Our first time here, Lea attended a private primary school which is now the school where I teach. When we returned, we decided it made most sense for her to attend the primaria in our barrio (neighborhood). It would be a more authentic experience for her in terms of what school is like for children in this village.
Fortunately, José's children (who are like cousins to Lea) also go to the school, so from the beginning, Lea had lots of support. Lea visited school the last three winters she was here, so she knew what to expect. She even had the same teacher as last year, since the teacher moved up to 4th grade this year.
Lea out in front of the school on the street.
Lea with her friends in their "físico" uniforms on gym day.
Lea inside the school.
School day mornings we swing by our friend's house and walk with their kids to school. José (who is a metalsmith) and a few of his helpers are already hard at work at the workshop in the front of their house.
José (center) and his workers with Brian in the foreground. Pepe (the man on the left) lived in Arizona for years so fortunately, he is able to help me with translation and it's nice for me to be able to have deeper conversations with him in English.
José at work!
The school is only a couple of blocks away so it's a short walk. We pass many other parents (generally moms) who are walking their kids to school so we have the opportunity to say "buenos días" as we pass by.
Lissett, Jose, and Lea walking to school. See other kids with parents walking right behind them.
And walking to school in their físico uniforms.
School starts at 8am and the staff sometimes threaten to close and lock the gate at 8am. I guess one reason might be the fact that so much runs late here and they need to draw a line.
Lea with her teacher Rosio
The primaria school includes grades 1-6 with one classroom per grade. Lea has 39 students in her room to one teacher. The room is crowded with a few student-drawn posters on the walls. Very little economic resource goes into the public schools. The only parts of the school that are indoors are the classrooms. The rest of the school is open-air. Children generally show respect for adults in this culture so that certainly helps the school environment go well. For the most part, students respect their teachers and each other.
Lea's classroom
Walking to their classrooms in the morning. See Lea's red hair in the middle of the group of three girls?
And here she is at the end of a school day which is at 1pm.
Honors on Monday mornings in the courtyard.
The children lined up in the courtyard for the Honors ceremony.
When Lea started school we had to laminate all of her books. Families take good care of the materials they have, since there aren't many of them. As part of Lea's homework, we often need to go to the local tienda and buy supplies such as paint, paper mache and glue. At home, these things would generally be provided by the school. And of course all of her homework is in Spanish (and she has a lot of it!) so a part of our daily responsibility is to help Lea translate her homework so she knows what to do. Lea is also doing some homework from her school back home so that she will be more prepared for 5th grade when we return.
We know that she has experienced life in a dramatically different culture, which will certainly expand her perspective of the world. And she's getting better all the time at communicating in Spanish! In fact, we'd say she's just about fluent. Most (if not all) of the people at Lea's school speak little English.
After and before school there are people selling food and other small items outside on the street. The kids seem excited about their daily treats, including ice cream!
Note the children in their físico uniforms getting treats afterschool.
And in their regular uniforms.
The kids are scheduled to do chores and sometimes stay late to clean their classroom.
Lea sweeping her room afterschool.
Lea taking the trash out of the room with one of her classmates afterschool.
And then there's all the days that school isn't in session for whatever reason. If the teacher can't make it, there may not be a substitute--so the kids arrive at school and are told to return home. We've learned that you have to flow with a change in plan here! And there are the days that school is closed for some reason that we don't quite understand. Things are much less predictable here, and much less "efficient." Stay posted for details on this in a future post.
Brian volunteers his time to teach English at Lea's school. He has about 35 students in a class and teaches two classes a day, twice a week. He's had a hard time managing that many children at once, and even though he's complained about the challenge, he still enjoys it and knows that he's contributing in an important way. His highlight is getting called "Profe" by the kids as he walks around the barrio. He's been asked by a few parents if he'd do private tutoring for some of his students outside of school for pay. He felt flattered, but declined.
Lea and Brian's school community is an important part of our lives here. We see many children and parents from the school walking in our barrio. We feel accepted in the neighborhood and a sense of belonging. And Lea is certainly going to go home with a greater appreciation of all the resource she has in her life. How fortunate we are to have the opportunity to gain more perspective about the world and how differently people live.
Lea in our backyard ready for another day of school in central Mexico.
