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January 31, 2006
Ha, guess where? yeah, Mexico!
posted by Sharon
About a year ago, my friend Rachel and I were having a highly intellectual discussion regarding the topic of “the dumbest places in the world to live”. Haha! Among our top results were Mexico, and Kansas. At the time of our brainstorming, we were both living in the small town of Boerne Texas. Little did we know the irony that awaited us.
In March of that year my family and I went to visit our good friends the Prices in ha, guess where? Yeah, Mexico! We stayed with them for one week and had a blast…and a lot of tacos during our visit. When we were back at home, my parents told us that the Lord was calling our family to move to ha, guess where? Yeah, Mexico! So, we started packing and by the end of May, my completely white, non-Spanish speaking family was living in ha, guess where? Yeah, Mexico!
While my family was already here, I stayed behind in Boerne to finish up a ballet performance with my dance school. I was staying with some close friends who toted me to and from all of my classes and rehearsals every day. During that time I was trying to eat as much American food, see as many movies, hang out with as many friends, and talk up my cell phone to death as much as possible. I was having an extreme disinterest in the whole moving to a foreign country with no cell phone thing. Haha. I was really not looking forward to going. After the first week in June I was off to the same place I had formerly named “one of the dumbest places in the world to live”.
I have now been here in Mexico almost seven months. Whoever said “the older you get the more time flies” apparently never moved to Mexico! I celebrated my seventeenth birthday only two months ago an already it feels like my twentieth should be next. I have experienced so much since coming here, some bad things like; insane homesickness, racism, language barrier, doing without, and having to miss friends and family immensely. But at the same time the truth in the Bible where it says that “in all things God works for the good of those that love him” (Romans 8:28) has come shining through. I do love Him, and through missing my family and friends I realize how blessed I am to have them (you) to be there for me, to always love me no matter what crazy things I do! He has also given me a lot of new friends here. The doing without has made me extremely appreciative of what I do have and to be able to really play the “lean on me” game with God, and trust Him completely –even without having my cell phone or ballet! The language barrier…haha! There are some funny moments for you! Racism has been a really weird thing to deal with because it is not a prominent thing in the U.S. anymore. It is hard to be walking down the street followed by odd stares, ripped off (money-wise), or mistreated just for being white. It makes me so conscious of how pathetically shallow people are, and that no matter where you go all people have issues! (Yes, I’m definitely included) haha! And God is so much bigger than that but He still loves us all anyways!
After all of these things build up, before I know it I am feeling so so so homesick! For my friends, family, country, Pizza Hut, ballet, English, grass haha….just everything! But then I have to remember that this whole little earth no matter where I live is only a temporary home for me. My real home that I will never have to move away from or be a random white kid is in Heaven!
After having experienced Mexico so um, profoundly, I think I now have the ability to properly define it as I did a year ago…….Yeah, I would definitely say it’s one of the dumbest places in the world to live! Where else could you live and see random horses and donkeys in your from yard? (happened this morning) Or have road signs that say “obey the signs” haha! Yes, it is pretty dumb….But we cannot forget about Kansas. Ha, guess who lives there now? Yeah, Rachel!
January 20, 2006
The Shop Over These Months
posted by David
It's interesting to see how things have changed around the office over the past six months. When I first arrived, in the heat of summer, the atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed. The four Mexican men we had at the time would come in early, but would take regular breaks at the local taqueria for "second breakfast," make a big spread in the back for lunch, and then maybe make another trip around the corner later for an afternoon snack. Errands, business or personal, were always being run, and there was a lot of fun to be had hanging out between the initial projects they received. In the office, we were pushing quite a bit harder but we'd still take off at 3 on an occasional afternoon to visit one of the local swimming holes or just to grab a Coke and talk.
As projects began to take on more form, we brought on Mere (pronounced meh'-day) as our Mexican supervisor and head carpenter. He had always held that position in our minds, but had asked to continue his own carpentry business until the big projects started coming in. His experienced wisdom and generous spirit immediately added a maturity to our team that has continued to bear fruit, enabling us to make big transitions easily—like shifting our focus to the solid wood door business in the last several months.
