Bus Travel to Mexico from Dallas on May 1

[Jzmackenzie]

Cost - $112, Problems - none as we even got the green light, Stops - only for food along the way, Treatment of me - totally respectful, My Impression of the trip -

Piercing the Veil of Social Class, By Dr. Jacqueline Zaleski Mackenzie

As a social scientist, I delight in studying the contrast between people of different cultures. All the while, I find the difference within a culture to be nothing short of mesmerizing. As a scholar, I record what I see and what I am told by those I am observing. Although my goal is clear understanding that end is often evasive. Human behavior is frequently mystifying.

The search for truth about how to education Latinos has taken me to a wide variety of physical locations and social class levels. Being able to observe extensive social situations within an even wider variety of communal residences requires the exterior of a chameleon. I can dress for different roles, which allows me to ?fit in? visually with my surroundings; this is a significant advantage for a cultural detective.

In the process of observing others, I have discovered that my greatest personal and career joy comes from being a member of a native village in Central Mexico. It is in this place where I observe children who possess the secrets I seek and accept me for who I am and not what I am. Children are drawn to how an adult responds to them. They do not react to the titles awarded by academic, career, or social entities. Each time an adult meets them the children are evaluating that person based on their behavior at that time and/or referencing the last time the youth interacted with the same adult.

To enable the lifestyle that is required by my search for academic truths, as I write this, I am on a public bus traveling back to my home in Central Mexico. Today I celebrate my position in life alone; it is my traditional Mother?s Day. I was born in the USA. And therefore, Sunday May 8, 2011, is Mother?s Day for my cultural view. However, for all of my fellow travelers it is two days before Mother?s Day. In Mexico, Mother?s Day is always celebrated on the 10th of May, not the 2nd Sunday in May. Clearly, the fact that we are traveling in Omnibus #6301 means I will celebrate this national holiday alone today, but the families of these Spanish speakers will celebrate with their mothers and many other relatives. Mother?s Day in Mexico is revered holiday.


This bus left the City of Dallas last night with us who are economic travelers. It will take at least 24 hours to reach my destination, Irapuato, which is still another hour to my home by car. Some journeyers will go further than I will go before exiting the bus. The investment in time is the cost of not having a higher social status and therefore, access to more wealth that would make traveling by airplane possible. Although in both Mexico City and Dallas there exist two grand cities of opportunity, the path to a position of wealth and power in each of the cities is made of the stepping-stones of political connections and social class status. I have the title of doctor and the respect that ranking affords in both countries and yet had I been born into the right social circle in either country I would also have a lucrative income. Instead, the work I do is of the heart, and financial security does not exist at this time.


The joy I have discovered lies in academic satisfaction. I know that I seek, and I have found answers to questions that affect the USA on a grand scale. I know that the information I possess could reverse problems that exist for the majority of educators of Spanish speakers. Nevertheless, without the help of people with political or social influence my information will fall on deaf ears. There are so many dishonest avenues of accumulating wealth that it is difficult not to get ?filtered out? when influential people are sorting through the ?noise? that is the world in which they live. The meek with valuable information often are lost in the rumble of assertive scam artists.


For 12 years, I lived on the Arizona/Sonora border. The social class there existed to a lesser degree than in either Central Mexico or Dallas. I attained the position of a community leader. Now I walk ?between the worlds? in both Central Mexico and Dallas. In my home community, I live among the economically marginalized and socially distained people. The families I visit in Dallas have an abundance of material wealth and the most revered of Southern heritage social positions. What I have discovered is that a pureness that is humankind exists at its finest in both populaces. What I have observed, as the glue in common, is a strong religious belief system.


The way of the celebration of a Divine entity varies a great deal in Mexico. Among the upper class, there are often home chapels. Although these places are typically small, the chapel may be covered in gold leaf and exquisite paintings and/or furnishings. There may be daily changing out of the flowers on display. Additionally, typically room enough for the family and friends exist. For those who live in native villages, ?campos,? the community chapel is also very small, intended to hold only a few members of the community; most people stand outside in the weather perhaps on a patio or else on the dirt. In both cases, the priest will travel to conduct specific worship services and the rest of the time lay people will officiate over the activities. The small community chapel reflects an expression of material commitment that appears to be impossible for such a poor community. Clearly, both ends of the social spectrum view the investment in their expression of faith to be of enormous value.


My own faith is the core of who I am. Each day I walk the path of a humble being in awe of the miracles that occur around me and to me. I awaken to the prospect that Divine intervention will make my work cause a change. In contrast, I am like the humble subsistence farmers who ask too much of the dry rocky soil around my home. If I am not helped to share my mission with my birth country or to help my neighbors with the financial benefits of the fruits of my labor, then I must accept that my fate was to experience the greatest of joys, my academic endeavors, and not find an economic gain from it because I was not born into the right social class. The outcome is not in my hands, but instead in those who help me - Divine forces.