Traveling Mexico’s Backroads

Re: # 13

ozerkhalid...

No, I`m in no way making propaganda for homogeneous unification of cultures. I simply don`t believe that romanticizing about multi-culturism will help the poor, ignorant people who live, often at the point of starvation, in these remote mountain villages. I don`t know if you have visited any of these purely indigenous villages but if you have, and have compassion, it would have broken your heart. The reality of these cultures is not something that I would want to preserve, not for a minute.

When people talk of preserving a culture, I question exactly what culture it is that they want to preserve. So far as I know, many (if not all) indigenous tribes or nations of what is now Mexico, Central America, and probably South America as well - nations who were forever warring - routinely practiced sodomy, human sacrifice and cannibalism. Are these the cultures that you would preserve? How would you go about it? Are you yourself willing to bear the considerable financial burden that supporting these cultures would entail? These indigenous peoples ``enjoy`` a very marginal existence - an existence that can hardly be improved without massive capital input. When you talk of preserving a culture, you must consider the conditions under which that culture flourished, and then you must provide the resources and conditions that are an integral part of that culture. You do not preserve cultures by maintaining people on reservations. Consider for a minute just one essential element of those cultures - land. mirmir

Mirmir

Entiendo pero usted estas haciendo propoganda de unificacion homogenico, donde se muere la diversidad cultural que es l`espalda del mosaico que constituye Sud America y Mexico en particular.

Mirmir in your previous interact you are veering towards propoganda seeking a homogenised unity where cultural diversity is hammered into the grave which denotes the death of the majestic pluralism that inspires South America in general, and Mexico in particular.

Tequilla, a good crop and of course the senoritas. When I die I want to go to Mexico.

Re: # 10

I`ve travelled over much of Mexico and I`ve worked in countries of Africa, Asia, Europe and the South Pacific.

The Zapatista movement focused attention on the plight of Chiapas` ``indigenas,`` at least for a short time. The government, wisely, refused to be drawn into a brutal armed repression and simply allowed the initial fervor to subside - the Zapatistas command little attention these days. One problem is that they speak for only a relatively small group - they don`t speak for all of Mexico`s many different indigenous peoples. Any future success that the Zapatistas might have will depend, in my opinion, on their ability

(1) to unite the many divergent indigenous peoples and

(2) to enter the mainstream political arena, either as an independent group or as a force within one of the many political parties.

The difficulty, though, is much older and much more complex than the Zapatista movement. The U.S.A., for example, has yet to find answers to the many perplexing questions surrounding the status of indigenous people, and Mexico faces an even greater challenge. Realistically, again in my opinion, there`ll be no solution short of total integration of indidgenous people into mainstream society. That means, for good or bad, that these native groups will have to abandon their ancient cultures and traditions. mirmir

Che Alberto,

En que otro ciudades y paises estuviste ? Hace un ratito antes yo estaba en chiapas...que opinas sobre lo que se desarollo con los derechos de los zapatistos ?

Contestame, y tenes que seguir escribiendo....mil saludos !

Mexico is a beautiful country with very beautiful senoritas.

Re#7

Subroto,

It`s amazing how you can be so succint and communicate the message still (I need to learn from you).

Perhaps I need to graduate from hamsters to canines.

Sincerely,
Beej.

This was really nice. I could imagine myself right there next to you observing the action (or the lack of it).

Welcome to Chowk.
As I have much to learn about mexico, I hope to learn alot from you about your country.

Re: # 3
Ana...

...``there are not very many spanish speakers here, and one could probably deduce from the context, but are campementos ``camps``?``

Well, my poor spelling (or typing?) doesn`t help. It should read ``campamentos`` and, yes, it means camps.

``...also you briefly touch on chiapas here, and your letter assumes that the recipient will know what you mean by ``in their need`` but that may not necessarily be the case here. i hope that one day very soon the beauty will be less of a torment for the folks there.``

I ought to have made it clearer that the folks in these (clandestine) camps are illegal immigrants from Guatemala, a country even poorer than Mexico, most of them hoping to make the long and difficult journey north to the Rio Bravo and the U.S. They are desperately poor. They camp amid Chiapas` beauty while suffering life-threatening hunger and exposure and imminent discovery by harsh, unsympathetic Mexican officials. They run the risk of being discovered and deported long before they can ever reach the river`s edge. If they are lucky enough to survive the river`s crossing they run the same risk of apprehension and deportation on the U.S. side plus the very real risk of dying, as many have, in the deserts of New Mexico or Arizona. They are miserable, harried and tormented, and they are driven to suffer hunger, thirst and exposure by the torment and need of the bitter existence in their home country. I`ve also spent time in Guatemala among quite poor campesinos. A hard life.

``...and the last paragraph seems somewhat rushed. i think a person reading this letter would be more curious: que paso con los federales? and the shoot-out. unless there are letters preceding or following that give this more context. i think considering this is in the environs of chiapas one could perhaps guess, but then again not everyone is aware of what is going on in chiapas.``

Mostly the ``Federales`` are looking for drug trafficers but it could be for any offender. There must have been, in this case, an alert out for known delinquents or ``desperados`` on the loose - it isn`t by any means a common occurence. As for the shoot-out it remains a mystery (for me) to this day. I can only guess but it could have been between police and outlaws, between rival gangs of narcos - who knows. Again, a very, very uncommon occurence. It never happened to me either before or after this one instance.

``...and a little off-topic, have you read ghalib and mir mostly if not all in translation, or do you have some familiarity with the language.``

No, unfortunately I can only read them in translation, and even though the translation that I have is very good (or so it seems to me) I realize that translation of poetry is an all but impossible undertaking. I have even despaired of translating my own poetry into Spanish or French - so much gets lost.