Christmas here seems to keep on going! Not only does the celebration start earlier here than in the US with the Posadas (described in my last post), but continues with this holiday that falls on the 12th day after Christmas, when the Magi
arrived bearing gifts for baby Jesus. In Mexico children receive gifts
on this day, brought by the three kings. Some children receive gifts from both
Santa Claus and the Kings, but Santa is seen as an imported custom, and
the traditional day for Mexican children to receive gifts is on Three Kings Day, or January 6.
The three kings, who bring gifts to the children.
On the night of January 5th, the figures of the Wise Men are placed in the nativity scene. Traditionally children would leave out their shoes with a bit of hay in
them to feed the animals. When the children would wake up in the morning their gifts
appeared in place of the hay. Nowadays, like Santa Claus, the Kings tend
to place their gifts under the Christmas tree. That is, if they have a Christmas tree. My guess is this is for wealthier families. We haven't seen Christmas trees at our friend's homes here in the village.
Many nativity scenes are seen throughout the village, both in people's homes and in public. I appreciated this one because the baby Jesus' are dark skinned.
On Kings Day it is customary to eat Rosca de Reyes,
a sweet bread shaped like a wreath, with candied fruit on top, and a
figurine of a baby Jesus baked inside. The person who finds the figurine
is expected to host a party on Día de la Candelaria, celebrated on February 2nd, when tamales are served.
The sweet bread, Rosca de Reyes
So, as you can imagine, it was another celebratory festival for our village, and particularly for the neighborhood next to ours. Los Reyes is the barrrio to host the big party. About a 3 minute walk from where we live, starting in the morning, a festival was being set up in the street with a large stage for a band. And boy, do they know how to throw a party here! We know from past experience that neighbors go door to door in avance asking all the people who live in the barrio to donate money to host the party. People might not have much here (in terms of material things) but they seem to take celebrating the present moment very seriously! We think a lot about how much we have to learn from this culture in regard to this. From our experience, people seem to really enjoy the life they're living, and don't worry too much about what's to come in the future.
I had no idea that it would be such a big party! Lea and Brian have been here for the holiday the last few winters, but I have had to return to school by then so missed it. We saw the initial set up because our close friend's daughter had her communion in the morning at the local church. It was right in the middle of everything! We were designated as the photographers, which was a fun role to play for the family. While at the communion, we enjoyed watching a woman peel potatoes by hand for french fries to prepare for the crowds. You'd never see that at home!
Both before and after the communion we shared food together at our close friend's home where they hosted a small band for Abby (the girl who was confirmed) and had traditional mole with rice. The origin of the famous mole; the thick,
rich, chocolate-tinged sauce is still disputed, and generally involves
this legend. 16th
Century nuns,
upon learning that the Archbishop was coming for a visit, went into a
panic because they had nothing to serve him. The nuns started praying
desperately and an angel came to inspire them. They began chopping
and grinding and roasting, mixing different types of chiles together
with spices, day-old bread, nuts, a little chocolate and
approximately 20 other ingredients. This concoction boiled for hours and
was reduced to the thick, sweet, rich and fragrant mole sauce we know
today. To serve in the mole, they killed the only meat they had, an
old turkey, and the strange sauce was poured over it. The archbishop
was more than happy with his banquet and the nuns saved face. Little
did they know they were creating the Mexican National dish for
holidays and feasts. Today, millions of people worldwide
have at least heard of mole.
Mole Poblano: Pollo con Arroz
People are very generous here about hosting and preparing lots of food in their homes. In fact, mole and rice is served all day long by many people in the village on Jan. 6. People come and go from house to house (I assume just the ones they were invited to) and seem to eat and drink all day long. If it gives you an idea, we were invited to four different homes for mole, and we're just visitors! Imagine how many invitations the village people get, who have been living here their whole lives and know just about everyone.
Make note here that virtually none of the village people speak English, or very few, which is an ongoing challenge for all of us. Brian is practically fluent, and Lea translates for me! The language has certainly been the hardest thing for me about being here, but poco a poco, mas y mas, I am understanding more and speaking more. We all find that we're completely exhausted at night because it is such a huge effort to understand and speak a language that's not our own! It has made us much more sympathetic to the experience of people coming to the USA from other countries and the challenge they are faced with in terms of learning English.
