An Insider's View of a Quinceanera (Coming of Age) In Central Mexico

Frequently I get emails either calling me crazy for moving into Central Mexico or thanking me for caring for and about Mexicans. To my knowledge, I am the first researcher to permanently relocate to a rural Mexican village. Like all teachers, I feel that I get way more joy out of teaching than the students get out of my presence. Let me give you an example. July 3, 2010 was to be a really big day for our neighbor. Zitlaly Yoana Aguirre Murrieta, was to celebrate her quinceañera. Every Mexican girl looks forward to this celebration for her entire childhood. This ritual, both the mass and the social gathering afterwards, signals her transition into adulthood. It is her "coming out" party, the time when her family formally presents her to the public as a young woman.

Zitlaly has been close to us for two years because she is a sensitive young woman who volunteers helping with the equine therapy for disabled kids and adults that we offer in our yard. She lives next door to us and often keeps an eye on our therapy horses. Her older sister has been a volunteer Karate teacher in the community center were we were the coordinators of volunteers. Therefore, we were not surprised when weeks ahead of time Zitlaly asked us to help her create quinceañera invitations for 200 people. The process involved designing, photographing her and reworking endless times to get her invitations "just right" within her developing organizational experiences. During those weeks she developed confidence, as she repainted the metal fence outside her home, practiced dance steps with male and female friends in her backyard, and made sure where people would park on her special night. The transition was a joy to observe and helped us three Celtic heritage adults better understand the roots of this Mexican tradition.

Yesterday the weather reflected the monsoon season; the sky was filled with black violently moving clouds. The sky repeatedly poured forth seemingly endless amounts of moisture onto tiny corn and sorghum plants and also onto Zitlaly's quinceañera celebration. There were at least 100 people of all ages gathered under rented portable canopies sitting in chairs covered in white fabric, despite the weather, the music reverberated through our little village. The D.J.'s were inside a clear plastic square tent (to protect their equipment) that looked as big as the typical shipping containers often seen riding on the backs of commercial18-wheeled trucks. None-the-less, soaking wet celebrants danced under the stars, the rain, or any extra vinyl tarp that might still be left standing.

My family consists of three "seasoned" teachers (my hair is snow white, the two of them have gray streaks). We all thought we understood the joy of teaching, but until we came to this area in 2005 and then moved to this village in May 2008 we knew nothing of the depth of respect that the teachers of Mexican children receive as a daily expectation by parents and teachers alike. My teaching career was always Mexican children, immigrant Mexican-American children, but the roots of the culture are alive and well in Central Mexico and the depth of respect found here is remarkable.

The family bonds are equally remarkable in this developing country. When too many people live in homes with sheets where doors and windows should be, no one has heat or air conditioning, when only a handful of families have a way to heat bath water (many lack plumbed bathrooms) and windows screens are an oddity, life is hard. Death is all too common. That is why each day is lived to the fullest and each contact with another human being is a sincere exchange of kindness.

Last night I danced with a 5 year old girl who lost her mother to cancer a few months ago, a 4 year old boy who is being raised by grandma because her mother needs to travel far to find work and13 year old boy who is totally deaf. I danced with many others whose day-to-day life touches mine in a way far more intimately than is found in most developed countries. My neighbors know me with such depth because they care to know me. I know them because they have honored me by allowing me inside their world. They have opened their hearts to my family and me. They always invite me to family events, they listen and laugh when I walk into their classrooms and teach English, even the teenagers wave back as I pass them on the dirt roads and every single one of them is my teacher of Spanish.

I must excuse myself now because it is Sunday and nearly 9am. At 9am on Sundays a neighbor will bring me fresh eggs from her hens and homemade cheese from her kitchen. I will make a purchase right at my front gate, a local purchase of her outstanding handcrafted food from her domestic animals and we will have a social exchange also. This coming week I will feed my family food that both my neighbor lady created and food from my own organic veggie garden.

Although I appreciate those outside my world thinking that I am helping this community, the fact is it is they who are making my mature years the absolute best years of my entire life.

Jacqueline Zaleski Mackenzie, PhD
Expert in Bilingual Education & Non-Profit Business (since 1986)
USA & Mexico non profit (sin lucro)
http://www.spanishimmersioneducation.org
jzm@email.arizona.edu or jzmackenziephd@gmail.com
The First Researcher to Permanently Relocate to a Rural Mexican Village

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