The Beauty of Brown

It’s almost been a week since my last post and I have been so overwhelmed with all sorts of things that had had no time to sit down and write. I am thankful that all those things have been workable, though!
We had blood drawn, the boys and I, and it was interesting. It was the first time for the boys to get blood tests and it was not helping that, as we walk in the lab, we hear the screaming cries of a 6 year old girl. Of course, the boys were pretty nervous after the first 10 minutes of screams... The lab technician still had not even touched the little girl...she was just hysterical. Needless to say, both boys were very surprised at how fast and painless the prick was and left the lab relieved and happy, each bearer of a box of juice!
We also gave in and drove back to Monte Blanco to get some bed frames for the boys. When we came down we brought inflatable beds to start with. Over time, we got so comfortable with the beds that we never switched to mattresses. Besides, with the humidity here, I am paranoid about mold growing inside my mattress! But after a year of the boys sleeping on the floor in their little inflatable beds (we have a double height inflatable), it was time to at least raise them. So we took the scenic route (there is no other route) to Monte Blanco in our search for a good alternative.
Monte Blanco is known for its bamboo furniture made by craftsmen all over town, we had been there a year before to purchase our dining room - which took forever to make since we wanted a made-to-order one. The drive was no less impressive: rising over valleys, past the town of Teocelo (that is quite a jewel in itself) and on to the ridge. The road is lined with impressive sheer walls of rock on one side and the deep, jungle canyon that houses the river. Monte Blanco was built around the road right on a ridge. There are no real side streets because there is no more “flat” land but that where little houses rest. Most of the backyards of these houses have a very impressive vista into a deep, jungle canyon.
It is wonderful just to stop in every workshop to check out the different styles of furniture each craftsman is working on: classical Pacific Beach, Asian Pacific, Bali, all interesting and with the beautiful, different browns of the lacquered bamboo. We found our beds for a decent price and even had them delivered, which was great! We also had a chance to stop at the lookout to check out the canyon below Monte Blanco. It was impressive, some vultures were gliding on currents and we could hear the rush of the river down below, a river we know becomes some of the most spectacular waterfalls of the area: the Texolo and La Monja. Of course, we had to cut it short since the no-see-ums and other mosquitoes were having a banquet with us just standing around!
The rest of this week has been devoted to meeting the teachers and parents at school. It won't cease to amaze me how different the whole experience has been in Nuestro Mundo for the boys and for us. Although the community in Colegio Calli accepted us in time, it took at least a month for them to warm up to us, while we feel already accepted and welcomed here, after just a few weeks! It has been full of very nice surprises, and I know it will be harder for the boys as a learning exercise, but much more fruitful!
One of the themes the school is going to be focusing on this year is discrimination... (Wow, have I had my share of that!) In a whole school meeting with workshop teachers (Art, Music, English, Ecology, Science lab, Gym, Theater) a parent asked the science teachers how they would explain “black skin color” to a kindergartener...
So, going back to the beautiful tones of brown... In the US, it has been an issue long worked on: help kids breach that gap that inevitably leads to bias and discrimination, starting by the skin differences. Yes, I remember my boys asking me sometime or another why their skin was so much lighter than some of their friends’ skin, but with no prejudice, just curiosity. Then again, my kids grew up with a light brown mother and a “bleached” brown (their words) father, lived in a very culturally diverse inner suburb (Cleveland Heights) and skin color was never really an issue, it was just the normal beauty of the human landscape. The school community was comprised of families that actively sought that multicultural environment for their children, and the schools per se, did a great job on guiding the kids and counseling whenever needed.

Now, in Mexico, there are many tones of brown, too. And there is discriminations within all those tones of brown, but most people that discriminate don’t even know they are doing it... They are in self-denial! Most all Mexican population has come from a mix of cultures: the European (mostly Spanish) and the indigenous, although there are also regions that have a heavy African influence because of the slave trade in Colonial times. Somehow, a lot of the “colonial” way of thinking - more European blood is better- still prevails mainly in the upper crust of Mexico and Latin America. It is the “educated” families, the middle and upper middle sectors of society, that are now fighting (although this started around 20 years ago) to eradicate this discrimination.
It is strange to hear the words “black skin” rolling off a parent’s mouth, and even stranger to find the school officials really not prepared to deal with the question (at least not in Kindergarten level); but, at the same time, it is refreshing to see that there is an interest in this community we are joining to not fall into the same mistake of just brushing it off, ignoring it, and letting it become something uglier in the future. -And since I can’t keep still... Ok, I try... I have been translating a few articles for the school about how to help children understand and bridge this issues. Oh, how I wish Amazon could overnight me a book (The Colors of Us by Karne Katz)! But, then, alas, we wouldn’t be in Mexico!- And, no, we probably can’t erase discrimination (of any kind) as fast as we would wish, but any little difference, we are more than willing to help.