Johnny Monsarrat's Mexico Trip:
Deep Thoughts About Mexico -- Johnny Monsarrat Mexico Trip

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Traveling to Mexico gave me a reality check on the ways that humans can live, think, and interact. It broke a lot of stereotypes I'd had, and I learned a lot of cultural things that underlie Mexico's strengths and weaknesses.

I've written up the lessons I'd learned, because I'm trying to be a writer, and a writer should be a student of culture and life. Someday I may be able to give a book I'm writing some power by including such an insight. I must put a caveat here. I only went to Mexico for a couple of weeks. I could easily be wrong here. These are only my impressions, although I do think they fit. So far, I've gotten some positive feedback from Mexicans who've seen this site and have written me. I would happy to hear from you; email me at jonmon@mit.edu.

1. You may be wrong to pity the poor, since many are happy living as they live.
   a) Some are merely ignorant of modern living standards
   b) Some deliberately reject modern society.
   c) Some have social status in their village and would not give that up to become a nobody in better living conditions.
   d) 100 years ago these Indians were essentially slaves in all but name. So they may feel they're doing pretty well.

1. You may be wrong to give money to strangers. Children learn to beg instead of to work. The old woman in the market you give some extra pesos for a handbag may really be a trickster who is exploiting Guatemalans (whose handcrafts come even cheaper).

1. Modern civilization doesn't all start all at once. The poorest Indians may prefer a television to having a leak-proof roof.

1. There's a lot of racism regarding Indians and poverty.
   a) The middle class try to distance themselves from the poor. Instead of a balanced quality-of-life, they may skew towards nicer clothing and a car, leaving no money for a house.
   b) The rich distance themselves from the Indians. They go out of their way to wear European-style clothing. But the Indian background peeks through in their attitudes. For example, they may prefer natural medicine to modern medicine. Or a lack of modern dentisty may give them uneven teeth. Or they may try a little too hard with makeup and namedropping.
   c) There are few people of pure European descent in Mexico. Everyone is either a pure Indian, or mixed-race. Regardless, some people with lighter skin, call themselves "ladinos", denying their Indian heritage and pretending they're better because they're Spanish.
   d) "Indio" is a racial insult. If you have a Mayan name, people will ridicule you for it.

1. The Indians don't have a culture of hygiene. They burn their trash or leave it scattered about. They don't repair or repaint their buildings. I had the opposite impression when I visited Portugal, where people in poverty worked hard to keep their streets and buildings in shape. Tour guides told me the Indians lacked the money for home repairs, and were too exhausted from working two jobs. I got the feeling that was only half the answer, however.

1. Everyone trying to help the Indians seems to have an agenda.
   a) The Mexican government will build schools and hospitals, but only for towns which support the government.
   b) Missionaries and Catholics give aid to the Indians, but expect a religious conversion.
   c) The Zapatista revolutionaries expect the Indians to support their full list of demands. Zapatistas will often prevent the Mexican government from building schools, because "these are only half-measures and we must hold out for the full list."
   d) Coca-Cola (and other companies) will sell you cheap items with logos, or pay you to use your house as a billboard.

1. Civilizing the Indians is an extremely complex issue. To start with, perhaps the Indians should be left alone instead of "civilized" by the Mexican government. However, it's impossible to ignore that the Indians practice polygamy, religious intolerance, and gender inequality. These are bad things the Mexican government wants to change. Unfortunately, the structure of Indian society is a communal one in which religious obligations are tied very closely with family values, and the traditional Indian government of oligarchy. Mexico wants the Indians to convert to democracy, but nobody is sure how to do this without destroying the morally good or morally neutral parts of the Indian's culture.

1. Mexicans who like the USA are either:
   a) Young people who think anything from the USA is "cool",
   b) Open-minded older people who've had contact with outsiders,
   c) People making money off of North Americans.

1. The amount of cultural invasion is incredible. Despite the lack of snow in Mexico, they have "Jingle Bells" and "Frosty the Snowman". My theories:
   a) Since poverty is a problem in Mexico, everyone fixates on getting rich. Often this means emulating the USA. Unfortunately, this often means taking on the entire culture, not just the money-making attitudes.
   b) Companies like Coca-Cola are intensely energetic and penetrate to the most remote parts of Mexico. Their advertisements and campaigns carry along North American culture.
   c) Television and radio carry US culture. American movies here are in English with Spanish subtitles.
   d) Indians in poverty are just struggling to survive. Their culture isn't that important to them, relatively speaking. So if they have to move to the city and wear modern clothes to succeed, they will. Also, they are a little naive about being able to successfully pass culture down to their children.

1. Modern and ancient cultures mix in strange ways. You can sit on Santa's lap (in an event sponsored by Coco-Cola) right outside the modern Catholic church, whose decorations include ancient Mayan religious symbols. The Indians use cherry soda and bottled lemonade to add "color" of religious significance to their Mayan rituals.

1. Corruption is rife throughout all levels of society. Just to survive, individuals put up with it rather than fight it. Corruption has been slowly fading in Mexico. The average Mexican encounters corruption primarily through police bribery (to get out of traffic violations) and local government bribery (to "expedite" paperwork for some kind of permit). One of the problems is that police and government employees don't really get paid enough to survive. It is a little like tipping waitresses who don't get paid enough.

