Surviving Mexico

January 22, 2013 · 3:34 pm

Learning and Teaching Year 1

Finding employment is not a problem for me. It’s keeping it that is. I have a degree in Education with endorsements in both English and Spanish and a specialty in English as a Second Language (ESL). As it’s currently hip to say that a school is ‘bilingual’, I have more than enough job offers every year. It’s the keeping employment that seems to be the problem.

I started at a bilingual kindergarten just 6 months after we arrived. I didn’t feel ready to jump right in there with both feet, however, my husband thought it would be best that I work while he built our house. Another perk was our then 4-year-old son would be able to attend the same school, introducing him to this new culture while allowing him to have his mommy as a teacher for part of the day. I taught 2 groups of 20 students ages 4 and 5 and let me tell you, it was exhausting.

Don’t get me wrong, I was up to the teaching part. I had all of our son’s age appropriate toys and activities to work with. It was the other adults that made it so tiring.

I was expected to be the classroom teacher, lunch supervisor, traditional Mexican dance instructor (like I even knew a traditional Mexican dance to teach) gym teacher, music teacher, art teacher (although what the owner really wanted was for me to do the artwork and have the kids just sign their names) singing coach, special event decorator and janitor, all without raising my voice. I did try pointing out that I was the English teacher and not trained or talented enough to complete these other roles, but then they labeled me as a complainer.

I endured, sometimes going home in tears, the entire school year, which here is from the end of August until the first week of July. It wasn’t for the pay, (a mere 2000 pesos every 2 weeks.) It wasn’t for the Christmas bonus. (which I didn’t receive not knowing enough to insist on it). It wasn’t because the kids were especially nice. (What a bunch of rich kid brats!) It wasn’t because the parents liked me, kept telling me that I needed to translate everything so that their kid would understand (So tell me what is the point of me being an English teacher?) It wasn’t because the owner liked me. (She always had something to complain about with my teaching or manner or activity or materials.) But I endured so that my husband would be free to finish our house and we could stop renting in town with its myriads of cockroaches and noise.

And I made it. I quit the last day of classes. Of course, then the owner didn’t want to pay me the last check, but I carried on a bit, pointing out that I had paid for my son for the month of July, so I was entitled to that last check and I wouldn’t demand August’s pay. And finally, I got it.

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Filed under Employment, Teaching

Tagged as English teacher, ESL, teacher, teaching

January 21, 2013 · 8:01 pm

And down comes the rain. . . Phase 4

The cattle owner just built his fence over the post and let it lay where it fell.

R, who reminds me a bit of Ronald McDonald, was elected as the new president, however, I immediately had misgivings about him. He basically brought his own supporters to the junta (meeting) so of course, he would win. Majority rules. He was very focused on collecting from the colonos (associates), although I don’t know what he thought to collect for. The only cooperation we had asked for was 50 pesos per owner for office supplies and advertisements. His thoughts were random and scattered. And it turned out, he was a treasurer under Jesus’ regime, but they had a row and he quit.

Finally, but without R, we were able to meet with the electric contractor that worked for the presidencia (town hall). He hadn’t made it out to La Yacata for any sort of inspection as we had requested and when we went to see him at the presidencia (town hall) when he requested the governor of GTO was giving a rally speech or something and he couldn’t meet with us. So we returned the following day and were able to have the meeting.

However, I’m not sure that it was at all helpful. First, he said he needed the electrification plan, which Chuchi refused to give us. Then he told us it was a long and extensive complicated process and mentioned that he was so near retirement that he was tired. This wasn’t encouraging at all. He asked if we had escritoras (deeds) but again, he should know that we don’t because you can not have a deed until the lot has services which include electric, sewer and water. As we had none of those, we had no deeds. To me, it seemed he was putting the cart before the horse, but anyway. . .

So he said that we need the receipts of the posts and transformers and wires that are already in place, which of course we didn’t have. He suggested we write the numbers on the posts down and possibly the factory that made the posts could give us some information about it. The wires may be able to be reused as there had been no electric passing through them. But the transformers would have to be taken down and sent to a lab to see if they were still functioning. Additionally, he says that the new rule is that all wires must go underground, so the system we had in place was obsolete. This seemed ridiculous because we already had the posts and wires and transformers and it was only a matter of updating what needs updating, repairing anything that needs repaired and turning on the electric, at least in our minds. Then he intimated ominously that we would also need the “cambio de uso de suelo” (zoning change) to proceed and permission from Desorrollo Urbano, (zoning office) which he knew we didn’t have and hadn’t been able to get. He further went on to speculate that the change from agricultural to habitation may be more difficult that we would like to imagine since farming is considered ‘sacred’ in México. I found it hard to believe that the area that was still being farmed in La Yacata, which was plowed and planted and harvested by one elderly man, would be considered so sacred that the necessities of the families living there would not be considered, but who could say for sure.

