March 10, 2015 · 7:00 am

A Day in the Life in La Yacata

Welcome to the March 2015 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Day in the Life This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have given us a special glimpse into their everyday. ***

Our life has a regular rhythm that often depends on the seasons or current employment status. In the rainy season, our life revolved around planting, while in the dry season it centers around the harvest. The employment status of my husband, myself and 12-year-old son, also varies. When there is work available, we work, when there isn’t, well, we make do.

Sunday afternoon

Sunday afternoon

Sunday activities are the most consistent year-round and little affected by our work schedules. I often get asked about what we do living off-grid in the middle of nowhere in central Mexico. I have to say, there is never a dull moment around here! We get up with the sun on Sunday morning and have our coffee. Right now, we have a plethora of little chivitos (kids) that are enjoying our organic raw goat’s milk, so we take the coffee black more often than not. (See Birth and Death).

Helping Princess stay still so that littler Princess can chow down.

Helping Princess stay still so that littler Princess can chow down.

After breakfast, the animals are attended to. (See Old MacDonald’s Farm) Our current collection of horses, chickens, rabbits, cats, goats, turkeys, sheep, donkey, cow and dog are fed and watered, and any issues that need to be addressed are done so at this time. For example, this Saturday our youngest goat, Princess, had her first baby. She has been having a bit of a problem adjusting to her new role as a mother when just on Friday she was a carefree youngster. So we have been assisting with her learning curve a bit. Princess gets a little extra corn to increase milk production and a little help in remembering to stay put so her littler princess can have some breakfast. We expect to only have to assist a day or so more.

Doing the wash at the community laundry mat.

Doing the wash at the community laundry mat.

After that, we gather the laundry together and head to Quirahoyo to do the wash. (See After Ecstasy the Laundry) Many hands make the work light, so we each set up at our own washboard. This Sunday, a local elderly woman was there with her broom and rake, clearing up the place. She was complaining about the amount of trash, which was considerable. As we leave no trash, our consciences were clean in that regard. My husband gave her a hand with the raking. In gratitude, she lit the pile of trash with her cigarette before we had finished washing, and we finished up with smoke in our eyes and a cough in our throats.

No electricity = no dryer

No electricity = no dryer

We headed home to hang the clothes for drying. About this time, we start to get a little hungry. Sometimes we go for a plate of birriria ( goat broth) or head to Cerano for some carnitas de res (fried beef) (See Failing at your own business–Tianguis) but this last Sunday we stayed home and had leftovers.  Remember, no refrigeration means food is eaten promptly.  Of course, with a pre-teen in the house, leftovers are not much of a problem.

Attending to the needs of property owners in La Yacata.

Attending to the needs of property owners in La Yacata.

Just as we finished, we had visitors. A couple that owned lots in La Yacata came to see if we could help them locate the lots and if we knew anyone who would be interested in buying them. My husband went with them to mark the lots with cal (chalk). Even though we tried to pass our positions in the mesa directiva (community group) last November (See Trying to Bow Out of the Yacata Revolution) colonos (residents) still come to us when there is an issue with their lot.

Goalie boy!

Goalie boy!

Then it’s time for our son’s soccer game. He has become quite the enthusiast, even playing goalie on two teams right now with a third school team in the works. Today’s game was close, 6 to 5, but they came out victorious which puts this team in the semi-finals.

Enchilada ingredients

Enchilada ingredients

We stopped for an ice cream treat and picked up tortillas, vegetables, and cheese for enchiladas. While my husband prepared them, he is, after all, the authentic Mexican around here, my son and I did some general straightening up around the house. During the week, we often are pressed for time, and things can get disordered if we don’t stay on top of things.

Enchiladas!

Enchiladas!

After we had eaten, it was time to take the goats and horses out for their daily romp. There isn’t much in the way of food during the dry season for the animals, but they enjoy their time out and about anyway. We are only taking the adults out right now, at least until this mob of babies is just a little bit older. The kids don’t mind the unsupervised recess time either and frolic about like, well, kids in the enclosed space set aside for them.

Everybody enjoys grazing time!

Everybody enjoys grazing time!

This afternoon, since there was a wee bit of rain last night, my husband harnessed Fiona up to test the soil.  It turned out to be still too dry, so she and the horses spent the afternoon grazing in the field instead.

Taking a turn at the plow.

Taking a turn at the plow.

After everybody is back in, it’s siesta time. My son and I often use this time to read. My husband likes to use this time to dream with or about the animals. He builds his stables in the air so to speak while listening to the radio outside. It’s a quiet time of day.

Feeding time

Feeding time

Once the heat of the day has passed, we start with the evening chores. The animals need to be fed and watered. The clothes need to be brought in and put away. Things need to be readied up for Monday morning and the work week. We eat dinner or have snacks if we like. Once it is dark, we plug our DVD player into the AC/DC adapter in the truck and watch a movie, a nice reward for our long day. Morning comes early after all!

