Loads seem to have gone a lot lighter since we made a decision to move, Arturo has suddenly been offered more hours of work, the sun has started to shine, I'm dancing again and poor we may be...but happy we are. I am sufficiently pessimistic to think that things probably only seem to be improving because we are in fact leaving, and so for, I'm not thinking permanent survival at the moment. Perhaps I'm just thing where's our water??
I've been trying to potty train Emilia since the first week she was born, some successful but I think the time has come for some serious action, we have half a tank of water, and in my calculations, along with other stuff like pots and bathroom, thats probably enough to wash about another 2 days of nappies before we're completely buggered, if not very smelly.
Any normal person would probably just think, I'll pay my bill and water shall be forthcoming, that is I suppose if that normal person lived in a normal place! Bills are paid, by about just everyone in the city, what it seems is, its the local government who haven't got the cash. Having failed to switch on the radio over the last few days I'm a bit late catching on, when water doesn't arrive for a day or two I don't usually question it, here its quite normal. Now I find out that it will be more than just a few days, as the local government haven't paid the energy bill for the water pumps, the water company have basically switched the whole town off. Once more the big dudes play naughty and the little people suffer.
Why (or should) something that falls from the sky and gets swished around our dwellings, generally keeping us and our environments alive treated as a more valuable commodity than gold?? Or in fact human life in the case that without it, cleaning cannot be done, diseases get spread, the easily treatable ones live on, babies and weaker adults die etc etc. Lets forget about the importance of actually drinking the stuff, as in Chiapas if you did that you'd probably die or get a nasty illness if you did that anyway. Of course if you've got the cash you can buy a tank of water from a private company, schools, hospital and other people without that cash, well, we just go dirty. Thats for the unbottled sort I'm talking about, as far as we know.... and personally much as I love my baby, I can't afford to bath her in Evian!!!
That water falls from the sky is often taken for granted, attention more recently drawn to this earthly marvel via the damage to our world eco system and the highlighted dangers of climate change. However, we tend to pay less attention to the water that flows magically out of the tap at home, and more to the point, to the quantities we use. I never had a water metre in England, so it was certainly never much of a consideration of mine. I was constantly amused by the British govt. obsession with hosepipe bans if it fails to rain for 2 days in the summer. Also, the urban myths about water companies hiding water in higher reservoirs, never being proved but generally believed by conspiracy theorist such as myself. Whatever the point I’m trying to make, water just seems to always well…. be there.
Its only when I came to live in Chiapas, where water supply is often sporadic due to bad service, dodgy government or just plain mystery, did quantity and use become an issue. Whether its stuck in the 40 degree humidity of the capital city unable to shower, or, with a pile of dirty nappies and a house and baby to keep clean in the cooler highlands, lack of water is a big issue; especially when one is expected to use a chunk of the monthly income paying for the supposed delivery of it. When the sacred wet stuff doesn’t arrive, at the fault of the powers that be, I really start to count the drops. 20 litre bucket to wash an adult body, 3x 20 litre buckets to wash a weeks worth of dirty clothes (adult), 4x 20litre bucket to wash 2 days worth of nappies... just in case you were interested.
The other really big question around town is WHY haven't the local government paid the energy bill, where's all the money gone?? :0 Was it there in the first place?
I can't help feeling that this is a knock on effect from ths aparrent world cash crisis and global funding being pulled away from developing countries. Are lack of subsidies and aid begining to uncover what politicians have actually done with town budgets??? HHHmm like have nice big houses, lovely holidays and lots of other stuff trafficked through the country... maybe I've just sen two many films.....
We're currently on about 5 days since the last public water delivery... things may soon start to get very smelly!!!
"The type of work which modern technology is most successful in reducing or even eliminating is skillful, productive work of human hands, in touch with real materials of one kind or another....Today, a person has to be wealthy to enjoy this simple thing, this is very great luxury"
The countdown has begun about 6 months till lift off closely followed by hitting the ground with a gentle thump.
