Week 7: Learning About Culture

Let´s start out with a small Spanish lesson. There is only one way for me to write to you in English: with the word Y-O-U. In the Spanish language it comes in two forms: ustéd and tú. Ustéd is formal (boss, grandparent, pastor) and is considered respectful (respetuoso). Tú is informal (friend, sister, etc).

This week we visited an agency called SEDESOL. It is a department of social development. A representative for the agency, and one who operates the programs, spoke to us about what SEDESOL does. His name was Carlos Cortes. He spoke about one program that operates day-cares. He said that many women bring their children with them to work in markets. The children are set on the ground and many get sick, but the parents have no where else to send them. SEDESOL creates places for children to go. Mr. Cortes said that with this program more children have the opportunity to stay healthy (and the parents do not have to pay) and the parents are able to get more work done. [1]

José Luis Morán, Carlos Cortes y Paula Armas.

They all work for the agency SEDESOL.

Another lesson in culture that has been repeated over and over in this semester is that not all people speak directly. If you are invited to a party and are not able to attend, well, that´s okay, but just say “Yes, I will see you there.” It seems like a lie, but really it´s a great way to be kind!

A more important lesson is that many people in the Mexican culture speak in a circular fashion. Let´s pretend that you want to know where the corn came from that you are eating. You question your friend´s mom, who is from Mexico. It is very possible that instead of just saying that she got it from her garden, she will began by telling you about her ancestors and how hard they worked to grow the delicious, hormone-free corn that you are now eating. She may go into much more detail, because it is a very important part of her culture. I give you this example because I want you (ustéd or tú) to realize that many people from cultures other than your own (or even your own) may not get straight to the point when you ask a question. But I tell you, please don´t forget to listen. If you start to get bored…STOP!!! You may be missing some very valuable information, just in a different form than you are used to.

To end, I shall ask you a couple of questions. Where are your ancestors from? Think hard. Did they come over to the U.S.A. from Norway? Germany? Ireland? Let´s not forget our own history. Most of our ancestors emigrated over to the U.S.A. We are products of immigration. Let´s not forget that. Let´s make all immigrants feel at home, just like we feel at home.

Human sculpture of someone crossing the border (the box).
She (the immigrant) is being pushed and pulled by people in the U.S. and in Mexico.
Life is not easy. We can be a support and make it easier.

[1] Carlos Cortes, representative of the SEDESOL agency (social development); presentation on March 12, 2008 at the SEDESOL agency in Cuernavaca, Morelos.

-By Christina Olson

Week 6: Learning About U.S. Interventions in Latin America

This week was a week of reflection for the students in our program. Aside from a visit to the Congress of Morelos on Tuesday, our schedule was a bit lighter and much of our time was spent working on our midterm projects. In the process of putting together our projects, which came in the form of essays, letters and monologues, many of us were given the chance to think about the experiences we have had in Mexico and consider how we might be able to apply these things to our attitudes and actions when we return home.

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to learn about US interventions in Latin America. Our visiting speaker brought us through some of the changing periods in the history of US foreign policy, including Pan-Americanism and the Monroe Doctrine, which promoted “America for the Americans,” FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy and World War II, the Cold War Era, the War on Drugs, and the more recent War on Terror[1]. However, aside from this small number of well-publicized international policies and events, many US citizens are not aware of many of their government’s foreign interventions, especially those dealing with Latin America.

One highly controversial issue in relation to United States-Latin American interaction is the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, more commonly know by its former name, The School of the Americas. The School of the Americas is a school for Latin American soldiers where “counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics” are taught[2]. We were able to learn more about this issue from a couple of our classmates who had previously attended the yearly protest of the school. A few powerful points they made dealt with the variety of individuals who participated in the protests and the presence of a highly organized form of civil disobedience. Each year, some of the protest’s participants choose to cross the fence into Fort Benning, a federal offense punishable by up to six months in prison. However, those who consider crossing are provided with legal counseling and a logistics meeting before the event. The disobedience is thoughtfully considered and carefully executed by those who choose to display their opinions in this way.

A vigil for those killed by graduates of the School of the Americas.

Protest and civil disobedience are just some of the ways that we can put the lessons we’ve learned in Mexico into action when we return. In class on Friday we discussed our projects and what we could do to with our ideas upon the end of the semester. Our discussions focused on how privilege (based on race, class, religion, etc.) has affected our ability to see injustice in society and how our expanded knowledge might help us become more aware of the extent to which discrimination pervades our society. This awareness can be our first step in working towards change.

The Morelos State Congress builiding in Cuernavaca,

which the students also visited this week.