By the third meal (or the second home we made it to) we were stuffed and couldn't eat another thing, but wanted to at least say hello to them. The family insisted that we take home a container of mole. After having mole for leftovers, we decided we were mole'ed out for a while!
We took a rest at home and then went back to enjoy the festivities at night, which included the huge, festive band, food, games for the children, and a definite highlight, the fireworks! Experiencing the "torito" (Spanish word meaning little bull) was a once in a lifetime opportunity! It is something you see a lot in Mexico during the holiday season. A man wears a contraption on his back that is full of fireworks. As the man runs around haphazardly, the fireworks come off the pack in a swirling, circular motion as candy flies out in all directions. If you're closeby, it can be dangerous in that the sparks are flying all over the place, but so fun! I took a video of the event in my somewhat panicked frenzy that you can see below. How exciting it was! Please see other photos from the day in addition to short videos. Oh, and the band and the blasts of the fireworks roared into the night, long after we were in bed. Again, do they know how to have a party here!
The party in the street, early in the day.
Children at the school Kimberly teaches at holding the traditional sweet bread in honor of the holiday.
A view of the local church.
Kimberly stirring mole. Do you believe the size of the pot?
Abby with her family after her communion.
The blasts (or bombas!) that go all through the day and night on holidays. It's certainly not a quiet place!
Kimberly with Azalea Flores, who owns and runs the local hospedaje (inn) where Kimberly's mom stayed and friends will stay during their visit here.
The band that played for Abby after her communion.
A video of the band!
Lea enjoyed mole and rice with her Mexican friends.
One of the bands that played during the day.
Kimberly made a friend above, and a video of the band playing!
A view of the street at night.
A view of the church at night.
What's a street festival without cotton candy?
Lea is happy to get french fries!
At our friend's house. Side note: A whole lot of soda is drank here.
Convenient to arrive at the festival by bike, huh?
A game at the festival.
A man selling traditional pottery in the street.
The man carrying the torito (or small bull) before it was lit.
And a photo of a torito lit.
And a video of the torito in action!NoteBrian saying to Lea, "Come on Lea, Go!"
A video of the band that played at night!
And a video of the crowds at night in front of the band.
A video of some of the fireworks at night.
And a video of the "bombas" or loud blasts, heard late into the night!
I'll make note that I was recently talking to a close
friend of mine who currently lives in Madison and grew up in Mexico
City. She has followed the blog and said that we are extremely
fortunate to experience many of these Mexican traditions, in that they
are only happening now in the smaller villages and are no longer a part
of modern, city life. I feel like we chose the perfect place! How lucky
we are...
We have been fortunate enough to witness Christmas a few times in our village. This year Kimberly's
mom joined us. It was great to have her along. Christmas here brings to mind those signs that I've seen in
people's yards, "Keep Christ in Christmas." Here, there is very little
emphasis on capitalist gift giving. It's very much a religious
holiday and observance, which has been particularly interesting for us
to witness as Jews. This year, Hanukah came before Christmas. I know
only one Jewish woman in the village, and she's originally from New
York! It would be an understatement to say that our religious
affiliation is a minority here... Well, we celebrated a very make-shift
Hanukah this year. We were resourceful in terms of using what we had to
work with, which, by the way, people are so good at doing here! We used
a candle as our menorah. We found a spinning top in the nearby tienda
that the children here use to play another game. And, believe it or not,
we found foil wrapped chocolate in a different tienda so that was
perfect Hanukah "gelt." At home, we really enjoyed
lighting our "menorah," playing the dreidel game, and singing the
traditional Hanukah song.
