This week has been extremely busy for the two of us. Katherine and I have decided to take on another class at the Primaria in the afternoon, a group that until now has been unable to take English classes due to their conflicting afternoon schedules. We are very happy to be able to provide these classes, however, it does put a little strain on our schedules.
As far as my other classes go, we have been moving very quickly through the material. In the Primaria, the teachers have requested that Katherine and I begin working out of a book they have provided for us. This leaves a little less room for creativity on our part, but it is a great sign that the teachers will be picking up where we leave off in December. My Teen class has begun a weeklong project utilizing various sets of vocabulary from the workplace, bank terms, numbers, and store terms. Every day, the students get paid for a mock occupation that they have chosen, pay bills for a house and car, shop for groceries, and then total the differences between their income and expenses. They also choose a slip of paper out of a bag with a variable on it such as, “You do not have to pay bills today,” or “A mouse ate your groceries! Pay an extra $20 to buy more.” It has been a really great tool for learning common vocabulary that we use every day. The project has also been useful for learning key phrases that some of my young men may in fact need someday like, “Where is my paycheck?” and “You did not pay me enough.”
The other night when Katherine and I were strolling around the plaza the two of us witnessed the central role migration plays in this community. At about 8pm a large crowd gathered around two women who were leaving for the United State to be reunited with their husbands. It was an absolutely heart wrenching scene. Family members were sobbing as they watched the women get into the taxi with nothing more than a small black duffel bag. The cruel truth is that the women are undocumented and at this moment may be enduring the hardship of the migration experience. Imagine; all your hopes and dreams contained within a small black duffel bag, and a future that is uncertain as the desert they will cross to reach their husbands in the United States. My prayers go out to those women.
Another major event in the life of Ziquitaro has been the death of a town member who migrated to the Los Angeles area. He was found dead in a dump, and his body will arrive in Ziquitaro within the next week. He leaves behind his wife and children here in Ziquitaro, one of which is a student of mine and Katherine’s. We went to the wake the other night as family and friends were awaiting the arrival of the body. It was a very somber event.
I have translated my first piece of visa documentation! This was pretty exciting for me as I intend to become an immigration attorney. However, translating the letter from the United States National Visa Center was very frustrating. It was a glaring example of the problems our immigration system perpetuates. The letter was completely in very formal, very difficult to understand English, even for a native speaker! Furthermore, all correspondence with the NVC is via email, fax, or snail mail, which makes it very difficult to change your visa interview in a timely manner. Especially when the office you are in correspondence with is in Fort Worth, Texas. Another issue in this letter is the fact that you must download a file from the internet that contains pertinent information in order to prepare for you interview. Unfortunately, for the people who live in Ziquitaro, internet access is extremely limited, another way that legal immigration is made virtually impossible for Mexican communities. Hopefully someday, I can help to change all this.
In lighter and definitely fantastic news: Katherine and I have received our absentee ballots!! We were both very nervous that our attempts to participate in the upcoming election had fallen through, but finally we received our paperwork!! This was a huge sigh of relief for both of us as we are both very politically astute. Everyone here is very interested in the political process in the United States. It is common to be asked whom we are voting for here, a question that is somewhat taboo in the US. No matter what level of education, the people here are very interested in the political preference of US citizens because they understand the impact that the election will have on their own country and the people who belong to it.
Also, please continue to try and help Alejo. It would be fantastic if I could be put in touch with an immigration lawyer who can help me work through the process with Alejo. Thank you so much in advance.
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