This week was a lot like last week, but also really different. We had class all week (Spanish in the morning and history or a lecture in the afternoons) as usual and then went away realllly early on Friday morning to Michoacan, which is another state in Mexico to the North West of Cuernavaca.We had two really interesting lectures. The first was about the current Zapatista movement, which is mainly taking place in Oaxaca. It is a group of mainly indigenous people that are fighting for the right to govern their own lands, not to actually separate from Mexico, but to be in control of their children’s education, their healthcare, community resources etc instead of the Mexican government. The government has not/ does not take the individual needs of the people into account, especially of the indigenous people that have been pretty much pushed out of society, or at least the indigenous “part” of people because almost everyone is mestizo, meaning they have both indigenous and Spanish ancestry. It’s something we don’t hear a lot about in the U.S, but is a huge movement in Mexico right now. When we do hear about it in the U.S, my experience has been that it gets portrayed as a guerilla terrorist group when actually they believe in more peaceful actions.
The second speakers talked about the state of gender roles in Mexico today, specifically address machismo and marianismo which are the presiding gender roles. Machismo is… macho… just what you would imagine and holds very strong in Mexico today. Marianismo puts women in subservient, care taking and virgin like roles, following after the Virgin Mary. Religion is very important and has a huge influence on many areas of life here.
We also had a really interesting lab group discussion about how men treat women who are strangers to them here. It’s a little different that the U.S because it’s more part of the cultural and therefore a little more expected/accepted. It’s pretty much impossible to walk down the street with out getting whistled at and have men say something. We’ve heard all sorts of funny things and have racked up quite a few marriage proposals as well. At first I think we were all a little offended by most of it, but we’re getting used to it. We’ve talked to a few Mexican women about this and also women who have lived here for a long time. It seems there’s an important distinction to make. One is called “piropo” which is more of a complement. It usually has sexual undertones but it’s not gross or offensive. For the most part, these are accepted by women who have lived here a long time. The other is basically sexual harassment which is when guys says something just nasty and violating. More and more women are encouraging each other to speak back to these sorts of comments which starts making a difference and giving that power back to the women. It was good to talk about it as it’s certainly something (both kinds) that we’ve all had to put up with here. We also got into a discussion about home and when guys “protect” girls that guys say nasty things too. We were somewhat divided on whether that was productive. On one hand it takes even more power away from the woman, on the other, the guys saying that it’s not cool is undercutting that system and can have an effect on the guy that said something. Not sure where I stand on that one… I think it really depends on the situation because I can see both.
It’s really strange here because there’s this very rigid sort of “gentleman” expectation where guys have to open car doors and close car doors and women never carry anything and things like that, for every girl too, not just for girlfriends. It’s kind of patronizing and I’m kind of torn between saying, “I can do it myself,” and accepting that as a cultural difference that I have to get used to. It’s a tricky balance. I almost slammed a guys fingers in the car door the other day because I closed it… Either way it’s hard to get used to.
So Friday morning we woke up super early to be ready to leave at 7 am for Michoacan, a state NE of D.F . It was a five or six hour drive.. bleh. We had to pick up a woman named Friné Lopez who organized the whole weekend trip for us. She is a great women who works a lot with rural development. We finally got there around one-thirty and settled in a little and had some lunch. We stayed at a little rustic hotel in Senguio, which is a really small beautiful town that reminded me of Huitzilac a little bit. After lunch we went to an ejido called El Calobozo, which is a shared kind of co-op sort of farm. I talked a little bit about it before. One of the farmers of the land, who had been the head of the ejido also, showed us around his farm and talked a little about how it worked. It was really interesting and beautiful.
After that we went to meet a group of women that were doing all sorts of little projects to bring income into their families and sustain the community. They had a group that did silk screening, one that made jewelry, one that sold organic vegetables and one that worked with making sure there was enough clean water to sustain the community. When we first got out of the car a very old woman kept touching Natalie and asking her for her shoes, her shirt and everything, but then we finally went inside to hear all the groups speak.
The next morning Betsy and I woke up a bit early to go for a short walk with Friné before breakfast. We walked up past an old church and into the mountains a bit and then came back. After b-fast we drove about an hour and a half to the butterfly sanctuary which was just incredible. The whole time I felt like I was dreaming.
When we arrived there were all these little kids running along the car asking if we wanted a guide or someone to watch our car while we were gone. Then a bunch of women came over and were asking us if we were hungry and telling us about their food stand and all the kinds of food they sold. Then we started our hike which ended up being about two hours each way. It was really dirty and dusty because some people could rent horses to walk down and since it’s been so dry, they horses just kick up all the dirt. We could feel it in our noses and it was in our teeth and just about everywhere. When we blew our noses afterwards it was all dirty and grossss.
When we first started walking we saw a bunch of butterflies fluttering all around and it was dreamy enough, but as we walked further and further there were just more and more even though we kept not being able to imagine anymore. It was like a fall say when it’s really windy and all the leaves are
twirling off the tress constantly… it was like that, but butterflies instead of trees. I never imagined there could be so many in one place. I kept expected to wake up and have to go, realizing it was all a dream. When we got to our final spot it was where all the butterflies were hibernating and the whole tree looking like it was covered in orange flowers, but it was all butterflies. I put pictures on facebook, but they really don’t do what it was like justice. Any part where it looks like your computer screen is messed up or my lens was dirty.. that’s a butterfly. Imagine more butterflies than you could ever imagine!Every year they migrate to this forest because they especially like the kind of tree that is there. There’s some other areas in other places they also go to, but where we were is the biggest one. It takes four
generations to complete the migration from way down here all the way over different parts of the U.S and up into Canada. They’re mostly only in Mexico from November to March when they come to reproduce and hibernate.When we got back from our hike everyone was a little cranky from being dirty and tired, but we sat down for lunch at a very rustic little restaurant and a few of the women who each own smaller restaurants worked together to prepare all the food for us, which was mostly different types of quesadillas and sopes (which are like thick tortillas which an edge, topped with salsa, beans, salsa, cheese and cilantro).
After that it was back in the car for the long ride home…
Saturday night I went out with Katie, Katie and Kate (that’s not a joke) to a Mexican friend of their’s really gorgeous house in a suburb of Cuernavaca. It had a gorgeous view of the lights of the city and we hang out for a while… I got to practice my Spanish for sure which is always fun.
And it is today! This week won’t be as exciting because we don’t have a weekend trip planned, but a few of us might take a little day trip, maybe to Taxco or somewhere else. Well… I think I’ve written enough and I’ve got homework to do. Have a good week everyone (especially everyone on Spring break! )
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