RECENT MIGRANT TO THE CITY
Traveling in the painful ride we called "Cabs" me and my guides were discussing some of the things about Mexico, and the particular neighborhood we were first heading to. As a journalist, I decided to take advantage of this moment and pull out my journal and write some quick notes. I could barely hear my guides because of that wretched airport behind this neighborhood we were entering, and I was fuming because my pencil kept breaking ridiculous movement of the cab! However, I managed to write a few scribbles, like population of Mexico is 20 million people, and Mexico City is the capital of Mexico, also that most of the people here speak only Spanish. Entering the neighborhood I saw many kids in rags, picking up the trash, and I was totally surprise, I though Mexico was a flourishing country, having seen pictures before the trip of people in fancy cars, and edifices. My guides explained to me about the spacial inequality that threatens Mexico. A few more silent minutes, I sat there trying to absorb the information that just had blown my mind away, the guides were already outside, when I snapped back into reality, talking to a man in a blue cardigan and holding a boy, that looked like his younger brother. The guides told me to ask questions and they will translate it for me in Spanish. I started with a simple question about the challenges that farmers face in the country side. As the guides translated my question, I took a few second to become aware of my surrounding, and what I saw I didn't like. I saw a large cardboard box shaped into the square, which I presumed was the man's house. Finally, the guides translated the man's answer for me, which was that, "Only 15% of the land is suitable for farming and the rest of the land is either too dry or rocky, and also there is a lot of spacial inequality here." My next questions were "Why do so many farmers migrate to the city?" This time it was the guides who answered, "That is because, they hope to finding decent jobs with decent wages, they hope to give their family a higher standard of living, also because of the rural decline, and for education for their children." My second question was about the population density of the neighborhood." The man answered simply in his monotonic voice, "Crowded." Thirdly I asked, "What is the green space per person?" The man replied, "18 square feet." This question concluded my first survey and I happily thanked the man and started walking away, from the corner of my eye I saw the man walked into the cardboard house and sit down to share the few crumbs of bread he had with his brother, and I felt a heavy weight in my chest and I looked away. Back in the claustrophobic cab we settled down in our original seats, and read the map of different neighborhood and their data. My group, the guides and me, decided on that this neighborhood was called "Itzapalapa" since it was the only one fitting the approximate key of the map.
The second neighborhood. Wounding down to the next neighborhood, I decided to ask my guides just a few questions. "In what ways is Mexico city still growing?" One of the guides responded, "By the rural migration, suburbs are spreading up the side of the valley on Mexico, and also new comers are filling in areas that once covered the valley's lakes." I nodded my head, and quickly asked another question. "What problems is Mexico city facing experiencing...?" My question was left unfinished, because the cab suddenly lurched to a stop and we quickly got out of the car to prevent throwing up over each other. Walking to shake of the nausea we found a shop of shoes and decided to stop there and ask a few survey questions. As we entered the man behind the table greeted us and the guides translated our purpose for visiting, and the shoemaker obliged to answer a few questions. First, not to rush things, I decided to ask him a few personal questions about him and his family. He just said that he has 3 beautiful daughters and they all attended private school, by which i concluded that this man had a better standard of living the last person we had just finished interviewing. He told us that having a shop in this location is very beneficial for business, since when people come and eat there are reminded of their shoes when they see this store, so right now at least business is good, which I also made a mental note to myself that the rural decline didn't affect this man. Then I got down to the questions I was supposed to be asking, I asked the man about the population density of these area, he said it had to be at least if not more than 34,000 people per sq. mile, and adding to this he said that, "We have a lot of crime here so there are about 800 police officers her." This in return answered my next question. I asked him, "What was the percentage of people over 15 with education beyond primary school, he replied by answering, "66%." Here we visited the middle class of Mexico better off than the first neighborhood we visited. This second neighborhood was called, "Coyaocan." At the end, I thanked the man and to show courtesy I bought one pair of shoes and paid 23 peso for them, and left without another word. Back in the cab, I decided to bring up the question I was unable to finish, "What problems is Mexico city experiencing as a result of its rapid growth, and finally had my question answered, "Clean water is in low supply, roads are clogged because of the tremendous population, pollution is heavy, and poor air quality with social and economic problems." One more question I asked was, "Does life in Mexico city have to be this way?" the guides answered, "No." Then I asked them for the reason for their answer and who is responsible for it?" They immediately answered, "The government, because they are corrupt and only want them to flourish, they only want to give money to people who they think will be beneficial to them in the future." I decided to end the matter right then and there.
