Emo?... in Mexico?

In the United States, I am sure you all have noticed a trend amongst youngsters that has been dubbed 'Emo.' For all of you older readers, Emo (as in 'emotion') is a term that is used to describe the trend of dressing in black, multiple piercings, death-related garb, etc. You all know what I am talking about now, right? Emos are the guys that have a tear tattooed on their cheek and have red stripes in their hair, that sort of thing.

So why am I writing about Emos in Mexico? The Emo movement is well on its way in the US, but here in Mexico, it is JUST getting going. It is like a new way of rebelling here. While I rarely saw piercings and Emo attire last year... it is EVERYWHERE this year! Everywhere you go, teens are dressing Emo!

This movement in the US is now generally accepted, I think. Here, though, it is very controversial. How do I know this? If you step onto any given bus in this city, you will read the ongoing debate amongst those that are Emo... and those that are not. They usually run something like this:

An Emo writes: Can a heart still break if it has stopped beating? or If life is fair, why do roses have thorns?

A response: %&#$& Emo, get a life.

A response to the response: No one understands becuase people in this world turn away from their feelings.

The rebuddle: No one wants to understand, you are creepy, &%$#/ Emo.

The closing: Viva Emo! (Long live Emo)

And written next to it: Die Emos.

Each little debate varies slightly, but they are all along these lines. It is both funny to me...and a little bit sad. Here it seems that people have less freedom to express themselves. While I think being Emo is a bit extreme, I think it is sad that people can't seem to do or dress as they want here. We in the US have a lot more freedom to... wear sweatpants to class if we want or get our noses pierced without the whole world condemning us. The feminist movement is JUST getting rolling here... women in Mexico are not esteemed and respected as much as women in the United States are.

I don't know, I jus think it is interesting :)

10 Things

So today is March 10th... wow. I guess that means my time here is drawing to a close. I have ten more days until my work is done and I move out of my house forever :( I am sad about this, but I am also excited to go back to the United States. I miss my family and friends SO much (and a certain someone who will go unnamed at this time). Because a few people have asked me, I have compiled a list of things that I miss about the United States. (Family and friends don't count!) These are in no particular order, either, because I can't decide which I miss
most!

1. Pizza Salad. There is a shortage of good pizza here, and lettuce is not a good idea to eat, not to mention the fact that it is rather scarce.
2. Kettle Corn. Where is it?! They have every other kind here! Chile, caramel, butter, natural... everything EXCEPT the one I love most!
3. My bed. My bed at home is so comfortable and my bed here... not so much.
4. English. Enough said on that point.
5. Timliness. Americans have it! We get places quickly, do things on time, aren't late for appointments and we walk at a rate that is quicker than a few feet per hour ;)
6. Green. I bet you guys miss it too, actually, it being winter. But I am ready to see green landscape again, and I am coming back just in time!
7. School. Crazy huh? This whole experience of working and not taking any classes has made me appreciate what little time I have left at the university.
8. Clean water. It isn't that they don't have it here, because they have it in abundance... but I miss not having to check everywhere I go to make sure the water AND the ice is purified.
9. Playing outside. Here, they just don't do that sort of thing. We go and play games outside at school in the fall and spring, and I really miss that a lot.
10. Peace. I miss being able to walk down the street without the honks, whistles and cat calls! It gets really old, especially when they do it for... well, anything female.

Now, for your reading pleasure, I have also drawn up a list of things that I will miss in Mexico. Again, family does not count, because I will really miss my mama! Note the similarities and differences in these lists. I think sometimes great assets can also be a source of
great frustration... some of the things on my lists are the EXACT opposite... read on :)

1. Weekend Adventure. I love getting on a bus and wondering what the road will bring me each weekend.
2. ALL THE FOOD! Every last bit of it. Mostly I will lament the loss of fresh avocados and horchata. Those cannot be aquired in the USA.
3. My hammock. I already miss it because Miguel used it when he was sick and it is broken now, which I am super bummed about. I LOVE sleeping in that thing!
4. Spanish. It is soooooooooo pretty! And interesting. And fun, when you aren't accidentally calling people bad names.
5. The quiet. Their lifestyle here is so laid back and tranquil, and that I will miss a lot.
6. Lunchtime. Food excluded (see #2 over and over again) I will really miss that time when you get to relax, kick back and just talk for an hour or two in the middle of the day.
7. Work. My job here has been really exciting, educational and fun. I feel like I wouldn't mind hanging out and doing this till my kids kids have kids.
8. THE BEACH! Bwaaaaaaaaa! (that was me crying) I don't ever want to leave it ever ever ever!
9. Palm trees. I know it will sound stupid, but there is something about palm trees that just does my heart good to see. I really want a palm tree someday.
10. Dancing. Everyone here can and does. I am not just talking about clubs and stuff, I am talking about... if there is music at a restaurant or in a shop or in the street... people stop
and dance!

Meh, it gives you an idea anyway. Leaving is always a bittersweet thing. The good thing is that I get to stay here for spring break... six more days and no work?! I am pumped!

