Juarez Part II
Now that I've had a short break, and some sustenance, I think I can go on with my tale.
I want to add a little bit more before I finish out the week (we got through Wednesday in the last entry) about the people on the delegation. Just so you can all understand the level of frustration.
The American Students:
Keleen: We called her "Alpha" because she was the ringleader. 29, 2nd year law student, spent the time between undergrad and law school doing humanitarian work in Colombia. Thought that made her god's gift. Spoke Spanish and was constantly upset by the translation. She and Ana (see below) had a project idea of bringing one of the mother's cases to the Inter-American Court. Too bad she forgot to research the fact that more than a dozen have already been brought.
Ana: Argentine native, so naturally spoke prefect Spanish. Also had major complaint issues about the translation. Shared project with Keleen. Looked nice, but acted bitchy.
Katie: Spent a semester of law school abroad studying NAFTA in Mexico, so spoke Spanish and had a better grasp than most about the stuff we were learning. A little snobby, but generally okay.
Grace: Rabid feminist of unclear sexuality and over the top political correctness. Close friends with Katie. Did Peace Corps work in Morocco. Full of herself. Spoke no Spanish.
Jackie: The youngest of the law students. Spoke no Spanish, but was very open about her bodily functions.
Joyce: The oldest person on the trip (besides Macrina) at 35. Ambiguous gender appearance. Very lesbian. One of the nicest people around, but fairly worthless.
Meg: Very pretentiously dressed for where we were. Worked in West Africa before law school. Spoke no Spanish.
Dan: 30, but acted 16. Very misogynist.
Ryan: Transfered into American, so didn't know anyone else on the trip. left early (on Thursday morning) because the others were so mean to him.
Claudia: From Guadalajara, so spoke beautiful Mexican Spanish. Very nice, taught public school in CA before going to law school. She and Swati (below) had to do this huge project over the break, so they missed the last day of activities to work on it.
Swati: Indian, very sweet, worked on project with Claudia.
Nicole: Only third-year of the law students, acted as liason between them and the other people, tried very hard to problem solve and make things acceptable to everyone, making her by far the most mature person on the delegation.
Justin (from Toledo): Traveled around Africa, so full of himself it was disgusting. Very exploitative of indigenous culture (ex: wanted his picture taken in front of an indigenous begger). Claimed not to be sexist or racist because he's clearly "above" all of that. UGH UGH UGH. very condescending. in case you couldn't tell, i pretty much hated this guy.
Abby: 30 year old intern for MSN, her first time translating or leading a delegation. A nice, well-intentioned person, but a slight temper that just made all the problems worse.
Macrina: Works for MSN, Mexican citizen, one of the most amazing women I've ever met. We bonded with her more this trip than before because we had private interview time with her, and we also heard her story. When she was 18, she was arrested in Mexico City for protesting the anti-democratic PRI. She was charged with Conspiracy Against the State and sentenced to 6 years in prison, only after she was tortured for 3 weeks. Although her co-conspirators were pardoned eventually, her term was so short that she never was, so she still has a criminal record in Mexico (preventing her from getting US citizenship). In jail, she met Alma and the other Chihuahua activists I'm talking about. They all got their BAs in jail. When she finally got out, she moved to the border and began activist work there. She finally got a visa to cross into the US when she got her job with MSN. I can't believe after all she's been through that she still dedicates her life to activism in Mexico. She's really an amazing person, and it disgusted me how the American students treated her.
Anyway, on Thursday, Em and I slept on the bus while everyone else hiked to the Cuernas de la Luna to see the cross where Neyra's body was found (we had erected the cross last year, so we sat that part out). Then, in the most fascinating and intense part of the trip, we went in the afternoon to visit David Meza in jail. He talked openly about his experiences, his fear for his mother's and brother's lives, and his hope that the new evidence and international pressure will clear him. We took a tour of the prison, and we got to see in the classroom section a group of men playing guitar and singing together. Then, we got to see David's music group sing. He was taught by a man, Sergio Andrale, who used to be one of the most famous singers in Mexico, along with his wife. But he would take young girls in to "train them to become singer/actresses" and, well, rape them. So now he is in prison. Hearing him, and this group of men, who played some real instruments and some instruments made of garbage, make this incredibly beautiful music, was really powerful. The song was beautiful and haunting, talking about living in the shadow of God. That was the one part of the trip we couldn't keep a record (a tape or video recording, even camara pictures or notes) of. And the one part that would have been the most amazing to be able to share with the world. I'm really not sure I can explain how much these men's courage and ability to make something beautiful out of their own suffering affected me (and all of us on the delegation).
