Reflection

My job requires me to work closely with Asians and Europeans so I was looking forward to this class.  I was hoping to be exposed to the history and a bunch of culture of a group of people that I knew very little about.  I was exposed to the culture and the historical events I learned about were new to me. The method in which this was acquired was different than what I was used to.  I am leaving the class with  ideas of where to look for events and places to visit that will allow me continue to learn more about this topic.

Our class is diverse; we have a wide range of ages and  ethnicities.  This brought some very good discussions to the classroom.  I believe that having several different cultures in one class allowed us to explore the differences a little more than if we had an all American class.  The night of Oct 9th is an example; Aram asked a valid question on self deporting.  She explained her personal experience with this process.  However; this idea created a reaction much different than hers with others in the class.  One person left the room it upset her so.   I wondered during the discussion if the class had asked to take sides on self deporting to save themselves vs being deported how the class would have divided up? 

The class structure content wise was divided into historical sessions and cultural sessions.  At times the two could become intertwined as history is often created by a cultural event.  Our trip to the market and the upcoming class where we will present our country project are two examples of where history and culture will mingle.

The Mayan's are a huge part of Hispanic history.  Where would a class be without touching on the Mayan calendar?  We were lucky to have an expert teleport in and give us the big picture.  John Pugno joined us on our second night of class to share with us what he has learned about the Mayan calendar.  It was very interesting.  Beyond the fact that the world is  not going to end (I never believed it was going to) on 12/12/12 he shared with us that the Mayan calendar is actually a nine month year not twelve as we use and the calendar is not ending it is just resetting itself.   When John was done explaining the calendar he asked if anyone wanted to know their birthday signs in Mayan.  I provided my birthdate to him so he was able to give me my Aztec day information:

Day Tochtli (Rabbit) is governed by Mayahuel, Goddess of the Maguey and of Fertility, as its provider of tonalli (Shadow Soul) life energy. Tochtli is a day of self-sacrifice and service to something greater than oneself. It signifies the religious attitude which holds everything sacred and results in experiences of self-transcendence. It is a mystical day, associated by the passages of the moon. It is a good day for communing with nature and spirit, a bad day for acting against others.
http://www.azteccalendar.com/?day=24&month=7&year=1966

This was an intersting topic and think that everyone enjoyed hearing from John.

Our next classes moved onto some readings and discussion on the history of Mexico of what is happening at the boarder today.  I know I am going to get into trouble here and if you do not agree with my feelings that is OK, because these are my feelings and thoughts. 

We read several sections of Harvest of Empire.  The book gave us the history of how the land at the boarder was acquired (in many cases stolen) from the Mexican people.  It is not right and there is nothing I can do to change what happened.  I read it and felt empathy for the people who this happened to have the land taken from them.   However I also am a realist who knows that land was fought over won and lost throughout history.  It is never going to change.  There will always be a winner and a loser.  At this time the winner just happens to be the one located on the north side of the boarder.  Boarders are in place for a reason and respect must be had for these boarders.  When you cross them you need to adhere to the laws in place to cross and the laws that govern the country you are going into.    I am all for increasing the guards at the boarder.

Outside of class I was volunteering at Adams Spanish Immursion school. I enjoyed my time there seeing how the children learned Spanish.  The staff was great and I did learn a few Spanish words myself. 

I found myself noticing more articles on the topics we were discussing in class.  NAFTA is a hot topic. I found this article:
http://www.startribune.com/business/172916331.html
It discusses how the tomato industry in Mexico has grown over the last 10 years and how the US tomato growers are losing out on the revenue that is created by their crop.  NAFTA is playing a huge part in how this issue has morphed and who the winner will end up being when it is all said and done. 

We did discuss NAFTA in one of our classes.  I believe it should never have been put into place.  Big business is really the big winner, the average working American and the working Mexican are not reaping the rewards, which is how it was presented to the people.

One good thing that has come out of class is I find myself looking for dishes with a spanish/Mexian flavor.  I made the Mexican street corn  which was very good and will be put into the meal rotation at my house.  I doubt I would have looked twice at the recipe before class.

The session we had putting ourselves into someone else's shoes was a creative way to experience someone elses life without actually stepping into it.  I really am not a "feely" type of person.   The "how does that make you feel" statement takes me back to when I was in counseling for a issue I was struggling with.  I never want to go back to that dark time or to a coulselor, so everytime I hear those words it is like being sucked back into that terrible time in my life.  We were given the option to share the feelings we had on D2L,  I would prefer to keep what I wrote to myself or if I choose to share them; it will be with someone who is close to me and will understand the "how and why".    As I said it was creative, but just not a good method for me to share.

Going to the market was one of the best nights.   I had never been there before so it was new experience for me.  There were so many interesting things for me to see and I will be going back to shop there and to eat at the cantina.  I have already enlisted my sister and nieces to go with me to the cantina some Saturday in the near future.  The project of purchasing an item was neat.  However, the item I purchased from the market was pretty but so difficult to figure out its origin.  I did my research but was not able to find out its origin or confirm 100% where it came from.

To close this out, Curtis made the statement in the first class that everyone has a story.  So in an effort to explain so I am not sounding too narrow minded here is my story.   I am a white woman who grew up in a small town where the culture was Polish, German and Swedish decent.  Anything other than that was  not wanted or thought to needed.  I moved to the Twin Cities and it has opened up a whole new world and I am now exposed and experiencing a variety of cultures every day.  For the most part it does not pose any issues, however there are times when it does.  People who immigrate here today choose to keep their culture unlike the immigrants of the past.  Those people chose to adapt to what was here, keeping little or none of their culture that was part of them and where they came from.   I am respectful of who and what these new immigrants bring to this country; I do not think expecting their respect in return is too much to ask.   Keeping an open mind can open many doors and windows into the cultures that are now part of our day to day life.   I enjoyed my time in class and I learned a variety of things.  I am glad I signed up for it.