Culture and Language...

So here are some amusing and somewhat deep thoughts for today...

I stick out like a sore thumb here. There is absolutely no hiding the fact that I am totally a gringa of some seriously German/Non-Latina descent. I feel like my stubby brown ponytail is a little flag that hails the presence of a foreigner, and my slightly sunburned nose is like a little gringa-alert. In case someone STILL wasn't sure, all they would have to do is check out my outfit. See, my outfits are actually match and contain to glitter, sparkles, jewels sequins or feathers of any kind. It kills me how sparkly and feathery everthing is here right now. And as always, the colors I wear are pretty muted... bland compared to what they wear. And the vests and the boots. HAHA! I love it! It depresses me whenever someone askes me in English 'Wair ard jew fdum?' I always answer back in Spanish, but that is never a guarantee that they will continue in Spanish. If I ever spoke to someone in Spanish in the US, and they responded in English, I feel like I would probably understand that they wanted me to speak English.

Here is one more thought: In the US, I know I myself have complained that children do not learn a second language. I still feel that way. It is very ethnocentric of our society to teach no other languages, and learning a second language can prove to be a very useful (and salary-boosting) tool. This being said, my views about the DEGREE of this ethnocentrism have changed somewhat. Let's be honest for a moment... at the risk of sounding conceited, the United States of America is currently the largest world power. What we do, how we manage our affairs and who our leaders are DIRECTLY affects so many countries in very big ways. For this reason, people from other countries (such as Mexico) keep up with US news. The main complaint of the Mexicans about Americans is that they are ignorant of the goings-on in other nations... while I agree that it is a good idea to be knowledgable about our world, I feel that what happens in Mexico, who is elected, and how they manage their affairs... hardly affects my life AT ALL. I feel that the future of the world economy, for example, does not rest in Felipe Calderon's (Mexico's president) hands... whereas Barack Obama... all eyes are on him to turn the world economy around!!!

Secondly... I rarely encounter Spanish in the United States. I jump at every opportunity to use it, and perhaps it will prove to be very useful in the business world, but those opportunites are few and far between at best. HERE, in contrast, EVERYTHING is in English. Movies, TV shows, video games, any sort of product... everything is American. Even t-shirt logos are all in English. It therefore makes a lot of sense to me that the people here need to learn English... because they encounter it multiple times EVERY DAY.

Finally and most importantly... while they KNOW a lot of English, I get frustrated when they ask me why more Americans don't take a second language 1.) because they are TALKING TO ME, I am an American and I am proficient in two languages and 2.) because I have met very few Mexicans in my four months spent in this country whose English could be called proficient. (The Meixcans in the world of tourism speak a lot of English, but I feel that can be said for any person in tourism... they speak the language of the tourists that come!) In short, I speak much better Spanish than many of them do English. This has been a frustration for me this year because I feel like now that I am out of the academic environment, my Spanish is expected to be perfect, and when it is not, people comment. Sometimes I just want to scream, 'HOW MANY LANGUAGES DO YOU SPEAK???' The answer would most typically be one, or one and a half!




Done = true;

So Here's a Creepy Topic...

Morbid as this might be, I´d like to blog about burial rituals here in Mexico. My interest in this topic first began in Acanceh last year (some of you will recall) where we went to visit a graveyard and we found a decaying human body in a box. After this past weekend in Santa Elena (the mummies), I had to ask around a little more to figure out what the heck is up in this country.

First of all, most people here in the city are cremated. There is not enough space to bury people, and there isn’t much topsoil before you hit an impossibly thick and unyielding layer of limestone. I explained this in an email home last year, but I will debrief new followers: In the small pueblos, they rent graveyard space. Usually each family has one or two plots. So if granny dies, they put her in a cement box in the graveyard. If gramps follows shortly thereafter, they pop the lid of granny´s tomb, put her in a box, and put gramps in there. They might put the box of granny in with gramps, but they also might just leave granny on top of the grave. To me, this is very strange, and almost frightening... the graveyard in Acanceh was littered with human skeletons.

Secondly, the churches. I never understood last year why I would see stone slabs inside the church, lining the walls and floor that had epitaphs on them. I just thought they were commemorative plaques, so to speak. Come to find out, behind and underneath these epitaphs are cremated remains. Someone told me that they sometimes just body parts, such as a hand or an eye, but I don’t think that I really buy that.

Finally… the Day of the Dead on Nov. 2. Isn’t it so interesting that this day is celebrated widely? The fact that death is something to celebrate in general is kind of a foreign concept. I can’t ever imagine thinking: “Well, I guess I will cook a feast for my great grandfather. I hope he likes tacos.” They leave food, flowers and presents out this day for their loved ones who have passed on. This day is celebrated with MANY colors… every color of the rainbow, which is quite different from the typical morose black and shades of gray that are so commonly seen in funeral homes.

Who knows? Some of the cultural differences between Mexico and the US are very interesting…!