MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON LIFE IN MEXICO

I know last time I wrote, I promised stories of artifact analysis and pictures of broken bits of stuff…. This was yet another empty promise (in the tradition of “really, I’m gonna update my blog more often!”). But, also as usual, I do have good excuses!

Most of my time of late has been spent pursuing funding for this summer and/or next year and applying for jobs in case the funding doesn’t work out. Summer funding was successful (big sigh of relief). In addition, it looks very, VERY likely that funding for next year is also set. A very good friend in NYC made finding money for me her full time job. She beat the funding trees with a large stick until money rained down. She is still beating, but things look very, very good!

As a result, I’m officially announcing that I’ll be in Mexico for one more year. All of you who haven’t yet found time to visit now have a whole year extra to buy tickets and come on down. (Just let me know ahead of time, Casa Elizabeth fills up quickly!) I’m currently accepting reservations through New Years...

In addition to the fun money tasks, I’ve been teaching, grading, and preparing to teach some more. This past spring, I accepted a part time teaching position at the University of the Americas here in Cholula (largely to get a work visa through the university so I don’t have to drive across the border every 90-180 days to renew my tourist papers…). So, along with everything else, I’ve been teaching “Cross Cultural Communication for International Business” at the business school. No, really, I’m not kidding. It seemed, at the beginning of the semester, like something of a cruel joke. I mean, I’ve spent my whole life doing everything I could to avoid ending up in business school, and here I was, teaching in one!

Surprisingly, my students and I had a good time with the class! The course was basically an introduction to “culture” (subtitled: uhm, no, not everybody is just like you!), and we spent a lot of time discussing things like, “When going to a meeting with business people from the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, you should be on time.”

The topics of class ranged far and wide within the framework of “cross cultural communication.” One day, one of my students raised his hand during lecture. I called on the student.

“Uhm, Miss, may I ask a question?”

“Of course,” I said.

“Uhm, well, I was watching on tv this show from the U.S., and in it, they made it seem like in the U.S., people trust police officers. They even told kids in this show that if they have a problem, they should go to a police officer for help! That isn’t really true, is it?”

There were looks of wide-eyed bewilderment and disbelief from the students.

“Well, actually,” I replied, “it is true. And yes, we do teach children that police officers will protect them and help them if they need it.”

More looks of disbelief and protest from the students….

So I told them about Constable Knight, who had the job back of going around to all the elementary schools in Victoria, BC and talking to school children. I told them about how he taught us that jay walking is the worst possible thing you could do. I told them how he would take the bullets out of his gun and pass it around for all of us to handle (so we wouldn’t be afraid if we had to go up to a policeman for help), how we got to watch cartoon movies of a talking car teaching us how to cross the street safely, and how we all got stickers for our lunch boxes at the end of the annual visit (“Walk wise with your eyes!”).

The students were totally appalled.

“So, Miss,” asked another, “are police officers different in the U.S. than they are here?”

“Uh, well, yeah,” I said. “And actually, this raises an important travel point. When you are in the U.S., if you have an encounter with a policeman for any reason, you shouldn’t try to bribe him!”

“What!” one of the students burst out, “What are you supposed to do then?”

This led into a discussion of bribery, and I explained that in the States, it isn’t really common practice to bribe anybody ever. I told them that this made it very difficult for me in Mexico because I had no understanding of when it is appropriate to bribe someone and when it isn’t, that I never knew if I was expected to offer a bribe, or if I would be offending someone by doing so.

One of my students leaned back in his chair and said, “Miss, don’t worry. In one month when I graduate, I will be a lawyer, and I know this system very well. I will explain to you how it is you know when you need to bribe someone.”

I waited expectantly.

He said, “Any time anyone gives you two options for something, one good and one bad, you must bribe them.”

The rest of the class nodded happily. And as you see, the class was educational for me as much as for my students!

That class is now finished with (as of this past Friday when I turned in my grades), and I am preparing for two more in June. I am going to be teaching an intensive lab course (eight hours a day five days a week) in Animal Bone Analysis (in Spanish!) for the Anthropology Department. I’m looking forward to that, and we will be using the materials I excavated this past winter, so I get a lot out of the deal!

In addition, I’ve been asked to teach a special two week course (two hours a day five days a week) in Mexican politics and economics for six MBA students coming from a Business School in France for the summer. It turns out that the University here hires and fires based on course reviews (imagine that!). Mine are always very good (thank god for years spent learning how to teach!!!), and so suddenly I’m in much demand around the university. I’m actually finding myself in the unusual position of turning work down (paid work!!!!) just so that I can have some time to do my own research! A novel position for an archaeologist! At least in my experience…..

Outside of all this work stuff, I’ve also taken some time off and had some fun! My friend Lee flew down from Virginia for ten days and we had a great time escaping real life and responsibilities. Lee and I drove to Oaxaca for a few days, which was really lovely. We spent a few days at my house (and toured the Hacienda Acocotla so Lee can see where I dig), and then popped down for a few days in Mexico City. If you scroll to the bottom of this blog, you should see a slideshow with TONS of pictures of our adventures.

On a daily basis, I escape work by spending a bit of time training up my two foster puppies (for cute doggie pics, see the slideshow below the pics of Lee’s vacation!). When I returned from my travels at Christmas last January, I was greeted by a little black cocker-mix doggie who was being attacked by the dogs who live in our street. I took her in, temporarily, until Zee and I could get her to the dog asylum near here. She had a broken hip (and mange, but that is another story), and so couldn’t get away from the street dogs, who were intent on making her leave.

Before she (who was subsequently christened Lily) could be taken off to the dog asylum, my friend Kim decided this was just the dog she was looking for. So, I am taking care of Lily and training her up until I can get her to Kim. Lily has recovered from the broken hip and the mange nicely (after baths in special shampoo three times a week….), and is now a happy, healthy and fiercely protective pup.

Word of my success with Lily must have spread. On Easter Sunday, I took Lily downstairs to let her outside for a bit, and discovered that the World’s Cutest Puppy had been abandoned on my doorstep.

I had actually encountered, from a distance, the W.C.P. earlier in the day. While sipping my coffee and checking my email earlier in the morning, I heard a noise outside. I peeked out the window into the driveway and saw two pick-ups parked in the street in front of the house. Apparently, some people from one of the local churches were delivering palm leaves to all the “observant” households in the neighborhood. In the bed of the second truck was a little boy, maybe about four, and the W.C.P. I looked out the window and thought, “Wow, that sure is a cute little dog,” and, not thinking any more about it, went back to work.

Apparently, unwilling to make me feel left out, and unable to leave me the palm leaves due to lack of church attendance, they decided to deposit the puppy on my doorstep. There she patiently waited until Lily and I emerged about three hours later. She took one look at a well fed Lily and me, and all eight pounds of her promptly decided she was staying.

Zee later christened her Chula (which means “pretty”). Chula is as sweet as Lily, and is possibly going to go live with Kim, as well. (Kim is trying to decide if she really wants two Mexican street dogs). In the meantime, Lily and Chula are having a wonderful time playing together and chasing the groundhogs around and around the yard.

Me? I’m just thankful they left the puppy instead of the four year old…..