REFLECTIONS ON SAN MIGUEL TZINACAPAN: "I AM NOT THE SAME PERSON"

Rose Penzerro, Ph.D., University of -Pan American

Mexican American social work students from the University of Texas-Pan American spent two weeks in the state of , , including one week leaming from the Nahua residents ofthe village of San Miguel, Tzinacapan. Students stayed in a small motel run by an indigenous women's co-op, and spent days visiting with the denizens ofthe village, including, the curandero (healer), mid-wife, radio station operators, bi-lingual (Spanish-NahuatI) teachers, and families with sons in the U.S. Student writings conveyed themes of respect for our common humanity, acceptance of differences in cultural values and deepened understanding ofthe interaction of historical, political, and economic forces. The students suggest the life- altering nature of their experiences.

Twenty one social work undergraduate with the women who told us that we were not students and their professor traveled to the like most groups they had met because ofthe interior of Mexico for a summer class on Social tortilla warmers. When we leamed that many Welfare in Mexico. Although the two-week visitors take them to be little pillow covers, we trip was divided into an urban experience in shared laughter. the city of Puebla and rural experience in the Indeed, our group was a bit different from rural area of Cuetzalan, this paper will focus their average college tourists. We hailed from on the rural experience. Social welfare the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, an agricultural services and issues are different in the city, area known for citrus, onions and watermelon. where there are more governmental and non- The University of Texas-Pan American is govemmental organizations providing services located in County Texas on the U.S.- to at-risk populations, such as orphans, street Mexico border, where 88% of the 600,000 children, battered women, AIDS patients, and residents reported Hispanic origin to the 2000 law violators. In the rural area, services are U.S. Census Bureau. People on both sides more informal and the entire population of walk and drive across the area's bridges daily: indigenous people can be seen as at-risk. come to shop at the U.S. malls and Our group was one of many groups of discount stores, while Americans cross to buy college students who had traveled to San medications, visit dentists, get a haircut, and Miguel Tzinacapan to leam about indigenous shop for traditional Mexican goods. Both culture. However, unlike any other group that English and Spanish are spoken on both sides had come before us, we were from the Rio ofthe border, although the Spanish on the U.S. Grande Valley on the Texas-Mexico border. side is often a dialect, called Tex-Mex. While So, we were familiar with an item called a many Mexicans may refer to most North tortilla warmer: two pieces of round fabric Americans as gringos, those of Mexican about 10 inches in diameter sewn together with descent are often called pochos and the an opening. The first student who saw the dialectical mixture of English and Spanish is a warmers bought them all as souvenirs for herald of this identity. In stereotypical terms, family members. Others admired them and the pocho doesn't know the culture, history, asked the women if they would come again or language of Mexico (Richardson, 1999). with more of them. For the next three days, Certainly, our students had not studied Mexican the village women visited our hotel with a few history and culture in the public schools of more warmers every day and we bought every Texas. Only a generation ago, Texas public one of them. It led to interesting exchanges school students were punished for speaking

