Convivencia

Although only a couple of months have passed for me in San Miguel de Allende, I've been surprised at the many opportunities I've had to spend quality time with the people around me. It's been really nice.

This past Thursday one of the teachers, Vero, celebrated her birthday at her house, inviting all of the staff at the daycare and a few of the moms. Each person brought what they could: fried pig skin, raw pig skin, pretzel-like sticks, doritos, pico de gallo, shredded cabbage, pop, beer, and cake. While the women worked together to prepare the food, chatting the whole time, the young children played in the yard, running around and screaming with delight. It reminded me so much of the house parties I attended growing up, full of laughter and good food and good conversation. I felt so honored to be a part of the celebration, because besides Carolyn (the former Volunteer Coordinator), I was the only non-Mexican there! It was so fun to spend time with the teachers and moms outside of the daycare setting, and the atmosphere was so happy and bright.

There have also been some good times of convivencia with the volunteers as well. I'm amazed at how thoughtful, inquisitive and intelligent they all seem to be. I suppose it's because they are all international travelers, but they have a perspective of the world that isn't quite so insulated and ignorant as the average American's, so it's quite refreshing. Whether sitting around the living room talking about different countries' university entrance requirements or sun bathing on the roof chatting about the true meaning of happiness (and its connection to wealth, access to health care and education, etc.), I get really excited thinking that this is part of my 'job.'

Even at the gym I'm starting to feel more at home. While Andreas was here I started going with him six times a week, and now feel welcome and a gusto there. The owner, Beto, greets me by name and since Andreas left has had to help spot me or correct me so I don't injure myself. While I'm resting we chat about the weather and other random stuff. And otherwise, since it's such a small gym, I see the same six or seven people whenever I go and they all seem pretty nice.

It's so different living in such a relatively 'small' town (population 70,000 versus 3.26 million in Seattle). When I'm at the market I'll see Sai (one of the two-year olds in Maestra Diana's class) walking with his Dad hand in hand. Or yesterday after the gym Laura (a volunteer from Denmark) and I went to buy some miniature ofrendas made of sugar and walking by a cake shop I saw Alexa (another two-year old in Diana's class) sitting on a stool, and said hello. "Look who it is!" she yelled to her mom, who came out to chat for a bit. When I was working in Seattle, I thought it was a lot to be in the street and see someone I knew once, maybe twice a month. Here, I barely go out, but I almost always see someone I know! It's definitely different from what I'm used to, but I think it's really cute and something that I could learn to appreciate.

Two-Month Mark

Guanajuato Take II

This past Saturday was the first weekend of the international music festival in Guanajuato, El Cervantino. I went with two of the volunteers to see Los Hermanos Carrillo, a group playing traditional music from the region of Veracruz, Mexico (sones jarochos). The group leader was very personable, and their encore song was a stylized version of "La Bamba."

In the evening, went to see Amon Tobin, an artist from Rio de Janiero, Brazil, for a free outdoor electronica concert that started at 9:00pm. It was packed out with young people--I would say at least 95% were Mexican. Throughout the concert, it never stopped smelling of cigarette smoke. Since the 'concert' is basically him pressing different buttons, they made it more interesting by projecting animated images and designs onto an array of white cubes that were synchronized with the music. The crowd was more or less subdued at the beginning, but by the end almost everyone was bobbing their head and screaming for a triple encore.

Fundraising

Sometimes life is pleasantly surprising. When I came to work yesterday morning, Donna informed me that a volunteer who came nine years ago had sent a check to our office in the States for $10,000. Miguel was over the moon, letting me know that $10,000 covers all of our operating costs (teachers' salaries, food, office supplies, maintenance, Volunteer House expenses) for two entire months. It's incredible to me that someone who was here so long ago still thinks about his time at the daycare and was so touched by his experience that he donated so generously almost a decade after the fact. Amazing.

The idea of fundraising makes me squirm a bit because I feel uncomfortable asking people for money. However, I take comfort in the fact that actually there are a lot of people out there that are just looking for worthy causes to donate to, but haven't found something yet that's a good fit. Wednesday we had a fundraising event at a nearby bed and breakfast/mask museum, Casa de la Cuesta.

