So it all began in a little town north of the border by the name of “The Pass to the North,” which would later become affectionately known as “El Paso.” It is a unique place in that you drive south on Interstate 25 for several hours in New Mexico, and then at the very end, right before you hit Mexico, you find yourself in Texas. The whole vast expanse of Texas stretches to the east, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and to the west, New Mexico and Arizona.
We arrived on a fairly hot day in September, when the football players were just beginning their practice. Our friend Cristina was busy upon our arrival, so we stayed and caught the end of practice at Franklin High School, and wrote out a few postcards. When she called we headed to her place and ran into a bear hug! With her was Yadira, whom I had met on the first trip down to see Gaby and Cristina. We had all gone out to a night club called “La Mulata” in Juárez, Mexico, and “Yaya” was our knowledgeable guide. It was so good to see them both after almost three years! I could not believe it had been so long.
We did not waste any time and in a minute we had everything out of the car and in the apartment and were on our way to Mickey’s. Once there we enjoyed a great Mexican dinner and gave the hostess a pleasant surprise in that we could actually speak Spanish! Jazmin joined us for dinner, and after we had eaten a bit, Gaby also came and it was an awesome reunion. All of a sudden the music started, a great Spanish song, with a very distinct sound to it. You must understand that we have a total of five CD’s in our car, and this song is one of the catchiest. Dan had started to sing it somewhat in jest, meanwhile we drove, and I’m not sure that he believed that it was a song that people actually listened to. Thus when the live band began to play “Suavemente” by Elvis Crespo, we jumped and were up and at it on the dance floor, practicing our salsa, merengue, and bachata skills. Great times!
The next day, we got up late and met Cristina for lunch at a place where the burritos were amazing, not quite as good as they would have been in Mexico, but we had made a promise not to cross the border. Let us hope that the situation improves in Juárez, so that next time we will be able to cross over and experience both cultures. At that lunch Cristina, who seems to know a little bit about everything, informed us that Juárez and El Paso are in fact the only cities on the Mexico/U.S. border that are separated only by a canal and a wall, and other than this are in fact one city. In other words, there is literally nothing between the two towns except for the canal and fence that form the border.
All of the other border towns including Tijuana and Nogales among others have a bit of distance between the Mexican city and the U.S. city, most at least 20 minutes. This fact then has interesting implications for the current issues in Juárez, since the proximity of the two cities would seem to make it somewhat easier to smuggle drugs across the border and also provides ample opportunity to cross at a variety of places and then blend in to the city on the other side. El Paso and Juárez, other from the border that divides them, are indistinguishable. From high atop the overlook at night, the lights unite, and in the distance the respective flags of the sister cities proudly fly. The unity of the cities is a beautiful thing to see, and I believe that it is a sign of what the future could bring.
It was interesting to hear the different perspectives on immigration and the unrest in Juárez while here. Unfortunately, we just do not have all of the information in the north. This said, Cristina informed us of an occurrence she was aware of, but that had not been publicized at all, not even in El Paso. And, as we learned when we headed to White Sands an hour north on Hwy 25, Mexican citizens are allowed to cross into El Paso, but may go no farther than 25 miles from the border, and if they do, may be arrested on the spot. This law of free passage back and forth, seems fair in and of itself, insofar as the two cities are truly one. As to the violence in Juárez, one of the contributors to the situation in Mexico was that the current president endorsed a different group of “narcotraficantes” (drug traffickers) than his predecessor, which in turn led to a fight over the strategically located city of Juárez. Initially the violence was limited to the interactions between these two groups and the police, who were also complicit with the narcotraficantes that paid them. But later, others took advantage of the violence to make their own gains. As the police and the two groups of “narcotraficantes” were occupied with one another, third parties began to extort people for their own personal gain because of the lack of justice to hold them accountable for their actions. For this reason, the nightly kidnappings, deaths, and ransoms have escalated and thus we ultimately decided, out of prudence, not to enter Mexico at this point in time. It is also important to note that most of what happens does go down at night, such that during the day, things are pretty much safe, as long as you know where to go. However the occurrences of late and the corresponding and well-founded fear that this has produced forced many to leave their businesses, and public posts, and either go underground or leave the city altogether. However, as I also understand, there are a great deal of people who remain living there, and are simply awaiting the end to the violence. Interestingly enough, the main reasons for the problems are, first of all, the insatiable consumption of drugs by people living in the US, the greed of the “narcotraficantes,” and the corruption of those in power in both countries.
