Anna Daggett, Intrepid Mustang Writer and Research Assistant for External Affairs, recently tagged along with Vice President Magdaleno Manzanarez on a trip to Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico. This was Anna’s very first trip outside of the United States. This is a journal she kept, documenting her adventures south of the border.
October 7th
12:15 p.m.
I have been at work for a couple of hours and Dr. M says it is time to load up and head to Mexico. The first stop will be Palomas because that is the first town across the border and we will need to get visas as well as a travel permit in order to be legally allowed into the country. This is my first time out of the United States and I am very excited but also a little scared. I am about to see a culture that I grew up being surrounded by but had never truly been immersed in. Will it be the way I thought? Or did I have it all wrong? Either way we were going, and I was ready to sit in the back and just enjoy the view.
2:30 p.m.
Well I would say the view was incredible but we basically just drove to and through Deming so there was really nothing too exciting about that. The border crossing is a little past Columbus, and if you blink you will miss that town. In any case I blinked and there I was, saying goodbye to America and hello to Mexico. You would think that there would be some grand feeling, like you would actually be able to tell that you have entered into a different place, that you are a foreigner, but I honestly didn’t feel any of that. If there weren’t machine guns present, signs written in Spanish, and a wall trying to divide us, I would have thought I was in any town in New Mexico.
We stopped by customs first so a woman could briefly check our vehicle. Everyone was very quiet and allowed them to do their job. It was hard to realize that I was the outsider, these were not really my people, and that I was skating on their turf now. I was very quiet (for once) and played follow the leader as I did not know what was really going on. After she checked our car we walked across the street to an office that checked our passports. Because we were going so far down in Mexico we had to get a travel visa indicating that we were immigrants and had 180 days to come back to America, or take the steps to establish citizenship in Mexico. Upon our return, they would take our visas back and they would become null and void.
Thinking of yourself as an immigrant is weird because automatically you become someone that everyone doesn’t really like. For example, there are people who are trying to keep out people from other countries, they are known as immigrants. Well when I went to Mexico I became the immigrant so that was a new perspective for me. Anyway, we waited about 45 minutes for the car permit and then we were off again, this time to the town known as Nuevo Casas Grandes.
5:00 p.m.
Turns out I was very tired and so I slept most of the way to our hotel. The ride was really bumpy, and I woke up a lot but I was used to harsh travel so it didn’t really bother me. At one point while I was awake we passed a semi and a car in the most irregular of ways. In Mexico most of the roads are either dirt or very narrow single lane highways. That means if you are going to pass, you usually go through the two cars rather than around them. Picture yourself behind a car and there is a semi coming from the other side. You make it known that you want to pass so this is what happens; the semi and the car in front of you scoot as close to the edge of the road as possible and you drive in between them. After you pass they get back on the road and everything carries on like normal.
I really felt like I was part of a Fast and Furious movie for a minute because I didn’t think things like that actually happened. This doesn’t even happen on all highways just some though, so you have to be careful and as always remember you are the guest.
We arrived at the hotel when it was still nice outside, even though you could tell it was going to rain. Our hotel was called Hotel Hacienda and it was right next to a soccer stadium. We got our room keys and we went up to the room in order to get refreshed for dinner. When I walked into the hotel room I am not sure what I was expecting but it looked just like the many others I had stayed in; the best part was that there was Wi-Fi and it was free. The shower was the best part, and if you know me that is a very crucial element to any place I visit. It was simple; a tiled walk-in shower with enough room for your toiletries and a towel in there with you. There were two knows so not very much guess work and the temperature was on point. The beds were the perfect size, there was a TV and pretty decent lighting.
After I checked out my room, Christine [Staley] and I got ready for dinner. Since we were living in the moment we decided to dress up for the occasion. I donned a black maxi dress with gold straps, a red shawl (compliments of Christine) and black wedges. The other members of the party were dressed in similar garb and we decided to see what was going on in the town.
Interestingly enough the town we were in reminded me of home a little bit. Not Chama specifically, but the little towns that make up the valley where I grew up. It was small, with old buildings and you got a sense of pride. I really enjoyed going through the town, but we ended up eating back at the hotel. It was a spectacular choice as the food, wine, and company were all excellent. For desert I had fried bananas with ice cream and it was one of the most delicious deserts I had ever tasted. We dined and spoke for about two hours before retiring to our rooms. Tomorrow would be a big day and I wanted to get some rest. Turns out I did: 13 hours of it.
October 8th
8:30 a.m.
I was woken up by Christine at 7:45 in the morning. I had been asleep for about 13 hours and I had never felt so well rested. This was a good thing because we had a long day ahead of us. That day we were scheduled to go to Mata Ortiz, a local town that was basically dedicated to pottery. There we would be viewing the creations made by Ivan Lopez Martinez and his family. The drive to Mata Ortiz was a little terrifying because the roads are so small and it is curvy. The scenery was beautiful though and so was the pottery. It was amazing to see how one family could be so talented and how they have kept passing that talent down through generations. Ivan’s family specifically focuses on making black pottery, and Ivan himself has taken first place in competition for his designs.
