Hi Shari!
First of all, how is your son doing? Mine is sitting in the livingroom watching tv right now. (Thank God he is at home.)
I had a friend once. Her name is Martha.(she is now a JW thanks to me) She is from Quatamala(sp) She had to come here in order to send money home to feed her children. Her husband passed away and there were no jobs for her where she lived.
Yes, Guatemala is OUR Mexico. Things are really hard over there. It is common for people from here too to go to the US and send money home. It is a major part of the economy in many countries. I think almost any parent would do what they had to do to feed their children.
As for Americans being spoiled; I guess that is one way of stating it. Some are, you can see it by the way they freak out if they don't get their way down here. The kids (some, enough to merit a generalization) on Spring Break are a major source of embarassment for their parents as well as for us.
When I lived in Japan what I saw made me look at Japan as a sort of island Disneyland. The kids and most adults just could not conceive of the realities of life outside of Japan. They had around the clock care. The realities of the world outside just didn't penetrate the wall between them and the rest of the world.
The US and Canada are similar in that, if someone has no ties to the outside world, the realities of that world are far off and unreal. I know, I've lived there. People are nice, well meaning people. They are just naive. I have actually heard people say, "Tijuana is not the REAL MEXICO". Fact is, it IS the "real Mexico". Its just not Puerto Vallarta, Cancun or Acapulco.
It is pretty easy to talk about what people "should" do to take care of their problems. It is quite another to actually be involved in it day in and day out.
Only by experiencing a culture and participating in it can you really comprehend to any degree what might be the route to any solution.
Mole Poblano. Hmmm. Well, it is not my specialty. But, I will ask around. Our mole is probably a little different than what you have in mind. Oaxaca (state) is famous for it's mole. Chiapas (my home state) has its own ideas. I'll try to find something acceptable. You do know that, at least here, a lot of chocolate is used in the mix?
I'll try to come up with something.
Nice talking to you again.
Marcos
Oh, yeah, Lilacs, Xander and all, Merry Christmas!
Island Woman, thanks for your post. Your mom sounds great and so typical!
Edited by - marcos on 24 December 2002 0:42:45