More structure is in place now than ever, and as we move increasingly into a production mindset we've seen the strengths of the guys rise to the occasion. We as emigrants have seen more similarities between ourselves and the guys in this time, but we've continued to see the basic differences in our mindsets and approaches as well. One major blessing for us in this area has been the addition of Erika and Edna, our office manager and translator, respectively. Erika brings to us Mexican corporate experience and an unusual mind for details (and a wonderful intensity). Edna, besides the obvious ability to communicate clearly, also shares with us insight into the Mexican psyche, which is significant as a highly educated and thoughtful Mexican woman who grew up in the Big City (Tampico) but who has always maintained the connection with her small-town roots, which is how she ended up with us in the first place.
We're continuing to adjust and strive to find healthy rhythms for ourselves and our guys, defining boundaries, learning the language, delegating responsibilities, especially as business is picking up on several fronts. There is still, and hopefully always will be, a lot fun to be had, a lot of warmth and a continually growing sense of community, for which we are all grateful. It could be a challenge to maintain the sense of family that's developed as we grow, but from what I can see now I think that the foundation that's been laid will serve us all well as we bring others into the most enjoyable place I've ever worked.
January 17, 2006
Reflections on Returning
posted by Mackenzi
Our family went to the States for Christmas and my grandparent’s 50th wedding anniversary. It was nice to go but it was nicer to come back.Don’t get me wrong, I loved getting to see my friends and eating great American food but it’s just nice to come back to the relaxed atmosphere of what feels like home now. When we got back into Jaumave I smelled the air, I had always been aware of the distinct smell of Jaumave but I had never really placed it but when we got back I did.
It smells like home but it also smells wilder, somehow closer to nature. The town is relaxed and steady, and once the people got over the surprise of white people being in their town, they are very friendly. I’ve never been big on walking places, partially because it takes longer but mostly because I’m lazy. Today I walked to the Gandy’s house and to work and I didn’t mind it too much, I think that how laid back they are has rubbed off on me and I’m so glad! :) It’s wonderful not to stress out over small stuff and I’m very grateful to have learned it from them. I suppose it is learned here easier than in the States because here things go slower and if you expected everything to be quick and easy all of the time you’d pretty much go insane or be grumpy most of the time. I recently read in a magazine that Mexico is the second most contented country in the world. Before we came here I would not have understood that but now I do, when you learn to be relaxed and not stress out over small stuff then you’ll be pretty contented. Generally the stuff that I stressed out over while we lived in the States was pretty small all things considered. Knowing when to stop and relax and take a break is a wonderful thing.
Another thing that made coming back great was getting to see the Gandy family, I’d missed them. When they moved down here and Christina (their daughter who had been living with me) left for Moldova we all missed her and a piece of us was missing. Even though nothing can totally replace her, I believe that we are helping each other through it and I feel like they are my family too. You’d think that since there are nine people in my birth family that I’d have my fill of family but nope! I’ve “adopted” ten more people! :)
My friendships here have surprised me in how quickly I have become good friends with the Mexicans. I think that this is partially due to the fact that some of the natural insecurity in most friendships is lessened because of how hard each of us has to try to communicate. It is reassuring to know that we care enough about the other person to try hard to get to know them. I’ve never before experienced friendships that grew so fast and I’m very grateful for them.
January 10, 2006
There and Back Again
posted by Madeleine
We just came back to Mexico from Christmas in the States—several days in affluent Austin, several in snowy Minnesota. I wonder how much greater the contrast can get.
Driving around Austin (in itself a change from Jaumave, where I walk almost everywhere I go, Jesse strapped to my back) what I see everywhere is the shininess, the money. Four dollars for a coffee at Starbucks, mansions lit with huge displays of lights, last-minute gifts that cost more than a day's wage down here. My friends, mostly "poor" creative types like us, buying CD's and dinner out, shopping at Whole Foods—twelve dollars for a chicken. Driving everywhere we go, the asphalt paving the way between where we are and where we want to get to. White Jaguars and trim black Volvos scoot by me—not once do I see the type of car I've grown used to in Jaumave, patched with primer, its engine chugging a little as it lumbers by me down the dusty road.
In Minnesota, it's snowmobile culture and the after-Christmas sales, a fire in the fireplace, big meals of ham and pumpkin pie. Outside, it's frosty white and the horses wait to be fed. I feel the insulated warmth of a life that I always thought of as simply 'middle-class' but that I now recognize as absolute luxury.