We drove back to Juarez immediately from the prison, and on the ride we interviewed Macrina for our paper. We met with Maria Lopez Urbina, the federally appointed special prosecutor who recently called out 100 government funcionaries as negligent. She threw papers at us and gave no solid answers. Surprise, surprise.We got back to our families very late, after they had gone to bed. I later found out that 4 of the American students were staying at a single mother's house, who worked in the maquilas at night. They threw a party for themselves in her house both that night and Thursday night, and Dan staggered home drunk to the place where he was staying at 3am both nights, banging on the door to be let in and waking up his whole family. Talk about disrespect. I lost all respect for them when I found that out.
Thursday morning, we met with the Commission to Prevent and Eradicate Violence Against Women in Ciudad Juarez. They were unhelpful, and less organized than last year. Then we went to Casa Amiga, the rape crisis center, and then CETLAC, a labor unionizing group for maquila workers. There was an optional meeting with Veronica Leva, a female organizer for CETLAC, that night, but only Em, Scout, and I went. The others were partying or tired. It turned out to be wonderful, because we had a great interview with Vero and Macrina (which I'm in the process of transcribing) for our paper. We got back home again late, which was the only sad part. Because that meant we only spent a few minutes each morning with our family, including our 6 year old little sister Monica, who may have been the cutest thing ever. And we never ate a dinner our mom cooked, in spite of the fact that it was all good.
Friday, we had a meeting with Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa, the mother's group in Juarez. It was my turn to translate (we had adopted a rotating translation system), and I was nervous, but it went fine. I'm actually pretty good at it, since I'd been translating all week for our personal interviews. No one's going to remember everything out of a long rant, but I think I did a pretty good job. Then we met with one of the mothers, Julia, to hear her story. Then a brief shopping expedition (which I did not take part in, being exhausted and broke), and then we crossed the border. Which was a mess.
Macrina's paperwork was slightly unconventional, she has an uncommon type of work visa. So she had to wait and deal with the immigration people for awhile, and a couple of the law students wanted to stay. We had dinner reservations at 7, so everyone else left, and it turned into a big mess of a few of us trying to hold our tables at the Olive Garden hoping they'd let Macrina go, which they finally did after she paid a $250 fine/bribe. Just another thing the American kids blamed her for screwing up. Em and I got served alcohol (a big deal, since I am repeatedly told I look about 16 or 17), and we braved the obnoxiousness of Keleen, Jackie, and Dan for one last dinner. We got back to the hotel, got some work done, and finally got a decent night's sleep. In the morning, Dan lost his sleeping bag. And blamed it on Abby and Macrina. One last big splash of drama, which caused us to miss saying goodbye to Macrina. I was a little upset about that, but miraculously, Abby was on my flight, so we called Macrina and said goodbye to her. She was so supportive and I felt so bad about everything that had happened, I need to send her a bigtime present. Abby and I talked the whole flight, debriefing on the delegation.
So overall, in spite of the law students, we got some good work done. We solidified our relationship with Macrina, and I at least developed a good relationship with Abby (both important, since we work with MSN a lot). To further explain our project, Emily and I are planning to write an academic paper on the mothers' activism. Because all the information out there on this situation is about just the situation, or the "social fabric" which translates into flaws in Mexican culture. Which is a little ridiculous. We're focusing on what the mothers' groups are doing, what their goals are, how effective their tactics are, and what institutional and international structures have hindered or helped their successes. We got a lot of great information from our interviews, and the support of Lucha and Alma (the heads of Justicia) and Macrina so we can send them more questions. We still will probably need to go back down in the summer and interview some actual mothers in different groups, but for now, we have a great start. If only I weren't so territorial about my work. But really, I'm the only Spanish-speaker, I'm the one transcribing and translating and communicating. Emily and I are putting in the vast, vast majority of the work. I just hope we don't wind up having to share the credit with other people who aren't putting in nearly as much time.
Oops. Sorry to end this long description of a powerful and intense time with more selfishness. i know I complained a lot throughout, but really it was once again an amazing experience, and I'm really excited about getting this paper written now. Thank you all for reading all of this :)
Much love to anyone who finished. And even more to anyone who comments. I need feedback on how irrational I'm being.