[1] Lecture on United States interventions in Latin America. 5 March, 2008. Cuernavaca, Mexico.
[2] SOA Watch. What is the SOA? http://www.soaw.org/type.php?type=8

Week 5: Experiencing Rural Life

The students pose near a corn field in rural Mexico.

The week of February 24th - March 1st was spent at our first home stay. This was a rural home stay. The families were very nice to us and showed us lots of hospitality. We were especially well fed. This home stay gave us a chance to practice our Spanish speaking skills and see a life style that was different from the one that we are used to experiencing in the United States. Some students had to bucket bathe, we all got to watch tortillas being made, and woke to roosters in the morning.

During our rural home stay we went out to other rural towns to learn about the different things that affect people in rural Mexico. We talked to farmers, women’s groups, and environmental groups. These different groups showed us the challenges that communities face along with the strengths that the communities posses. We learned that the main strength is the people.

A typical street in a rural Mexican town.

The different groups that we talked to showed us the importance of land to the people of rural Mexico. The land is how most people make their living. We got to ride out to the ejidal lands and talk to farmers about farming and the issues that they face. We learned about how the products for farming came from the United States, but farmers were not able to export their products to the United States.

Community efforts in these small towns help to fight for the rights of farmers, keep farmers farming, and empower women. Two of the groups that we talked to were women’s groups that were helping farmers and keeping communities together. While Mexico has a culture of machismo, women are very integral to keeping communities together.

A local recycling project.

A classroom in a rural school we visited.

Women we noticed in our time in the rural communities did much work. They worked in the home from the time that they got up until they went to bed. Women worked all day to have all three meals on the table for their families. They wash the clothes, feed the animals, and some times make crafts from home for extra income. The women in these communities are strong individuals.

One of the most moving things that our group experienced was the speakers who spoke to us about their immigration into the United States and their time in the country. It was a very moving speech that brought some of us to tears to hear about how our country treats immigrants. All of us learned something new about the experience of coming into the United States, whether it was about the cost, the extremes that people have to endure, how the border patrol belittles immigrants, or the feeling of hate that immigrants come to acquire against the United States [1].

We experienced many events in one week that opened our eyes to a different way of life, a different way of being, and a different way of seeing the world. It was a great experience that I wish more people from the United States could have to help them understand why people come to our country, how we are a part of creating those conditions, and the conditions that people endure to get there.

[1] Migration panel, 27 February 2008.

-By Erin Whitcomb

Week 4: Connecting to Diverse Identities

The Desarrollo Integral de La Familia (DIF) de Morelos is comparatively the Family and Child Services of Morelos. A woman who works for the DIF explained the general areas of service are to provide social assistance. The influence of the church and traditional values in Mexico are still very apparent when highlighting specifically who qualifies for assistance and what is the definition of a qualified family to adopt. When it came to adoption fees in Morelos there are none, which is very different when compared to the lawyer, court, and agency fees you may encounter in the U.S. Contrary to the progressive idea that adoption should be “less expensive”; the criteria are still very traditional and intentional in creating the “traditional family.” To adopt you must be a heterosexual couple who are emotionally and economically stable, under the age of 50, and usually try to place children with racially similar parents. While the DIF is very active in providing its services it was interesting to still feel the influence of the church in polices.

The Costa Chica is one of two regions in Mexico with significant black communities. Nadia Alvarado Salas is an Afro-Mexican woman that shared her life experiences of being an Afro-Mexican in Mexico and the importance of what she referred to as the “third root of race in Mexico.” Nadia struggled with being discriminated against in private school and within her own family. She emphasized the internalized racism that exists within these communities. While discrimination and identity issues may be similar in the U.S. the struggle in Mexico is emphasize by the government and cultural denial that Africans even exist in Mexico. This denial of an entire existence of people only contributes to the loss of African heritage and racism within Mexico.

Giselle Stern Hernández opened the eyes of us all when she performed here monologue “The Deportees Wife,” a narration of her own experiences. She painted a new picture of the abuse of power by the United States and Canadian Immigration offices. As a result of extreme circumstances Giselle’s husband was deported not once but twice from the United States banning him from returning for twenty years. The charges were not the most moving or worst part, but how her husband was treated in the process. Undocumented individuals are treated like, if not worse, than vicious criminals. She described the bulletproof glass windows when going to visit, waiting in lines that seemed never to end, and no guarantee or advice for what to do next. Now when people ask her the surface deep question “what brought you to Mexico?” she hesitates not because she is ashamed but because she feels people really aren’t ready to here the answer. She is here because her husband can’t go there, but after this experience the real question is, if they could live in the United States would they? One of the most moving quotes was when she described her Master Degree graduation in Colorado. “Many people say, well he was there in spirit, BUT HE’S NOT DEAD! It would be different if he was.”(Giselle, group monologue presentation, February 22,2008)

-By Tiffany Ramm