Why Are All My Birthdays in Latin America?

Day 50 in Mexico

Good news this week – the creepy crawly critters have not shown themselves in my room, the bathroom, or the stairs. Either the second fumigation really did do them in (I think the first fumigation attempt just riled them up), or they’re in hiding, regrouping and planning their counter attack. I’m really, really hoping it’s not the latter.

The time since I last wrote did indeed prove to be eventful, most notably with my birthday on Sunday. It’s never ideal to spend your birthday away from your friends and family, but my fellow volunteers came through in fine style for me. Like I mentioned, we had a mini celebration at our monthly meeting last weekend, but we got in a good deal of celebration this weekend as well. We all decided to meet in the downtown on Saturday night, after the Tlamacazapa girls got back into Cuernavaca. When I arrived there, I got out of my taxi to an absolute madhouse:

people everywhere, many in Mexico jerseys with painted faces, yelling and cheering, dancers, drummers, people waving Mexican flags, and a group of crazies running out in the street to jump en masse on the bumpers of passing cars and buses, jiggling them up and down. At first I was like, what Mexican holiday is it that I don’t know about it? Turns out it was even more important than a national holiday; Mexico’s football (read: soccer) team beat El Salvador, qualifying them for the World Cup. I don’t even know if I can describe how important or prevalent soccer is here; I guess there’s obsession, and then there’s Mexican soccer. Anyway, as I was busy snapping some photos of the revelry, Peter and Sara arrived, and we went out for a few birthday beers at a café while we waited for the other girls to join us. Not only did I get a free beer, I also got sung to by my fellow volunteers (Katie and Sarah too, once they arrived) and a surprise birthday treat (it was kind of like a fancy ho-ho) brought to me by the waiters; they even wrote “Happy B-day” on it in English. I was impressed.

Afterwards, we wandered down to La Plazuela, a popular bar lined street that features everything from small watering holes with live guitar music to full-on discotheques. We opted for a livelier spot with dancing. It was the first time we had been actually “out” in Cuernavaca, and we all had a lot of fun. Of course, when we left it was pouring rain and none of us had any sort of umbrella or jacket, but luckily we all got taxis quickly and headed home. On Sunday, my actual birthday, we met up again at the same retreat center we were at for orientation for relaxing and swimming. I also took advantage of the phone and Internet to make some birthday phone/Skype calls. The pool turned out to be a bit chilly; only Katie and I were brave enough to get in. Still, it was a very enjoyable afternoon, and I left feeling refreshed. Sara even brought me a scarf that she knit herself as a present; every time I see her she has a new craft that she learned at her work sites. It’s a legit scarf too (like you would actually pay money for it); once it actually gets chilly enough to wear scarves (if it ever does) it won’t leave my neck. My birthday present to myself (besides blowing almost a third of my month’s allowance in one night, haha) was having a Mass-free weekend. As much as I like that Angeles and Fernando include me, their weekends are so full of activities (almost always church activities) that I sometimes feel like I don’t get a weekend when I go along. It was very nice to have a couple days all to myself to do as I pleased. I may try to cut my Mass count down to one a week, try a different church once in awhile, and have an occasional church-free weekend.

Work has also been busy for the last few days. As I mentioned, I had a visitor from EdgewoodCollege come to watch me work in the kindergarten on Friday morning. She’s doing half a semester of student teaching here in Cuernavaca at an elementary school, and then returning toMadison to finish her student teaching there. I really enjoyed hearing about her experiences as a teacher here, and sharing some of my own. It was also very nice to have an extra pair of hands to help with the day’s project. She and another girl working in Cuernavaca participated in a mini-immersion program over the weekend, part of which was visiting the community in which I work. After I finished with work, my fellow volunteers and I met with the girls at the retreat center to talk about our experiences living here, working here, and being Americans in a foreign place. Again, it was nice to share and hear some of the experiences of other foreigners, where our experiences overlap and where they differ.

Then, just yesterday, we had perhaps one of the biggest events of the year at the community center in La Estación – a visit from their sponsors. As I may or may not have mentioned, children in the La Estación community project can be sponsored by families in the US and Canada, who send money for things like food, school supplies, and clothing. In return, the children’s mothers must participate in the center, the children must write letters and send pictures to their sponsors, and they also must attend the workshops that the community center provides. Five of the sponsors came to visit the center, as well as the staff of the organization that coordinates the sponsorship program, and everyone in the community went all out for it. The center was cleaned like I’ve never seen it cleaned and decorated with paper chains and flowers. The kids and I made cards for them in one of our workshops. Tons of kids packed into the center to welcome the guests, so many that there wasn’t space or chairs for all of them. There were readings, gifts (embroidered pillowcases that the women made), a traditional Mexican dance performance, two home visits… it was definitely the busiest and one of the most wonderful mornings I’ve had to date. It was wonderful to see both the outpouring of gratitude that this community has for those who help them ensure that their kids are properly prepared to receive the education they deserve, as well as the delight of the foreign sponsors at the warm welcome they received.

I did, however, have two regrets about the event, the first being that I forgot my camera! It would have been the perfect opportunity to take pictures. The second is that it didn’t last longer; the sponsors only stayed for about an hour and a half, which seemed very short. Even when they visited the homes of the mothers, they only stayed about twenty minutes. Logistically I understand why they couldn’t stay longer, but at the same time I wish they could have stayed a while, talking to the families and learning their stories. Their conversations couldn’t get much beyond asking how many children the women had, their ages, their names, how long they had lived in the community, etc. However, one of the women they visited, Lulu, was asked about what dreams she had for her five children, and she started to cry. She said, “I have such enormous dreams for my children. I want them all to become successful professionals, so that they don’t have to live like this, so that they can leave this life of poverty.” It was such a touching moment; more than anything, I wanted these strangers to be able to stay, to talk to her and her daughters, who, I have learned from them coming to workshops, are incredibly bright, talented, social, and driven, to show them really how much they deserve every opportunity in the world and how vital their sponsorship is in making sure these girls receive those opportunities. At the same time, all the sponsorship in the world doesn’t change the fact that these girls, because of where they live, because of their socioeconomic status and lack of resources, are going to be fighting an uphill battle the entire way. In that moment, the reason I am here became much clearer; I am here for them. I cannot provide monetary support, but I can give them knowledge and encouragement, learn their stories, and share their lives more than any immersion group or day visitor ever could. Unfortunately, that won’t put food on their table or books in their backpacks, but nonetheless I choose to believe that my presence here can make a difference in their lives and the lives of those in the community. Sorry if that sounds soap-boxy or sappy, but it’s moments like those that keep me going here – moments where I feel useful and part of a community. I almost started crying along with Lulu! But, luckily, I restrained myself.

That’s all for now; this week looks to be a quieter one, but here you just never know what will happen next.