Con Cariño, mirmir

Re: # 2
SR...

Yes, Mexico, just as Pakistan, has both honesty and corruption. In Mexico much of the corruption is linked to the drug traffic...maybe in Pakistan as well? One of the most courteous of policemen that I have ever come across I met just outside Veracruz, but at the same time I`ve totally given up driving in Mexico City because of the corrupt police in that city and their ``mordidas.``

Mexico is a beautiful country and its people more accepting and respectful of differences that those of any other country that I`m acquainted with. It is certainly unlike its northern neighbors in this regard. Contrary to popular opinion Mexico`s people are definitely NOT lazy - quite the opposite. I`ve tried to keep up with Mexican ``campesinos`` and ``albañiles`` but they just left me gasping and exhausted.

Mexico is poor, as of course is Pakistan, and also in common with Pakistan it has recently suffered greatly from natural disasters. The number of Mexico`s victims nowhere equals that of Pakistan, but the individual suffering and loss is the same - and the burden seems always to fall on the poorest, most vulnerable.

I haven`t had the opportunity to visit, or live in, Pakistan but I note that Mukhtar Mai, a Pakistani rape victim who became a beacon for women`s rights, will be honored in the U.S.A. this week and that she was selected as ABC`s Person of the Week just yesterday. Also Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, a man I much admire, appeard briefly on a U.S.A. nightly news channel a couple of days ago.

As a member of Chowk I hope to learn more about Pakistan and India. I joined for that reason. I also (in a modest way) want to give Chowk readers yet another opportunity to become familiar with folks in this part of the world. If my poetry or my prose can promote understanding between us I`ll be more than satisfied.

mirmir

i think there are some things that some of us as desis can relate to here. i, for one enjoyed reading about the kite season because it reminded me of the kite season, and the kite festival of basant,

mirmir: ``adrak`` is the word for ginger just in case you really don`t know what it is. :)

i liked this letter. i think it describes rather vividly all that you have seen, and i don`t know if i`ll ever travel the backroads of mejico or see it as che and his friend did in ``the motorcycle diaries``, but i do hope to spend some time there one of these days. it`s a travelogue, but as you say, it is also a letter ``home``.

there are not very many spanish speakers here, and one could probably deduce from the context, but are campementos ``camps``? also you briefly touch on chiapas here, and your letter assumes that the recipient will know what you mean by ``in their need`` but that may not necessarily be the case here. i hope that one day very soon the beauty will be less of a torment for the folks there.

and the last paragraph seems somewhat rushed. i think a person reading this letter would be more curious: que paso con los federales? and the shoot-out. unless there are letters preceding or following that give this more context. i think considering this is in the environs of chiapas one could perhaps guess, but then again not everyone is aware of what is going on in chiapas.

and a little off-topic, have you read ghalib and mir mostly if not all in translation, or do you have some familiarity with the language.

saludos, ana.

Amigo

Good to see something on Mexico at this desi site. Most people claim that Mexico is a corrupt place, much like the South Asian countries. But I have a wonderful story of police honesty. Back in 94 a friend and I went from Tulum to Playa del Carmen. We got off the at our ``hotel`` in Playa and took our luggage out of the taxi. Paid the driver and went inside to take a siesta away from the blistering sun. When we woke up in the evening and left the hotel room for happy hour by the beech I discovered that my camera bag was left behind in the taxi. It was an expensive set of equipment so I was quite upset. The taxi had obviously driven back to Tulum, almost two hours ride away. Anyway we went to the local police station and lodged a complaint (my friend was a Spanish teacher who acted as translator). Luckily, by some fluke, I remembered the taxi`s registration number. The local police station offficer in charge contacted the state highway patrol and the Tulum local police. And believe it or not, I had the camera bag in my hand by 10 PM the same evening. Tulum police had located the taxi, retrieved the camera bag, handed it over to the state highway patrol who brought it to Playa del Carmen.

This could never have happened in the US or in South Asia. I made a point of writing a letter of praise to the state governor upon my return to the USA.

...SR

Alberto amigo:

I am really worried. I am beginning to think that you really ARE Mexican. Boy, we are in trouble – what the heck made you come to this desi site – your family members have probably already declared you a lost cause by this time!

What’s this – are you writing a tour-book on Mexico – to sell to US? This crowd? Try OFFERING us some money, instead of trying to get anything out of us!

Your account reads so tepid – if I had to make a decision on whether to visit there and if I read this account just before making that decision – I’d drop everything at once and start right away – walking if necessary – in the OPPOSITE direction, of course! What are you trying to do – tell them all NOT to come?

How foolish can you get! You describe clouds – what the heck will you think of next? The rainy season? Holy Moses! What do you expect us to do – to come fly a kite and to ride one of those stray donkeys and to listen to those frogs croak and to have those anopheles mosquitoes (can any one spell malaria?) bite us and then to jostle with the crowds and get our body curves thoroughly felt out (five times) by the “federales”?

What’s the matter with you – too much “adrak” (if you don’t know what that term means around HERE, go ask hamidm2)?

The reason I am beginning to worry that you are not a desi masquerading as Mexican is simple – you totally fail to connect with the desi “psyche”. If you did – you would ask yourself a few simple questions before releasing this write-up:

Where is the dirt?
Where are the murders?
Where are the crooks?
Where are the molestations?
Where are the highway robberies?
Where is the religious bigotry?
Where are the greased palms?
Where are the sexy ladies?
Where are the killers, the gangs, the coyotes, the poachers?

What the heck did you single-handedly do to that whole crowd?

Give it to us man, lay it all out!

Yeah! Give it to us!

Give it to us FAST!

Like old Speedy Gonzales!

Arriba, arriba, andale, andale,….!!!

Beej.