Copales, Ayotoxco de Guerrero, Puebla, Mexico

(Originally posted June 2007)

Hi Friends,

I found Internet! I’m currently traveling from our first visit to the community back to our central point in La Sierra Norte de Puebla. All of the participants in the Proyecto del Verano arrive tonight in Zapatitlán, Puebla.  

My co-facilitator, Yssel, graduated a year ago in communications but is now returning to study anthropology of the indigenous communities. She participated in the program last year and is returning as a facilitator. She’s from Mexico City and even speaks some Nahuatl (the language of the indigenous people in Copales).

About Copales: In the community, we’re working directly with the Elders to prepare the projects, workshops and integrate with the community. The people speak Spanish and Nahuatl. Some only Spanish, some only Nahua, many are bilingual. Women and children work in the home. Many of the men work in farming: mangos, plantains, lemons, limes, and many other foods. There are few older boys and young men as many have migrated to big cities and to the US in search of better paying work.

It’s hot! And even though it’s hot, it’s important to keep covered since the mosquitos are brutal, especially at night. I think I have at least 100 bites on one arm and it’s only been 2 days.  

We’re staying with Don Claudio, the president of the Elders Committee. He and his wife live in a one room, concrete house, with a kitchen off the back. The kitchen has a dirt floor, bamboo walls and tin roof. It has a wood burning stove and the chickens lay their eggs in a basket on the side. A few meters outside, the river passes by which is incredibly convenient for cooking, washing and bathing. Many families have to haul water from the river up steep hills. It may get a little tight when we return with the participants in a few days but we´ll manage.

The people in the community have been very friendly and welcoming. We certainly haven’t been hungry since Don Claudio has brought us to meet everyone in the community and each family insists that we eat a meal with them. I can’t even tell you how many corn tortillas with beans we’ve eaten and it’s only been 3 days. The children are very sweet and are excited about the projects we´ll be doing for the summer. Animals are everywhere. Chickens, roosters, dogs and cats roam freely from house to house. Many families also have a pig or two or a horse tied up on a nearby tree.

I’ve come to accept that Don Claudio has officially changed my name to “Guerrita.” For him, and most people I’ve met, my name is a difficult to pronounce and remember.  

The community has a school with three rooms for kids preschool through secondary. I´ve met with the Director of Education as he was interested in the education system of the US. Interestly, in the middle of the community where the people live in poverty, the school has received a donation from an organization in Canada of three computers, with Internet and even SMARTBOARDS! We’re preparing a workshop with the teachers to explore how to best use the Smart Boards to enhance the education.

I´m getting used to the way of life here. It certainly is a 180 from life back home. I can’t wait until I am post of pictures and can share with you more. I’m lear

ning a lot (how to share a house with spiders the size of grapefruits, toads, and cockroaches; how to wash clothes in the river, how to open and eat all these different fruits that I’ve never heard of; how to pronounce a few simple phrases in Nahuatl…)

I miss you all much and I hope you are all enjoying summer. Please let me know what you’re up to when you get a chance.

Love you all,

Megan