Christmas starts with the posadas. Las
Posadas is a nine-day celebration in the evenings beginning Dec. 16 and
ending Dec. 24. The nine-days represent the nine months of the pregnancy
of Mary carrying Jesus. We heard that Las Posadas is often celebrated
in people's homes, but in our barrio (neighborhood) everyone gathers at
the local church. There is a large nativity scene and people enjoy
gathering under the lights strung on the large, outdoor tree and the colorful
flags. Women hold and rock the baby Jesus, and for me,
the most significant thing to witness was different family members (who
take turns on different nights) handing out candy, fruit, yogurt, and
other miscellaneous items to everyone present. People gather in a wide circle with bags
or baskets to receive the offerings. We went to the church on the night
that our close friends did the offering. We drove downtown before the
posada began in the back of our friend José's pickup truck to get a
couple huge sacks of hicamas. It gave me great pleasure to help
pass them out and make individual, meaningful contact with many of the village people who were there. After the offerings, the children gathered to break open the
piñatas. What a festive experience that was not only for them, but
for the adults watching too!
A couple of days before Christmas, the
zocola was shining with lights, colorful tinsel, pointsettia flowers,
fireworks for sale, and everything needed to make a nativity scene,
including lots of moss! On Christmas eve, people from our barrio
gathered at the local church. After the three kings and angels made
their way to the church with a festive band, the group followed and
walked together. It was wonderful to witness groups of people from all the different barrio churches walking toward the central cathedral led by the three kings and angels marching with music and bright "estrellas" carried aloft. Imagine the feeling of community invoked by looking out and seeing groups of candle flames converging on the same place. The mass started once all the village people were gathered
together on the lawn in front of the main church. We left at that point,
but we heard about the parties that continued throughout the night. We
certainly heard the fireworks going for many hours!
And then came
New Year's! We enjoyed shopping for food in the center ahead of time.
It was unfortunate that Brian was home sick in bed, but Lea and I joined
our close friends and their extended family for our traditional dinner
together in a home that's partially outdoors and built of raw cement.
Our friends cooked up bistek, nopales (cactus), and onions on a large,
flat grill. All the stuffings were delicious inside hot tortillas with
homemade guacamole. Then we shared a bottle of champagne that we bought.
I got a sense from them that this was special since champagne is a luxury they can't afford. We
especially had fun with the pop of the bottle opening! And then we
shared grapes. It is traditional for each person to eat twelve grapes,
making a wish with each one for the new year. And then of course at
midnight was a huge fireworks display that we watched from our deck
(which Brian even got out of bed for)! Again,
the sound of the fireworks went throughout the night. Mexicans are
certainly into noise and celebrations. Whenever there is an excuse for a
party, they certainly seem to take advantage of it!
And it
doesn't end there. On January 6th it is Dia de Reyes, or three King's
Day. It is the 12th day after Christmas, when the Magi arrived bearing
gifts for baby Jesus. In Mexico children receive gifts on this day,
brought by the three kings. Some children receive gifts from both Santa
Claus and the Kings, but Santa is seen as an imported custom, and the
traditional day for Mexican children to receive gifts is January 6. And
then of course there are the parties on this day! Many people in the
village open their homes and share lots of food and festivity with their
neighbors, friends, and family.
See our photos and a video below to have the festivities come to life for you!
Celebrating Hanukah!
A video of our Hanukah celebration!
Virgin de Guadalupe's are seen throughout the village. This time of year they are decorated with flowers and lights.
This is a family we stayed with in Mexico City when my mom arrived. They were wonderful!
Lea and Kimberly in the zocolo (center).
Brian and Lea in the zocolo.
Us having lunch with Kimberly's mom, Reggi, in the central market.
Muchas piñatas!
Moss sold in the center to create the nativity scenes.
The piñata game at our local church for a posada.
Our friend Jose. Happy time!
Baby Jesus' inside the local church.
The three kings inside our local church.
The three kings leading our barrio's procession.
One of the angels during the procession.
Another procession from another village that we saw as we walked.
Other kings from another village.
One of the large stars.
And another!
There was a party at Lea's school. Here is an angel.
A parade in the center with children dressed as angels.
A girl from Lea's school dressed in traditional clothing for their Christmas celebration.
The children in a holiday performance at the school that Kimberly teaches at.
Kimberly with a bottle of champagne for our New Year's Celebration.
Our friend Feliciano grilling bistek.
And here's the extended family that has really welcomed us into their homes, and their hearts!
Santa and a reindeer on top of a house. You don't see much of this, but of course there's some North American influence.
The holiday flags and lanterns show holiday cheer throughout the village.
We know how blessed we are to be here and have these experiences. Thanks for taking the time to learn about our journey!
