Day 10: Unfairness

Life isn't fair. In two different ways, this affected my view of today's events. It wasn't a bad day overall. I just had my own perspective, and it's a little more serious today, so be warned :)

Two weeks ago today my uncle Eddie died. I didn't expect it, and within the chaos of preparing for this trip I had a difficult time coping with it. Now that I am here thoughts of him are always in the back of my mind, but again it's been hard to balance with the adventure before me. But with the realization that today marks two weeks since I lost him, he came back to the front of my mind. I also bought my plane tickets last night to visit my grandmother, which while I am so happy to be able to see her and help her, will also be the time when I will have to face my loss. So he has been in my heart today. In addition, the talk in our language class was about people with disabilities, and how they are treated in the culture. No one noticed my quiet demeanor because I tend to be quiet in class, but I could not stop thinking about Eddie and really didn't want to be part of the conversation. It is not fair that Eddie has been gone two weeks, and that I am still not sure how to say goodbye to him. I am hoping that somewhere on this trip I figure it out, but today I am just missing him.

The other thought on this topic has to do with the afternoon culture lesson. An art teacher took us on a tour of the city. We began at the history museum, where I got my first ever look at Precolumbian artifacts in Mexico. As an Aztec and Mayan history buff (I was in high school, little known fact), I was blown away by the sculptures in particular that were created by tribes that lived in this area. It gave me a taste of what I will see in Mexico City this weekend, and I can't wait. (No pictures, not allowed in the museum). The next stop was the Santa Rosa church, which is the most ornate church I have ever seen, with gold everywhere. Below is a view of the front of the church.




I felt extremely uncomfortable in this church, and could never imagine being spiritual here. I also was reminded of unfairness, because I had just been reminded at the museum of how fascinated I was by the civilizations that were conquered by the Spanish. The church's over-the-top design just felt like a slap in the face to everyone who was oppressed by the Catholics and/or forced to convert. It is unfair that so many fascinating groups have been lost, destroyed, or reduced to second-class citizens, while another group came, settled, and used their riches to make churches like this.

On a more positive note, the next church we went to, San Agustin, was done in a much more simple style, and even though it was the same religion, and the same size, I felt at home and at peace, and I may even go back to it. See the difference?




I have one other subject for today. I went back to the private school I visited last week, and observed a kindergarten class where a boy with autism is being included. His main teacher told me about him and his disability and told me that the goal is socialization, with academics when he is able. She impressed me, and the child clearly needed support but given the system he was in did alright. Later, a different teacher came in to teach English. After awhile she asked me what I thought and if I had any suggestions for her teaching, and I told her that I was mainly there to watch the particular child. She just looked at me sadly and said that he was very sick, and they needed to give him lots of love. I was shocked at how little she knew about his disability and how to work with him, and while this is the first time I have seen this lack of knowledge during my time here I am wondering how common views like hers are both in Mexico and in less educated countries worldwide.

I feel like I need to end tonight on a light note, so I will tell you that tomorrow they are going to try to teach me how to cook. :)