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March 08, 2007
Yucatán—mi compromiso; tu gente, mi pasión
Yucatán—mi compromiso; tu gente, mi pasión.
The signs are everywhere. The election is all staged. It’s Ivonne, everybody’s red-haired, lovable PRI candidate vs. Xavier, the bald-headed, “Dr. Phil” PAN candidate. “Van a ganar conmigo,” he claims, with the point of a finger that seems to be photo-shopped and cropped abnormally large. But will the people really win with him? Buses are showing their faces. Coca cans have their faces plastered around the ingredients tab. It’s bound to be an interesting few weeks…
Sunday was a great day… the church deemed it “family day”, a way to get families to unite and come together for services. So being that I am living here and take up space in the house, I went with my family to share in the moment. My roommate chose otherwise. And Sunday ended (with great sadness) the weekend.
I have had so much work to do this week—papers, reseñas, and the first bits of my exposiciones for the upcoming weeks. I’m also trying to get ahead a bit, so I don’t have to worry about a lot of work while I’m away over the Semana Santa break…
This week also brought introductions to new foods. First of all, I was taught the Yucatecan way (supposedly Yucatecan, although I tend to think otherwise) to eat a mango—by spooning the fruit out like ice cream… I’ve had some trouble with it on the initial attempts, but now I seem to be getting it more and more. At least we’re not eating papaya anymore… The papaya phase is good and done with. Now we’re down to mangoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
And in turn, I introduced the family to S’mores. Julio came over and we lit a fire and made the Yucatecan version of smores; they don’t have graham crackers here, so we substituted with a flat, dry cookie. It was a lot of fun and I think everyone enjoyed it.
And last night, we at sopa, a pita-like tortilla with beans, cheese, and tomato sauce. It was really good….
In other news, President Bush arrives next Monday to Merida and will be staying in El Centro (very close to where I live—walkable distance). And his arrival couldn’t have generated more demonstrations, protests, and chaos. Every night, there have been LARGE protests in the center—the city is merely covered with signs that say “assassinate Bush”, “World Killer”, “Demonic Soul”, etc.
While I don’t necessarily endorse our president at the highest level, he is my president—our president— and I feel as if it’s my duty as an American citizen to be respectful of his work at all times.
And I’m not necessarily sure that I support people of another nation holding protests at such great levels. First of all, you should understand that I can’t walk in the Centro anymore. I can’t be seen anywhere near a protest because it is very, very illegal for people that are not nationals to participate in government-related events. Hence, if I was caught in the midst of a crowd (merely passing by), I would be thrown in jail for years.
But the fact is, I don’t necessarily agree with the fact that Mexicans are protesting his arrival. I understand Mexican’s view of Bush’s immigration policy. And I understand that they don’t support the War in Iraq. But the fact is, this country’s economy is dependent upon the United States. The US has made a great imprint in the lives of citizens here and has affected virtually every aspect of daily life—Walmart, clothing, music, CNN television (among other channels), appliances, cars, etc. I find it hard to believe that Mexicans don’t recognize—or rather, that they choose to overlook-- their strong ties to the United States, simply for the sake of claiming 5 shining minutes in public, creating noise and spewing dirty language.
I don’t agree with it at all. I think their demonstrations are a waste of space and are really shedding a bad image of the people of this great city. But who am I to talk? I’m just an American visiting…
As far as the rest of the week, things are looking on the bright side… Tonight I have English conversation hours with Tatiana again in a parque. It was a lot of fun last week—we went to an Oxxo and just bought some snacks and started talking a lot about life in general…
I think it’s amazing how she (as well as other students that I’ve met in the UADY), have become so strongly devoted to studying English. She was telling me that the reason she is studying is to live in Canada eventually… I thought it was really interesting and great how she’s trying to turn such a dream into a realization.
So, tonight we will continue with English.
Friday, I will be judging the first ever “Creative Writing Show” at the Colegio Americano where I also teach English. The students have been busy preparing their essays on a pre-chosen image. Tomorrow, they will share their stories in front of the entire grade in an auditorium, where I’ll get to play Simon Cowell. I’m looking forward to it…
And this weekend is looking promising as well. I’m hoping to get to the beach on Sunday and back in time to do some reading. And on Sunday, Maria Jose has invited Erich and I for lunch at her house in a small, poor pueblo. I will be conducting interviews for my independent study while I’m there. I have my question sheets already printed out – questions about the Mayans and Yucatecen relations with “outsiders”—or extranjeros.
I’m really looking forward to it….
Posted by jlsumich at March 8, 2007 10:46 AM