La Esperanza

My brother-in-law and I then headed to the neighboring ranchito of La Esperanza, just outside of Chavinda, to visit some relatives of a former student of mine. As we stepped out of the car, a thirteen-year-old girl stopped dead in her tracks, stared at us for a few seconds, then exclaimed, “Mr. Brandow? What are you doing here?!!!” The girl was a former student at Chavez, now in middle school, who was visiting her relatives for the Christmas holidays. I would like to think her expression was one of pure shock, utter disbelief, and suspended reality. More likely, it was more horror and embarrassment from seeing one of her grouchy old teachers in a place where even in her worst nightmare she thought she was safe from us.

My former student’s aunt gave us a lovely tour of the ranchito, showed us where all of their family lives, used to live, or were building a place to come back to live some day. Her husband was going to the U.S. on an eight-month visa to work as a landscaper in Missouri along with some other family members. Other than looking after cattle, he said there wasn’t much work and had to work in the U.S. to support his family. Their daughter had just graduated from high school, but wasn’t going to be able to attend the university. Since commuting to a school wasn’t a possibility, she would have to relocate to a city where the cost of living would be prohibitive. Furthermore, there would not be any work when she graduated, and would have to leave home in order to put her degree to use.

We spent the rest of our time attending a First Communion celebration for a niece that was visiting from Missouri. The party was awfully similar to the First Communion parties that families throw for their children in Richmond. After devouring a few plates of delicious tacos and enjoying some refreshments, we headed back to Morelia.