Aside from a few trips to Tijuana with my family when I was a teenager, I had never been to Mexico before. Originally, Allan and I planned on going to Oaxaca in southern Mexico, but then Swine Flu broke out and drug related violence got out of hand, so we canceled our plans to visit Mexico all together. But last fall things seemed to stabilize, and Allan's friend Susie suggested we go to San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico. It has the reputation of being clean and safe, and doesn't have the drug problems that other areas of Mexico have had. So Allan did some research, and found it to be an intriguing place to visit--and popular too; It took us quite awhile to finally find an apartment that was available for us to rent.
HISTORY
San Miguel de Allende is a colonial city in central Mexico, and is considered to be the birthplace of Mexican Independence. When we took a city tour, our guide said that SMA is often referred to as The Cradle of Liberty, and it was recently deemed a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's most popular structure is the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel, a Gothic church that is the most photographed church in all of Mexico.
Because of the UNESCO classification, the city of SMA is currently in the process of burying all power lines in the city center, and all new construction must conform to building codes to retain the colonial look and feel of the city. It's quite charming, and we immediately took a liking to it. However, I soon realized that I was quite ignorant when it came to Mexican history, so to help me understand more about it, we went to see a locally made documentary called The History of Mexico, and I left the theater feeling so darn depressed. If Mexico wasn't being attacked and ruled from the outside by Spain and France, it was being attacked from the inside by corrupt politicians. And it didn't help to have good old America "rob" Mexico of most of its oil, plus take the territories of Texas, California, Utah, Arizona (and many other states) in the Mexican-American war--a war that many Americans at the time opposed, and it eventually fueled the origins of our own Civil War. (Let's hope that history doesn't totally repeat itself...but given our political climate these days, who knows.) When I think of the profound wisdom that has come from the Mayan and Aztec people, it's just a sad tragedy that colonialism, corruption and greed pretty much destroyed what appeared to be a bright future for Mexican Indians. If Mexico seems like a poor country today, lets just say that they had a lot of help getting there. Add to that the continued problem with corruption, and it's no wonder that so many Mexicans seek a better life in the United States.But in spite of all these less than optimum circumstances, the people of San Miguel de Allende seem rather happy. Life is good here, overall, probably better than in most other cities in Mexico. And one thing I'll say for the people here; they sure like to throw a party! I would say that several times a week, there are fireworks going off for some sort of occasion--we were told that often times it is to scare away evil spirits, or to celebrate a historical event from the past, but a gringo neighbor simply told us that "Mexicans just like to make noise". There are also several Christian celebrations throughout the year, so that is part of it too. We were fortunate enough to be here for one big party where hundreds of Mexicans came from all over the country to dance in the main square of town, dressed in traditional tribal costume.
They were celebrating the time when Mexican Indians accepted Christ as their savior. I read that some of the difficulty Mexico has had over the years has been the integration of tribal culture with colonial culture, and possibly such celebrations are an attempt at reconciling that...At any rate, it was encouraging to see such happy people in the town square, even though their history has been anything but uplifting.OUR ITINERARY
So in addition to learning a bit more about their history, what else have we done while we've been here? Well, naturally we have eaten a lot of Mexican food, mostly prepared right here in our own kitchen. There are two organic grocery stores in town, so we've been able to buy some great produce, and Allan even made corn tortillas--not an easy task without a press. The restaurants we've been to have had a fair amount of delicious veggie options, with one place serving organic, vegan food. And some of the coffee shops here even offer soymilk for lattes. Nice! SMA is an "artist town", so there's a plethora of expensive art galleries and gift shops, and there are many times when I have felt like I was in Arizona, not Mexico. The central section of town is a haven for tourists, so a lot of it has been "Americanized".