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Spanish. Whatever the students knew about food. The discovery of McDonald's and Mexico, they had leamed from their families Domino's Pizza eased the transition for some. and others in the community. ability facilitated communication with everyday Mexicans. Most The Study students interacted with cab drivers, waiters, So that we could write about our shopkeepers, restaurant patrons and hotel experiences, a formal study plan was guests, and at their field sites with ease. presented to the university's I.R.B., asking the Nevertheless, lectures conducted in Spanish question, "What is the educational impact of a proved difficult for all but a handful of fluent short term, study-abroad course on non- speakers. Most students' vocabularies were traditional social work students?" Research limited to everyday words rather than the instruments included student daily journals, complex vocabulary and syntax of refection papers after we retumed and focus professionals. Eveiyone took notes in English. groups conducted one year later. Twenty-one The Puebla city experience provided a base Mexican-American students (four males and from which to reflect on the very different seventeen females with an average age of culture we would experience next. twenty-eight) signed up for the research study. Sixteen reported that they were the first in their family to attend college. Nine reported Spanish as the primary language in their home. Two thirds (14) of the students had never visited Mexico beyond the border cities, with only four having been south of Monterrey (about 100 miles south of the border). Early student journal entries expressed both eagerness and anxiety about the trip. They were eager to see new places and leam new San Mignel Tzinacapan, Cnetzalan de things, but they were anxious about being away Progreso from their families for the extended period of The second week was spent in Cuetzalan, time. a small central city surrounded by indigenous villages in the northeast of the state of Puebla. The students were excited at the possibility While the poverty rate for Mexico as a whole of visiting in the interior of Mexico, or "the is 42%, the indigenous poverty rate is 90% real Mexico" as some phrased it. All of the (Hall & Patinos, 2005). The Nahua, students spoke Spanish, though ability ranged descendants of the , represent 75% of from some spoken Spanish to fluent and the approximately 45,000 Cuetzalan area literate. Some had never traveled without residents (INEGI, 2001). The local economy family and only four had ever been away from is based on coffee and two types of tourism; family for two weeks. So it was not surprising ethnic and eco. Ecotourists who come from that some students became homesick and many the U.S., Europe, Canada, and urban areas of students called home every day. This was easy Mexico visit Cuetzalan to explore the when we were in the Spanish Colonial City of extensive cave system, springs, waterfalls, and Puebla, where we stayed in the middle-class tropical flora (Butler & H inch, 1996). Others, historic district. such as our group, come to experience In Puebla, students were excited to stroll indigenous culture. In San Miguel Tzinacapan, amidst cathedrals and buildings that were the Cuetzalan village that we visited, their erected in the 1500s. But just as the mission is to preserve and provide education architecture of the Puebla historic district was about the history and culture of the Nahua and a pleasant surprise, the food was a surprise of the Náhuatl language (Baez, 2004). The a different sort. The regional cooking of schools are bilingual, therefore the Náhuatl Puebla is very different from the typical Tex- language is preserved. Juanita was the woman Mex fare the students identified as Mexican who managed the little hotel owned by an

REFLECTIONS - FALL 2007 63 Reflections on San Miguel Tzinacapan indigenous women's cooperative where our Major themes group stayed. The dining hall was the meeting Two weeks after our return, students place of the co-op board of directors. All of tumed in final refiection papers. Students were the women arrived for the meeting dressed in asked to reflect on how the trip affected them the tradition of their various groups personally and professionally. How did the trip representing several of the area villages. The impact their beliefs and stereotypes as well as co-op had tumed a profit for the first time and their education as social workers? These the board voted to use the funds to assist papers, along with their daily joumals, were battered women in the surrounding indigenous reviewed for this narrative. The journal villages. In addition to providing physical and assignment was to write about their financial assistance to battered women, the observations, what they did, and how they co-op also provides community education on reacted to these experiences. Several themes the topic via radio and through human rights emerged, beginning with changing stereotypes organizations. Afterward, Juanita, who is also about Mexico. Journals documented the the co-op director, gave a history of the process of letting go of ethnocentrism, along organization, including its Náhuatl name, with a growing appreciation of the power of Taselolzin, meaning "from the earth." Juanita geopolitical, historical, and economic forces as provided a lecture-discussion with the students one explanation of the difference between the and noted that Spanish is the second language U.S. and Mexico. Students wrote about their of most of the people in the area. Most of the growing awareness of the inequality among women over forty do not speak Spanish , European descendants, and because they were never sent to school. Girls (a mixture of Spanish and Indian) are now sent to school, so the younger within Mexico. The students leamed that most generation is more educated. However, of them would be considered ethnically traditional dress and customs continue to if they lived in Mexico. Their ties to dictate a division of labor based on gender that that country through family immigration clearly affects immigration to the U.S. as well. It is influenced their recognition of the relationship only the young men who have left San Miguel between personal life experiences and for El Norte. As the manager of Taseloizin, personal value systems for social work practice Juanita is aware of her visibility as a role model and the development of the self. for young women who aspire to non-traditional roles. Breaking Down the Stereotypes of Juanita continued to be a most gracious Mexico hostess throughout our stay and at the end Students had preconceived ideas of what allowed the students to plan a party for our Mexico was like, often because of stories from last night. Students invited musicians from one grandparents or parents or the local media. of the interviewed families to perform. The Student joumals reflected awe at the beauty men came with their wives and other family of Mexico, a surprise to most of the students members as did our guides and their families. who were only familiar with the flat gulf plain To express his feelings to us, one of our waiters of Northeastern Mexico and South Texas. performed a very special dance, called El One student observed, "Before the trip I Negrito. The complex dance dates back to the thought that if you've seen one Mexican town, colonial period when slaves were imported you've seen them all." Another felt that, from Africa to Mexico. Our waiter performed "Mexico is not at all what we see on the 6:00 the dance, a cross culture tribute, as a gift to o'clock news where all you hear are reports us. This was the final event of the evening of kidnappings, violence, and drug cartel and our joumey; we departed the next moming activities on the border." Many expressed for the twelve-hour bus ride back to the border fear and apprehension as they prepared for where a caravan of family members greeted the trip, in part due to concems that their parents or other family members expressed the retuming students. about dangers lurking in Mexico. Many of the

