs here usually had images of saints rather than directly stating everything through words, like in Tennessee, my home state. Then I started thinking and realized Tennessee was "high context" compared to the "low-context" northeastern United States. However the South-East is also more historically Protestant and the Northeast more Catholic.

So, I'll keep what Ramos says in mind for what I should say, but I don't know if I can reduce the world around me like that.

Sightseeing in Mexico City

2009-02-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

A group of us decided to go sightseeing in Mexico City. We walked down the Paseo de la Reforma, passing a statue of an Aztec hero (I've forgotten which, I have photos of two different ones this one came out better) and an office buiding with huge white wings painted on its windows

...before stopping for breakfast at Sanborn's, a place that was owned by Carlos Slim , the world's richest man, who currently also owns Mexico's telephone company, and apparently an insurence company as well. Basically he grabbed up a monopoly on the telephone company after it was privatized, thus defeating the whole presumed purpose of privatization (more competition).

We then headed to La Plaza de la Constitución , passing the Torre Lationoamerica. Not knowing its history, some of us called it "the knockoff Empire State Building." To many of us (including myself) it seemed a particularly ugly building. However, the purpose of this blog is not to insult Mexico (many other people are already doing that). After all functionalist architecture was ours before it was theirs, and the building has held up through earthquakes.

The Plaza looked more like Europe than like New York City. It was a wide plaza, with detailed Colonial-Era buildings, not overcrowded or invaded by modern skyscrapers. The buildings here were built mostly by the Spanish on top of Aztec ruins.

All that remained of the Aztec Plaza was the Templo Mayor's ruins. The Spanish seemed to have literally ripped the top of it off, but it still had one or two Quetzicoatl heads still in good condition. We were too cheap to pay to go down into the ruins. It was supposedly the site where the Aztec empire began, where the ancient wandering Aztecs saw an Eagle standing on a cactus (which is now the national symbol on Mexico's flag).

Instead we went to the Metropolitan Cathedral located right next door, and looked at the very impressive arched ceiling and various golden facades honoring saints. It was such an impressive building that it probably would not have been free if it had been built to honor pagan gods instead of Catholic saints. Actually it wasn't entirely free for me. I was required to take off my hat. I set it down and lost it for all eternity (as happens with all objects misplaced in big cities).

I saw some people dressed up as Aztecs outside of the Cathedral, including one person who was performing sagegrass clensings. I did not think that was an Aztec custom. It could just be for the benefit of North-American tourists.

It was very crowded. People were on stage outside in the middle of the square playing music at a free concert. I was not there at the moment when the kissing record was broken, but even when I was there locals held signs reading "besos gratis." I took a few of them, although as Mexico is a Mediterrainean-settled area, kissing on cheeks is probably not as much of a statement as it is in the U.S. I also got a picture taken with a group of people dressed up as various Johnny Depp characters, and one as the Joker.

We then stopped by the Palacio de Bellas Artes where we saw spectacular murals by Orozco, Rivera, and Siquieros, including the famous "Man at the Crossroads" At first I though it an irony that the museum required 40 pesos for entry and 30 extra for photos if so many of the most famous artists were socialists. Actually, as I later learned Mexicans can now get in free. I loved Orozco's execution of Cuatemaloc mural, but the most interesting as far as this blog is concerned was Rivera's "Carnival of Mexican Life," depicting in its first pannel the pre-conceptions of tourists and foreigners, which are not the full story. If it were painted today, Rivera would have ironically had to include a stuffed Frida Khalo doll.

We headed back through a few market stalls. Some sold souveniers for tourists, or food. Others sold knockoff or bootleg products to Mexicans, including the laughable G.U.S.S. jeans and Versacci brand T-shirts (Versacci does not make T-shirts).

That evening after dinner at McTaco's (I'm not making that name up) and a terrifyingly fast taxi ride, we took the bus back while two girls stayed in town for a free concert. They were playing a dubbed-over American movie starring Nicolas Cage as some sort of magician in Las Vegas. I was too tired to really pay attention.

Coming soon to this post: Photos

Evening in Mexico City: Dancing at the World Trade Center

2009-02-13T12:51:00.000-08:00

Well I was among the people who stayed in Mexico City after the embassy talk.

I'd have to say that the section of Mexico City we were in reminded me of New York City, only with more palm trees. The neo-classical park statues, the tall buildings, the buisinessmen and political officials in their formal suits. True less of them were wearing coats than I remember in NYC (I've only seen NYC in the winter). Oh, and yes, there were beggars on the streets, but there are in NYC as well.

