Saturday, July 18, 2009

the training wheels are off

Edith learned how to ride a 2 wheeler this week. It is funny because Balthezar learned to ride his bike here too. I guess now they will both have memories of bike riding in mexico. I remember the day I learned how to ride my bike. I can still see and feel it clearly in my head. Poor Edith though, she doesn´t have very good control and there is so much dirt and rocks she is always falling down. She has a lot of bruises. I am surprised that she hasn´t given up (she just blames it on mexico).

She does talks a lot about how she hates Mexico. Every time that something happens that she doesn´t like, she starts saying, 'I hate Mexico, I want to go back to America' It is frustrating. I don´t want her to hate it here. It is so different. I know that I am weird in the fact that I like it.

I sold some clothes to a woman the other day. While she was looking at the clothes she was talking about weight. I don´t remember how it came up, but I probably said something about how I need to loose some. Well, a couple days later she shows up to pay me (I let her take them and bring me the money later) and she has another woman with her. I guess she works for the woman taking care of her baby. She tells me that she sells herbalife and that it is good for losing weight. I tell her that I have heard of it, and she invites me to a meeting to learn all about it. I told her no, but she was persistent, so I thought, okay fine.

She shows up (late) the next day and takes me to the meeting in Tecamachalco. It is interesting going to a meeting like that after being in Mary Kay, just because MK meetings are so much more fun! I got to try some samples (not very good) and learn about the products. Afterwards, she invited us out to eat. We got a couple of pizzas for the kids, and she took me to her brothers restaurant. It is a nice place - the nicest I have seen around here. I guess he worked as a chef at Olive Garden for years and saved up to buy this place. I got a cobb salad and it was really really good - the dressing was the best.

Anyhow, I got home and told my mother in law and Leticia about it. They of course had something to say. They always do when someone comes to see me, or invites me to something. They told me that she is a snob and she doesn´t talk to anybody here in town because she thinks she is better than them. They said, what does she want from you? Well, obviously she wants me to buy her products I said. She seemed nice enough to me. She offered to take me and the kids to the city of Puebla to go on a city tour. I think it would be fun, but of course in the back of my mind I am also thinking, why is she being nice to me?

Moises called yesterday and I told him about it. He didn´t know who I was talking about so he talked to his mom and she told him. Then he gets back on the phone and says that he definately doesn´t want me buying anything from her and that he wants nothing to do with 'those type of people'. Of course, I am like, WHY? He says that their family has a little lighter skin than most of the others here in town, so they say they have european blood and would never date anyone who is 'indiginous' There was a woman a few years back who tried to befriend me, and apparently she was the same way. At least that is what my family here told me. So I wonder if they want to befriend me because I am white and they like that, or if they are just more outgoing and do more than just stare at me.

I told Leticia that she is jealous. Well, it is hard to translate, but jealous as in, they don´t want to share me with other people. I do consider my sisters in law my friends, but it would be nice to have more than that.

I am going to start english classes this next week. I don´t like living on 100 dollars a week. I can barely make it by at home because I get food stamps. Here I guess I get by, it just feels much tighter because I use that money to buy all my food. The bigger reason that I decided to teach english classes is because it is an easy way to make extra money. It has come to my attention that Medardo, Delia and Lupe all have really horrible teeth. They have some serious decay going on. The other day Medardo was in pain the whole day, and I told him to go to the dentist and find out what needs to be done. I asked his mom later if it would be okay if I pay for it. (they are very proud people so being given money or having someone else take care of something for their kids is a big deal) She was surprisingly gracious about it. She said of course, why would she say no. I think that in the past she would definately say no, but her husband hasn´t had a steady job for many months, and they are suffering.

The economy sucks down here too. The only guy out of all my in laws that has a job right now is Javier, Leticias husband. He is working in Monterrey right now. I guess he will be back for the wedding. Delia´s husband, Feliciano works a day here and there where he can find it. Same with Antonio, Martha husband, and Giovanni, Maricella´s husband.

Some of the work that they have gotten is actually with Aaron and Antonio fixing up their houses. Antonio has expanded his house to have a large overhand for a garage, and on top he is going to build a large second floor. Aaron has also built a garage for the house, and is doing lots of clean up around the yard (it is kind of like mom´s back yard that has tons of random stuff everywhere) None of the men around here ever has a really steady job. They get hired some place to do a job, sometimes for a week, sometimes for several months. Once the work is done, they need to find a new job. Right now, there isn´t much to be found. So even though I am living on 100 dollars a week, I am still the rich one. Isn´t that crazy!!

So the big gossip news for the day is that Antonio got his girfriend pregnant. Nobody in the family knows except me and Maricela. She knows because Mago (his girlfriend) lives across the street from us and they grew up together and are still really good friends. Maricella and her husband have been living in Antonios house ever since they got together. Well, aparently, Antonia and Mago have been having secret meetings up at the house. I think it is too bad, because they have to meet in secret and do it on an old dirty matress. I think it is kind of gross.

Well, the other day we came home really late from a party that we went to and all the lights were off in the house, but I see someone in the living room watching tv. It is a girl, but I cant quite make out who it is. I walk into the door and Antonio is getting dressed as fast as he can. I walk into the living room and it is Mago. She is sitting there looking all nervous. I laughed and said we must have come at the wrong moment. His parents didn´t notice, because they went into their room, not the main house. Later on that evening, Antonio was getting dressed because he took a shower and I asked him if he was going to marry her or not. I told him that girls don´t like having to hide having sex, and that if he got married they could do it all the time. He told me that he was going to marry her. He has always said that he doesn´t want to get married, but apparently she won´t just get together with him, she wants marriage. I told him to hurry it up! (of course it was the next day that I found out that she is pregnant, she I am sure that will hurry things along.)

Okay, so I think that is enough gossip for the day.

2 comments:

Genevieve said...

I may sound, actually I can't think of the word right now. Anyways! When I lived in Brazil there was this woman named Regina. She was lighter skinned, and wealthier then most other people we taught. She loved to have us come visit, she was less active (her husband was a very evil feeling man, I hated being around him, and she stopped going to church because he wanted her to pray with him in front of black candles) She talked tons about the elders who had previously been in our area. They were Americans. When they left sisters moved into the area instead. There was always an American in the area interstingly enough and she excepted the missionarys. No one ever thought about it. When I came, she had us over often. When I was transfered there were two brazilian missionaries for the first time since this woman had been baptized. As soon as the two sisters arrived to visit her she turned really cold towards them (and one had been my companion that was alway with me when we visited.) She told them to go away, that she wasn't interested. When the "americans" came back she would talk to them.

the reason for my story is that there is that prejudice down there, just as there is up here. If you have european blood then you are seen as being "better" then. I saw it in some of the missionaries, on both sides. The missionaries who were slave decendents hated the european missionaries. It was rather interesting!

Your mother in law and Moises very well could be right, and that you are only being befriended because you are a "rich" american. Now enough of my jaded rant.

Ivalo said...

Yeah, I know that a lot of people here think that lighter skin is better. Well, most people actually, even the dark people. No one here seems to think it is a big deal that I am so fat - just that I am beautiful and tall and have amazing blue eyes.

I just wished that I could learn it myself and be able to choose. It is just one of those things with living in a small town. But I guess this woman and her family are really bad.