64 REFLECTIONS - FALL 2007 Reflectior)s on Sar) Miguel Tzinacapan

younger students who lived with parents would included, "How used to driving we are... how not have had permission to travel without the little forty cents means to us.. .how many pairs sponsorship of the University. Fears were of shoes we have...wonder what she thinks allayed in part because in Puebla we stayed in of us wanting her to waste forty cents on a the historic district, a middle class to affluent bus ride? She thinks we are fat, rich and lazy." area so that everyone felt comfortable and Numerous students made resolutions to do safe going out in the evenings. Cuetzalan is a more walking when they retumed home. small town where everyone knows everyone Pairs of students visited with several else and thus feels safe. We stayed surrounded village families who agreed to be interviewed by the proverbial village. on various topics, such as their culture and A wonderfrjl example of village child care history and immigration to the U.S. In was witnessed by about a dozen students Cuetzalan and San Miguel, students wondered walking to tlie village church with our Nahua how people could have so little and be so guide, Miguel. A small child began choking on hospitable. Many noted the grace and humility a piece of candy and his slightly older sister ofthe Nahua people. "How gracious they are didn't know what to do; very quickly Miguel when they have so little. Here they are living picked up the boy and tumed him upside down in houses with dirt floors and wood stoves, but causing the candy to be expelled. Away they they invite us in to share." Although the poverty ran to play again. We also came across an in the mral area was clearly greater than that older man asleep on the side ofthe road, a bit in the city, the sense of community and strong hungover but in a safe place. Miguel religious faith in the indigenous village was murmured that his wife would soon be on her noted again and again in student j ou ma Is. "We way to get him. are so material; they are so spiritual." These factors, plus the lack of television, movies, Geopolitical Social and Economic department stores, and other trappings of Inequality wealth, suggested a different lifestyle to the students, not the same as the grinding poverty The contrast between the poverty of San seen in the city of Puebla where poor migrants Miguel and our lives in the U.S. was so from rural areas, who had hoped to better impressive to the students that every one of themselves, perform the lowest paying jobs. them commented on it. "We have so much The students felt that people in the village had and they have so little." Another stated, "I can dignity and wondered how that was impacted never go back to living an unconscious life of by the immigration experience where they privilege. I was bom only twenty miles on the would be called illegal aliens and mojados U.S. side ofthe border; I could just as easily (wetbacks). have been bom on the other side." Many noted that, "We are so spoiled." "Now, I really The pervasiveness of the poverty, understand why my grandparents migrated to combined with the obvious lack of opportunities the U.S." to move out of poverty, gave students an up- To the locals, San Miguel Tzinacapan is close perspective on how large social systems considered within walking distance of impact people. For example, although the Cuetzalan, but a rather long walk. So, the Mexican government provides some students were inclined to take the bus or a scholarship assistance to indigenous youth who cab. When they saw that several ofthe women finish high school, the competition for the funds who came to our motel to sel 1 their crafts would is such that only one student out of every walk the two miles barefooted, they were eighty applicants will receive one. There is no surprised. One student even gave bus fare that university or community college in Cuetz,alan. would take the woman most ofthe way home, Again, the grandparents who immigrated to which she graciously accepted and then walked the U.S. were mentioned by students as the home. Another lesson in values for the students: ones who went through the hardship so that the ride was not worth forty cents to the they could now have an opportunity to get a average village resident. Students' comments college education. Even those who had no

