Randomness around Tec and the City

Mil disculpas (my apologies) for having not updated y’all in a while. We’ve had parciales which are sort of like midterms, but happen 3 times a semester. Yeah more stress! Now that I’ve weathered the storm, lets have a recap. Celestine and I went to the Barrio Antigua tiangis, which is an open market where artists, old ladies, indigenous people, and anybody wants to sell something come out to sell their goods on the streets. We ate…a lot! I saw the Nauhuatl Indian who ripped me off about a month before at his table and of course he calls us over. I told him I was Tecpatzin and had already been inducted into brotherhood. He then offered to tell Celestine her name free of charge! She has that charm I guess. Well he rubbed me a lot better this time because he wasn’t trying to swindle us out of our money so Celestine invited him to come out to lunch with us! So picture this- 2 sharp-looking American students walking into this restaurant with a Nauhuatl in his traditional clothing! We spent like two hours there talking and I learned more from that man in two hours about indigenous culture than years of textbooks have. From our conversation, I have come to the following conclusions. The native Mexicans were and always will have been the first inhabitants of this land. The injustice they have been exposed to is a product of imperialism and an avoidable consequence of globalization. Additionally, the indigenous way of life cannot be forced to adopt our western political party system, and should be given some form of autonomy. The indigenous people are extremely passionate about everything that they do. Whether harvesting their corn or weaving their clothing. They cannot be included into the party system because they will destroy each other because once they side with a party; they are wholly devoted to it and will fight to stand in their beliefs. It is for this reason that I am a sympathizer of the Zapatista movement. If you don’t know what it is, get with the times. The Nauhuatl, “Pancho” (his Spanish name) brought up many good points. A bottle of water costs more to the Mexican than a liter of milk. Why is that? Milk requires cows, a lot of equipment, and constant transportation because it is a perishable good. Water (by Coca Cola) obviously comes from a natural source and is purified; however, Coca Cola has the advantage of supply-side economics and a lower cost base. But it isn’t only bottled water. It’s all water in México. For that reason, the campensinos can’t irrigate their farms. The bank system forms a choking leash with its loan terms. For that reason, the campesino can’t acquire capital equipment to farm and only grows for himself and his family. The Nauhuatl who I spoke to was extremely eloquent and a good man; completely opposite of my first impression. He explained to me the banking system because he used to be a loan officer at the agricultural bank and had studied for many years. He was a vagrant by choice and was “free” in his opinion. He had plans to go to Austria next month to continue selling art. Maybe some of you other people abroad will see him around in Vienna (You can’t miss him).

During the week, Tec celebrated its 62^nd anniversary. Sorry AU, but Tec sure knows how to celebrate its inception: mariachis and 50kg of chilaquiles being mixed in a saucepan 3 meters in diameters!