It's been a long time coming but perhaps its time to realise that life is all about balance, and indoor toilets. I love my life here, and truelly believe that Emilia was born in the best place ever with the bestest midwives that ever existed. As I look out over the town and the mountains in the morning my insides are filled with nature's miracles. The houses dotted about here and there, the barefoot women carrying their children around, working hard, the rattle of the gas truck and the constant background explosions from the churches (still haven't got to the bottom of the catholics and their love of fireworks)...I could go on, but that would be boring....The point being, living here is a wonderful dream, the stuff fantasies are made from, an escape from the (British) norm.
Escapes, unfortunately are not forever (well not until we win the lottery anyway!) and we must wake up from every dream to face reality. In my case that being never knowing where the next rent payment is coming from, no social security, a future of paying for a bad education in schools that will refuse Emilia entry anyway on the grounds we chose not to vacinate her.... and... a constantly stressed hubby who works his butt off to be told there's no money to pay him at the end of the month. Added to that, the more conversations I have with women who have been born to this life, who would actually like a few improvements to their daily grind, or at least for their daughters, without having to make the political compromises. Living a homely , low technology life is pretty much the way to go in my opinion, but I question whether it can ever actually be possible when the world outside is moving so dangerously fast, it just doesn't have the patience. With the formation of the urban society came the removal of person and nature, we are becoming far more closely related to our machines than the glory that we came from in the first place. The revolution begins with the self, the home, but it also must fight whats going on outside in order to be whole.
Lovely scenery or not, the conflict of the modernity reality and a true existence gets on top of you after a while and some changes must be made. Short of becoming Mexico's next family of Narco Traffikers or working for Coca-Cola, both of which I would rather cut my legs off before doing, we must go back to square one, without collecting 200 quid and start all over again. Begin again or a new beginning, there's not much difference, as long as its what makes us happy little bunnies.
Being with family again will certainly be a massive bonus, added to watching Arturo's face upon his first experience of the that strange breed the mancunian and, seeing Emilia loved and cuddled by all I know. If we get homesick, at the end of the day we can always spend a few hours at the bottom of the garden in the rain, wash our clothes in a bucket, set some fireworks off at 5am and make all neighbourhood dogs bark like crazy...
Hmm New Year has come and gone, Emilia’s teething and Arturo and I are generally sporting the dishevelled parent look. The food in hair and dribble on the shoulder look is definitely very becoming…
Zapatista celebrations passed almost unnoticeable and the part-time young anarchists have gone home. It doesn’t surprise me that the world’s top leaders aren’t too scared-shaking in their boots over the world’s alternative, direct action movements; they’re a bit part-time, if not quite distracted with adjusting their safety pins and misspelling graffiti. After mornings spent planning how to combat the evil without, nights were spent ignoring the evil within. Drinking multinational beer and pop, snorting people trafficking/indigenous land robbing cocaine, smoking Marlborough fags and eating transgenic foods makes up most of their night-time activity. Feminist boys who turn into… well, boys after a few bottles, seducing the girls with a photo of Che in their wallets and by dribbling on their feet. Girl power chicks who think feminist success is being able to piss in an alley with the boys.
I'm beginning to sound like a cardigan wearing activist, but life is its own satire..
I’m sticking with the Mayan women, more hardcore than I’ll ever be, giving both to countless babies in a wooden house, feeding and domestically maintaining the whole family, working alongside the men and politically active. Gosh, what ladies they are... and actively banning the use of alcohol in their communities effectively getting rid of domestic violence in one fale swoop.
It's beginning to look like the decision has been made, and we will be making our way to British shores later this year... for the forseeable future.
Still not sure how I feel about it, bit of a mixed bag of emotions. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, somebody once said, i often think that actually absence just makes your memory linger on the nice things. I don't think for one minute its going to be easy settling in England again, what will I do without all my favourite food and midwives for a start? Undoubtedly it will be even harder for Arturo, a complete role reversal in many respects. But when parental guilt sets in and the constant nagging feeling of perhaps I'm denying Emilia (and future siblings) of a more secure future, making the move seems all the more worthwhile. Perhaps my family will give me the drive to cope with the annoyances, it certainly works here. Chiapas isn't perfect by no means, but they make some dam fine chocolate!! On the other hand England has washing machines and bubble baths....
As for today, the sun is shining, Emilia slept all night long, we're all smiling, i have children to teach in the afternoon and well... tomorrow is another day...