1. Chiapas has plenty of crime. (a) corruption (b) assassination (c) drug smuggling (d) people smuggling (e) arms smuggling (f) kidnapping (g) mugging tourists (h) murdering missionaries (i) fraudulent taxis (j) the Zapatista rebellion (k) stealing cars (l) worker exploitation (m) highway robbery of tour buses (n) rape (o) jailing without trial, especially those who speak out against the government. Also (p) prostitution and (q) pornography, which are not illegal in Mexico.

1. I'm told that 10% or 20% of the young people cross illegally into the USA for education or to work. If you get caught, the US deports you to Mexico, where attempting a border crossing isn't a crime, so you go free and can try again. Middle-class people with a future and family will return to Mexico after getting their head start in the USA. Villagers with nothing to return to usually just stay in the USA.

1. Mexico is hardly a homogenous country! The three areas we visited were very different culturally: Oaxaca, Merida, and Chiapas. Poverty, agriculture, Indians, civilization, are all different.

1. It's hard to be in the first generation to leave the Indian village and take on a professional career to move into the middle class. Although high schools and colleges are free in Mexico, to attend you must move out of the village, which means being able to afford an apartment, food, and textbooks. Nobody can afford this if they live by selling handcrafts. There is a support system of social security and free housing, but there are administrative problems made worse by corruption.

1. In Chiapas, it's so mountainous that flat, useable land is extremely valuable. Unfortunately, land is primarily in the hands of a few rich landowners. Some people live with their parents because they can afford a house, but they can't afford the land for a house. Farmers will grow corn anywhere they can, even on steep slopes!

1. Religion pervades all aspects of Mexican life. There are many festivals and community traditions. Many attend morning mass daily. The religious fervor surrounding the Virgin Mary (especially the local version, The Virgin of Guadelupe), makes you feel as if the Mexicans have a deep and personal relationship with her. Perversely, the native Indians have accepted a limited amount of Catholicism, but they kill missionaries (or converted Indians) from protestant faiths. The largest conflict is probably that Catholics don't allow contraception, abortion or divorce -- although all three are legal under the nonsecular Mexican government.

1. Indians who come to the city to find a job (or who are expelled for converting to protestantism) can be very naive about modern society. As a result, they are often exploited by businesses. Drug czars recruit Indians to peddle drugs. The Indians may not even understand why what they're doing is wrong. You may not notice any native Indians in Mexico's cities, but they're usually there -- it's just that they're dressed in a modern style.

1. Mexicans can be very outgoing to one another, even strangers. There's a wonderful "laid back" and relaxed feeling about much Mexican culture. However, in many places this has changed, as people trying to better themselves have taken on a North American mode of intense competition. It's hard to know whether to feel happy or sad about this transition. For example, the culture of siesta has disappeared in modern businesses.

1. Both the very old and the very young work here. Old people are very tough and keep going until soon before they die. Kids often enjoy school and hate vacation because they must work during school vacation.

1. Mexicans can get the most modern technology, but it's expensive and there's usually a delay in availability. Biologists especially feel this pressure. The Mexican government has limited availability of common biotech chemicals that may be used to process illegal drugs. This puts academics at a disadvantage to beat their colleagues to publish cutting-edge research. It's furstrating for them because outsiders assume that Mexicans are lazy or stupid, which is just not true.

1. Gringos stick out like a sore thumb here. My pale skin, brown hair, obesity, and enormous height are all unusual in Mexico. As a result, it was easy for drunks, scam artists, or aggressive merchants to target me as probably naive. We avoided Mexico City because of the tourist crime there. Sneakers and a T-shirt also make you out as a tourist. If you're tall, it's easy to hit your head on a low doorway. Ouch!

1. It's easy for tourists to accidentally offend people, especially Indians who are distrustful of outsiders. It's best to ask permission before taking someone's picture. Often they will say yes and ask for a small payment. Trying to speak a little Spanish, even just "good day", really pleases people. It's a sign of respect. Some of the ugly tourists make demands, ridicule the indigenous cultures, and complain loudly about how Mexico isn't like home. When I see such behavior, I'm embarrassed to be an American.

1. Many areas, like most of Chiapas, lack modern medical care. The most obvious signs of this are (a) cancerous-looking growths on some people and (b) amputees on crutches, many of who were diabetes who never got treatment.

1. The Zapatistas, who started an uprising against the Mexican government to support Indians' rights, are a very complex group. Everyone has differing reasons for like or hating them. Some feel that too many rich foreigners are trying to meddle. Some Indians just want a job and don't care about the Zapatista's cultural protection. Some support the Zapatistas because they hate corruption, or because they're young and get caught up in the slogans. The Zapatistas do seem to have a positive influence on Indian's rights. On the other hand, they're rebels working outside the system with guns. Zapatistas have been known to prevent the Mexican government from building schools, calling that a "half-way measure" and saying "we must hold out for full agreement." From the people I spoke with, it seems the Indians care more about jobs than culture and the Zapatistas are slowly losing influence. They exist primarily by hiding in the jungles.

1. The US-Soviet struggles in the area have had pervasive effects. For example, after Grenada, the US captured many soviet-made arms, which were given to the Contras in Honduras & Nicaragua. When the Contras signed the peace treaty, they kept their guns, selling them, and thus you can now find Indians and Zapatistas with Soviet guns in Mexico.

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