Our little mountain town

Thursday, May 31st, was the worst culture shock I have ever experienced in my entire life. We got to Z and pulled up to the Community Foundation, which has become our home base. There, we met our host families, met a ton of people that we of course didn’t remember five minutes after meeting, talked to the people in charge of us and then left with our host families.

It was incredibly overwhelming. We were not at all prepared for what awaited us at our home stays, or in Z, really. First of all, the scenery is lovely. Z is perched on the side of a mountain, all the streets wind around the mountain side and all the houses are either above or below the roads. There is one flat area, the city center that has been carved out of the side of the mountain. Located there is the main shopping area, the church and city hall.

After settling in at our home stays (see the blog about my family for more information), we were shown (separately) around Z, but all met up just by chance. We climbed up the church steeple for a great view of the city and even climbed onto the roof of the church! After spending a little bit of time together, much to our great relief, we returned to our respective houses.

More about Z in general....

Z is called an expulsion community, meaning that many of the men have left and gone either to another city in Mexico, or more often, to the United States to find work. So..the majority of the population is women and children. There are still many men around, and since arriving, we’ve visited other expulsion communities that have far fewer men than Z.

I also should note that the population here are primarily of indigenous origin, and their first language is actually not Spanish, but Nahuatl, an ancient language that is the “mother” language of other Incan, Aztec and Mayan languages. Ironic, isn’t is, that I choose to live in a place where the people don't necessarily speak Spanish? Geez....

And, like all of Mexico, Z has a machismo culture, which means the men rule. This, of course, has been difficult for Leshia and I, especially since it is culturally unacceptable for women to drink and there have been plenty of times during our stay that we could have used a nice cold beer. Patrick gets to drink often with the men in his house. We’re jealous.


"Z is broken"

This is a quote from a journal entry of Leshia’s, and it’s so appropriate that I’m borrowing it. She wrote this the day we were told that many men in Z actually have several wives…one wife that they marry in the Catholic Church, and others that they marry legally at city hall. Naturally, we were surprised and slightly horrified.

Other problems in the community include the ridiculously high number of single mothers or "madres solteras." Both my family and Leshia’s have single mothers...my host sister has a 19-month-old baby, and Leshia’s host sister has two children, ages 2 and 5. I should also add that my host sister is 20 and Leshia’s is 22. Frightening.

The majority of the men who are left in the community drink heavily. All day long. They actually have these leather pouches that attach to their belts in which they keep flasks. For awhile, we were having lessons to learn Nahuatl from this really intelligent man, until we figured out that he’s drunk all the time and he started being a little too friendly to Leshia and I. At lessons, we made Patrick sit closest to him, poor Patrick. Often when we walk on the mountain footpaths, we'd come across men completely passed out slumped over the dirt, blocking the way. You simply step over them and go about your merry way.

Another, less serious problem, is all the stray dogs! This place is in great need of a spay and neuter clinic! All we need are a team of vet students to come down for a couple of day and take care of it. That would help a lot. Almost none of the dogs belong to anyone and they all wander around going through trashes for food. Every citizen is totally used to them and when they don’t want them around they throw rocks at them. Seriously, everyone from tiny kids to old people throw rocks at the dogs. It’s as natural as us waving hello to people we meet or something.

And yet another problem is the trash. There is trash EVERYWHERE. Kind of the way everyone throws rocks at dogs...NO ONE uses trash cans. In my house, there actually are NO trash cans. There are a few located around the city, but people just throw their trash on the streets. Some of the fields along the mountainside that are used to grow crops are just full of trash. I’m not quite sure how such conditions can yield any type of produce. Leshia, the anthropology major, has a theory that hundreds of years ago, all the trash was totally biodegradable, but then paper, plastics and metals were invented. The people's habit haven't changed, but the trash has, and now it's a problem.


More, happier info about Z-

This is a very tight-knit community and everyone knows everyone else. The family unit is very close, reliant upon one another and in each other’s business. It seems that nearly everyone is related somehow! It’s nice though, because Patrick, Leshia and I are well taken care of, and because our families are so large, we’ve been able to easily meet a lot of people, who, in turn, introduce us to more people! We’d only been here about a week when we started seeing people we know everywhere. The walk from the foundation to my house is so interesting and filled with friendly faces.

The educational system here seems quite good. There are well-established elementary and high schools, and then, like Spain, students are finished with formal education at age 16, but can choose to go on to Baccalaureate, which they attend for two years from 16-18. Patrick, Leshia and I teach English at this school. The students are bright, but also cheeky and sometimes hard to control. I have to admit that it’s just nice spending time with people closer to our age.

Sundays in Z are the best days of the week! Mass is held at 7 a.m. and noon, and we all attend with our respective families. All day on Sunday, there is a huge market in the city center. The market is the place to see and be seen. In our case, it is definitely to be seen. I have NEVER been stared at so much in my entire life. The three of us stick out like big white ghosts among all the dark-skinned Mexicans. At the market, our families buy fruits, vegetables, other food and items from the house. Patrick’s family actually has a small stand where they prepare food to sell. Sadly lacking from the market, and from Z all together, is the presence of any types of Mexican arts and crafts. Besides food, the only things to buy are terrible, mass produced shoes, clothes and toys.

Z, and Mexico in general, are full of the nicest people I have ever met. Everyone has made us feel so welcome. We're constantly receiving invitations to dinner, to community events, Nahuatl lessons, musical performances, etc. People are constantly going out of their way to make us comfortable and happy. Mexico the country I could do without, but the Mexican people I'm going to miss terribly when I return home.

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Part of trip: Community Service Summer in Mexico

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