Osprey - 10-27-2012 at 06:42 AM
Whew! We are ready for the little devils and angels -- we have 3 huge bags of dulces for the kids this year.
Here's my annual Halloween essay.
Ten Second Ambassadors
The last few Halloweens, there have been about the usual number of Mexican kids at our gate and as my wife and I handed out most of the goodies we
would come back up on the patio and talk about their costumes and manners (or lack of them). Most were gracious and said ‘thank you’ in English or
‘Gracias’. Last year the costumes seemed to be more elaborate, well designed than most years – the parents did a great job of shuttling them around to
the homes of mostly gringos (we are a poor fishing village and times are tough right now).
It struck me that we see these same kids walking to and from school but with many of the costumes we couldn’t see their faces. Does it matter? Not
much, since we don’t get much chance to interact with them. So Halloween night is our one chance in a year to be ten second Ambassadors --- and it is
also theirs. The smiles show through and ours as well, they read everything they are going to know about us right there and then, through an iron
gate.
I think it is safe to say they think we are very strange, very rich and very clumsy about their lifestyle, their culture. The ten seconds softens that
a little and I would like to think that it really happens both ways all year long; the soldier at the military stop smiles broadly and pets your
pooch, you remember to say ‘con permiso’ when you enter someone’s living room, a smile and a nice little propina for the vender on the street.
I’m not the missionary type so I don’t want to change the world (and certainly not theirs) but we can change how we see it, how we fit in, one quick
little meeting at a time. If those little snapshots are all they have to judge us by, I say, try to make it one friendly little Kodak moment.
Ken Bondy - 10-27-2012 at 08:14 AM
Buen dicho amigo!! Buen dicho!!
BajaBlanca - 10-27-2012 at 12:28 PM
we have three huge bags too and I am worried they might not be enough ! The only gringa teacher in town is gonna be busy this year !