The longer April and I stay here, the more we realize that the two cultures in Yelapa exist like parallel universes. The oldest gringo residences here know quite a bit of what`s going on in the native community while having to shrug their shoulders at some aspects of it. Even those who have married into the culture, I suspect, don't know all its ins and outs. It's kind of like the mysteries one experiences of the opposite sex -- compounded by the various degrees of culture clash. Then there are gringos like yours truly, whose command of the language is virtually nil. My wife knows quite a bit of Spanish, though it's probably only enough to communicate in what must sound to a Mexican like babytalk. Me, I speak in one-word or single phrase "sentences."
One material aspect of Yelapa's gringo-Mexican clash has to do with the handling, or mishandling, of garbage. There's been some attempt in Yelapa, led by gringos and some enlightened natives, to compost and/or recycle waste. But the burning of waste goes on, including the burning of plastic (plastic has long since replaced the native shopping baskets women once carried to market as containers) with its noxious, carcinogenic fumes. Respiratory ailments are common, particularly among the children. Attempts are ongoing to outlaw the practice. Yet, as in the United States and Canada, convenience often rules. There's the inconvenience of having to haul one's garbage to the pier or to the beach for pickup by the boats that will haul it to Boca de Tomatlan for compacting; besides, there's a charge for the service. Why spend money when you can simply burn your waste, including your plastic, in your back yard?
There may be a partial solution to this problem after the February 25 benefit to raise money to create a job for someone in the native community to collect garbage for periodic disposal. Tickets for the benefit, which reportedly will include a delicious meal, have been selling for two hundred pesos. That cost, of course, will insure that few natives will attend. Nevertheless, the word is definitely out about the importance of garbage disposal (has been, in fact, for years, but awareness had lapsed) and the health hazards of burning plastic. Funny thing is that Mexicans tend to be very clean personally, keep their houses neat and clean, wash the cobbles or wet down the dust in front of their houses, etc., daily, and yet, throughout Mexico, there`s this indifference, this acceptance of litter outside one`s domicile.
You may wonder why I`ve posted no pictures from Yelapa. Believe me, I`ve tried. But the dial-up connections are simply too slow to upload pictures, so unless I haul my laptop into Vallarta, where there`s fast Internet, I`ll have to wait until I`m back in Canada, sitting at my desktop computer, to add pictures to these foreign postings.
Not that I`m looking foward to the end our Mexican sojourn. That`ll come soon enough, and I can wait.
One material aspect of Yelapa's gringo-Mexican clash has to do with the handling, or mishandling, of garbage. There's been some attempt in Yelapa, led by gringos and some enlightened natives, to compost and/or recycle waste. But the burning of waste goes on, including the burning of plastic (plastic has long since replaced the native shopping baskets women once carried to market as containers) with its noxious, carcinogenic fumes. Respiratory ailments are common, particularly among the children. Attempts are ongoing to outlaw the practice. Yet, as in the United States and Canada, convenience often rules. There's the inconvenience of having to haul one's garbage to the pier or to the beach for pickup by the boats that will haul it to Boca de Tomatlan for compacting; besides, there's a charge for the service. Why spend money when you can simply burn your waste, including your plastic, in your back yard?
There may be a partial solution to this problem after the February 25 benefit to raise money to create a job for someone in the native community to collect garbage for periodic disposal. Tickets for the benefit, which reportedly will include a delicious meal, have been selling for two hundred pesos. That cost, of course, will insure that few natives will attend. Nevertheless, the word is definitely out about the importance of garbage disposal (has been, in fact, for years, but awareness had lapsed) and the health hazards of burning plastic. Funny thing is that Mexicans tend to be very clean personally, keep their houses neat and clean, wash the cobbles or wet down the dust in front of their houses, etc., daily, and yet, throughout Mexico, there`s this indifference, this acceptance of litter outside one`s domicile.
You may wonder why I`ve posted no pictures from Yelapa. Believe me, I`ve tried. But the dial-up connections are simply too slow to upload pictures, so unless I haul my laptop into Vallarta, where there`s fast Internet, I`ll have to wait until I`m back in Canada, sitting at my desktop computer, to add pictures to these foreign postings.
Not that I`m looking foward to the end our Mexican sojourn. That`ll come soon enough, and I can wait.
P.S. Since writing the above, I've returned to Canada and my desktop computer and have added some pictures to these postings.
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