people

one of my favorite things to do here is speak to people about little things in their every lives. so far, there are 3 people i speak to quite a bit, and with who i feel comfortable: Flor, the woman who owns the juice ba; our landlord, Pedro; and Halle's mom, whose name is also Flor. i spoke to her quite a bit, but not as much as the other 2.

Flor, the juice lady, and i talk about different aspects of local women's lives, which i am interested in. i asked her where women give birth, whether in hospitals or at home, how many children they have, how long they nurse them, stuff like that. she told me that nowadays, most women give birth at the local hospital, and very few do so at home. she said there are some few midwives around, but it sounds like not many. i want to ask her how much intervention there is duting birth at the hospital; i think not much, given the small size of the hospital, and the fact that it is the only one in ixtlan, but i want to check with her. she told me also that our generation of women (she is about my age) has 2, maximum 3 kids. the previous generation used to have a lot more, 8 being common, but now women are chosing to have less. many of them work outside the house, so maybe that's one reason. another reason, my friend Laura said, is quality of life. Flor told me that after 2 or 3 kids lots of women have tubal ligation, or start taking the pill, which is apparently not too expensive, in order not to get pregnant again. as for breastfeeding, she said that 3 years is common, which made me feel comfortable about aiyana still nursing.

with Pablo, i talk mostly about local people, their origins, and the ways they organize themselves. he told me that most people in ixtlan are zapotec, and so are most people in oaxacaa, but apparently zapotec is a broad category, with several languages. he also told me of other people who live in this region, who are not zapotec. some of them, you can only reach by foot, after a hike of 10hrs or more. this sounds really interesting, and makes me want to come back to explore the region further. pablo also tells me about different fiestas, what they mean, and what's expected of people. he told me, for instance, that he had to pay 4000pesos for the big fiesta celebrating ixtlan, which just took place a few days ago. this fiesta occurs yearly, and lasts 4 days. everyone is expected to contribute, although i'm sure that not many people can afford 4000 pesos, and i'm not sure how it's decided who contributes what. i've learned from pablo and some books i read, that fiestas constitute the main entertainment and relaxation for people here. but they also often put significant financial stress on families. there are so many different fiestas, private (weddings, birthdays, funerals, etc.) and public (celebrations for different saints, for the town, for the day of the dead, etc.), and people are expected to conform to certain standards, in view of maintaining or increasing their social status; so people will often go into debt and spend significant time working to recover from the expense of a fiesta.

the other Flor, Halle's mom, i don't see as much. but one night i had a really nice experience at her house. it was during ixtlan fiesta, and she asked us to come by. when we got there, a long table was set up outside. she asked us to sit and brought us dinner. several other people walked in and she also did the same with them. the people talked to her a little, ate, said goodbye and left. it turns out that she was having a sort of "open house" that day, and whoever wanted could come in and have some of her delicious food.i didn't leave after i ate, since sena and aiyana were playing with Halle, having a great time. Flor invited me to come in her house, for coffee. it was i and 7 other women, all related to Flor, sitting at the kitchen table, having coffee and sweet rolls. Flor's mother, grandmother, sisters, and aunts were there. i didn't understand everything that was being said, but i enjoyed the atmosphere a lot. these women know how to laugh! they were having so much fun, i really wished i could say something funny and join in. i felt incredibly relaxed around them, and i laughed even though i didn't understand many of the words. it was hard not to laugh when they were laughing. this was definitely one of the nicest experiences i had here. it reminded me of my women's circle back home, which i miss and can't wait to be a part of again.