I want to add a little bit more before I finish out the week (we got through Wednesday in the last entry) about the people on the delegation. Just so you can all understand the level of frustration.
The American Students:
Keleen: We called her "Alpha" because she was the ringleader. 29, 2nd year law student, spent the time between undergrad and law school doing humanitarian work in Colombia. Thought that made her god's gift. Spoke Spanish and was constantly upset by the translation. She and Ana (see below) had a project idea of bringing one of the mother's cases to the Inter-American Court. Too bad she forgot to research the fact that more than a dozen have already been brought.
Ana: Argentine native, so naturally spoke prefect Spanish. Also had major complaint issues about the translation. Shared project with Keleen. Looked nice, but acted bitchy.
Katie: Spent a semester of law school abroad studying NAFTA in Mexico, so spoke Spanish and had a better grasp than most about the stuff we were learning. A little snobby, but generally okay.
Grace: Rabid feminist of unclear sexuality and over the top political correctness. Close friends with Katie. Did Peace Corps work in Morocco. Full of herself. Spoke no Spanish.
Jackie: The youngest of the law students. Spoke no Spanish, but was very open about her bodily functions.
Joyce: The oldest person on the trip (besides Macrina) at 35. Ambiguous gender appearance. Very lesbian. One of the nicest people around, but fairly worthless.
Meg: Very pretentiously dressed for where we were. Worked in West Africa before law school. Spoke no Spanish.
Dan: 30, but acted 16. Very misogynist.
Ryan: Transfered into American, so didn't know anyone else on the trip. left early (on Thursday morning) because the others were so mean to him.
Claudia: From Guadalajara, so spoke beautiful Mexican Spanish. Very nice, taught public school in CA before going to law school. She and Swati (below) had to do this huge project over the break, so they missed the last day of activities to work on it.
Swati: Indian, very sweet, worked on project with Claudia.
Nicole: Only third-year of the law students, acted as liason between them and the other people, tried very hard to problem solve and make things acceptable to everyone, making her by far the most mature person on the delegation.
Justin (from Toledo): Traveled around Africa, so full of himself it was disgusting. Very exploitative of indigenous culture (ex: wanted his picture taken in front of an indigenous begger). Claimed not to be sexist or racist because he's clearly "above" all of that. UGH UGH UGH. very condescending. in case you couldn't tell, i pretty much hated this guy.
Abby: 30 year old intern for MSN, her first time translating or leading a delegation. A nice, well-intentioned person, but a slight temper that just made all the problems worse.
Macrina: Works for MSN, Mexican citizen, one of the most amazing women I've ever met. We bonded with her more this trip than before because we had private interview time with her, and we also heard her story. When she was 18, she was arrested in Mexico City for protesting the anti-democratic PRI. She was charged with Conspiracy Against the State and sentenced to 6 years in prison, only after she was tortured for 3 weeks. Although her co-conspirators were pardoned eventually, her term was so short that she never was, so she still has a criminal record in Mexico (preventing her from getting US citizenship). In jail, she met Alma and the other Chihuahua activists I'm talking about. They all got their BAs in jail. When she finally got out, she moved to the border and began activist work there. She finally got a visa to cross into the US when she got her job with MSN. I can't believe after all she's been through that she still dedicates her life to activism in Mexico. She's really an amazing person, and it disgusted me how the American students treated her.
Anyway, on Thursday, Em and I slept on the bus while everyone else hiked to the Cuernas de la Luna to see the cross where Neyra's body was found (we had erected the cross last year, so we sat that part out). Then, in the most fascinating and intense part of the trip, we went in the afternoon to visit David Meza in jail. He talked openly about his experiences, his fear for his mother's and brother's lives, and his hope that the new evidence and international pressure will clear him. We took a tour of the prison, and we got to see in the classroom section a group of men playing guitar and singing together. Then, we got to see David's music group sing. He was taught by a man, Sergio Andrale, who used to be one of the most famous singers in Mexico, along with his wife. But he would take young girls in to "train them to become singer/actresses" and, well, rape them. So now he is in prison. Hearing him, and this group of men, who played some real instruments and some instruments made of garbage, make this incredibly beautiful music, was really powerful. The song was beautiful and haunting, talking about living in the shadow of God. That was the one part of the trip we couldn't keep a record (a tape or video recording, even camara pictures or notes) of. And the one part that would have been the most amazing to be able to share with the world. I'm really not sure I can explain how much these men's courage and ability to make something beautiful out of their own suffering affected me (and all of us on the delegation).