It could be just my limited range of personal reference. Both Mexico D.F. and New York City were modeled after European cities. In Mexico City's case, the French Invaders based the Paseo de la Reforma directly on the Champs Elysees (This is a blog. I don't have to wory about accents for French).

Mexico D.F. is more strictly zoned it seems than Cuernavaca. I did not see the kind of contrast between houses that I saw in Cuernavaca. And to make my time there even more New-York-ish, I saw a production of the Vagina Monologues which was translated into Spanish pretty directly, except for a few cultural references. It was intended to raise money for a women's group in Ciudad Juarez. I ate out at a restaurant with a karioke bar, although I did not sing, as it seemed (from what I heard) their selections were mostly songs I did not know.

Later that evening I found out that some of the girls had met up with a group of guys with parents who worked for the government. We all went out to a dance club with a view of the city. The music was a mix of Spanish and English language songs, and like many dance clubs here in Mexico they showed music videos for some of the songs. This was the first time that people have ever tried to check my card for a club here in Mexico. Somehow the Mexican guys got us in. No clue how that happened.

Some of us wanted to do sightseeing the next day, so we had to take a taxi back. I had a feeling that the guys felt slightly insulted that we left. From all I've heard of Mexican culture, they are less adhearent to strict scheduals at least as far as pleasure is concerned.

Oh, and one more thing: The building where the club was located conviniently had names in both Spanish and English written in several places. I missed the Spanish name, but in English it was the World Trade Center. I wonder if it was coincedental, or whether New York's WTC built in the 1970s served as an inspiration. Vinnie told me Boston also has a (still standing) one, and Wikipedia (which if you didn't guess by now I really love) lists several buildings by that name.

Embassy talk.

2009-02-13T12:07:00.000-08:00

The only requirement for the day was that we go to the U.S. embassy to talk to the various officials there. That was the first part of our day.

Embassy officials are bound to be biased to supporting U.S. policies, whatever those are. Administrations have changed since they started their work, but policies often have not. However I found the talk to be refreshing in some ways, because, being a Warren Wilson student, I've heard the anti-NAFTA, anti-border-control arguements many times, perhaps too many times.

Concerning the boarder control issues, the consulate official pointed out that it's not as hard to enter the U.S. as Russia. Another official pointed out that Guatemala's boarder swith Mexico had some difficult steps involved for immigration as well, and even suggested that one of us write a paper on the subject of Guatemalan immigrants to Mexico. Of course he was trying to change the subject, but that doesn't make Guatemala any less important.

As far as NAFTA, the trade and agriculture delagates' response could be summed up by saying "There are winners and loosers" while adding that there are more winners than loosers. The particular example that we discussed was an example (brought up in Ixlilco, but not recognized by the locals as related to NAFTA) of no longer being able to sell onions. Of course it's true that they've started on new industries in Ixlilco, such as tomatos and figs, but especially with the tomatos they need government assistance to do so. Their particular village had good connections with PAN, so they could get help with greenhouses for tomatos. It seems to me that "loosers" may well stay "loosers" without that kind of help.

I heard another thing that I'm sure will come up again on this blog. One man (they were all men) said that the army was trusted more here than the police, which is why they are often deployed for civil purposes.

I'm not convinced, although I've heard before that the police here are often corrupt, perhaps due to their low salaries. The embassy personnel claimed that Mexio's attempt to create a more high-paid police force was met with violence. I didn't ask, but I've read in newspapers about private contractors taking some responsibilities as well, which I consider to be an even worse solution, and which has caused some controversy.

Oh, and one more thing. I heard from the embassy personnel that the military training given by the U.S. is primarily non-compbat training, including PR work. This was meant to be reassuring, but to me it sounded strange, and possibly a waste of money. Training other countries' militaries is one thing, but training them on how to promote themselves has a very weird ring to it in my opinion.

The Ancient Mexico

2009-02-09T10:43:00.000-08:00

Some may say that studying in Mexico is strange. Tradition holds that one should study in a country with a long and proud history of artistic and scientific accomplishments, such as Brittain, France, or Italy.

In actuality certain parts of Mexico were indeed centers of learning and power.

Recently I visited the site of an ancient observatory, a city where Zapotec and Maya studied in ancient times. It included a cave with an ancient ¨telescope¨consisting of an opening to the sky, and (in ancient times) a bowl of water below to reflect. The opening was set up to coincide with the sun´s position at summer solstice.