REFLECTIONS - FALL 2007 65 Reflections on San Miguel Tzinacapan immigration experience could relate to this. had emigrated to Texas. Her friend, though, Valley residents are aware of Texas history, found it hard to understand parents who didn't which includes a dispute as to whether the want their children to better themselves. The border with Mexico would be the Nueces River discussion drew in many others with some or the Rio Grande. If it had been the former, students decrying the acceptance of the Valley would have been in Mexico. While undocumented immigrants from Mexico, but students respected the Nahua, they didn't want most expressed an understanding ofthe larger to live that lifestyle. social forces that sent the young men in search of economic betterment. The fact that the Immigration young people left for the U.S. without Immigration was a central theme in documentation meant that they could not easily joumals. A majority of students had families retum. However, most send money home. with immigrant roots as well as life experiences As one of the few college-educated growing up in an area where they were residents in the area, our lead guide, Miguel, members of an oppressed majority population. was conversant in three languages: Náhuatl, Most grew up hearing family stories of migrant Spanish, and English. He was happy to be in farm work, discrimination, and lack of San Miguel Tzinacapan teaching school and opportunity. They could identify with the providing guide services in the summer. He immigrant experience. had visited the U.S. to attend a conference of Because of poverty and lack of bilingual educators in San Antonio, Texas. He opportunity in the rural areas, there is massive had to travel by bus for five hours to Mexico migration to the big cities, such as Puebla, and City to fill out paperwork, pay money, and wait to the maquiladora factories on the U.S- six months before he was issued a legal visa Mexican border. In fact, Reynosa, which is to visit the U.S. Typically, poor people cannot just across the border from Hidalgo County, get visas to visit the U.S. for any reason as contains numerous maquiladora factories the law requires a considerable amount of owned by U.S. companies located in Mexico money in the bank or sponsorship in the U.S. that hire Mexican workers. Even so, (such as Miguel had since he had been invited unemployment, low wages and proximity to to speak at a conference). The young men do the U.S. tempt many to hire "coyotes" not even consider applying for a visa to work (clandestine transporters of immigrants) to take legally in the U.S. because that is not seen as them to the U.S. feasible without connections, money, or the Students interviewed indigenous families patience to wait more than ten years with no who had relatives in the U.S. and found certainty of ever being selected. After listening differing views. Some families were happy for to Miguel and others, even students who did the financial support their sons sent home. That not like illegal immigration agreed that the support gave the family the opportunity to have immigration system needs reform. a little bit more so that children could go to school, houses could have electricity or indoor Critical Self Reflection plumbing, or another room might be added to The fact that the students were primarily the family home. Others missed their children, of Mexican ancestry led to much reflection worried that they would never retum, and on identity. If they were citizens of Mexico, opined that family ties were more important they would be considered Mestizo, a term not than material goods. One student observed that used in the U.S. At home, many ofthe students after visiting the village and seeing the quiet, and others often consider themselves to be spiritual life, where no one drives a car or has Mexican, but in Mexico, they were U.S. a television, it was hard to imagine these young citizens, a privileged group. Students evidenced people in the U.S. where they would take the their raised awareness by statements such as, lowest paying jobs. One student wrote about "We are a different kind of Mexican...here, how her mother had told her that she was I'm the Gringa." Several students took note homesick for Mexico and her family after she ofthe maids who cleaned our rooms and one

