More Tales from Tlaquepaque and Beyond

Each day presents opportunities to glean bits of information that make communication easier. On Tuesday, we stayed close to home. We don’t need to go far to find new experiences. Observing daily life in our own little community provides plenty of opportunities for learning. As I stated in an early post, we are definitely having an immersion experience. I feel like a small pebble surrounded by ocean. To really emphasize how much we stand out in this community, imagine a bunch of zebras standing in the plains of Africa and then imagine that four of those zebras are fluorescent pink with electric green stripes. The girls especially attract attention. Quite often when we pass someone on the street, they seem unable to stop themselves from lovingly touching the girls golden locks and/or round faces. The girls take it in stride. The attention given them is much the same as the attention I find myself doling out when I see a baby with beautiful mocha skin and a head full of black hair.

There are so many little shops and street vendors. It is hard to imagine how they all stay in business. Some of the shops seem empty most of the time. Like the herbal pharmacist we visited for a topical to treat the kid’s mosquito bites. It doesn’t seem like it gets many shoppers. (By the way…the topical worked wonders!) I finally found a small shop that was a natural food store of sorts. After a couple of days of searching, here I finally found brown rice. Arroz integral!!! Very difficult to find. My youngest eats so few things that eating here has been difficult for her. Peanut butter is one of her staples. This was like panning for gold. Even after I learned the Spanish term, crema de cacahuates, it was still hard to find. I found a small jar at the dollar store. Perhaps it would have been better to go without it.

I have also had some difficulty explaining other food items I have been searching for. It took forever to figure out that the word for spices is “especias.” We were looking for spices such as cumin and chili to add flavor to our beans – a definite staple. The kids have actually uttered “Beans again?” several times. Panchito has the best stand in the market for spices and beans. Thanks to Lorenza from the bread stand. She walked around the market with me and acted as my personal translator. Still an interesting endeavor; if I am a Kindergartner in Spanish she is a First Grader in English. A step above me but communication is still rough. Lorenza and I are going to get together to practice conversation in both languages.

Chad said to me “Vashti, you make every encounter a lesson!” I try. I am eager to learn this language. It makes for a slow trek through town though. I’m sure I sound like an idiot most of the time. I do think I provide amusement for the locals. Once I master a phrase I just use it over and over with people as I pass them on the street. “Que la vaya bien! Que la vaya bien! Que la vaya bien! (basically means “have a good day.)” Chad thinks that when we aren’t using a phrase that we know to be correct that we just sound like Borat does speaking English, only more polite, I hope!

As we wondered around town on Tuesday, my oldest daughter kept asking “Is this a poor country?” Many places appear to be very run down. There is lots of dirt, trash and graffiti. However, the streets are narrow so it isn’t as if you could get a street sweeping truck down them. There is a team of workers who push garbage cans around carrying brooms like I’ve never seen before. They sweep up at the end of each day. Also, this is a much older place than we are used to in the Western United States so of course, things look different. With that said, I know that the economic situation is very different here. When my child asks “Is this a poor country?” The easy answer is “yes.” However, I have begun trying to define “poverty” for myself. I don’t know how to answer this question posed by my daughter. I don’t exactly know how to articulate what I am trying to figure out so I won’t ramble. I will leave this topic with one thought. The American standard of living has set an unattainable bar for most of the world’s population and for the planet’s capacity. In the eyes of a middle/upper class American child, does anything below this standard of living equal poverty to them? I have often thought that with the privilege, abundance, and blatant excess that is my world comes a great deal of responsibility. One of those responsibilities is giving my children a global education. Perhaps this journey is just a drop in the bucket of global knowledge but it is at least a place to begin.

There seems to be just as much discrepancy between economic classes here as there is in the United States. On the tour of Guadalajara on Wednesday, once we left the historic downtown area (which I hope to see more of), we ended up in a very Americanized area. Mercedes dealers along with other auto dealers. Holiday Inn, Burger King, McDonald’s, Chili’s. That was the part of the tour I didn’t enjoy. You see one strip mall, you’ve seen them all. We all couldn’t wait to return to Tlaquepaque. Plus, there was a recorded tour guide with a Texas accent pointing out everything along the way. As Chad put it, it felt like we spent four hours with George Bush as our guide.

We are very lucky that the Tlaquepaque experience is the authentic immersion we hoped for. It was like playing slots on the internet to find this place. With basically zero knowledge or recommendations we ended up here. After our tour yesterday we see just how good we have it! Que Suerte!

The final experience I will write about on this post happened on Tuesday night. Our oldest daughter was invited to attend English classes with local kids. It ended up being a great experience for all the children. Jaydn will be more comfortable attempting to speak Spanish after watching the efforts of the English students. The students loved Jaydn. It was great for them to have an English speaking conversation partner. The highlights were playing hangman with English words and asking questions about one another’s likes. They wanted to know what our favorite movies are. I said mine are “The Princess Bride” and “A Christmas Story.” Hmmm…..no recognition. We asked them their favorite movie and one girl exuberantly said “Mas Barato por Docena!” The other kids in the room enthusiastically agreed. We had no idea. The teacher tried to translate the title. She said “cheaper, dozen.” Jaydn and I both exclaimed “Cheaper by the Dozen?” The kids immediately recognized this and began clapping. A great moment of a shared favorite. Even if it is a silly, American movie with Steve Martin! What an ambassador and bridge of cultures that guy is. Wonder if he knows? More tomorrow!