A Xenophobic Christmas

A friend encourages me to go to Church on Christmas Eve. “Great music, It’ll put you into the Christmas Spirit.”

I'm already moving in that direction.

Earlier in the day, I travel to a neighboring village and help Operation Feed provide a hundred families with food and gifts and toys for their children. 

Families gather at Operation Feed

 The program is a collaboration between Mexicans and expats. A local Mexican leader and restaurateur spear-heads this and many other weekly projects.

Augustine and volunteers become a Christmas message

I meet two women who tell me more.

“We’re the egg ladies,” they announce. “We help sort eggs for distribution out into the village.”

They tell me it’s a volunteer job but they pay 200 pesos each time for the privilege. 

Imagine paying to volunteer. “It’s egg money,” smiles one of the women. “How else can we have money for eggs?”

The organization’s motto is... Stop The Hunger - Start The Hope. 

What a wonderful Christmas message, I think.  

I hop on a crowded bus and make my way to music and Christmas eve worship. 

As expected, the music is grand. Harmonies mix with congregational singing. We sing O Come All Ye Faithful – all 6 verses.

Nativity fills the Plaza at Ajijic

The sermon starts with a light hearted joke and promises to be brief. 

A story unfolds of expats celebrating a first Christmas in Mexico. “We had no church, but we made a large living space feel like church.” 

We settled into traditional Christmas worship even though we all had been transported from our homes to Mexico. It felt good to be with other expats.

Afterwards continues the Pastor, “we decide to go into the town to see how Mexicans celebrate Christmas. 

We had images of a Mexican procession moving slowly towards the Church with candles in hand,”

Posada in Mexico

But in stark contrast, we meet “utter chaos.”

Raucous, loud, alcohol out-of-control masses are some of the derogatory words used.  Negative caricatures follow in describing this Mexican Christmas celebration.  It jolts me.  

The sermon continues poking fun at Mexican behaviors.  A few congregants begin to snicker.  

I’m feeling more uncomfortable. To me, it sounds xenophobic. Why would a sermon poke fun at Mexicans on Christmas eve in Mexico? 

It must be something unconscious – maybe an ignorance saying that our way is the better way.  Could that be why some of the people around me are now laughing and not growing more uncomfortable as I am.  

The sermon concludes with Church bells says the Pastor. “At first, a single bell rings out.  And then others join in. Soon many bells are filling the town air and quieting the Mexicans,” reassures the Pastor. 

He ends the sermon with a broad smile.  Next is passing the Peace of Christ.

People clasp hands and a few hug one another. An older woman quickly clasped my hand and then just as quickly turns away. 

What's it like to be an outsider?

Huh? I look around towards others, but no one returns the glance or makes an effort.

Even the Pastor, when he comes down the aisle, skips my row. I’m not sure why. But it does make me feel like an outsider. 

It’s then that I decide to leave before Eucharist is served. I think, “It’s not a place for me.”

On the bus ride home, the sermon still rumbles within. I need an antidote.

I regain some comfort in seeing ordinary Mexican men and women with children in tow making their own way home. A guy plays his guitar and fills the bus with song. I pass him some money. 

 A young man stands to give up his seat. I shake my head, not necessary, but with a smile, he insists. Unexpected kindness on a crowded bus.

I get home. I watch a new movie, The Two Popes, and regain some perspective. I surf the net for sermons and Christmas messages.

In spite of my recent experience, I’m reminded how lively Christmas Spirit can be. 

Congregations do act with kindness, justice and peace and not just at Christmas time. They stretch themselves to welcome the stranger and embrace the forgotten.

Sure, the sermon was unfortunate. But ironically, it opens a broader reflection into the insidious persistence of xenophobia. 

It can slide into conversations and sermons without awareness. I feel a new urgency for the message of Christmas...especially here in Mexico.

Tear gas used on Mexican families at the border

Too many cruel and hate-filled images of Mexicans are in our media and on the lips of our leaders. 

Insistently Xenophobia seeps into awareness smearing good people who just want to live... a little differently.

Singing with some students at a Christmas party

I want to keep my focus on the kindnesses I’ve experienced here and embrace human differences that surround me everywhere in Mexico.

So when the bells ring out tonight for Christmas eve, I’ll be thinking of angelic words proclaimed to ordinary shepherds.

Peace on Earth and Good Will to All.

Older women belong here

I’ll keep remembering expats paying to volunteer and a Mexican leader who cares for the poor and lives  the Christmas message every week... 

End The Hunger. 

 Start The Hope

http://www.operationfeedsjc.org/

JOY in MARIACHI

I’ve returned to Mexico. For the next three months, Ajijic on Lake Chapala will be home. I’ve come here to teach some English, grow as an artist and meet others while exploring the Mexican culture.

I’m about an hour’s drive form Guadalajara in the Mexican State of Jalisco (in light green). It’s dominated by Mexico's biggest mountain range -the Sierra Madre - and a volcanic range creating many canyons, gorges and plateaus.  

At the end of the rainy season, the burnt brown mountains have transformed into deep tones of green and new life.  

Jalisco is known as the heart and soul of Mexico.  Here a rich culture of music and dance and art developed.  

Ever changing and adapting, it has retained a distinctive Mexican flair and swagger.

On my flight I happen to sit next to and behind a group of Mariachis. They are on their way to the International Mariachi Festival in Guadalajara.

We get to talking. My seat-mate was born in the USA, but as a young man immigrated back to Mexico to live and thrive. 

I ask him, “Why Mariachi besides the income? Quickly he says, “It’s my passion...identity...life.” I want to learn more...

Mariachi emerged out of the long history  of Mexico's conquest, occupation and rebirth. 

Indigenous people were overwhelmed by Spanish conquest in the 1500s. Then so many foreign ships sailed westward.  For more than 300 years, European and African immigrants flooded the land bringing their own cultures.

In the Jalisco area, elements from immigrant cultures were blended into a unique Mexican sound - Mariachi. 

These songs were part of village life and almost always accompanied by dancing and lots of love and good humor. The children learned the old songs on the laps of parents.  Over time the music adapted to new living situations - always staying fresh and lively.  

I’m beginning to understand the depth of Mariachi and why my seat-mate has such a passion for it.

Mariachi exploded from Jalisco to the entire Country in the 20^th century. With the help of mass media – radio and TV – people fell in love with it. 

 Even without knowing the language, I feel it.  Mariachi exudes energy, culture and style. It brings joy.

To learn a lot more click here   

I’m indebted to Mike Champa of Miami University, Ohio for his study and giving me a deeper understanding.

With my new group of Mariachi friends, we exit the plane. We hang together through immigration and customs procedures. Then they help me negotiate a good price for a taxi.  Wonderful!

With gratitude – Gracias – I’m on my way. My mind is already planning a trip back to Guadalajara and the Mariachi Festival.

Here’s a sampling of what I experience during this joyful parade.

Improvised dress turns heads

Let the parade begin

Music and dance fill the streets

Singing from the heart

Friendship is contagious

Mariachi from Estados Unidos

Beautiful and Proud

Listen to some more Mariachi  Feel the joy...