Also there was a group of students from the city of Chihuahua who were studying anthropology. Fortunately for us, Ivan’s parents were giving a demonstration on how the pottery was made so we got an inside look. It can take up to six months for any piece to be completed because of the immense attention to detail and there is no guarantee that any of the pieces will make it out of the firing. Being a potter is a delicate art and everything they do is from what they create, even the paint. My favorite piece was a black pot with ribbon designs from the top to the bottom. It won first place at competition and was selling for $3000. I could not afford that one, but I did manage to take a small pot home, and it is very beautiful.
I loved the pottery because no two pieces are the same and this particular family does no initial sketches, ensuring that each pot is different from the last. It is such an interesting process and I have such admiration for people with that kind of patience. I also have a lot of a lot of admiration for Ivan, because not only is he a potter but he was also being inducted into the mayoral cabinet of Casas Grandes later that evening.
2:45 p.m.
We drove back to the hotel and had to get ready rather quickly because of the time the ceremony started. I was really hungry because we hadn’t eaten since lunch, but there was no time for food so we got ready and hurried out the door. The ceremony was to take place in a building right off of the town square. It was decorated very nicely and you could tell that men and women of prestige were all over the place.
The ceremony began with a call to order in which a drum line played and the Mexican flag was displayed while the National Anthem was sung. I did not know the words, but you could tell by the voices that this was a proud nation. Our hands were over our hearts in a way that reminded me of a salute. Later on they sang the anthem of Chihuahua and that was just as beautifully done. In between all of that however the power went out. This is very common where we were because the grids are not sufficient enough to sustain a lot of use and during the ceremony there was a lot of electricity being used for lighting, cameras, microphones and TV. There was also a really bad hail storm during this time and that was not helpful
It impressed me that even though there was no power the show went on. This also made me happy because, like I said, I was very hungry and I just wanted to eat. The ceremony was conducted in Spanish, but I understood most of what was going on. In essence, this was the town’s first female mayor ever and she was sharing her visions with the people, her cabinet, and her newly appointed second-in-command Ivan. Her plans are very ambitious, but if you saw her you would not doubt that they would be accomplished. There were several speeches made, followed by a reception and a time for asking questions and taking pictures.
I of course headed straight to the reception table to get some food. By this time it was already almost dark and I was truly famished. The kabob I had was different, but very good. It consisted of two different types of salami, two pastas, two olives, and a tomato. The flavors all came together beautifully, but it was much unexpected and not something you really see here in America. I saw a lot of dogs as well, and those made me sad and want to take them home. I knew I couldn’t though, so I left them alone and got in the car to head back for dinner.
8:00 p.m.
For dinner that night we ate at Las Palmas steak house. It was an amazing dinner and dessert; I had fajitas, a glass of wine, and Choco flan for dessert. Everything was cooked to perfection and there was Wi-Fi there as well which was especially important to me as Western was playing a football game against Tarleton. What surprised me most about all of the meals though was how inexpensive they were. The currency rate changes every day in Mexico but for the most part for $1.00 equaled about 20 pesos. That means that I was eating fajitas for about $6.00 which was just incredible.
Perhaps the saddest part about dinner that night as well as the entire trip was the children who came in begging for food and money. They were young, maybe 6-8 years old, and they came in to ask if we had anything to offer. Some people didn’t give them anything but our table gave them some money as well as a little bit of food. I had never seen children begging in that way before and it truly hurt my heart. It made me want to save them all but I knew I couldn’t so I reflect on that often.
All in all dinner was good, and I was happy to discuss things other than the tedium of school and work. Our hotel was just down the street so we got there relatively quickly. Because I had slept so much the night before it was harder to do the same this evening. I called my friend and my boyfriend, checked on my family, and prepared for the next day as we were planning to come back.
October 9th
9:00 a.m.
We had breakfast at the same place we ate dinner the night before and it was just as good. I had been eating so much that I didn’t eat very much besides fruit, but the orange juice was freshly squeezed and that made me a very happy camper. While eating I watched a game show that was all about tricking people. It made me laugh and I realized I was anxious to get back home; there is no place like it after all.
We didn’t really leave the area until about noon because we had gifts to give out and people to say goodbye too. We did short interviews with the students from Chihuahua as well and that was an interesting experience because of the language barrier. After that though it was time to head back and I left with a promise to go back, as well as with a new gratitude for the life I am privileged to live here in the states.
4:00 p.m.
We arrived to Palomas where we had a late lunch, shopped around for a little bit, and returned our papers in order to head back home. They check your car to make sure it is the exact same one you brought in and you are cleared in the system to go back to the States. Once you do that you are stopped a couple more times for passport checks and a dog is present to make sure no illegalities are occurring. After that you are basically home free and that is where we went: home.
6:00 p.m.
We arrived home around six o’clock at which time we all went our separate ways. If I had to sum up my first trip to Mexico I would say it has been a fun one, and I very much have a desire to go back. It was a good time, although next time I would allot for more time to go to museums and really do some culture immersion. It was truly wonderful though, and I feel very blessed for the opportunity.
Photos Courtesy of Dr. Magdaleno Manzanarez.
