Belen

I return my truck to my new home, the side street where I am parking, even though the sun is not great here. In fact, there is a lot of shade, not due to palm trees but due to tall hotel and condo buildings.

I decide to change another $100, so go to several banks, looking for the best exchange rate, before I realize it is Saturday and they’re not open! Oy vey. My visions of fresh, hot tamales  and icy cold coconut evaporate.

I return to my truck, determined to head to the beach. I see an interesting womon reading my truck as I approach her. I greet her and she surprises me with one of my opening lines: “una pregunta por favor”.

And we are off! We talk for over an hour. She is a single mom with two boys, 17 & 18, who are mostly out of the house, and her baby a girl 14. She tells me workers get paid $100 pesos (less than $10 us dollars) for 12 hours of work.

She is carrying a plastic bag full of plastic toys. She has given up walking the beach today – she began at 7:00am and it is now almost 5pm. She didn’t make 10 pesos, which is less than a dollar.

Belen lived in the u.s. for two years – in San Jose, and in Dover New Jersey. We are delighted to share Jersey stories, and Bay Area stories. She found much discrimination and racism in the u.s. and is very glad to have returned to her home, Acapulco.

She tells me the only reason anyone goes to the u.s. is because they are starving here. We talk about Monsanto, the mega farms and all the produce that people get to put their hands on, but few get to eat well.

We talk about the violence in the u.s. and the violence that has spread here. We talk about the police presence, that Belen says aggravates everyone – especially the weapons.

Belen is only 34 years old.  She doesn’t like aging but she is very happy her boys are on their way to their own lives. They both are in college and she is struggling to pay for them.

She helps me patiently with my Spanish. I ask her if I can hire her to teach me Spanish. She tells me she will teach me but she doesn’t want money – she wants to learn english.

I insist I will pay her. I point out that she has already told me she needs a job. She tells me about her home, her community, her children. She asks me if I want to visit and eat with them, before I leave.

We talk about my struggles to get veggie oil – Belen walks or takes the bus with her bundles wherever she goes.

We make plans to meet tomorrow morning, 9am. As with all my plans in México, I am excited yet reserved too.