We drove back to Juarez immediately from the prison, and on the ride we interviewed Macrina for our paper. We met with Maria Lopez Urbina, the federally appointed special prosecutor who recently called out 100 government funcionaries as negligent. She threw papers at us and gave no solid answers. Surprise, surprise.We got back to our families very late, after they had gone to bed. I later found out that 4 of the American students were staying at a single mother's house, who worked in the maquilas at night. They threw a party for themselves in her house both that night and Thursday night, and Dan staggered home drunk to the place where he was staying at 3am both nights, banging on the door to be let in and waking up his whole family. Talk about disrespect. I lost all respect for them when I found that out.
Thursday morning, we met with the Commission to Prevent and Eradicate Violence Against Women in Ciudad Juarez. They were unhelpful, and less organized than last year. Then we went to Casa Amiga, the rape crisis center, and then CETLAC, a labor unionizing group for maquila workers. There was an optional meeting with Veronica Leva, a female organizer for CETLAC, that night, but only Em, Scout, and I went. The others were partying or tired. It turned out to be wonderful, because we had a great interview with Vero and Macrina (which I'm in the process of transcribing) for our paper. We got back home again late, which was the only sad part. Because that meant we only spent a few minutes each morning with our family, including our 6 year old little sister Monica, who may have been the cutest thing ever. And we never ate a dinner our mom cooked, in spite of the fact that it was all good.
Friday, we had a meeting with Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa, the mother's group in Juarez. It was my turn to translate (we had adopted a rotating translation system), and I was nervous, but it went fine. I'm actually pretty good at it, since I'd been translating all week for our personal interviews. No one's going to remember everything out of a long rant, but I think I did a pretty good job. Then we met with one of the mothers, Julia, to hear her story. Then a brief shopping expedition (which I did not take part in, being exhausted and broke), and then we crossed the border. Which was a mess.
Macrina's paperwork was slightly unconventional, she has an uncommon type of work visa. So she had to wait and deal with the immigration people for awhile, and a couple of the law students wanted to stay. We had dinner reservations at 7, so everyone else left, and it turned into a big mess of a few of us trying to hold our tables at the Olive Garden hoping they'd let Macrina go, which they finally did after she paid a $250 fine/bribe. Just another thing the American kids blamed her for screwing up. Em and I got served alcohol (a big deal, since I am repeatedly told I look about 16 or 17), and we braved the obnoxiousness of Keleen, Jackie, and Dan for one last dinner. We got back to the hotel, got some work done, and finally got a decent night's sleep. In the morning, Dan lost his sleeping bag. And blamed it on Abby and Macrina. One last big splash of drama, which caused us to miss saying goodbye to Macrina. I was a little upset about that, but miraculously, Abby was on my flight, so we called Macrina and said goodbye to her. She was so supportive and I felt so bad about everything that had happened, I need to send her a bigtime present. Abby and I talked the whole flight, debriefing on the delegation.
So overall, in spite of the law students, we got some good work done. We solidified our relationship with Macrina, and I at least developed a good relationship with Abby (both important, since we work with MSN a lot). To further explain our project, Emily and I are planning to write an academic paper on the mothers' activism. Because all the information out there on this situation is about just the situation, or the "social fabric" which translates into flaws in Mexican culture. Which is a little ridiculous. We're focusing on what the mothers' groups are doing, what their goals are, how effective their tactics are, and what institutional and international structures have hindered or helped their successes. We got a lot of great information from our interviews, and the support of Lucha and Alma (the heads of Justicia) and Macrina so we can send them more questions. We still will probably need to go back down in the summer and interview some actual mothers in different groups, but for now, we have a great start. If only I weren't so territorial about my work. But really, I'm the only Spanish-speaker, I'm the one transcribing and translating and communicating. Emily and I are putting in the vast, vast majority of the work. I just hope we don't wind up having to share the credit with other people who aren't putting in nearly as much time.
Oops. Sorry to end this long description of a powerful and intense time with more selfishness. i know I complained a lot throughout, but really it was once again an amazing experience, and I'm really excited about getting this paper written now. Thank you all for reading all of this :)
Much love to anyone who finished. And even more to anyone who comments. I need feedback on how irrational I'm being.