Home after a Week of Goodbyes

June 12, 2018 0 By admin

(Originally posted August 2007)

Hi Friends and Family,

I’m writing this letter from my parents’ house in Madison. I arrived home yesterday afternoon. Yesterday morning, I was lucky enough to run into Kate Heideman in line at the Airport in Mexico City. Turns out we were on the same flight and everything. It was great to have someone with my for the journey, especially after just leaving all of my summer friends.

The “Goodbyes” made this week challenging. Everyday it seemed we were saying “Goodbye” to someone, first our friends and families in the community of Copales, to our group that has lived together for the past two months, to my co-workers and all the participants of the Proyecto de Verano.

The tears started last Monday as we passed by my friend, Julia’s, house to drop off little gifts for her and her mother that had helped us greatly in our time in Copales. I had written a little “Good-bye” and “Thank you” letter for her earlier as she has been a true friends since I first arrived.

On Tuesday, the community had a whole day of activity planned for our final despedida. They had a priest come for mass in the morning. Normally, a priest comes once or twice a month to Copales to cover any baptisms, communions or just for mass. Each family that had received a tank or a stove brought a cross decorated with flowers and a bucket of water for the priest to bless. During the mass, Yssel and I were invited to speak to the community about our experience in Copales. After, we received many hugs and handshakes from everyone in attendance.

Directly following the mass, we did a pilgrimage to each of the houses. The families had each chosen one or two of the people in my group to be the madrina or padrino of the tank or stove. Yes, I have a “God-tank” and a “God-stove” in Copales. We delivered the cross, lit incense and sprinkled holy water at each. In Don Pila’s house, he brought out a case of beer or two…and soda for kids under ten years.

In the afternoon, we had a huge community feast in the Casa del Campesino. The señoras had been preparing food for two days. They cooked most of the food on one of the ecological stoves that we had built a few weeks earlier. Now even more of the women want the stoves in their homes and through the project, there are several youth in the community that now know how to make the stoves on their own. The project continues even after we leave.

The feast was followed by a community dance, lots of Duranguense and Cumbia music. I figured the party would end as the sun went down, but as it started to get dark several kids strung extension cords from the electricity in the church down to the party to hook up a few light bulbs. The party continued. I think it was the longest “Goodbye” party I had ever attended, from 10 am to well into the night.

Wednesday morning was also very sad, leaving Copales for the last time. Most of the community came to see us off in the morning and I’ll never forget waving good-bye to Copales from the back of the pick-up, not knowing when, if ever, I’ll make it back. In the afternoon, we returned to Zapatitlan and were reunited with our friends from all the other communities. We spent two days with everyone in Zapotitlan closing the process with a few workshops, sharing experiences, and having meetings with the facilitators/coordination and some community leaders regarding the Proyecto.

From Friday until Tuesday morning, I was in la Ciudad de México. What a shock going from a small, rural community of less than 30 families to the second biggest city in the world, 22 million people. The weekend was filled with more “Goodbyes” as our participants left every few hours for the airport. I stayed at Yssel’s house, my co-facilitator, for those days. We hung out with all our friends from the Proyecto de Verano and I even saw a little bit from Mexico City. It never ends, everywhere you go takes an hour and four different buses. I was overwhelmed.

Yesterday morning, Yssel and Cesar dropped me off at the airport at 6 am. It was a difficult “Goodbye” and finally the last one. As I was feeling kind of sad and lonely after they left and as I was waiting in line for American Airlines, I looked up and Kate Heideman was in front of me. What a treat! Now, I’m now and adjusting to life again in the U.S. In a few days, I’ll be up in Minneapolis, moving into a new apartment and starting student teaching. I’ll be teaching 4th grade at Dowling Elementary School. I’m very excited.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the emails. Here’s one last bit from my time in Copales. Somewhere in the middle of the summer I started this list of things that I had learned though my experience this summer. Some are funny, others serious but it gives a final glimpse of my reflection on the summer. Pictures coming soon, I just need to sort through 2,000 of them first.

“I’ve learned…”

I’ve learned many uses for a machete.
I’ve learned to make corn tortillas along side the strong, beautiful indigenous women of Copales.
I’ve learned to eat without spoons or forks. Even soup is possible with just tortillas.
I’ve learned the entire process of making tortillas: from planting the field, to harvesting the corn, to taking off dry kernels, to grinding the dough, to flipping tortillas on a hot griddle, to eating them three times a day and appreciating the history of maíz and its importance to the indigenous people in Mexico.
I’ve learned to pack for several days in just my purse.
I’ve learned to live in a one room house with seven very diverse young men and women (along with two dogs, one pregnant cat, several chickens and lots of spiders, cockroaches, rats and scorpions). Together, we’ve learned to share, communicate, respect and enjoy our time together as we’ve formed the family of “Copales Power.”
I’ve learned it’s OK to cry.
I’ve learned a lot of Spanish. Although I haven’t learned the word for “dump truck,” but rather, “carry this bundle of gravel on your shoulder up that big hill.” Nor have I learned the word for cement-mixer, but rather “Grab a shovel, quick.”
I’ve learned to find creative solutions to new and different problems. I’ve learned to do the best I can with what I’ve got to work with.
I’ve learned the difference between charity and community service and seen the lasting effects on a community.
I’ve learned to let things go and accept that there are things I can not change.
I’ve learned that I thoroughly enjoy food bought in the street: elotes, 20 cent ice cream cones and quesadillas.
I’ve learned to be assertive and I’ve learned to bite my tongue.
I’ve learned that cement and limestone burn skin.
I’ve learned it makes absolutely no sense for half the town to use daylight savings time and the other half not to.
I’ve learned that government (and all its politics and corruption) doesn’t often work well for the well-being of the community.
I’ve learned to mix cement, bind webbing, throw cement with a trowel, smooth the interior tank walls and leave the outside rough, push a wheelbarrow with 50kg of cement up a hill, to mix cement, clay, sand, ash, limestone and water with my feet, and to use a machete to shape the holes for comals, pots and pans on ecological stoves.
I’ve learned new fashion styles. Yes, it’s the latest trend to wear my purse on one side and wear my machete on the other. And yes, I’ve worn this shirt three times this week but I promise that my underwear are clean.
I’ve learned not to use the bathroom at night. That’s when the snakes and cockroaches come out.
I’ve learned I still shouldn’t tell my mom everything, even once I return home, safe and sound. She worries in retrospect.