Issues in Mexico Video

I stumbled across this YouTube video which talks about some of the issues that people in Mexico struggle with. It mentions that there is a lot of issues with crime and drug trafficking. This video was posted in 2009 so conditions may have changed but from what I've seen, this video touches on some interesting topics. It's a really long video so I have not seen all of the video yet but I suggest you check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56Vlw_IunCY

Top Rated Comments:
"Que gusto me da que exista alguien que hable de la real verdad de mexico, y que tenga los suficientes pantalones para decir publicamente (con todo y nombres) todos los detalles y de donde flaque el gobierno de mexico; para los que critican este video de Denise dresser les digo: hay que ser mas realistas y menos ignorantes ¡por favor! Esto es muy real y si eres mexicano (a) y te importa tu pais sabras que esto es verdad, hay que tratar de mejorar nuestro pais como implementa sus ideas con valor" -dianis927

Which loosely translates to:
 That makes me happy that there is someone who speaks the real truth of Mexico, and have enough to say publicly pants (complete with names) all the details and where Flaque mexico government, for those who criticize this video Denise dresser tell them you have to be more realistic and less ignorant please! This is very real and if you are Mexican (a) and you care about your country you will know that this is true, try to improve our country and implement your ideas with value
Google Translate 

"Brilliant woman! Denise Dresser should run for the Mexican presidency. Only someone like her has what it takes to make a real change." -xeroxour 

Volunteering At Elliot Elementary School

I am currently working at Kohls and I had the opportunity to volunteer to help out a local school. We went to the school to help till the ground in their courtyard to plant grass. The school recently tore down an old deck that was falling apart and needed extra hands to take out the rocks so they can plant the seeds. It took a lot of hard work to accomplish this in our short time of volunteering but we pulled through.

Realization
Although this was originally for my service learning project for one of my other classes, I was able to apply it to this one as well. After we finished tilling the ground, we were a bit concerned because there was so much clay in the ground. We were overall concerned that they may need topsoil to put down first before planting the seeds. We later found out that the school could not afford it. After my volunteering experience, I decided I would explore the demographics of the school and I was shocked at what I found. The school was primarily Hispanic and a lot of the students were "At Risk" and "Economically Disadvantaged".

Click the graphs to enlarge.

I also discovered that one of my co-worker's children attends that school as well. She complained that not a lot of parents helped fund the school's events or were involved in any way. She was really disappointed in the turnout of their kindergarten's holiday party because they were not able to do as much.

Gender Roles and Social Interactions
While we were digging I also got to witness some of her values on social roles and gender roles come out. She was working on digging out one of the large cement poles from the ground and made comments to this taller, more muscular African American about how he should be doing the hard work and not her. He responded that he just wanted to see if she could do it. Then she mentioned how the men in the family are the ones who do the hard labor and women are supposed to take care of the kids, not the other way around. They went back and forth for a while on this subject but it does prove the belief system that I researched earlier to be true.

For more information on the demographics, visit this website:
Texas Tribune- Elliott Elementary School

Learn to Speak Spanish for Free!

I've been feeling a spark of interest in learning to speak Spanish lately so I've been doing some research on free websites that aim to help people learn Spanish. The main reason I really would like to learn Spanish now is because of my job. I have so many customers come in who speak only Spanish and I hate not being able to communicate with them! I did find this great website that is really helpful. It has video tutorials and teaches you how to speak and write in Spanish. It has different quizzes you can take and you can even practice speaking the language with other users. Since I followed a few of these lessons, I am finding myself recognizing more words when I hear people speaking Spanish!

Fun Fact!
One thing I learned is that there are male and female versions of words as well as formal and informal ways of addressing others.

Here's a link to the website:
http://www.spanishdict.com/

There is even an application available for smartphones which allows you to translate words.

No Hablo Español!

Theresa and me at Escapade 2009

Today I went to a club with a couple of my Hispanic co-workers. The club is called Escapade 2009. I had never been to a club quite like this before and I really did not know what to expect. The only place I've been to go dancing played country music.They warned me that a lot of people speak Spanish there and to say "No gracias," or "No hablo español," if I was having trouble talking to someone. When we arrived I felt very out of place. I didn't know what to do or how to act. There were two floors to this club. The first floor played music that I am more familiar with but the second floor is where we spent the majority of the night. The second floor had two areas as well. One played a lot of mariachi music where more couples danced and the other room had more "hip hop like" music but it was in Spanish for the most part. I feel like this was really the first time I had a complete culture shock. I tried talking to a few people but I couldn't understand them. I had to get my friends or their English speaking friends to translate for me. Even the way everyone was dancing was very different. Despite this initial culture shock, I had a lot of fun and I would love to go out dancing again!

Hispanic Culture

I found this really great link that helps give an insight to some of the cultural aspects of people from Hispanic origins. I was surprised to see how many countries are considered Hispanic. I had not even heard of all these countries before.

Here's a list of all the countries:
Argentina                          Nicaragua
Bolivia                              Panama
Chile                                Peru
Colombia                          Paraguay
Costa Rica                        Puerto Rico
Cuba                                El Salvador
Dominican Republic          Spain
Ecuador                           Uruguay
Guatemala                        Venezuela
Honduras                         Nicaragua
Mexico                            Panama

The article mentions that not all of these cultures are the same within the Hispanic ethnic group so we need to try and be aware of this and not make assumptions. However, there are a few of similarities. They do tend to be conservative and follow traditions.

Family
Family or "familia" is also a very important aspect. This includes not only the immediate family but the extended as well. There is a lot of focus on everyone helping out the "family unit".

Religion
Religion is also a huge influence of Hispanic culture. "More than 90% of the Spanish-speaking world is Roman Catholic."

Gender Roles
 In most Hispanic families the father is the head of the household. He is responsible for supporting and protecting his family. The mother is the caretaker. She is to put her children and elder's care above her needs. This is the traditional family structure.

Marriage
The main reason for marriage is also to start a family.When they get married they tend to follow the traditional family roles but when making decision they will keep talking until the decision is made.

For more information, visit this article:
Understanding Hispanic Culture

Chicken Mole!

Today I learned how to make chicken mole! My step-dad is half Mexican and half Filipino. His name is Mariano Tedana but his nickname is "Chico". His mother taught his brother how to make this recipe and then this recipe was passed down to my mom. She decided to teach me how to make it so we could make it for him on his birthday. This recipe makes a lot of food so it lasts a while. It can be cut down to make smaller portions but the reason for the large portions is so it would feed a lot of people and last a while. You start off by boiling chicken for a long time. After you boil the chicken you peel the meat off the bones and use part of the chicken broth to create the gravy. This is eaten with tortillas and is delicious! I never knew how chicken broth was made so I found it really interesting. I only wish I copied down the recipe so I can share it with you! Maybe this is something I can edit in on a later date.

On a side note, his birthday landed on the Chinese new year and it happened to be the year of the dragon as well which is the year he was born in. We bought decorations in red which is supposed to be a symbol of good luck and threw a surprise party for him! We also gave him lucky money so he would have a great year. Traditionally you would clean prior to the new years day and not clean for the next few day for fear of "sweeping away your luck".

Chinese New Year

Focus: Hispanic Cultural Background

I have decided to focus my research on people of a Hispanic background. Since Texas is on the border with Mexico, we have a lot of immigrants from Mexico which means we will have a lot of students with that background. According to population trends for Fort Worth, over one third of the population was Hispanic in 2010 and we expect this to increase over time. That is why is viable that I learn about this ethnic group. They will be a large portion of the students I will be teaching in the future.

For more information about Fort Worth's population please visit Part 1: Focusing on the Future.