I Can Hear Mexico Calling
Following the call as a YAGM through the ELCA
Workaholism is not unique to the U.S. I have heard many stories of people in my town working ten or twelve hour shifts three days a week as maids, bus drivers, waiters, etc. The work culture in Mexico City is high stress and long hours. All my assumptions that it would be more laidback—that work would be a part of life but not all of life—are being tested and proven wrong. There are huge pressures to be employed. Mexican culture highly values hard work. There is a beauty to this, but it also seems to clash with other strongly held values, such as the value of family. For example, I unfortunately have a two-hour commute to one of my job sites. As I was voicing my frustration about this, I found out that my supervisor travels two or three hours each way to and from work. She leaves at 6:30 in the morning and gets home at 8 or later. This means that she gets home just in time to put her one-year-old to sleep. Family and hard work are two strong, yet conflicting values. It’s as if people are forced to choose between providing for their family and spending time with their family. This is so similar to the United States. When I travel, I often expect things to be different from what I know, but more often than not, it surprises me how similar things are. It makes me wonder if caffeine addictions and workaholism are also part of the human condition. I have almost completed my first week of work in Mexico, and while I am surprised at the work culture, I also learned firsthand how the values of work and family can coincide. My host brother has generously offered to take me to and from work all week to teach me how to get around via public transit. This is a large task because I have to learn how to get to three different locations and each one takes a little more time. The closest is an hour away and the furthest is two hours. Today he traveled eight hours on public transit (as he went home midday) so that he could make sure that I got to work ok and to make sure that I could get home. He has been so generous with his time! This has been an incredible example of accompaniment! Whether in conversation or silence, he has accompanied me. In crowds and on solitary streets, he as accompanied me. My host brother has given me a sense of security and confidence in the city that would have taken a long time for me to develop on my own. Today he told me that I’m his sister and that he doesn’t mind spending all this time helping me now because it will make things easier and safer in the long run. This is where those values overlap, where generosity and work ethic and family values intersect, and today this overlap became accompaniment.
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AuthorMy name is Kathryn Ophardt. I am spending this year in Mexico City as a Young Adult for Global Mission with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. During this year of service, I'll be working with the non-profit, Casa Refugiados. Archives
October 2018
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