66 REFLECTIONS - FALL 2007 Reflections on San Miguel Tzinacapan observed, "She could have been my view ofthe social environment ofthe interior grandmother; she looks just like her and she of Mexico. worked as a maid in the U.S. so that my mother, As called upon by C.S.W.E. and others and now I, would have the life we have." (Johnson, 1996; Reichert, 1998), Another simply said, "That young woman undergraduate social work programs are cleaning my room.. .that could have been me. strengthened by the addition of an experiential If I had been bom here, and had no chance to intemational component. Far away from home, go to school, what choices would I have?" interacting in a new environment, students As one young woman eloquently put it, moved from their ethnocentric perspective and "As a Mexican-American, I can never go back began to view a different culture with more to leading a life of unconscious privilege." clarity and understanding. Citing the benefits Others said, "I see life differently now.. .1 have of international experience but the small been strengthened through this percentage of college students who study experience...my eyes had been closed and abroad, especially those who are minority or now they are open.. .we are so spoiled.. .when non-traditional students, numerous national agencies call on universities to increase I get home I won't take so much for granted. opportunities (BoUag, 2003). As universities I hope my family still knows me when I retum, increase their numbers of non-traditional because I am not the same person." More students (part time working full-time, married than half thanked me in their papers for the or parenting), fewer students are able to take opportunity to get in touch with their roots or advantage of the traditional international to see life from a different perspective. Many educational experience due to work, family, expressed an interest in visiting again with their or financial obligations. However, there is families. All but two students opined that they evidence for the effectiveness of brief study now see immigrants differently and several (Festervand & Tillery, 2001 ). That so many of stated a preference for working with this the participants of this study referred to a two- population when they retumed. Others stated week experience as life changing adds further that they now have a better understanding of substantiation. The retuming students provided Mexican immigrants back home. the strongest voice in recommending that the program make this opportunity available to all students studying social work. One year later, fifteen of the twenty-one students attended focus group discussions and reflected once again on the lasting impact ofthe experience. Students shared memories as well as current experiences of working with imm igrants from Mexico, their understanding of their clients' culture shock, their awareness of indigenous culture, and their common humanity. The consensus was that the educational impact of Discussion the trip was transformative: "1 am not the same Students who participated in the study tour person." cited the experience as having a major impact on them as student social work students, as Mexican-Americans, and as human beings. The success ofthe trip included the fact that it was planned with the input of non-traditional students unaccustomed to traveling without family, half of whom held jobs, many of whom were parents. Further, the interplay of classroom with volunteer service and the week in the indigenous culture gave students a broad

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References • Ife, J. (2001). Human Rights and Social Work: Towards Right-Based Practice. • Baez, L. (2004). Nahuas de la Sierra Norte Boston: Cambridge University Press. de Puebla. Mexico, D.F.: Comisión Nacional para Desarrollo de Los Pueblos Indigenous. • INEGI, (2001). Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática. • Bollag, B. (2003). Report urges federal effort Available at www.inego.gob.mx. Retrieved 1/ to triple number of students studying abroad. 20/07. Chronicle of Higher Education, 50 (13), A33-A34. • Johnson, H.W. (1996). Intemational activity in undergraduate social work education in the " Butler, R., & Hinch, T. (1996). Tourism and United States. International Social Work, 36 Indigenous People. : Intemational (4), 189-199. Thompson Business Press. • Reichert, E. (1998). The role of a study • Festervand, T.A., & Tillery, K.R. (2001). abroad course in undergraduate social work Short-term study abroad programs: A education. The Journal of Baccalaureate professional development tool for intemational Social Work, 4 (I),6I-7L business faculty. Journal of Education for Business, 76(4), 106-111. • Richardson, C. (1999). Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados: Class and Culture • Hall, G, & Patinos, H.A. (2005). Latin on the South Texas Border. Austin: University America's indigenous peoples. Finance and of Texas Press. Development: Latin America. 42 (4) pp. 18- 32. Rose Penzerro, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Social Work at University of Texas Pan American. Comments regarding this article can be sent to: [email protected].

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