Abrazos
Jx
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
That time has arrived once again, only this time, for me, its back in Mexico and with an extra little, beautiful addition to the festivities.
Christmas away from home (is it still home when you don’t live there anymore?) is always a mixed bag of emotions. I honestly thought that when I began my own family it would be a bit easier, but to be honest it feels harder. I’m suddenly struck by childhood memories of crap movies, selection boxes, filled stockings and staying in my pyjamas till the middle of the day AND a wanting for my daughter to experience the same things. Even though at 7 months she’s more concerned with the teeth currently trying to break through her gums than anything to do with wintery, pagan celebrations, but on her behalf, its making me experience a form of melancholy, if not a bit of sadness.
Ho hum I suppose we all have our niggles to bear at this time of year. I admittedly spent many a year when I was at home moaning about the effort that needed to be made around the festive season, and wishing that one year I could just escape to a desert island and ignore it all. Perhaps now I’ve arrived on a theoretical desert island it doesn’t seem like such a good idea. What makes the pull of home so strong at this time of year? Pure social conditioning or human dependence on hazy memories? Ask me in January I suppose.
January the first marks the 15th anniversary of the Zapatista uprising here in Chiapas. An introduction of the EZLN to world, with their media savvy, charismatic spokesman, Mexico’s answer to Che Guevara, an outsider who looks good on a t-shirt and armed ranks of indigenous women, young people and men, fighting for a better, fairer future. News of their short lived yet very bloody take over of important strategic towns in Chiapas reached few ears outside of Latin America and global activist movements. But it defined a whole era in Chiapas, a new hope for indigenous people in Central America and amazing business opportunities for postcard and balaclava makers in the years following. But what effects are left 15yrs later; other than a booming tourist industry for young backpackers hoping for a taste of revolution without having to get dirty and a silent majority still hidden from the world stage and suffering severe poverty and discrimination. Bono and Sting are not to be found here, not a Chris Martin in sight.
Many young lives lost, unaccounted for and most definitely forgotten by many, other than their families. Is a revolution so small worth the loss? I would say a definite YES! Only the people doing the hard work can really measure success.
A rev-o-lu-tion, a new turning of the wheel, has to be better than standing still and doing nothing, whatever the consequences.
I try to start a household revolution everyday, although having no clear aim makes my wheels go backwards rather than forwards, or perhaps ending in a full circle (I promise no more motion related metaphors). Like the Zapatistas, I doubt the world will be any wiser of my intentions after 15yrs and I probably won’t sell as many t-shirts, (obviously a beard and smoking instrument is needed for icon popularity). But as I tap away at my own mini revolution I’ll always try and remember that other people are dying in the name of theirs and successful or not, that bit is important.
At this time of year it’s definitely better to have a family to miss, than to miss having a family.
Love, joy, happiness and most of all hugs to all….
Wow.. we've moved house for the third time in 18months, this time hopefully we can stay where we are. Its cheaper, smaller, easier to keep clean, on the side of a hill and currently when its hitting 5 degrees celsius outside a house with a tin roof is bloody freezing!! Thank heavens for hotwater bottles and brothers who bring them over. We've yet to gain the luxury of an inside loo, but with a view of half the city and surrounding mountains thrown in i can live without a warm seat in the morning.
The house is also about two blocks away from our fav cafe, which is great from a buying coffee and chocolate perspective and also the fact that they love hugging Emilia and take her off my hands for half an hour when i pop in for a brew. The people that own the cafe have been ace since we moved here, always giving us a slice of free cake when we celebrate something and its good to have a mummy winge to the owners wife, somehow i don't feel so guilty when its another mum who has just as many problems as well, i feel it's allowed to complain. Anyhooo.. i was chatting to the girl Mari behind the counter and talking about school, her younger sister works in the cafe and i noticed she is of school age (13yrs), Mari told me she simply wasn't interested in school so she didn't go, when i asked if she could read and write she replied "more or less". In a country where its not compulsory to be educated attitudes to education differ greatly, especially where girls are concerned. It made me ponder.... What is education? Where and how do we really receive it? Who sets the agenda?