Then we come back to Mexico. After four or five trips to and from the States, I'm a little dulled to the shock of crossing the border from moneyed Texas into the battered brutality of Reynosa—that dustiest of towns, the road lined with homemade signs scrawled on sheets of dirty plywood. Leaving Reynosa, we drive down between mountain ranges, past grazing goats and a landscape of scrub that's slowly turning from summer green to winter grey. We come back. Back to the quiet. Back to the place where whole families gather under the porch roof to sit in old chairs and eat homemade tostadas, kids playing in the dust at their feet.
My temptation, at least on paper, is to want to simplify and idealize: to characterize the United States as mercenary and media-driven, glutted with excess and ingratitude, in contrast with these small-town Mexicans who have "chosen a simple life." I want to see us "Americans" as thoroughly and always unhappy in our compulsion for more things; I want to believe that the Mexicans, overall, are happier in their relative poverty than we are in our wealth. But there's no simple moral here: it's possible that most people in Jaumave would love to drive a shiny SUV and wear Abercrombie and Fitch. And an abundance of possessions can sometimes be a blessing, not always a curse. And it's probable that the proportion of happiness to sadness is the same here as anywhere else. The difference, the contrast, is not so much between people's natures as between their circumstances. And me? I get to experience two sets of circumstances, straddle the line between two cultures. It's my hope to glean the best of both worlds.
January 03, 2006
Rossy
posted by Susan
When I came to Mexico, I was looking forward to my life slowing down even though we would be experiencing a big change. However, when I pictured "slow", I was envisioning a more relaxed lifestyle not that everything would take longer.
Along with my normal responsibilities of home schooling six, mothering seven, supporting & loving my husband, and managing our household (to name a few), Mexico was a whole new experience. For example, trying to improve my very basic Spanish skills and helping our children learn a whole new language was a job all in itself. Then there were the unique cultural differences of a small town in Mexico. I could no longer give someone a quick call to ask a simple question because most of our friends did not have phones. It was necessary to go to their home and then, of course, graciously be invited in, sit down to visit, and finally get around to the simple question - all of this in my broken Spanish and with my comprehension impairment. To say the least my days quickly filled and my slower paced life was only a mirage.
Then came Rossy - our blessing from God. Rossy is the wonderful lady who takes a load (no pun intended) off of us and makes life more manageable in this foreign culture. Not only does she help us to cook, to clean our home, and to do laundry, but she loves our family. Rossy is in her early forties, a mother of one adult daughter, a grandmother to her 18 month old "nieta", speaks only Spanish, and a diligent worker. I couldn't have asked for anyone better.
With Rossy's patience and sense of humor (a must considering our large family and our limited Spanish), she quickly became a part of our family. Being widowed at age 25 and living alone now, she enjoys the noise, constant talking, playing and even arguing at our house when compared to her quiet home. She loves the attention from Olivia (four years old) who always wants Rossy to play when she is working and continually calls "Ven! Ven! Rossy!" (Come! Come!) We're trying to train Olivia to ask, not tell and encourage Rossy to say no more often. :)
Not only have we enjoyed Rossy's company, but we have also been the happy recipients of her delicious cooking-mmmm! Something always smells good when Rossy is in the kitchen. Our favorites are her homemade tamales, Spanish rice, pico de gallo, salsa and frijoles charros! She has also enjoyed learning to make some of our dishes including lasagna which seems to be many of the Mexicans' favorite of our "American" dishes.
Besides her wonderful culinary skills, Rossy’s patience when speaking Spanish with us is so appreciated. She gently corrects our Spanish and patiently waits for me to get my thoughts into words (and you thought it took me a long time to get my English thoughts out.) She also purposefully speaks very slowly and thinks of alternative and simple ways to express and describe ideas. Because of the large amount of time she spends with us, she has been known to slip into this strange way of speaking even with other Mexicans. Recently, Rossy was with her adult daughter at a store, and after Rossy asked a clerk something, her daughter looked very puzzled. "Why are you speaking like that?" she inquired when Rossy had spoken very slowly with very simple words as she does with us. When Rossy relayed the story to me, she had a really good laugh. She is definitely turning into one of us. :)
Although living in Mexico can definitely have its challenges, Rossy has made our transition into a new culture so much easier. Her friendship and great contribution in assisting us with our Spanish and in helping run our home is a blessing that I don't take for granted. And yes, our lives have become a little slower paced but even more so we thank God for the privilege of having Rossy in our lives.