Mixteca

Ok. Wow. Every time I'm on the internet I feel so overwhelmed because everything is continuously happening so fast and there's such a variety to everything that's happening. So the most recent.....

This past weekend (left on Saturday and just got back yesterday) my group and I went to Mixteca. It's a huge region in the state of Oaxaca. We are working with the organization Witness for Peace and therefore we're going on three trips during this semester; the first Mizteca. We were split into two groups and each group with to a different "pueblo" in the country. Very small towns, and significantly poor. My group went to a town called San Andres Dinicuiti; a town of artisans who make different art out of palms. There were nine of us and we were split into three groups to stay with three families. The family I stayed with was absolutely amazing! There was Lupe and his wife Oraida as well as Lupe's mother who lived in a small brick house with floors of cement and an outside oven made of stone. Almost all the food they eat they grow in their backyard and they make all their tortillas by hand with corn and the flower from pumpkins. They were so wonderful, immediately welcoming us into their home and it was as if we were long lost friends. The first night we were already deep in conversations about immigration and how it's really hard to manage during the dry times of the years. Because of the huracanes, there has been sufficient water this year, but other years, they can't produce enough corn. The stories Lupe shared were incredibly personal, but he told us with such ease and confidence. Lupe and Oraida gave up their bed for another lady and me although we tried to resist. And never in my life have I eaten so much in one weekend! Oraida was continuously making us eat! The last night there, after having eaten three huge meals that day, we were all in bed getting ready to fall asleep when she rushed in and said, "Oh no! We didn't eat the pitayas! We have a lot of fruit to eat tomorrow!" Haha! (And by the way, pitayas are amazing!) But yes, the next day in deed we ate so much food. We were all meeting in another house to eat breakfast as a group, but Oraida insisted that we eat a little (actually a whole) papaya, atole (a special milky drink ... don't really know exactly what's in it) with bread, as well as elotes (corn on the cob basically). THEN, we went and had breakfast with the group. I was so full that I couldn't sit comfortably and I joked with my professor that I was afraid to return to the family in fear that they would make me eat more. Well, in fact, when we arrived she insisted that we eat some "small" mamelitas before we go as well as try her salsa and then she packed us five tortillas each, four pieces of pitaya, and two more elotes. OH MY GOSH!!!!! I wasn't hungry for the whole rest of the day and I'm definitely going to start running in the mornings. It was like yoga for my stomach ... an incredible task to learn how to stretch the stomach!

The point: this family, although they didn't have much in the eyes of society, welcomed us with open arms and honestly gave us EVERYTHING that they had. All the food they could provide, their beds, their time to discuss personal topics, and their hearts by immediately developing an amazing friendship. Only two days with them, and I was incredibly touched. Incredibly incredibly touched. And this family, a family who has had to immigrate to the US not because they wanted to (because they love their country home) but because they had to .... how would they be accepted in the United States? Would anyone one of us Americans welcome them in with such love and selflessness? Would we give everything we had to this family who we barely knew or would we simply give up the necesities? And would it be with an open heart, or annoyance because we have other important things to to? And would we offer our friendship or feel uncomfortable as strangers slept in our homes? I can't even express how loving this family was. And after all this hospitality, when we were leaving the grandmother started giving us their baskets made of palms ... what they do as a living and one of the only ways to make money ... as gifts. I tried to give them money for them, but they defiantly refused. We all gathered for a picture and when we said goodbye, Oraida began to cry as she hugged me and of course I burst into tears. The grandmother as well held onto my face and told me how precious I was. I was sincerly touched. Lupe gave me his number and told me to come back to visit whenever I wanted to, that his house was always open. And what can I do in return? I was able to gather myself for the rest of the goodbyes, but immediately when I stepped onto the street to walk back to our vans, I was beside myself. How could they be so incredibly caring and loving when they barely knew me? I felt more of a connection with them in two days than I have yet to feel with my family in Oaxaca who have so much more to offer. Ted, the other student who stayed in the same house, also recieved a gift of this special, traditional type of bowl to make salsa ... the grandmother refused money but said that she's in need of new shoes. So I think Ted and I are going to try and return with shoes for the grandmother.

This is a lot to read, I know ... but this has seriously been the most touching experience I have ever had. And I hope I can always remember how to be like them ... always sincerely welcoming and loving others as if they were family. I believe that we all must learn how to live not only with open minds but truly with open hearts.

I have one picture of the family that I haven't uploaded onto my computer, but I will post it soon! LOVE YOU ALL and MISS you all! Take care!!!!!