My Christmas this year was not about material things, but rather the people that are important to me. I was thrilled to be able to pick up one of those important people at the airport late on Christmas night, my brother, Kevin. I was most looking forward to Kevin's visit this Christmas so we could once again have those deep conversations that go on for hours discussing everything from creative projects (such as rocket wood stoves), spiritual developments, and of course love and relationships. We're quite good at analyzing just about anything but our main interests hover in these areas. If there is one person in the world that is most similar to me it's probably my brother. Both our love of communicating and our general communication style is practically identical (or so I've been told). I'll admit that he's a much more even keeled person while I can be a bit of a spitfire if you catch me on the right (or wrong) day but all that's probably much more apparent to my closest loved ones and not so evident to others.
Kevin's visit was a relaxed one since Fabian wasn't available to chauffer us around most of the time, which limited us to the local attractions. On Fabian's day off we decided to give him extra time to sleep and later had him take us to see the hub of center city Guadalajara. As we were walking through this bustling area we came across one street show after another. First it was a clown, then a mime and next a magician. We passed by each one with little interest as I voiced my desire to see a good acrobatic group. A few more paces down the street my wish was granted. We found a group of young guys teasing a slowly forming crowd with an acrobatic stunt every few minutes until enough people were gathered to make it worth their while to do an all out show. The younger guys did some break dancing moves while the more experienced ones attempted various flips in so many dangerous combinations that it left me covering my face and audibly praying that they wouldn't kill themselves. There was only one time that the leader plummeted to the ground after attempting to scale a wall in order to complete a flip off of it. All of us in the audience held our breath and sighed with relief as he quickly bounced back up and returned with determination to do it again. Luckily the second time he was successful. Fabian and Kevin were picked out of the large crowd to participate in the show as the main acrobat flipped over 7-8 people from the audience. At one point this same entertainer pretended to stumble into a girl (that happened to be sitting beside Kevin) after a flip and passionately kiss her. He immediately clarified to us in decent English that she was in fact his girlfriend instead of some random stranger. I was so impressed with their act that I gave them an hour's worth of my salary when they brought the hat around for contributions...don't worry...if you're thinking in U.S. dollars the amount really wasn't much at all. I figured I was a tourist that week and they deserved a tourist-sized tip. :)
Besides street shows and people watching, markets are always a great way to experience a bit of Mexico. At a three-story indoor market called San Juan de Dios, we were all quite amused by a particular snack item (see the photo above). The literal translation of the sign behind the snack says, "Virile Snack". When I heard that I immediately thought, "fertile snack" but after looking up the exact definition in the Merriam-Webster's online dictionary I decided I'd have to include it since it so eloquently describes the qualities of the actual food. "Virile- having the nature, properties, or qualities of an adult male; specifically: capable of functioning as a male in copulation." If you are able to identify which part of the male anatomy might fit this delightful description, then you have just correctly identified this snack! None of us could come up with the guts to try it...although I'm honestly considering it just because I feel like it's the only way I could get a little adventure in my life right now. I've been living in Mexico for a year and have spent the majority of that time appreciating the safety, peace and solitude of my room. I'd love to travel around the country but there are several challenges to doing that while residing in Mexico, namely Fabian's long work schedules...so, as my adventurous side starts demanding more attention I might give in to this disgusting snack just for kicks.
One thing Kevin was lamenting on his trip here was that he wouldn't have the opportunity to visit my English class and talk to a group of real life Mexicans (Fabian doesn't count since he's my husband). Mom, Dad and Veronica had all been able to experience that and unanimously agreed that it was the most rewarding part even though not all of them had come with great desires to participate in my English class. Kevin spent much of the week observing the citizens here and attempting to come up with something that he could tag as a Mexican trait. He realized however, that Mexico is actually more diverse than we typically think. He was surprised to see people of many clothing styles, colors and builds. Often we see groups of Hispanics in our U.S. communities that may only represent a small part of whatever country they're from and then are surprised to find out that these groups don't necessarily provide an accurate sampling of the entire population of their native countries. When people come to Guadalajara and realize that there are a number of light-skinned, and even green-eyed people that don't necessarily wear cowboy hats, it can be shocking. It's the same here when people see pictures of my family and realize that I'm the only blue-eyed, blond haired member of my immediate family. As I was showing pictures of Kevin's visit to some of my students they stated, "He could pass for a Mexican!" with a bit of surprise in their voices. My appearance had fed right into their ideas of what a typical American looks like just as we have ideas of what a typical Mexican is like. Thank God that people have figured out that I don't have the "typical American culture/values" since we are seen as quite liberal and immoral...which probably isn't such an inaccurate picture of most of us...at one time I'm sure some of my actions would have fit that bill.
While Kevin didn't get to talk to my English class, he did get to talk to a cute girl with a sparkling personality at my favorite cafe, The French Press, in the charming little town of Ajijic. Her story was a rare one, at least from the encounters that I've had here. She was born in France to a Mexican mother and a Brazilian father and it sounded as though she had spent some time living in France during her very early childhood and her adult years. She understood a lot of English, spoke a little, but mainly communicated in Spanish as I translated what she said to Kevin. Our new glowing friend shared with us some of her colorful history, her current struggles in decision making and her passion for urban mobility activism. Her frankness about the U.S. was refreshing as she gave us her real opinion on our home country instead of a sugary version. While she might have expressed some negativity towards certain aspects of our country (ie: our controlling and power hungry tendencies) she wasn't by any means a negative person nor did she hold these things against us as individuals...besides, she had constructive criticism to share about France, Brazil and Mexico as well. We were delighted that the owner of the cafe was so gracious in allowing her assistant to sit and chat with us for 30 minutes and even more pleased that this smiling bicycle activist would take her time to share a bit of herself.
Well, I do believe Kevin went home happy since he was able to fulfill his desire of conversing with a native and getting a glimpse of her world and perspective. Both of us enjoyed our relaxing time together drinking tea and picking out quality furniture that we hope to buy in the far future when I have a house to fill and a trailer to haul the stuff in. We were able to talk so much during the 4 days he was here that by his last night we had run out of words. I'm sure by the time I go home for a visit in June we will both have accumulated a few more words and stories to share.
Love, blessings, & peace,
Alicia
"...but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name."
-Nehemiah 1:9