As with most towns we've visited, we've spent a lot of time walking the cobblestone streets,
looking at the beautiful architecture, peeking in shops, and sampling pastries--or ice cream in my case. There are many street venders here that sell unusual flavors of ice cream like Pine nut, Rose petal, and Cheese. Yes, cheese ice cream, and of course I had to try them all! As my co-workers from OHSU can attest, I love strange flavors of ice cream, so I've loved that about Mexico. We've attended a few lectures, concerts, and even seen a few movies at the nearby mall. (We were even welcomed into town with a showing of Groundhog Day--but we were the only people to show up to see it!) We've visited the Botanical Gardens, and taken a Home and Garden Tour too, but really, most of our time has been spent learning Spanish, and studying for several hours a day. While both of us can read Spanish fairly well now, and understand it if spoken slowly, it is still difficult for us to say very much. Allan's recent post on Verbos Irregulares was no joke--smoke really has come out of his ears! For those of you that know Allan well, you know that he is always in command, always in control. So it was quite a sight to see him struggle. It was the first time in our relationship that I have seen Allan struggle with anything...and also the first time I have been a little bit better at something than he is. Before I met Allan, I thought I was neat, clean, disciplined, organized, and that I could cook a fairly decent dinner. But after being with Allan these past five years, I've realized how delusional I was. He can make Martha Stewart look sloppy and tasteless, so I shouldn't take it too personal, but still, it's hard to constantly be inadequate in his presence. So I took with much delight those days in class when I could form a sentence in Spanish a few seconds faster than he could. So forgive me if I milk this ego moment...based on past experience, it probably won't last for long...THE GRINGOS
San Miguel is full of retired gringos--about 20% of the population. They come primarily from the USA and Canada, and after being here for 6 weeks, I can see why. The weather is about as perfect as you can want--in the 70's much of the year! It is interesting to spend six weeks here with all of these retired folks--I feel like such a kid! But these are fun "old folks". They all seem to be so free to express themselves--not just with their makeup, jewelry, and hair color, but also by the youthful clothes they wear and their very active social calendar--one cannot possibly do all the things that these folks have scheduled on the Current Events list in the local English paper. We saw a documentary about the expats moving here (made by an expat) called Lost and Found in Mexico, and many of these retirees feel like moving here gave them a second shot at life. "You go to Florida to die, and you come to San Miguel to live!" In age-obsessed America, where life is only for the young and beautiful, I can see what they mean. Some embrace their new home, becoming actively involved in their new community, doing a lot of volunteering and fundraising to provide educations and provisions for poor Mexican children. But others just move here to take advantage of the low housing costs and cheap labor. While they may be providing jobs to house builders and maids, they never really attempt to integrate into the culture. Sure, at their age, some may not have the brain space to learn Spanish, so communication might be the biggest barrier. And if they can't speak to their neighbor, they're just never really going to develop a relationship with them. Financial disparity is also a factor: One nights dinner in an "expat" restaurant could cost a Mexican 10% of their monthly salary...so becoming social friends is financially impossible. I found it a bit disturbing that even in their own country, Mexicans are still servants to rich Americans...
OUR LANDLADY
The owner of our apartment, Helen, is 87 years old, and moved here from NYC with her husband (now deceased) in 1971. They moved to Mexico in protest of the Vietnam war, and vowed to never pay another penny in US taxes to have it used to fund an unnecessary war. Helen may be in her 80's, but she has the energy and spunk of someone 30 years younger. She's a short woman with long grey hair that she ties back, and she wears 5 inch long dangly earrings that she purchased from a local artist years ago. She chews gum like a teenager, and still speaks with a New York accent--even after all these years. On our first day meeting her, she asked if Allan and I were a couple, and when we said yes, she held out her hand with a big smile and said, "Congratulations!" She told us that in her day, there were laws that said you could only have sex in the missionary position. "The government has no right to butt their nose in someones bedroom." She says she "tortures herself" by watching MSNBC to track what is happening politically in the US. "America is going insane. Obama is a nice man, an intelligent man, but I don't think he had any idea how difficult it would be to work with the Republicans. They are all a bunch of racist bigots. They are arguing with him, saying that health care is too expensive. They sure didn't have a problem going into debt to fight two wars! I guess killing people is okay, but giving people health care is not. It's crazy!" Helen is also convinced that they have systematically dumbed down the country. "In my day, teaching was a respected profession. Education was important. But now they try to keep people stupid because they're easier to control that way." And our discussion on Sarah Palin proved that point: Any party that rallies around her is clearly not keen on intelligence, and is merely motivated by slander and fear...a very disturbing trend these days on both sides of the political spectrum. Is everyone on the left really a socialist commie hell bent on raising taxes? Is everyone on the right really a greedy, fear mongering idiot with a gun? How do we get out of this childish political war?
Helen has employed many Mexicans over the years, and currently has a family working for her while also living with her. The husband does the maintenance and yard work, and the wife, Juana, cleans and takes care of the house and apartment. Helen lent them money to build their own house outside of town (where they spend the weekends), and so their labor is paying off that loan. Helen says she considers them family, and it does appear to be true. I've watched her with Juana's children, and it is just like watching a grandmother with her grand kids. I will miss chatting with Helen. She's feisty, funny, and tells it just like it is.
IN CLOSING
Sadly, even after six weeks here, there is so much I don't fully understand about Mexico...Each time I think I do, an opposite perspective shows up and I'm back to square one, and I will leave Mexico with conflicting emotions. Racial and cultural prejudice towards Mexicans seems so prevalent in America, and being here for six weeks has made me a bit peeved by that. It seems that there is an odd discomfort about Mexican immigrants, and some people are downright hostile about them living and working in America. Yet at the same time, what American teenager wants to be a maid? Who would do the labor that the Mexicans do? It appears to be a codependent relationship...full of ambivalence's and conflict. In my lifetime, I've had two very close friendships with Mexican immigrants, and yet oddly, we hardly ever talked about Mexico. I've been feeling guilty about that since being here, realizing my lack of maturity and interest in their life and cultural history. Maybe I'm just feeling guilty about our historical past...taking their land and oil because we simply had more money and a bigger gun. (It's so AVATAR.) Maybe I'm too close to it, maybe my brain is too full of learning Spanish, but it's all just too much for me to process and understand in six short weeks, so forgive me if I've come to some inaccurate conclusions...
Still, I am happy that we came here. I have developed a love and a respect for the people and culture, and they have made me feel welcome--a feeling I now hope to more fully pass on to the Mexicans I see back home.
No comments:
Post a Comment