Mexico Dec 2010

Greetings from Tepoztlan!

Welcoming us back to the house in Tepoztlán, México

Sorry it's taken so long to share an update. It was a long and tiring trip and once we finally got settled, there seemed to be too much to do to take time to blog! Would you believe that on our first night in Tepoztlán we made a trip to the "Centro de Salud"-- the local emergency clinic? Yep! But more on that later.

First, I have to tell you that it's been another amazing visit to this amazing place. It is great to see our old friends José and Aurora and their kids Josecito and Lisset, and be back in "our" old house here. Several times a day folks stop us as we walk these cobblestone streets to say hello and "you've returned!"

Our first day, I had the opportunity to help José and his crew assemble a series of "puestos" or stands in the marketplace. There we were, a bunch of Mexicans and one gringo putting together a bunch of aluminium framing in the Zocalo surrounded by a very appreciative audience who passed the time by watching us!

The weather has been wonderful-- sunny every day. We even got to discover a couple new fruits this year-- seems we are a bit earlier and the season is a bit later this year. Nispero fruits grow in our yard: small, orange-colored fruits with a sweet taste reminiscent of apricot. And a huge tree also in our yard called "ciruela"  bears large seeds covered with a delicious, vanilla-ish milky pulp under a ruby red skin. Of course that's in addition to the other wonderful fruits-- especially papaya, fresh figs and guayaba.

Our table is filled with luscious fruits and vegetables!

Since school is out here, Lea spends hours every day playing with her friends Josecito and Lisset. The bond they share is something else. Jose Sr. tells me that the kids were counting down the days until Lea arrived. And Lea's Spanish skills are back after a short adjustment period.

And speaking of Lea, she had a interesting encounter with a sharp piece of a piñata-- here they are made of clay (the better to break, I guess) during one of the "posadas" (a Mexican tradition surrounding La Navidad) our very first night in town. As she and her friends rushed to collect the fruits and candies that fell, a piece of clay struck her on the head and made a small triangular gash in her scalp.

Josecito takes a swing at the piñata!

I went into nurse mode and started to clean it out with hot water and a cloth. I decided it looked a bit more open than I wanted and so we agreed to go to a doctor. As w couldn’t reach our friend's physician, we all loaded into the "combi" and went to the emergency clinic downtown. There, a doctor put one stitch in her head and told us to come back in 7 days to have it removed. I paid the 100 peso fee ($8 US) and was quite relieved that we made the trip to the clinic. Her scalp is healing really well and Kimberly wasn't too upset by the whole affair.

Dr. Brian prepares for removing Lea's stitch! (After it healed up!)

Christmas is a big deal here and we helped celebrate by attending posadas where it's traditional to hand out treats or small gifts to those gathered. We had the privilege to participate by bringing a couple hundred oranges to pass out to folks. It was so much fun to watch Lea hand out oranges and see people smile and thank her.

Josecito helps his folks hand out mandarinas.

Lea hands out mandarin oranges at the Posada.

A picnic stop on our hike for a tree branch for Arbol de Navidad.

Another important aspect of the Navidad scene here is when the kids go with their classes from school on a pastoral procession through the streets. Lea got to join in!

The kids prepare for their pastoral march through the village.

Here the pastoral procession is in full regalia in the town center.

The "combi" is parked outside a fiesta for 3-year-old Marijose.

Kimberly and the kids made a couple expeditions to "Experiencia," the language school we've been fortunate to study at the past three years. During one such visit, the kids got to make croissants in a brick oven.

The kids prepare to make bread at Experiencia language school.

Hungry for croissant? Silvia is our Spanish teacher extraordinaire!

I also had a challenging experience when a man came by José's workshop while I was there and begged some gasoline from José. Then he proceeded to "sniff" it right in front of us. I had certainly heard of inhalant abuse but had never before seen someone doing it. I tried to interrupt his actions but was warned off by José. Later, I learned a little about this man's life and some of why he feels he must resort to such measures to escape his present and his past. Hard stuff.

Granpa Eddie and Grammy Elke visit Tepoz!

We were blessed by a visit from Kimberly's dad and stepmom who came to check out our life here in this magical village. They were treated to a dinner of "enchiladas verdes" by Aurora and Kimberly. It was great that Ed and Ellen from the Big Apple got to meet our dear friends from Tepoztlán, Morelos, and vice versa-- like bringing two distinct worlds together.

Including the market, where they sampled "cuitlacoche" or corn smut!

In a culmination of the visit of Kim's folks, she and Aurora prepared an incredible dinner of enchiladas verdes. Que rico!

A moment of affection and humor between José and Lea!

Josecito, Lisset, and Lea at Experiencia.

Inside the combi on a joyride!

Yes it has already been another fulfilling visit with our friends and this culture, language and place.

Other highlights: Kimberly has been studying Spanish with her teacher Silvia. We've been very fortunate to reconnect with co-counselors here for sessions and to participate in the local co-counseling support group. We've been exercising--Kimberly especially with long runs and Brian especially with yoga (Lea especially playing "congelados" or freeze tag with her friends)! Brian loves walking up to the fútbol field above the town with José for a morning stroll and run.

Montecastillo fútbol field, where José plays fútbol and we go running. Spectacular surroundings.