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March 6, 2015 · 7:00 am

Courting in Cerano

The tianguis on Sunday in Cerano.

The tianguis on Sunday in Cerano.

Last weekend we gathered our chichares (junk) together and headed to Cerano to see what we could sell for cash. (See Failing at your own Business–Tianguis) The morning was busy but uneventful. We sold things right off the bat and then sold some more. Buyers were typically male and campesinos (country folk). We sold enough for us to get some Cerano specialty carnitas de res (fried cow parts) and ice cream. My husband, as always, was in charge of any and all business, therefore my son and I had some free time on our hands. We decided to people watch.

El templo in Cerano.

El templo in Cerano.

Every town has its “circuit” where the young girls and boys circle around and observe, talk to or hook up with members of the opposite sex. In Cerano, Sunday afternoons in the tianguis (flea market) is the place to be. Things really didn’t get interesting until after mass, around 12 pm. Then the young people began to peacock around.

Watching the girls!

Watching the girls!

My son and I were most interested in what makes a muchacho or muchacha (young fellow or lady) attractive and the subsequent “hooking up” stage. We began by observing the groups of boys. They circled in groups anywhere from 2 to 6 in a group. Each group had its own identity. There seemed to be 3 main styles. There were the pseudo-skaters (pseudo in the sense that they did not carry skateboards) in t-shirts and tight colored jeans with even more colorful shoes. Then there were the vaqueros (cowboys) with their checked shirts, jeans, boots and belt buckles. And finally, there were the bad boy gangsta-wanna-bes with their t-shirts, baggy pants, and sparkly gun/marijuana/skull belt buckles, maybe even an earring or two.

We noticed that girls arrived and made the circuit in groups of two, sometimes three. Some girl packs came with their little ones wrapped in rebozos. (See Babywearing in Mexico). Others had toddlers that trailed behind. Some came with their mothers or grandmothers. A few came alone and met up with friends as they circled. All the young ladies were dressed to the hilt.

The main objective is to get the attention of the opposite sex, whether through ostentatious dress or eye contact. Some efforts to get the girls’ attentions were complete and utter failures. Hooting and hollering made the girls speed up or take a sudden left turn into oblivion. Although most already were acquainted, sometimes we witnessed formal presentations by an intermediate after liberal eyeballing from both parties. These introductions allowed the formerly group of 2 to become 3 and the circuit walk continued.

A "couple" walk in Cerano consists of the man walking slightly behind his woman with his hand on her shoulder.

A “couple” walk in Cerano consists of the man walking slightly behind his woman with his hand on her shoulder.

The commitment level of the relationship was easy to read. Single males were still in their wolf packs. The newly hooked up circled in groups of 2 or three (the potential couple and chaperone female friend). Those in the official couplehood stage walked in the customary Cerano way–the female was slightly ahead of the male who had his hand on her shoulder “guiding” her along.

Young couples with babies have a modified couple walk. The woman holds the hands of toddlers, and more often than not, the male carries the infants. This allows the woman to have her hands free for shopping, after all, they were at the tianguis (flea market) and certain things need to be bought. Women with children who had no man, perhaps he was in el norte (the US) or the relationship had ended, carried their own children and were often with another female friend in the same position, or more rarely with their mothers. These women, or young ladies, were either “single” or “in a relationship” which could be determined by how much skin was exposed. The committed had far less tata display than the single ladies.

A gathering of married men in el jardin in Cerano.

A gathering of married men in el jardin in Cerano.

Men married for an extended period of time arrived as lone wolves, meeting up in the jardin (central park) with other lone wolves after making the circuit and seeing what there was to see. Women of the same age also arrived alone but didn’t typically linger after making necessary purchases.

Everything you could possible need is on sale in Cerano on Sundays.

Everything you could possibly need is on sale in Cerano on Sundays.

What an educational day! In the early afternoon, we called it quits, gathered up what remained of our crap for sale and headed home.

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February 27, 2015 · 7:00 am

Shipping Fiasco

fedex

Fed-ex Moroleon

So with my ill-gotten (See Failing at your own business–essay writing) and legitimately gotten gains piling up in my Paypal account burning a hole in my virtual pocket, I decided to do some online shopping. First I went to Shop Amazon , however, nobody wanted to ship to Mexico and Amazon.com.mx, well had nothing that I wanted. So I went to Ebay Mexico. And yep, they’d ship it to me. Since the last time I used Ebay, oh some 8 years ago, they had started this global shipping program that would ship anywhere in the world. Sounded great! As it turns out, I apparently live in a parallel universe, but I was unaware of that until the shipping nightmare began.