Well, we did what we could. We copied the numbers off the posts and went to CFE, the electric company, and asked about them. They had no registration of any of the posts and referred us to the main office in Celaya. So another day trip to Celaya, who referred us to the contractor who had supposedly done the job, since their office had no record of a permit ever being issued nor work ever being completed. As el contratista was from Moroleón, we returned home, no progress made.

Two months after R’s election, he still hadn’t registered his presidency, probably because there was a cost involved and the La Yacata funds were non-existent at the time. So I took matters into my own hands again and went to see the son of the original owner.

We had met with him when J was still president to ask about what he knew about making La Yacata conform to current norms. He was polite and helpful. But we needed something more. He had a vested interest in the success of La Yacata as a good portion still belonged to his family. Furthermore, he was the contractor and president of several other developments, so knew how to obtain the proper documentation from the presidency, which seemed to have all of us stymied.

I don’t know what he was thinking when I went to his office to plead our case. There was so much I didn’t know about these things, both the legal and illegal aspects of it. So he started at the beginning. He explained how we would have to purchase water rights before we could even apply for the electric. That will cost about $10,000 pesos per lot. Seems expensive, however then the municipality would do all the work and it would be done right. But before he became overly involved, we would have to have another meeting and present both the information we obtained and the motion to remove the current president, who had done nothing thus far.

Meanwhile, it was rainy season in La Yacata. All the desert blossoms were nearly in bloom and the ground was covered in springy plants. Unfortunately, with the heavy rains and the fact that the electric posts were put in a swamp without any sort of base, one had fallen over. It pulled the rest of the wires and created an incredible tension on them, causing a domino effect with the other posts in both directions. The electric company didn’t bother to come out when we called because they have no record of posts being there. Civil Protection did come, however, and move the posts and wires off the road, where it sits still.

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Filed under La Yacata Revolution

Tagged as community associations in Mexico, La Yacata, Mexico, Moroleón, rural communities in Mexico

January 17, 2013 · 4:45 pm

101 Perritos

Cocoa, a miniature puppy, who is not destined to become a rabbit eater as Mr. Fluffy outweighs him by 5 pounds.

Meet Cocoa, the most recent find in a long line of puppies that made its way to our doorstep. As La Yacata is just past the town limits, it seems we are considered a dumping ground for unwanted pets, mostly puppies, but some kittens as well.

Frank and Jesse died of internal parasites. Tiger escaped the compound and was trampled by the neighbor’s cow.

We haven’t had much success in keeping any of these strays, but we always provide a safe haven for the duration of their stay.

Katie on the left got caught between the double row of tires on a truck.

Some puppies become dogs who eat our rabbits, chickens, ducks or quail. The first occasion necessitates finding a new home for the dog, for once it has developed a taste for our other livestock, it will stop at nothing to make its own lunch.

Snowy became a duck eater and had to be sent elsewhere.

Chispas found us with his tail already mocha (cut off). He later became a chicken eater and had to be rezoned.

Playing ball with Bear, who became a chicken eater and had to find a new home.

Zoe had a partiality for rabbits and had to move elsewhere.

Then there are the puppies that have been poisoned. We try our best to keep our dogs in our enclosed area, however just a minute of inattention while bringing the goats in, sometimes results in a fatality. The elderly farmer who lives that the entrance of La Yacata, seems to think it his God-given duty to exterminate the animals of La Yacata. He leaves dead chickens laced with rat poison about and of course, what dog can pass that by without a taste.

Blackie was poisoned.

Blackie 2 was poisoned.

Smokey was poisoned.

Smokey 2 was poisoned.

Some of our puppy finds are just too little to survive without their mother. The mother having been poisoned or shot, we sometimes find a passel of puppies howling in hunger and do our best to keep them alive on goat’s milk.

This one didn’t make it either.

On occasion, we also find grown dogs in La Yacata. Unfortunately, these are often the fighting dogs (typically pit bulls) and are in such a state of abuse and neglect, covered in open infected sores, eyes oozing with disease that we can not, in good conscience bring them into our home to infect the other animals.

Sometimes, mama dogs are seen wandering about in La Yacata. Again, we don’t take them into our house because obviously, they have puppies somewhere nearby. For these poor scrawny mama dogs, we leave water and bones outside. They often return the favor by protecting the house from nighttime prowlers and coyotes.

With the demise or relocation of each dog, we swear we won’t take in another one. It’s just too sad to love and lose again and again. However, before too long, another puppy finds its way to our door, and we have no choice but to risk it again.