We've also been enjoying the sun and mountains. But the best by far is to visit our close friends and to be so warmly welcomed back into their lives. We are blessed indeed!

By the way, feel free to add your comments and responses here. Just click on "comments." 

Thanks for sharing some of this experience with us. More later!

Further stories from Tepoztlan

I forgot to mention something really important in my first blog post. I guess I was so tired when we arrived that I neglected to say how wonderful it was to be met at the aeropuerto in México City by none other than the grandfather of one of Lea's classmates, who is from México City and lives here, but who we had the chance to meet when he came to Madison to visit his son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren.

Pablo not only met us at the airport, even with our delayed flight, but he came accompanied by an acquaintance who drove us to Pablo's house where we were able to spend the night. The next morning we went out for breakfast and then his friends took us first to our landlord's house and then to the bus station. With good grace and humor all along the way. That gives you a taste of some of the logistics that were involved in making this trip happen so successfully.

So thank you, Pablo, for your generosity and hospitality. And thank you, Carlos, for helping us get around DF (México City).

And now back to our time in Tepoztlán, where one highlight of the weekend was going for a drive with José to get a goat. That's right. If you can picture me pulling a goat into the back of a VW bus, then your imagination is more adept than mine. But that's what I was doing. Three kids, three adults and one toddler sharing the van with one very nervous and pregnant female goat. And you're going to have to take my word on this one because I didn't have my camera along!

Yesterday we got to participate in the wonderful ritual of going to watch José's fútbol team, Los Reyes, play at Montecastillo. It was a hot and sunny day, but we were loaded with sandwiches, fruit, and water. Plus we found a nice bit of shade to sit in while the guys ran up and down in the hot sun. Despite being outnumbered by 11 to 8, Los Reyes managed a tie game, 3-3. It was a lot of fun. The only time I got a little nervous is when I went for a little exploring with the kids through the fields of nopale cacti growing around the fútbol field and ran into quite a swarm of Africanized honey bees, more colloquially known as "killer bees." The "good news," if you can call it that, is that I had run into them before and knew that if trouble came, the best thing to do is to drop to the ground. At least, I THINK, that's what you're supposed to do. The better news is that it didn't come to that!

I ask many of the folks I have the chance to chat with here about the economy. They sum it up in onw word: difícil. Difficult. Someone once said that when the US sneezes, Mexico gets the flu. Only worse. The unemployment here is astronomical. And only getting worse--as folks return to México, some voluntarily others deported--and find it nearly impossible to find work. What work there is long hours and pays poorly. A security guard here works 24-hour shifts. Bus drivers drive 30-hour shifts. Construction workers commonly work from 6am until 8pm six days a week.

Imagine the toll this takes on families, on education, on self-esteem, on relationships, on physical and mental health.

I read the other day that there are two economies in the US--one for the owners, CEOs, stockholders of large multinational corporations and another for the rest. It turns out that multinational corporations are doing OK--but they are increasingly turning to other countries (ie "markets") for their increased sales and profits. Automobiles and cigarettes are selling well in China, while Pepsi and Coca-Cola are as popular as can be here.

A note to my old farming and food activism friends: A couple of workers were spraying the nopale cactus fields the other day with what looked like an herbicide. Turns out it was glyphosate. I found a discarded bottle and did some research. Can you say "Monsanto"? Yep, good old Round-Up right here in the Pueblo Mágico of Tepoztlán. Forgive us, amigos Méxicanos.

Another Tepoz chapter

It's just the two of us, me and Lea now--as Kimberly is back home. We had a full week last week with lots of fiesta and playtime. It was a real typical time in this village, filled with fireworks, great food and drink, staying up late and drinking "chocolate," games at the local version of the carnival, and just lots of time together!

A friend joked that one reason the economy in Tepoz is kind of slow is because everyone spends their money on fiestas so there's nothing left to save! :-)

I once again had the opportunity to help make "mole," that wonderful sauce that has about a million flavors and a million variations. One of the tricks is that it must be stirred in a huge clay pot over a fire for at least three hours! You can imagine how my clothing smelled after standing over that fire and getting splattered with mole! But it was worth it, YUM!

In the Zócalo.

On our way back from the market with a Rosca de Reyes!

Now comes the "proud papa" part. Our daughter Lea is attending the public "primaria" (or elementary school) here for our last week in México. She started yesterday and honestly we were both a tad nervous about it. She's in a classroom with 37 children and one teacher--and no one speaks English! But it went swimmingly! By mid-day, when I went with Aurora to bring the kids lunch (see photo), Lea took off with her food and went to be with her friends!

Lea and friends on way to first day of school. ¡Muy emocionado!

Aurora arranged for Lea to wear Lisett's old uniform. The school director was quite surprised when Lea showed up in uniform!

Zoom in to see Lea standing along with the whole school to sing the Mexican anthem and salute the flag.

School lunchtime. Which is at 10:30 am here!

We traditionally invite José, Aurora, Lisset and Josecito over for dinner at our house.  So last night, I bought a roasted chicken in the market and prepared lots of veggies and we feasted at our house for a change! The kids wanted to do an "after dinner show" but it was so late that the adults begged them to hold off for another night!


 

Nopales and calabassa (zucchini) for dinner.

Thanks for following along. Love, Brian & Lea