Despite having no weapons beyond flint, they pulled off some great accomplishments including the invention of the number zero (long before it was though of in Europe) the notion that the Earth goes around the sun, and the ability to design a plaza where the echo of clapping sounds like a sacred cocateil (the last of these has yet to be accomplished by modern people, maybe for lack of trying). To me it seems racist to attribute these accomplishments to aliens, but many people do.

Of course these civilizations eventually ¨collapsed.¨ After the gradual collapse, here in Central Mexico,the Aztecs and later the Spanish conquered the remaining nations. Although many Indians thought the Spanish would be better masters than the Aztecs, they turned out to be just as demanding in some ways.

Mexico´s current rulers also rule from Mexico City. According to my teachers Mexico generally remains a hierarchical rather than equal society (it was hierarchical even in pre-Aztec times). I don´t know if I believe it, I haven´t been here long enough. The language brough by the Spanish doesn´t help much (givden that it distinguishes between tu and usted).

Last Week´s Homestay (in summary).

2009-02-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

Last week we had the rural homestay. I stayed with fellow-student ¨Goose¨ (real name Josiah) at the house of Raul, a former migrant to the U.S. (he worked at Wendy´s during his time there) and current repairer of electric appliances. He was happy to have us stay with him, so that he could review his basic English vocabulary.

His son-in-law, also named Raul, was the commissioner for the ejido. A note of explaination: An ejido is a piece of land given by the government to rural residents. Under current laws they can be bought and sold. Raul´s job is to co-ordinate local and national policy´s governing the ejido. He always followed our group wherever we went and whomever we talked to during class sessions in his town.

In short the groups that we talked to and visited included government officials, small-scale commercial farmers (of shugarcane, figs, and, tomatos) and cooperative workers who raised various animals, most notably organic chickens. We talked with a group of people who had migrated (with varying legal statuses) to the U.S. It struck that the one who had worked in Agriculture in Salinas had never heard of Cesar Chavez, but he did say that he hadn´t worked there very long.

At the town center I played basketball with some local children. It struck me also that basketball seems more popular here than in the U.S.

The town was generally supportive of PAN (Mexico´s more ¨right-leaning¨ party, which encourages trade with the United States). It wasn´t for any large reasons though, mostly just because of the loans for tomato greenhouses they had recieved. Antonio, one of my professors explained that Mexican politics is very personal and paternalistic, relying on what we in the U.S. would call ¨handouts.¨

We also met with some recipients and local leaders Madres de Opportunidad, a group of mothers who recieve government assistance. They cannot recieve money if they have children in the United States. This has less to do with legality and more to do with money. Due to the rate of the peso to the dollar, people can work for very small amounts in the U.S. and come back with more money in Pesos for their family.

My own host family (perhaps due to work in the U.S.) had a synthesizer (keyboard) a DVD burner and a PS2, but no shower. It was alright with me. I learned to prefer bucket baths anyway.

La llegada (the arrival)

2009-02-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

Note: This is the first of my psedo-chronological catch-up posts. I've done quite a few things by now, classes, homestays, etc. This is how I got to Cuernavaca.

The flight went smoothly. I did wait a good bit, but my ipod kept me going for that time. I thought they'd arrive earlier, so I had an airport staffer announce my name. It was interesting the whole pronunciation issue. I had to explain that it wasn't Poe-oonds.

Moises drove us through Mexico City. If I understood him correctly, Mexico City restricts who can drive on which day of the week. However, that sounded so confusing that I wasn't sure if I'd misunderstood him.

Eventually we got to Cuernavaca, passing the statue of Emilio Zapata on the way. I'd have to say that the scenery, particularly the mountains on the way there, impressed me.

In later days I started to miss pointless things such as signs being separate from walls and not painted onto them, or that houses not have walls reinforced by glass bottles or barbed wire. Looking back on those days now, I'd say that it was rather childish of me to desire everything to resemble East Tennessee.

In fact in an early class excersize, we were asked how many of us had relatives in another country, and I remained sitting, thinking that I was not like the Mexican staffers who had sons or nephews working in the U.S. (rather common for many people I've met here, but I'll return to that later). It had not registered with me that I was now in a different country . In fact I sometimes even, without meaning to, referred to the United States as "here."