A woman once said to me that she thought young people should be removed from school at the beginning of adolescence and put to work until 18 when they may have an interest in actually learning something, although a generally sweeping statement with my own experience of working with 'da' yut' both here and in England, and Arturo's recent work as a high school teacher i am very tempted to agree. As a mum, i'm not quite sure of my position, i feel maybe Emilia will learn more at home and from her world outside than any education institution. Lets face it, if she were in England the teachers would be so busy filling in ofsted paperwork that they wouldn't have time to teach her anything, and here in Mexico, well considering about 80% of qualified teachers recentely failed a govt. basic skills exam, i'm not sure what she's due to learn!!
After the reading, writing and 'rithmatic bit what do we actually get from the system? Disregarding the questionable social skills and community conforming.... Culturally speaking education around the world; actually i change that to school rather than education as the two are argubly very different things. School around the world tends have basically the same set up due to countless imperialism of the leading nations ooooohhh many years ago, not accounting for the different lives children and young people around the world lead everyday. If you are a child or young person that works to support either yourself or your family, what subjects do you really need? What has life taught you that a text book can't? The math skills of any child i've ever met selling in the market or street can match that of any British GCSE student (do GSCE's still exist?). And the parerenting, cooking, DIY and farming skills of any child or young person supporting siblings can never be taught in a classroom, what use have these young people to learn about the position of the moon, basic chemistry or food technology??? I'm not saying that the right to 'school' should be denied to anybody, in any place. I just wonder whether the schooling in place is actually of any use or it just makes western governments and developing charities feel like they're doing some good in far flung places.
Whe Mari and her sister can read, write, run a small business feed and cloth themselves what use would a archaic secondary education be?
I myself have no high school qualifications more than 3 gcse's (university career not withstanding), my dad (love you dad) has even less, my mum, nan and women of my family all write beautifully and live with the hidden wisdom of all great women not certificates.... and yet we and most of all the other people who have positively effected my life are amongst the most intelligent, strong and sensible people i know!!
We celebrated our first wedding anniversary on monday 13th, Arturo bought me some lovely flowers (after a few hints), we were given free cake at our fav cafe and spent the evening watching a dvd on our newly fixed laptop and downing a bottle of cheap plonk, after which we spent about an hour cooing over photos of Emilia... Now thats what i call fast living!!
We finally have a proper cooker (thanks parents!!), Arturo is slowly coming to terms with it being powered by gas, he seems to thnk his face will blow off everytime he lights the hob, and has yet to go anywhere near the oven. I'm slowly moving him into the 21st century but it's taking time.
My brother is visiting this week yay!!!pressies!!!
Emilia also completed 5 months on our anniversary and is celebrating with her new talent of eating her feet and burping on demand. She promises next month to try and wash her own nappies (i wish!!).
Whilst the first world continues to go up the spout a bit (world service informed am I oh yes), here in the third world economy things are the continue as always.... completely buggered!!! But at least there's continuity. We live off about 5 quid a week, don't pay taxes and somehow meet the rent each month And we don't have to pay nearly three quid for a mango down tescos, we just pick them from the trees..... aaaahhh sounds like paradise, which in a way it is, although i must admit it wouldn't be if we didn't have a steady stream of treats and packages from 'the isles' (thanks motherland people)....
Hoooever, apart from the apalling human rights record, deep class divides, religious control of society, no education, health or any kind of protection unless you can pay for it......What keeps me here?
The loves of my life....................... and the weather, food, music, culture, people, chocolate, coffee, mountains, beaches.......
Emilia almost sat up by herself this morning, after 2 seconds all went a bit wobbly and she was back on her back.
Arturo seems to be noticing my stressed face very easily and now send me out of the house for half an hours downloading of bbc podcasts and well, doing this blog stuff. We celebrate a year of marraige on monday, WoW, getting better everyday.
We had a visit from aunty Alba yesterday, she arrived, drank coffee, ran around the town centre, i've never seen her move soooo fast. She felt cold but refused a shawl, living here i am noticng the diference between the BIG city folks who turn up to visit looking well stressed and by the end of a day leave refreshed and chilled out, all ready to get stressed in the city again. Apart from Aunty Alba that is, she came and got more stressed because she noticed we didn't have a tv and she had missed her soap opera.
A mexican without tele is like a first world nation without a fake cash crisis....
