Questions, Thoughts, Pictures

A couple weeks ago, I had my mom ask around to see what people wanted to know about my life in Mexico. One of the topics that came up was "What do you see on your way to school?" So here is the answer:
My school is about 10 minutes away from my house. Classes start at 7 in the morning, so we try to leave the house by 6:40. We barely ever actually leave at that time, but hey, at least we have goals. This time in the morning it is usually still a little cool and it is dark. Leaving the house we pass by other houses, most of which are painted bright colors. All the houses have gates over their windows and doors. Some have small lawns, most don't. We also pass by little stores, such as a papeleria, or stationary store, which has everything from pens to gum to photocopies. There are restaurants selling picadas for around 6 pesos, about 50 cents in the U.S. My mom swerves to avoid potholes and abruptly slows, slamming the breaks to go over a speed bump, several times on every street. When we get on the boulevard, I see the ocean out of my window. The sun is starting to come up, and there are barges coming and going from the port. There is a lighthouse on an island that is restricted to the public.The sky is purple, pink, orange, and blue. It's something I never see at home, and it's amazing every day. We go under an overpass, passing by the plaza. I have no idea what the speed limit is, btu I'm pretty sure it's just a suggestion that no one abides by. We go really fast, and cars switch lanes whenever they want, only using the directionals when they can't find a spot to squeeze into. Stop lights are taken as a dare. When the green light starts to flash, it's about to turn yellow and almost immediately after red, so there's a mess of slowing down and speeding up. When there are 3 lanes, it's really more like 5, so people drive wherever they please. When I get to my school, the sun is halfway up, and I rush into my classroom. It's only 7:10, and already my day has been full of rushing around and crazy traffic.

Another question from my family was "Why are there so many women around all the time, and very few men?" Well here you go:
It has more to do with my family specifically than general Mexican culture. My host mom was an only child. My host dad only has one sister. They only had two daughters, and my aunt only had 2 daughters. My aunt is divorced, and my two cousins don't have boyfriends right now. It was really just by chance that there are so many women and basically no men. When the whole big extended family gets together, there are more men, but in general it's just my dad. My mom has 2 good friends who come to the house fairly often, so then even more women are around! If I had a different host family, I may have been around guys all the time. For example, my mom's friend Gina has 3 brothers, and 3 sons. In her family, she is almost always the only woman. Who knows what my next host family will be like! Obviously in any culture, women and men are both significant. There are different roles in every culture for men and women, and although sometimes it seems that one is subordinate, I think that is quite misleading. In Mexico, the women typically do the laundry, clean the house, make the food, and take care of the kids. That's not to say the men don't do anything, nor is it to say the women do everything. I think the women are actually in quite a powerful situation. They manage the household, they have a lot of responsibility. The women are an incredibly significant part of culture. All the history of a place can be found in the stories of the women- how they are treated, the food they make, how they raise their children. So anyways, it was just by chance that there are so many women around all the time, but I think it has provided me with a very interesting and unique experience.

Next, this wasn't a question, but I felt like talking about it. Part of being a Rotary Youth Exchange student is being a "cultural ambassador". It's kind of an ambiguous term, I mean, what exactly does a "cultural ambassador" do? As I spend more and more time in Mexico around Mexicans, I start to realize what the job of a "cultural ambassador" entails and how important it is. It's about correcting stereotypes and misconceptions, and showing a different side of your culture to people. I'm often asked, "What do Americans think of Mexicans? That we ride around on donkeys and drink tequila?" Well, responding for an entire country is a bit of a responsibility. I don't want to completely confirm the stereotype, but sometimes it is true. In this situation, I usually respond with something like, "Most people do not think that, although there are some. Many people know that Mexicans do not ride around on donkeys all the time and drink tequila." It's sort of an answer, right? Unfortunately, I do know people who think that, so I can't honestly say that no one does. Thanks to movies like Mean Girls, I usually am asked if girls are really like that in high schools. Now, this is not the time when I break out the stories about girls pulling hair and beating up each other in the hallways. I try to save that for another more appropriate time, which is well, never. I explain that most of the time, high schools are not at all like the movies. "Are cheerleaders skanky?" is another good question. Seeing as I was a cheerleader, it gets kind of personal. I'm quick to say it is not like that at all, but again, it's hard to define an entire group of people who are different in every school throughout the country. "Are there lots of pregnant girls?" Well, thank you MTV for spreading that wonderful stereotype throughout the world. This is another loaded question. How do I answer honestly, saying "Yes, it happens" while not confirming the misconception that all American girls are pregnant all the time? I try my best to explain that it happens, and it's relatively common, but it's not like every single girl in the high school has 3 kids. "Why are girls in the US so forward with boys?" Again, movies have really contributed to this idea of American women being really easy, and it's definitely a very negative stereotype. I usually just try to say it's not like that, although there are some, the majority are not the way they seem in movies. One of my proud exchange student moments is when people tell me, "I always thought Americans were very disconnected from their families and never spend time with them, but when I hear you talk, I can see that it is not like that for all families." Maybe I just got lucky having a family that spends time together and lives relatively close to each other, but it's a really cool thing to tell people that we do stay close to our families, we do care about our grandparents, and we don't just move away from our families and never talk to each other. It is a very different way of life in the United States, but it has been really cool to be able to tell people that it's not always like that. There are a lot of questions I am asked that I can't answer. It's impossible to respond for an entire country. I hope I am helping to correct misconceptions and being succesful in my job as a "cultural ambassador". Also, please keep in mind all the stereotypes there are of your own culture and how generally incorrect they are, when you hear or see a stereotype about another culture. Stereotypes are not a good way of judging a different culture- culture is made up of people who are each incredibly unique, and it cannot be defined by one simple observation that is generally not true. Before we judge another culture, it's important to remember all the misconceptions that can be made about our own culture, and how wrong they can be.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, some completely unrelated pictures!

Me with some soldiers!

Delicious food! It's a Gorda Dulce (Sweet Gorda, aka Fat) covered with cream and cheese. It's got a sort of black licorice flavor, and it's so good. Mexico has awesome food.



View of Veracruz from the top floor of a hotel! This is looking towards the port, and the tall building is the Pemex Tower. This view was incredible. There is someone in the background, but I don't know who!