There are individuals on both sides who are either openly or secretly complicit to the passage of the narco’s products, and that thereby allow the drugs to make it to the United States. A reform of policy on this topic would most certainly help to alleviate the problems in Juárez, and allow people like you and me to travel there and enjoy the cultural richness and people of a town that has simply ended up in a bad way due to human selfishness.
In light of recent occurrences and laws in Arizona, I also want to speak to the culture of the southwest, which to start, is very different, even between New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. To tackle the situation from a linguistic perspective, in New Mexico we heard the perspective of a teacher who is attempting to work in the already challenging public school system, who then has students and parents who refuse to learn English, and others who look down on her because she does not speak Spanish. In Las Cruces, New Mexico we encountered a waitress who appeared Hispanic, and being with Cristina and some other friends, I spoke to her in Spanish. Although she did not speak as well as I, she did her best to respond, supplementing with English where necessary, until I conceded to speak with her in English. But she made the effort. In El Paso itself, most people are bilingual, and as our friend Yadira commented, she will usually speak to someone in Spanish, because it is her first language, and then when she senses that the listener is having trouble she will switch to English. Again, very quick to accommodate people in whatever way necessary to effect communication. I believe the best scenario is one in which everyone is tolerant to one another’s linguistic abilities and shortcomings, and that there are alternatives available such as interpreters and/or translators that allow people to communicate with one another. It would be beneficial for people living in areas like El Paso to have the opportunity to learn both languages in order to be able to be so accommodating as the two persons mentioned above. In all, respect for one another in all circumstances is of the highest importance. It is however very interesting that the inability to communicate in one’s native tongue can lead us to such frustration and heated argument. This reality points to the crucial role of communication in our existence, and explains the division that inability to communicate in one language has wrought in humanity over the centuries. In order to fully understand the heated debate with regard to a national language and related issues, consider the situation of the Mexican workers who come to the United States. To start, think about a pivotal moment in your life, and then consider doing all the legwork and signing all of the paperwork in your foreign language. Yes the one you learned in high school and may have forgotten up to this point, but the one in which you likely have a greater amount of instruction than many Mexicans who come to the U.S. have in English. For example, you must go to the country that speaks your foreign language because there are no jobs where you are currently living (in an English-speaking culture) and so you must seek work legally/illegally in the foreign country. Certainly you would like to know more of the language, and certainly you have no right to demand that the country to which you have come provide everything to you in English, but realize the fact that you do not have enough money to feed your family, much less take English classes. So you have to do the best you can in the foreign language, until you get to a point where a part of your finances from your work may go toward English instruction. This is where many Mexican migrant workers find themselves. Certainly not all of them come for these reasons, but definitely a good number. I do believe that the better approach to these issues is not to continue to make it more difficult for immigrants to come in, but to work with Mexico in trying to help them help the people in their own country, such that there will be less need, and less reason for Mexicans to come to the United States. Many that I have spoken with do not even really enjoy living in the U.S. and would rather return to live in Mexico, if only they could find work to provide for their families there, as well as the safety that is ensured here in the U.S.
The geographic reality is that most of the cities and significant regional landmarks in the southern United States have Spanish names with anglicized pronunciations, and as such are adopted into the English language. Yes we annexed the land, and it is now part of the United States, however we must recognize the fact that we are all people, and that we share the land. Certainly the two government systems that are in place have their reasons and good points, but I believe that we share the land and we can do more to attempt to reach out to the people from which we are separated only by a border. The language and culture in the southern U.S. is truly not all that different from northern Mexico, so there is good reason to believe that we can work to improve the system currently in place such that we can find the best possible scenario for all concerned and ensure as much peace and prosperity as possible.
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