Slums of Mexico. As other neighborhoods were disappearing in a blur, decided to answer some of the question I had developed early from my reading, since they related to the neighborhood we were visiting. "What were the living conditions for Mexico City's recent migrants?" I picked up my journal and wrote, in bullet points that they were; recent migrants make up the minority, they mostly live in slums or edge of a city, most houses lack electricity and running water, and also that they are separated by spacial inequality. Then, suddenly I found my mind pondering over another question, "Is spacial inequality fair, does where people live determine how people will live," I quickly said, "No," spacial inequality is not fair, why do people without money live in slums, and first of all why don't they get as much money as other people. Is the world really that corrupt and greedy for pieces of paper? The next neighbor we went to was shabby, but most of all was the little girl in clothes so dirty that I doubt I could have seen her in the dark! We met with a woman who obliged to answer my questions; I had to ask her the question soon, because the smell was getting to me. I asked her about the living condition for Mexico City's working poor. She answered slowly that they work more than 1 job, they have low paying jobs, they work long hours, and there life is a struggle. Rather than remind of her life I decided to move on to my basic question, "Can you tell me about the green space per person?" she answered back, "22 sq. ft." Next I asked about the percentage of homes built with good materials, her reply was 78% and that they were built with cement and tin so they were really sturdy, and that 75% have only cold water. Leaving her to her business, we walked away again felling a heavy burden on our chest
This is slum we visited in Mexico City. It's made up of Cement and tin, which is sturdy material. As we approached our final destination, we came upon looking a beautiful house with grass as green as it can be, a man is a suit, looked like a business owner, holding a child and kissing his wife goodbye. We ran up to their house and asked them if they would mind us asking a few question, they thankfully allowed us to ask. I asked them confidently and concisely, "What type of jobs does the upper class of Mexico City have? And how does that affect their lifestyle?" They answered that much of the upper class works both in business, education or government and because of the high placed jobs, we, as in general, can afford some luxuries. I nodded my head as I quickly jotted that down. Next I asked them about the population density. They answered that 34,000 people per square mile, and I wasn't surprised at all. "What is the percentage of homes built with good materials," they said plenty, probably about 94% to approximate. I looked down at my list of question and saw one that I hadn't asked. "How many police officers do you have around this region?" The mother and father answered, "1300, but we don't have a lot of crime here, that's for sure." In the end I thanked the nice family and left with my tour guides. Back in the cab, the tour guides told me that they had to go now since the survey, I was conducting, was over. They dropped me off at a café called, "La Zona Rosa," I sat down with a cup of chocolate and thought about a few more question that I developed along the way. "What was the most interesting part of the survey?" I concluded that meeting other people in their lifestyle was probably the most interesting, even if it wasn't exciting. Next, "What surprised you the most when conducting the survey and what didn't surprise you?" I answered, "What surprised me was how different each lifestyle was and the people interviewed lived in the same country, but no one knew of each other's suffering, and what didn't surprise me was the lifestyle that each one of the people had that I surveyed." Then, my final question, "What about life in Mexico, is it similar to life in my community?" I decided both way yes and no because my community relates the upper class but I see many people on the streets as the recent migrating to the city. All my questions were done; I had the data to write everything I needed. I picked up my coat, put it on and disappeared in to the busy streets of Mexico.
Café La Zona, where I finished my journal of Mexico
