Fear, but not loathing in Morelos, Mexico.
While packing my bag and heading through customs and border patrol, the realization slowly dawned on me, that I left my heart in Mexico.
The entire country feels like it is somewhere between civilized and primitive, wild and developed, crude and yet magnificently refined.
Reading the headlines and travel alerts before embarking
on this life changing adventure gave me pause.
The entire country is (was) under advisory of level 2 for American travel, meaning, avoid any unnecessary travel, with 4-5 other states under the highest level, 4 for high danger areas, to put that into perspective, Afghanistan is under the same level 4 advisory.
I had no idea what to expect during my first stay within a third world country, what I witnessed, and what I felt touched me so deeply I wept.
I made what I assume will likely be lifelong friends, and hopefully business associates in this rapidly developing country.
The purpose of the trip was to help in the construction of a church for a growing congregation of christian believers in the "volcano city". I was in one of the pictures taken with the family shown above, I won't be showing it although. I was brought to a mess of tears, and deeply humbled by the man and his family pictured above. They wanted me to be photographed with them. I simply didn't feel worthy to be surrounded by so much kindness, beauty, and friendship. I expected hate and hostility due to our political climates with the people of Mexico. But, the only disrespectful and rude behavior that was notable was from European tourists at or around historical sites.
Mexican culture overall seems to be very centered around humility and respect, a very welcome departure from the attitudes of my fellow Americans.
High levels of seismic activity has rocked the country recently with earth quakes. The Volcano city was hit hard with such events. The government in Mexico has spray painted symbols on walls and buildings for identification, the wall pictured above with the circle and line identifies a wall to be torn down. According to local information, the government is subsidizing repairs needed to restore buildings and infrastructure damaged from the earth quakes.
Building projects in the rural areas are very different from America. The standards are very different, tools and materials are very limited, and skilled and knowledgeable workers are not the norm. That isn't to say these people aren't intelligent, the men I had the privilege of working alongside were of excellent quality in every possible way, if I could employ them, I would without a second thought.
Every interaction with the locals made me feel more included, every day spent working with them, or living near them made me feel as though I was becoming a part of their family.
If I spoke the language well, I don't think I'd miss America all that much. Of course, I love my country, and consider myself a patriot. However, I have never seen such freedom of the kind I witnessed in Mexico. To give you an idea of the Mexican brand of freedom, consider this: If you do something bad enough to end up in prison, and you escape prison in Mexico, there are no additional charges! THAT'S RIGHT! In their country, they consider the desire to be free innate in all people, and so if you escape prison and aren't caught, the legal system considers such acts "water under the bridge" so to speak.
Truthfully, although, freedom in Mexico is only equal to how well off you are financially, and in Mexico that isn't that hard to do.
I found large 1 acre sized lots for sale for roughly $3,000 dollars USD!
Local art I witnessed was mainly in the form of graffiti. It was of sufficient quality to be in a museum. The strange thing was that gorgeous works of art were on the same wall as advertisements for local shops, and gang territory type tags.
In some ways you can get the feeling that under all the trash, and utilitarian ugliness that you are standing on a Monet, or Van Gogh.