A Few More Words of Explanation

2009-01-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

Yeah, there´s a lot that´s happened, but a lot more that needs to be explained. For starters: How our program works.
It´s run through Augsburg. We have sort of a small group, we take classes either at Casa CEMAL or at Universal (a local language school for travelers). Our teachers vary some in terms of national origin, although all of them are now Mexican Citizens, I believe. We also do homestays. It´s not complete immersion, we get to assess things in our small group, but homestays do take up a fairly large chunk of our time. It´s sort of an alternative-type institution, but then again, so was Warren Wilson.
Next time: I will actually say what has happened. Stay tuned!

Quick Update

2009-01-28T22:35:00.000-08:00

Okay, so right now I'm writing a paper on Martinez's excellent book: "Crossing Borders" so I don't have much time to talk about lessons concerning "high-context" v. "low context" society, touring the old Franciscan cathedral, my roommates (whose permission I need to publish their names) my fellow classmate who accedently ordered too many Coronas due to a garbled order in Spanish at an outdoor Salsa bar, or having local University Students lead me and a few others to a Gringo dominated hip-hop/pop club after one girl said she wasn't confident enough with Salsa. No, it's too late to write about any of those things. Buenas Noches, hope you enjoyed the teaser.
P.S. This blog will eventually have photos on it, just give me time.

First real Post

2009-01-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

Don´t feel like describing today yet. It was enough work just getting this blog up. but just to keep everyone the same level of up to date, here is what I wrote to my family in an e-mail recently (with a few modifications)

Hey, the flight went smoothly. I did wait a good bit, but my ipod kept me going for that time. I thought they'd arrive earlier, so I had an airport staffer announce my name. It was interesting the whole pronunciation issue. I had to explain that it wasn't Poe-oonds.

We´ve done the activity with the market prices today.The point of the activity was, using Morelos's minimum wage to try to find out if we could buy various "necessary" products at the market including shampoo, food, clothes for school. Then we came back and calculated these amounts in dollars. The dollars can be exchanged for far more pesos with far more buying power than the equivalent dollars have in the U.S.

It's what brings in tourists. It's also what drives people to migrate and then return here.Things that are cheap for us here are expensive for Mexicans making minimum wage or lower. Minimum wage is high here for Mexico, but I get the feeling that prices may also be higher.

I've taken the Spanish test at Universal (I think I did ok at everything except subjunctive).

I had a "Stupid American" experience today, when I confused the entrance for a waterfall with a gate for condominiums (thankfully the guard did not take my money). I finished ¨Crossing Borders,¨ which I thoroughly recommend, although I haven´t done the report on it due Friday. I did make it to desayuno this morning, waking up with my cell phone alarm (apparently ¨Flight of the Bumblebee¨works!).

I´ve found Cuernavaca so far to be interesting, generally easy to understand but somewhat disorienting. Typically in Tennessee and in Boston one can easily disern generally how old things are. I´ve not been to the historic landmarks, but the part of town we´re in seems to be of indeterminate age, simplistic with an occasional mock-Spanish florish here and there (especially on churches). Storefronts are nearly always painted rather than sleek ads or hanging tavern-style boards. They always convey the information boldly, except for condominiums, which as can be expected, try to be more subtle in saying that they are condominiums, instead emphasizing names like ¨El Bosque.¨

The house seems comfortable so far. Hopefully it will stay that way (we did have the talk about scorpions, bedbugs etc).

About this blog

2009-01-27T18:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, so first the title:
I´d originally intended it to be the title of my first alblum, an all-Spanish language release. I couldn´t think of a better title for my blog for my time in Mexico with CGE, so
FYI, ¨Idioto¨ is a far worse insult in Mexican Spanish than ¨Idiot¨ is in American English. One key concept of Betty Ramos, whose work I am now studying, is that words don´t usually ¨translate¨ directly because concepts are different. Gringo is a generic term for all foreigners. I heard that it dates back to ¨Griega¨ meaning ¨Greek,¨ although I am not entirely sure. You´ll be hearing that a lot from me. It´s why I chose the title that I chose.
So anyway, this blog is for those who want to follow my adventures in and around Cuernavaca and insights along the way without me having to forward the e-mail to everyone. Someone I know who once did this program told me that everyone should go and do it, so for many this may be the closest thing.
Signing out,
Ben Pounds

Salto de San Anton

2009-01-26T16:17:00.000-08:00

Today I finally made it to Salto de San Anton (after some difficulties finding it) I could only see the waterfall from the top, but it's still one of the better parts of town, a popular place for flower sellers and gardens. True there was litter in places along the river and true, the water did smell slightly, possibly of sewage. But it's hard to take away the true awe that those tall cliffs inspire.