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March 10, 2007
Monólogos de la Vagina: The End.
Thursday night, I found myself sitting in the park wtth Tatiana practicing English yet again. It’s amazing how some people here have made such an effort to study English—reading English books, magazines, watching English television shows, etc. Like the kids in el Colegio Americana, for instance, where I teach. They have certainly made a lot of progress studying English and it fun to get the chance to judge their Creative Writing Show yesterday and hear the stories that they spent time working on.
But on the flip aide, I understand that most people don’t have the opportunity or the right resources to do this…
We spoke about school (I found out that she’s leaving the UADY next year to go to a better school), we spoke about family, about laws and rules here in Yucatan, and about her studying English. “Why are you studying English?” I asked. “I want to live in Canada,” she said. “and be a journalist.” I thought that this was a particularly interesting answer, considering I hadn’t heard a response like this before from other people. Hmm…a journalist living in Canada. She certainly has taken the first big step to make it happen—and I’d be interested in seeing where she goes from here.
We spoke about the UADY--- about the fact that many of the teachers don’t teach like they should or they could. And she made a valid point. The students of Mexico pay a lot of money to attend school here (you must understand that everything is comparative—to us in the United States, education is a lot of money and to Mexicans living here, it’s just the same way) and they deserve to have the best possible education afforded to them. Many of the teachers (and luckily not mine), simply sit back without commenting in class at all. They dump all of the work onto the “brains” of the class, pretending to award extra points, and promising less essays, tests, etc, in return for one student taking charge of the class…
Last night, (Friday) I went to see the Monólogos de la Vagina with other students from my Antropologia Mexicana class—Carla, Dianela, Fernando, and Rosalio. I figured it was a good opportunity to show my support for UADY students, since they have given so much to me in return. And, I knew three of the girls in the cast--- Maria Jose, Alejandra, and Claudette.
The show was excellent, excellent, excellent, and what was even better was that I was able to understand almost everything that they were saying. Sometimes, when I found myself unsure of a word, I listened to the entire sentence and the context to figure out what was being said. I really enjoyed the production—the cast worked very hard—and it definitely opened my eyes up to the talent of UADY students.
On my way out, I got to see just how packed the auditorium was (we went to the early 6:30 pm showing—the other one started at 8:30). And, as we walked onto the street, we saw the line for the late show wrap around the corner, past the UADY Central building. Dr. Shrimpton was there, among others.
To top the evening off, we ate at the Park of Santa Anna (where I brought my parents twice or three times). We ordered tortas and dessert for all, and Carla and I got a pineapple drink in a gigantic goblet.
When we first got there, there was a big demonstracion against President Bush and the group asked me if I had any intention of participating. Being the only extranjero, I was a little bit hesitant to explain my personal political beliefs, or just my beliefs in general. But, I couldn’t just hold out and not say anything.
I told them the following: Although I might not believe in our president to the highest extent—although I understand that he has made mistakes during his terms in office— he’s still my president. And my president is a representation of my country, of my culture, of my upbringing, of my life. I would find myself disgracing my own country, my own people if I were to participate in a demonstration as such, which would be especially visible in a foreign country.
What kind of message would I send to the people of Mexico if I were to hold up a sign in English that read “DEATH to PRESIDENT, DOWN with AMERICA”? What would that accomplish? I feel like demonstrations in this manner are nothing but a waste of space and really shed light on a lack of character. There are many, many more productive, morally and logically decent ways of voicing a personal opinion. They could be writing letters to their governments, to their newspapers, to television stations.
But holding up burning American flags? This kind of demonstration bears no weight to it. It only sends messages of hate and a lack of maturity—a lack of understanding.
And I find it hard to believe how these people could be holding up signs in English when they don’t even understand what they mean.
I don’t know why I’m rambling on about this. I was just really not comfortable last night and found myself in a situation difficult to explain.
I’m sorry if I’m not going to protest my president and my country. I just won’t.
The end.
Posted by jlsumich at March 10, 2007 12:09 PM