New Glasses

Saying goodbye for me has always been hard, and this week was no exception to that. As a group we have been together for a little over four months. We all came here pretty much alone, maybe only knowing a few things about the people we would be spending the next semester with but now we are leaving with many bonds that will last for a lifetime. Our group has shared so much together from our cry fest in Amatlan during one of the first few weeks to our Latin dance class where we often times shared humor. When you go through an experience like we did and all we have for support is one another we become more than friends - in my opinion we become a family. This semester I was given a wonderful family to share this experience with.

This past week we all were really able to see how beneficial and just how much we got out of this whole experience living in Mexico for a semester and being in this program.  We had an assignment where we were to choose any topic that we learned about in our time here that touched us and make some sort of creative presentation to bring back to our communities back home. People wrote poems and sermons, one student painted a mural, I made a video and there was so much diversity to not only the way in which people where presenting these topics but also in the topics that people choose. For example, I chose to do my presentation on feminicidios because during my time here learning about that really moved me emotionally, while another student did a presentation on breaking down negative stereotypes of Mexico. Listening to all of these presentations put into perspective just how much we learned during our time here.

On Friday we went to our professor’s house for our last activities with one another as a group. We talked and discussed a lot about what we want to bring back with us from this experience and we made personal pledges. We also talked a lot about reverse culture shock. I never thought in a million years that I would be scared to go back home, but I have grown so much and I am such a new person from this experience that now I question whether or not I will be able to fit back into the life that I left to come to Mexico. What is one to do with so much new knowledge of the world that they live in? I think of it like this… you know how when you get new glasses or a new prescription and the first time you put the glasses on things are a little blurry before everything becomes clearer? That’s exactly how I feel about my experience in Mexico. I was given new lenses to look at my world through, going home is going to be blurry for me at first but I have confidence that everything will become much more clear. 

Graduation!

A colorful butterfly with each piece each one of us and our commitments to our community

Listening to each other's pledges to make a difference

Our group with our beatiful butterfly!

-- Zora Rabb

Learning and Living with Mexican Social Workers

A couple of weeks ago we had a great time in Mexico City learning about the Social Work program at UNAM .  The following week we got to host and room with 10 UNAM students here at our home in Cuernavaca.  I think we were all a little nervous about how this would go being that we were responsible for showing students who had lived in Mexico their whole lives around a city that we had been living in for less than three months, not to mention the communication barrier.

It didn’t take long to figure out that there was no need to worry. Most of them had never been to Cuernavaca and they seemed excited to see the downtown area which we have gotten to know pretty well. We also had a lot of fun and some pretty big laughs while trying to communicate with each other. What a perfect way to practice our Spanish and for them English.

Our group talking over tacos.

It turns out that Trabajo Social estudiantes (Social Work students) in Mexico have a lot in common with and a lot of the same interests as Social Work Students from the United States.  One of the main concerns discussed by the Augsburg CGE Social Work students here this semester is immigration.  Undocumented people in the United States are often treated badly by law enforcement officials (among other people) and have a difficult time providing themselves and/or families with basic needs.  One of the most important jobs of a Social Worker is seeing to it that people are not robbed of their basic human rights.  A lot of us were surprised to learn (I think because so many undocumented workers in the states are actually from Mexico) that immigration is a big concern for Social Workers here in Mexico as well.  A large number of undocumented workers from Central America have to travel through Mexico in order to get to the United States.  Often times those immigrants suffer terrible treatment by authorities that are corrupt.  We were able to discuss out mutual recognition for changes in policy and practice when it comes to undocumented immigrants.

Presentation by UNAM student Natali about migration through Mexico and the abuses that migrants suffer at the hands of authorities and organized crime. 

Natali's sketch of train routes that migrants take through Mexico.

There were also some activities planned for us during the week that helped us all get to understand certain social issues from a more personal perspective.  We had a panel of speakers who talked to us about their experiences going through life as a member of the GLBT community.  It was great to have the opportunity to be interactive with the people on the panel.  We learned a lot from them but also heard the personal experiences of some of the students which made for a great way to get a better perspective on the wide diversity of people and experiences within the GLBT community.   I think one of the most important things we recognized during our talk was that you can’t put people “in a box” when it comes to sexuality.  There is such a wide variety of people in the world that it’s impossible to fit everyone into a specific category and we need to stop labeling people or expecting people to label themselves. With sexuality being a difficult topic for a lot of people we were very lucky to hear such personal accounts of other people’s experiences with it.

Panel on sexual diversity

-- Britta Wee

Immigration from Mexico to USA

By Lindsay Hale

Bemidji State University

This week here in Cuernavaca, we had the great opportunity to listen to a variety of speakers, one of them including Giselle Stern-Hernandez [1] who spoke of her struggle as a deportee’s wife. Her father is an Eastern European descendant living in New York and her Mother is a middle-class Mexican woman. Both parents had an income which left them cozy but not wealthy.In 1966 it was a snap to renew her mother’s visa and in 1990, she applied for U.S citizenship.Giselle had always considered herself an American but that image would slightly change when she met Roberto, an undocumented worker from Mexico.

As the relationship progressed and eventually resulted in marriage, Roberto and Giselle would face numerous struggles with immigration, deportation, and acceptance. Roberto and Giselle were married right before the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services) 245 deadline was placed. Filing these papers did not come at an easy task.

United States Embassy in Mexico

In our visit to the United States Embassy in Mexico City, prices of visas and the time and effort that it takes never came up in any of the conversations we had with the representatives. To me it was perceived as an unanswerable question and was avoided.

Finally after struggle to get through all this they see an INS officer. Giselle handed him every piece of information she had: a marriage certificate, her passport, etc. and they were told that Roberto would not be able to enter the United States for 20 years. “Don’t these documents mean anything?” Giselle watched as her husband was led away in hand cuffs. She was sent home to pack a bag for Roberto, “what do you pack for your husband who is going to be deported, something funny that will make them laugh, or something serious to tell him that you love him?”

“The United States immigration does not work in the complicated areas.” What I took away from our visit to the U.S Embassy regarding immigration was that obtaining a visa was easy and anyone who applies and has the correct paperwork is able to receive a visa. However Giselle and Roberto (like many others) did not experience that in motion. So in reality, much of the information obtained in our visit to Mexico City is not reiterated from life experiences here.

Giselle with CGE-Mexico Director Anita right after monologue

Throughout the monologue that Giselle shared with our group, she generously shared her passion, grief, and anger that have proved to be challenging to her marriage and to fellow Latinos. She revealed points of racism and classism, power and positionality. It was shocking to be pulled in a story such as Giselle’s and be blindsided by reality. This does happen. Applying for a visa is very difficult and time consuming, unlike what the U.S Embassy described to us.

As an American, I feel guilty and angry for the way our government is handling their affairs. So I will leave with a final quote in the hopes that you will reflect on the reality of struggles that many immigrants face. “Who will be next; who in your life will be next; who in this room will be the next deportee’s wife?”

ALSO visit Giselle´s website and BLOG

www.gsternhernandez.com (find out MORE about her monologue!)

http://thedeporteeswife.wordpress.com/

1] Giselle Stern-Hernandez, A Mexican-North American writer and performer of the monologue “The Deportee’s Wife;” www.gsternhernandez.com. Performance in Cuernavaca, Mexico on March 11, 2010.