Week 12: Field Work in Tzopilja

On Monday morning, I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to go meet Marco Tulio at ECOSUR and we drove to Oxchuc to meet with Elena. After we met Elena, we drove to Tzopilja (the second community where I am conducting my study). We drove for about a half an hour over a bumpy, dirt road with lots of divots and rocks strewn throughout the way. Upon arriving in Tzopiljá, we started surveying women and their husbands. By the end of the day, we were able to complete surveys for 18 families. We returned to Oxchuc in the back of a pick-up truck with other men and women from Tzopilja. That night, I made more copies of my survey and had dinner with Elena, her husband, and two girls. Before going to sleep, I taught her daughters how to play “I spy”, which was a lot of fun.

Women in Tzopiljá

Tuesday was an incredibly productive day: we left Elena’s house at 8 a.m. to return to Tzopilja. By the end of the day on Tuesday, we had surveyed 27 families and we had surveyed 10 more families by the end of the next day. While completing the surveys in Tzopilja, I noticed stark differences between the populations in Tzopilja and Mesbilja. The families were much bigger, and women had more children. One woman had given birth to ten children, but only five of them were still alive. There are also more people without access to health insurance and Seguro Popular.

Elena in Tzopiljá

On Wednesday night, I sat at Elena’s kitchen table while she helped her oldest daughter (Belen, 6 years old) with her homework. Belen had to look at a picture and describe what animals were in the picture (turtles, butterflies, frogs, etc.). We helped her with the spelling, and I even learned a few new words. After she had finished her homework, I taught Belen and her 4-year-old sister, Rocio, how to play Tic-Tac-Toe. Poor Rosio didn’t really understand how to play the game, but I tried to help her. Belen kept beating her sister and would make fun of her sister when she lost. In return, Rosio hit her sister in the face. But Belen just laughed. All of the kids I have met here are so much happier and easy-going than children in the states. I am really going to miss Elena and her family.

Elena administering my survey in Tzopiljá

On Thursday, we finished our field work in Tzopilja in the morning and Marco Tulio came to pick us up. When I returned to San Cristóbal in the afternoon, I worked on entering the data from my surveys into SPSS and caught up with some friends at ECOSUR who I hadn’t seen in a while because I have been in Oxchuc. When I arrived at salsa class on Thursday, I was pleasantly surprised to see Katy Tucker (one of the Georgetown students who was in San Cristóbal last year). She and Linda were the ones who had told me about the salsa class at Zirko, and it was great to be able to dance in the class next to her. She is currently living in Mexico City and working at an organization called ProMujer, but she says that she misses San Cristóbal and was excited to finally be back. It has been really fun having her here with us and being able to share stories.

Tzopiljá

After salsa class, Katy and I met up with Rahul and went with my friend Oliver to a restaurant to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was one of the best Thanksgiving dinner’s I have ever had: I ate chile relleno (stuffed pepper), rice, and tortillas. I think when I have a family of my own I am going to make chile relleno for Thanksgiving dinner (as a vegetarian, I don’t eat turkey). When we had finished eating, we saw some of our friends from the salsa class outside the restaurant. We all decided to go salsa dancing and I was very proud of Rahul because he was able to learn a lot of the steps. Overall, it was a very fun Thanksgiving – good friends, good food, and lots of salsa J

Me in the back of a pick-up truck

On Friday, Rahul, Katy and I went to ECOSUR. While Katy met with Rosario and Dr. Ochoa about the possibility of publishing her study from last year, I worked more on entering the data from my surveys into SPSS. It takes me about an hour to enter in the data for five women (and their husbands), so it has been a tedious process. I am hoping to be done capturing the data by next week so that I can start the data analysis.

Belen (Elena's daughter) and her cousin

After ECOSUR on Friday, Katy and I went to go see my friend Oliver play guitar in a café (while Rahul went on a date with a girl from ECOSUR!). After dinner, we went to Zirko and met up with our friends for a fun night of salsa dancing.

Elena helping Belen with her homework

On Saturday, we all woke up late and went to go eat breakfast at a café near our apartment. At breakfast, Rahul and I talked with Katy about the drug situation in Mexico. It was interesting to hear her perspective because she has been in Ciudad Juarez (near the US border) and has friends that work there, including a writer. One of the reasons why Ciudad Juarez is so dangerous is because there is more than one drug cartel fighting over territory, as opposed to other states in Mexico with only one drug cartel that controls the land and the market. One of the things that may improve the safety and the drug situation at the border is if drugs were legalized in the US, because then there may be more legal regulation. However, it seems unlikely that that will happen anytime soon.

Rocio (Elena's daughter) trying on her glasses

I stayed at the café where we had breakfast and worked more on entering the data from my surveys on Saturday afternoon. At night, Rahul and I went to meet Katy and her old salsa partner, Carlos, at the café were Oliver plays guitar. We laughed a lot as we listened to Carlos give Rahul advice for his next date with the girl from ECOSUR. After Oliver had finished playing in the café and we had finished laughing at the Mexican relationship advice, Rahul and I went to eat and then to watch the salsa dancers at Zirko.

Rocio and Belen playing Tic-Tac-Toe

We slept late again on Sunday and went to breakfast. In the afternoon, Katy and I went shopping around San Cristóbal. I started my Christmas-present shopping and found some really beautiful pairs of earrings made of amber, jade, and quartz. We also got some delicious hot chocolate and cake. Overall, I had a great afternoon with Katy. It is hard to imagine leaving this place – I keep thinking about when aI am going to come back here.

Paco, Elena, Katy and Rahul outside of ECOSUR

Me and Oliver at Zirko