I bought myself some pants and my husband an MP4 player. The shipping fees were incredible–and not in a good way. The jeans were $205 pesos and shipping was $391 pesos more. The MP4 was $617 pesos and the shipping added another $299 pesos. Well, the global shipping program said that there would be no surprise import tariffs at the border, so what the heck. I had the moolah and I spent it.

A week later, I also ordered an archery set for my son. Shipping doubled the price yet again. The archery set was $630 pesos and the shipping was $638 pesos. I thought it worth it because the only archery set we found here was over $2500, therefore, $1200 was a real bargain. And I sat back and waited.

About a week later, I checked on the shipping status—and low and behold, the first two packages were at the border. Yippee Skippy! Not long now! So I waited another week and checked the shipping status. I saw that a delivery had been attempted, but had been incomplete because the “business was closed or client unavailable.” Now, that seemed strange. I figured they’d try again the next day, and they did but found the address “undeliverable.” Now I started to worry. After three days of out for delivery but not delivered, I tried to contact the sellers to see if they had any information that might be useful. Ebay wouldn’t let me. My email was sent to Ebay customer service and my claims put on hold until January 6th. I wrote again and specifically asked if they could tell me who the carrier was from Morelia to Moroleon so that I could contact the company, meet the driver or pick up the packages at the facility in Morelia. Graciously, Ebay allowed that I could do that and that the carrier was Fed-ex.

OH! That explains it! I had listed our apartado (post office box) as our address since La Yacata has no street names. I had never had any issues before as the packages had been sent regular mail, which of course arrives at the post office box with no problems. When we had to use DHL for our passports (See Renewing out passports–DHL) we had the package sent directly to the office and picked it up from there. So my hope was to contact Fed-ex and pick up the packages that were “in transit” at the distribution facility in Morelia. According to MapQuest, it was 50 minutes from Moroleon, completely drive-able.

So then began my quest to contact Fed-ex. I spent hours attempting to contact someone in customer service. Of course, I expected a wait since it was right before Christmas and all, but really, hours? Then I finally was able to contact someone who regretfully told me that the Global Tracking number I had was not a Fed-ex tracking number, therefore, Fed-ex couldn’t track it. So I contacted Ebay customer service again and asked for the Fed-ex tracking number. I didn’t receive any response. So I tried contacting the sellers again to ask if they by chance had the Fed-ex tracking number, and they didn’t.

Meanwhile, the third package was winding its way down. I saw on the tracking form that delivery had been attempted. I had exhausted all my options for package recovery by this time. However, miracles of miracles, Fed-ex called me after Christmas to request a different address for delivery. The impatient young lady accepted the address and clumsy directions I gave to the school where I work. I said I would be there awaiting the package.  She said would it head back to Moroleon that afternoon. I asked about the other packages.  She knew which packages I was talking about but said that there was nothing she could do.  I waited 5 hours at the school that day. Nothing. So the next day, I came back to the school.  While teaching my classes, being the only teacher there as this was Christmas break,  I had to lock the door but left a big ol’ sign on it that read “Fed-ex–toca la puerta fuerte” (knock loudly). And wouldn’t you know it, Fed-ex came and went while I was in class, leaving a tracking and contact number. Talk about annoyed! I called the contact number, which was local and the nicest man answered the phone. He was sympathetic to my dilemma. He said that he could ask the driver to leave the package with him at the office 4 blocks from the school and I could pick it up tomorrow at 9 am. That would be perfect!

So the next morning, I went over to Queretaro street and lo and behold, there was a Fed-ex office! Imagine that! The same pleasant man was there and was able to hand the package right over to me. He couldn’t do anything about the first two packages as I didn’t have the Fed-ex tracking numbers and he was sorry about that. He said the office has been there 4 years, but I found no listing for it when I did my desperate Google searches. Had anyone from Fed-ex called me about the failed delivery of the first two packages instead of allowing them to endlessly circulate in the delivery truck, I could have made the same arrangements and everything would have been hunky-dory.

January 6 came and Ebay declared the packages lost and issued me a refund as a “courtesy”. Well, thank you very much, kind sir. I was dissatisfied overall and won’t be using Ebay again. I think I was mostly disappointed because I had this vision of being able to receive items that just aren’t available in our area via mail delivery. Sort of like my own private trade route. Sigh. It just wasn’t to be.

I was also frustrated by the globalization of the global shipping program. I ordered products from Iowa and Florida. The customer service agent was in India. The Fed-ex driver and brisk customer service representative were in Morelia. But not until I was able to contact a local person (the Fed-ex employee four blocks away) was I able to complete the process. My problem wasn’t their problem. The sellers didn’t lose out as I had already paid for the items. The Indian customer service representative still got paid whether or not I received my items. The Fed-ex driver and snooty customer service rep also were paid whether or not I got the shipment. Ebay’s loss in refunding me my money was a drop in their earning conglomeration bucket.  The location of my items was only important to the local guy, someone I might theoretically meet again on the street in our town. That’ll teach me.

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