Zelina, Alice, me, Maria and Colleen

Surprisingly enough, around 90% of the attendees had never heard of Casa de los Angeles before, so it was a good opportunity to share about the work that we do. One of our volunteers, Eimear, has a background in sales, and used her skills to talk us up at every opportunity. She shared with one of the attendees that the Casa de los Angeles documentary brought her to tears. She is a keeper.

Despite my discomfort with talking to strangers, I managed to speak with four or five people and share my journey of having been a volunteer three years ago and of returning to work as the Volunteer Coordinator. Most of the attendees were older adult Americans who spend part of their time here in San Miguel de Allende and another part either back in the United States or in another part of Mexico (usually a beach). We'll be having events like these every month through March, so hopefully with each successive month we'll build momentum as participants tell their friends about the amazing time they had talking with young volunteers from around the world, listening to live music and drinking margaritas.

So thankfully, due to the combined earnings of the September Global Giving campaign, the Chicago Marathon, the generous $10,000 check from the former volunteer and the Casa de la Cuesta event, we should be okay at least for the next short while at Casa de los Angeles.

Transitions

It's been interesting getting accustomed to living in the Volunteer House with all of the other volunteers. It feels a bit like college yet with a lot more change, as some volunteers are in and out within a week while others stay for 11 weeks at a time. Today marks a significant transition for me. The only volunteer that has been here since I've started the position of Volunteer Coordinator left early this morning! He's probably the one I've gotten along with and gotten to know best so far, so it'll be strange not having him around. We've been going to the gym six times a week together (he's basically been my personal trainer) and usually in the evenings we watch a movie while doing Sudoku or working on solving a rubik's cube. I even realized that I had been spending so much time with him that I had started to talk like him--inflection and emphasis and all. He's like the brother I never had.

My job is kind of remarkable because I get to spend a lot of quality time with the volunteers by living and working with them. I start to understand the way that they think, where they're coming from, their idiosyncrasies...and then they head on to continue with their lives as I continue mine. In a way, my background in social work has prepared me well for this because in my past internship experiences, despite getting attached to many of my clients, I had to say goodbye to them at one point or the other.

It's all quite cyclical. Andreas left today, then two volunteers from Denmark arrive on Sunday and will be here for two months. So I get to start all over again getting to know new volunteers as they get to know me. At this point I can only be thankful for the time I've had with each of the volunteers I have met so far. They've all definitely been unique and for the most part fascinating in their own way.

Reflections on Culture Shock and Cultural Fluidity

I've been reflecting on what it means to be living in another country and what multiculturalism is really. San Miguel de Allende is unique because there are (relatively) so many Americans here--the second-highest concentration in all of Mexico, Miguel tells me. The notion of 'culture shock' or losing one's bearings because the environment is so culturally different, does not exactly apply to me in my job or place of residence.

I'm grateful to have grown up in the Seattle metropolitan area, because it primed me to just expect diversity basically at all times. So now that I'm here in Mexico with Mexican co-workers and living in a house with Danish, British and Israeli volunteers, it's not so much a cultural 'shock' as it is an extension and continuation of learning to live in an increasingly multicultural environment.

It's been interesting to note that due to my 'uniqueness' as it were (as an Asian American), I'm basically shattering the stereotypical notions that volunteers and Mexicans have of what it means to be American. I am so perplexed sometimes at the ignorance of people that I meet here, like Mexicans that cannot and will not accept that I was born in and lived in America all my life, and insist that I must be from China or Korea, despite my persistent urging that I am not. And when they pull their eyes back into slits, telling me that I have Asian features, I just really don't even know what to say, I'm so appalled. Not that they're doing this maliciously, but nonetheless I am rendered speechless.

Being here is an opportunity to continue to explore and embrace the complexity of personal identity, rather than relying on cultural generalizations to 'understand' others. I feel as if I've already learned volumes just by chatting with the teachers and volunteers about my family, my church, the food that I eat and the holidays I celebrate. I know this is only scratching the surface of meaningful transcultural dialogue, but this is seriously the stuff I live for.

Breaking stereotypes, revising old ways of thinking and growing into more complex, sophisticated ways of understanding the world--it's just so sexy, what can I say? Just one of the many reasons that I'm so thankful for my job.